Such nastiness will not be confined to just the small South Waikato town of Putaruru either, beneficiaries all over the country will be suffering the same ‘punishment’ and it should be the duty of WINZ to send a case worker to these towns where there is no permanent office on one or two days a week so as to enable those in such towns to be able to fulfill their ‘obligations’ in a manner befitting human beings in the year 2014…
So you are telling me 20yrs of welfare bludging should be applauded and Winz officers should now be runing to the welfare dependants, maybe they should pick up their ciggies,booze and groceries while they are at it
To poor to afford the bus was she must be Paula Bennets fault as well
So she hasnt been on the dole for 20years and no buses run to Tokoroa,has no friends that own a car a bike etc, this is a bullshit media beatup, putting me down just shows you for the insulting idiot you are instead of contributing or debating you abuse me, my “reality” is based on the facts given to us btw
Garbageman
Look just stick to what you are good at. Picking up the garbage – and that is an important job and an admirable one. But don’t wear yourself out trying to think about social matters. You haven’t got a caring bone in your body or a real brain that can understand and assess a problem. So go with your strengths and go and lift something that isn’t living and therefore can’t get hurt.
no your reality is based on your ignorance, prejudice and hypocrisy
1) everyone, including the winz staff memebrs in tokoroa would know theres no bus service
2) its the punitive one size fits all policy set by the govt that created this situation.
3) perhaps she had other means of transport available to her, just not on the exact same day and time winz demanded she trun up
4) you complain about people putting you down and abusing you – yet thats exactly what you opened with.
maybe get over your hatred and holier than thou stance and understand that this woman was doing what was demanded of her – and it was a situation that could have easily been rectified with a bit of common sense and mutual organising. Thats the point
Your disgusting attitude is “putting you down” plenty enough. There are beneficiaries isolated simply because they live on social security. You sound like the type to ditch friends should they become welfare dependant, although I wouldn’t be surprised if you have none except for some of those clones of you commenting on that Stuff article. ‘Garbage’, ‘Rubbish’, ‘Trash’.. certainly….’.Man’… not so much.
more of a man than you will ever be Fondler you just stick to slapping people on the back that agree with you and attacking people personally that dont agree with you, i have noticed its an ongoing theme on this site, try attacking the issue for a change, more than likely another dole bludger must be if you are happy to be paying taxes for 20 years to any welfare recipient it is supposed to be used for a helping hand to future employment not a lifestyle
The woman from that article doesn’t need garbage dump loiterers throwing trash at her, making judgements about her imagined habits and sobriety; she looked perfectly sober on the news. I applaud her for raising four children alone, that’s an admirable feat and something you seem unable to comprehend.
Love the way you attacked her then advocate only attacking the issue when your refuse gets returned, your wheelie-bin is overflowing.
you little whine about people being totes mean to you rings rather hollow, its neither accurate or original
And you obviously havent noticed that the issues do get debated back and forth quite readily – just not with fools who think that manners is a one way street
Garbageman
You say ‘ try attacking the issue for a change,’ because we criticise you. But you are part of the issue. You don’t see bringing children up as a job? You don’t think that children and teenagers are important and need good caring support as they grow up? Because you don’t appreciate or value what parenting you had, which may have been little, it doesn’t mean that others shouldn’t have better.
Good on you for walking 40 minutes to your job. I hope when you get home you don’t have to do the housework, cook, and get the children to do their homework and to bed ready to get up and go to school another day. Also pay the bills out of small resources, and try to find some work that fits in with the children’s needs. And the constant jobs, mending their clothes, trying to get second hand school uniforms, finding shoes they can wear for sports again because the last pair got stolen from their school locker, it goes on and on.
You apparently imagine that a good fairy does all that, or you never had that sort of care and have no memories of what is involved in doing a good job as a parent. You just like hating and criticising, and want to kick someone because your life is unhappy, so look enviously on someone who, in your imagine, is getting a better deal.
Could you walk that far in the time she does? I’m impressed by the effort she puts in to meet some stupid bureaucratic requirement. I’m not impressed by your repetition of the same shit garbage that you fools come out with all the time. Garbage is right.
Actually i walk 40 mins to and from work every day,so you are impressed thats nice i personally would be more impressed if this lady put as much effort over the last 20 years into getting a job and yes Garbage is right thanks
LOL actually i would jump in my car or on my bike maybe get the bus if i had to or cadge a ride from someone and to show im not the heartless prick you lot seem to be trying to make me out to be im very happy she has had many offers of support and rides if needed but like i said initially its still just a bullshit media beat up
You arent her – your abilities, resources and opportunities (as well as mine) are irrelevant to the issue of someone with out any form of transport at that time, (other than walking) being required to travel a round trip of 25k over a state highway to get to an appointment that could have been rescheduled!
i would believe your not a heartless prick if you went back to your previous heartless comments, apologised for them and comprehended exactly why you got the reaction you did.
Few here would actually know each other in real life – so all anyone has to go on is what is written.
You started by attacking the person, spouted a whole lot of ignorant stereotypes, complained about people being mean right back at you and ignored the actual substance of any reply to you that attempted to examine or refute your claims
now youve got what?, Bragging about how far you walk to work and “LOL”?!
Did anyone hear Simon Mercep’s weak interview with Hekia Parata over declining international standing of NZ in education?
I felt he failed to ask her any of the key tricky questions?
Deliberate or incompetent?
However, the next report will almost certainly show a further decline for which the Standards should be implicated. It’s the paperwork, paperwork, …
Teachers have had to change their focus to produce a heap of “irrelevant” paper in the last decade to satisfy the statisticians at the expense of focusing on the children in front of them.
There has also been a significant increase in the number of children arriving at the school gates, tired and under-nourished – hardly in a fit state to learn.
Morrisey
Unlike your good self. You could be a good guy on a panel. There could be a guest spot available on Radio Live or wherever JT and WJ usually hang out. You could get people going for sure. With the right amount of irritation to produce some lively talk.
Thank you, greywarbler, but I’d be a dud. I’m absolutely sure I’d end up bending over backwards to be polite to the likes of Hekia Parata. I excoriate Simon Mercep for it, but I know I wouldn’t be any better than he is.
Morrissey
Good point. Striking the right balance – neither sycophantic (which makes the rest feel sick) or incisive and attacking (which results in drawn knives and cries of foul from the other side) is a hard thing. I didn’t realise that Maggie Barry was such a right wing gal till after she had left – she covered up so well from my perspective.
But don’t talk yourself down, you could have a role in stirring what can be a festering murky brew on some talkback, to mix some sunlight in. Or even add different colours to change the hue, some spilt blood red for instance. Then a touch of blue blood. Spin that colour wheel like a pizza cutter. wheee!
If you were still thinking that GMO was a good idea then think again:
“If this silences the same gene in us that it silences in the wheat — well, children who are born with this enzyme not working tend to die by the age of about five,” stated Professor Carman.
I never thought these thoughts would occur to me but today when I eat virtually anything I wonder if it has been over-modified, over-processed and whether it has been comprehensively tested for any potential effects from those overs-.
Clearly there will be a very rapidly growing market for non-modified and non-processed foods. It is already underway but I suspects it is about to go nuts….
… which of course will send the US corporates like Monsanto nuts, and their paid lobbyists in the TPPA and other corrals under construction will ramp it all up too.
Grow your own. The only way. With non-modified seeds.
In the context of the discussion above (yeah I know it’s really hard) lots of them.
In the context of the meaninglessness you’re trying to move the discussion to (everything is just molecules and it doesn’t matter how they’re arranged, man) none.
No you weren’t. You were attempting to demonstrate that everything is “modified” from something else in some way or other and then extrapolate that every modification is equally stable and worthwhile, and hope no-one noticed the massive leap in between.
I don’t know. But it has a great deal to do with your assertion that “the vast majority of the world actually can’t grow there own.”
Which I imagine is why it was placed as a reply to that assertion. But then I do have a very active imagination which even allows me to follow straightforward conversations without ending up like you.
GMO is a good idea, is supported in roughly the same overwhelming consensus of scientists as global warming and has been shown to safe for human consumption and study after study has shown it.
Rubbish. They haven’t been around long enough to test properly for long term effects on animals and humans. And all the published research is funded by the patent owners. Yes, you are really thinking this through, I can tell !
“GMO is a good idea, is supported in roughly the same overwhelming consensus of scientists as global warming and has been shown to safe for human consumption and study after study has shown it.”
It may be supported by an overwhelming consensus of Monsanto lobbyists working for the FDA, but my impression of the wider science community is that the jury is out and we should proceed with caution. Many more scientists oppose GMO because they see the damage that corporate monoculture does to agriculture. The soy in South America is about as good for the natural and social environment as Fonterra is for Aotearoa, but on a much larger scale. Do you have a source for your overwhelming consensus?
“It may be supported by an overwhelming consensus of Monsanto lobbyists working for the FDA, but my impression of the wider science community is that the jury is out and we should proceed with caution.”
Are these organisations lobbyists with the FDA? They are the same organisations that speak on the efficiency of vaccines and the truth of man-made global warming.
“It may be supported by an overwhelming consensus of Monsanto lobbyists working for the FDA, but my impression of the wider science community is that the jury is out and we should proceed with caution.”
These are some of the global, preeminent science organisations. Monsanto lobbyists they are not.
“It may be supported by an overwhelming consensus of Monsanto lobbyists working for the FDA, but my impression of the wider science community is that the jury is out and we should proceed with caution.”
These are some of the global, preeminent science organisations. Monsanto lobbyists they are not.
“It may be supported by an overwhelming consensus of Monsanto lobbyists working for the FDA, but my impression of the wider science community is that the jury is out and we should proceed with caution.”
These are some of the global, preeminent science organisations. Monsanto lobbyists they are not.
You usually behave yourself (apart from your taste in music of course). The site or rather the spam checker we use is having loading issues. So comments are winding up in moderation because they can’t get spam checked.
You have it easy. I’m cleaning up 500+ spam comments per day that are getting through the spam checker for me to examine.
Your hard work is very much appreciated lprent, I have much respect and gratitude for all that you do here. This end is certainly the easy part compared to your workload, I can only dream of having your skills and commitment.
Just another person following the advice that, supposedly, L. Ron Hubbard got: If you want to become rich, start your own church. And why not? It obviously worked for Hubbard and for Brian Tamaki.
…and Henry VIII. However the Tudors had the smarts to make their under-lords rich also. Brian is failing to share out the filthy lucre that his gang is pilfering from the poor.
Well, Murray, have a gander at an appearance he made on Jim Mora’s show earlier this year…
“After a comedy show, one is often mobbed by the ladies”
Angry boyfriends target Tall Poppy Andrew Clay The Panel, Radio NZ National, Thursday 28 April 2013
Jim Mora, Andrew Clay, Lisa Scott
Andrew Clay is a comedian, who a couple of years ago was paid to go to Afghanistan, ostensibly to entertain New Zealand’s occupation troops, but in fact to ensure he never again uttered a critical word about government policy. His comedic comrade MIKE KING was similarly co-opted, and even made a ridiculous television program about his trip. Clay likes to say he is a liberal, but every time he appears on The Panel he manages to froth and rave against such irritating trivialities as prisoners’ rights, or even human rights in general. Maybe he’s been out drinking with soldiers too often….
JIM MORA: We start with the very sad story of Jesse Ryder, who is in an induced coma after a very bad assault in Christchurch early this morning.
ANDREW CLAY: This is where I STOP being a liberal! I don’t CARE about the human rights of people who do this! Part of me just wants to HURT the people who did this to Jesse Ryder! Now I know I shouldn’t say that, but that’s the way I feel.
MORA: Mmmm, mmmm.
LISA SCOTT: Mmmmm.
ANDREW CLAY: We shouldn’t talk like that about people but….
LISA SCOTT: It’s okay for scum.
JIM MORA: Hmmmmmm…. We have this ugly thing in the New Zealand male psyche that makes us pick fights with sports stars, don’t we.
LISA SCOTT: It’s the Tall Poppy syndrome isn’t it.
ANDREW CLAY: It sure is. I’ve experienced it myself. After a comedy show, one is often mobbed by the ladies, and I have more than once felt the angry looks of male punters. Although I’ve never actually been assaulted, I’ve felt in imminent danger on several occasions and had to walk away. It’s the Tall Poppy syndrome.
Mediocrity Watch aims to keep you informed of—or, to quote the epically mediocre Simon Dallow, to be “right across”—the shoddiest, least professional, most insulting journalism and taxpayer-subsidised-sensitive-singer-songwriting from all over the world, but especially New Zealand. It is produced by DeakerWatch®, a division of Daisycutter Sports Inc.
More mediocrities….
No. 8: Ed Sheeran “I See Dire” http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-071113/#comment-723312
No. 7: Paul Little: [Russell Brand] is “petulant, ungracious and unfunny” and a “cut-rate Chomsky”.
No. 6: David Farrar: “Things were generally very relaxed in this area.”
No. 5: Jordan Williams: ““Capping rents seems like a recipe for disaster.”
No. 4: Prof. Robert Patman: “Hezbollah is totally a creature of the Iranian regime.”
No. 3: Jeremy Wells: “What evidence is there that secondhand smoking does any harm? Where is the evidence? WHERE IS THE EVIDENCE?”
No. 2: Gavin Gray: “…never been any problems associated with the name King George.”
No. 1: Susie Ferguson: “If, as you say, this has all been done before, why do it all again?”
My experience with ts this morning. I wrote a comment and submitted with an involuntary double click and got duplicate message. Went back to my comment and it was back in editing mode, so I did that, and submitted again and got the closed sign. Then I went back and refreshed with Home and there it was in the Comments list.
My experience with ts this morning. I wrote a comment and submitted with an involuntary double click and got duplicate message. Went back to my comment and it was back in editing mode, so I did that, and submitted again and got the Connection closed by remote server page. Then I checked if I was still under submitting control. Then I went back and refreshed with Home and there it was in the Comments list.
Re Simon Merceps interview of Parata. Simon’s first question was, paraphrasing, “isn’t Labour just as much to blame?” He repeated this point in the same interview. It would appear he could be an apologist for the governments line. I have noticed Geof Robinson do the same thing when a government minister declined to be interviewed and he, by default, found himself taking the government line. Bizarre really.
Chomsky not impressed by Bob Dylan’s incoherent rambling
June, 1994
Just the other day I was sitting in a radio studio waiting for a satellite arrangement abroad to be set up. The engineers were putting together interviews with Bob Dylan from about 1966-7 or so (judging by the references), and I was listening (I’d never heard him talk before — if you can call that talking). He sounded as though he was so drugged he was barely coherent, but the message got through clearly enough through the haze. He said over and over that he’d been through all of this protest thing, realized it was nonsense, and that the only thing that was important was to live his own life happily and freely, not to “mess around with other people’s lives” by working for civil and human rights, ending war and poverty, etc. He was asked what he thought about the Berkeley “free speech movement” and said that he didn’t understand it. He said something like: “I have free speech, I can do what I want, so it has nothing to do with me. Period.” If the capitalist PR machine wanted to invent someone for their purposes, they couldn’t have made a better choice.
Stoned or not, Dylan’s political naïveté and the lack of intelligence is a sad fact of life for too many pampered American musicians. Here’s another fool who doesn’t seem to have much idea about anything….
It’s true that the wonderful word play, various interpretations/ meanings of a Dylan song outshine his ability to make sense with his spoken word more often than not. Many artists are better off letting their art do the talking.
You could have a valid point there. Perhaps Shakespeare was an indolent thinker and an incoherent dolt in his everyday discourse. Certainly Martin Amis is. As was his father Kingsley. And Bruce Springsteen.
In fact, it’s hard to think of a singer or a writer who does have the ability to express him/herself coherently, and who has actually done some serious reading and thinking.
It’s true that the wonderful word play, various interpretations/ meanings of a Dylan song outshine his ability to make sense with his spoken word more often than not.
Dylan made perfect sense, even though, as Chomsky observed, he was clearly under the influence of drugs at the time. The problem is not that his thinking was so muddled; the problem is that it is so threadbare, so irresponsible, and so contemptuous of people who did actually care about something other than themselves. Dylan was not stupid, he was indolent. Judging by some of his recent utterances, nothing has changed in forty-seven years.
He seemingly hasn’t moved on from trying to shock and offend the way he did in the ’60’s when he wanted to shake off the “voice of a generation”, “prophet” etc. labels people tried to pigeonhole him with. He’s the quintessential troubadour and would be best to keep to that field of expertise. i.e. Blind Willie McTell
I cannot figure what strategy Colin Craig has in mind in making non-committal statements about science. Attention seeking? Is he simply reflecting his constituency?
I hope there are not too many people out there which the education system has failed given that we live in a democracy.
Maybe it is all part of a master plan to not educate people well so the powers that be can rule with impunity.
In my work with T. William Lester and Michael Reich, we use nearly two decades’ worth of data and compare all bordering areas in the United States to show that while higher minimum wages raise earnings of low-wage workers, they do not have a detectable impact on employment. Our estimates — published in 2010 in the Review of Economics and Statistics — suggest that a hypothetical 10 percent increase in the minimum wage affects employment in the restaurant or retail industries, by much less than 1 percent; the change is in fact statistically indistinguishable from zero.
More research coming out showing that raising the minimum wage has no effect upon employment.
Cunliffe on Radio Live with Plunket just now: 10.20-10.30 (audio on their website 1 hour later).
Really strong and clear. And Plunket is no pussy cat.
Tweet – owns it, no waffle, no BS.
Craig – will not be a coalition partner, period. And asked the same Qs (moon landings, chem trails etc) Cunliffe’s answers are unequivocal and – thank goodness – sane.
Banks – toast.
Anyone who has any lingering doubts about Cunliffe vs Key (or Shearer, or whoever) should listen.
Very good performance from Cunners, even allowing for Plunket being such a persistently annoying dickhead over the tweet issue and talking over him at times.
I can understand it being up near three thousand and saying a couple, but it is more accurate for me to say nearly ten thousand people could have seen that tweet than Cunliffe saying only a couple of thousand of people could have seen that tweet.
How dare a politician be circumspect! They must always resort to hyperbole, name calling, hair pulling and mud slinging – 100% of the time, 24/7, round the clock, yadda yadda yadda
And as long as we continue with representative democracy we will have politicians continuing to try and prevent the people from having a say in their own governance. First they will continue to ensure that the people don’t have enough information (TPPA) and then they’ll ignore what the people say anyway (Asset sales).
I’m wondering if we could cut out some of the middlemen and put our names down to be on a panel for our locality interviewing the operational head of a department who would travel the country to be interviewed by a stratified random panel, with others in as observers. They would then have to follow a job description made up by we the peeps with input from them.
The politicians don’t seem to be interested in their electors and they don’t want to have any control over their workers, saying to any queries ‘Oh I couldn’t comment, it is an operational matter’. They are worse than useless because they will take a functioning system and discard it, or replace it. So something better is required.
As far as running things by referendum is concerned as another way, I don’t really like the It becomes another tax evasion system where people will go for the cheapest option unless it’s urgently necessary to have something done in their own neighbourhood.
Ok, due to a neat little trick in .htaccess, I’m now reflecting any attempt to leave comments without a referrer back to the Ip that it is calling from.
The effect is to block stupid spambots.
A few more of those and the current deluge of spam might stop clogging the servers.
amirite
You could try searching for lprent and all the things that are being done to the site and for it will come up. Which helps to keep up with the latest. Lynn said recently that there was a lot of spam coming through and overwhelming the system. I’m having some problems and think it possible that its partly my phone connections and/or my hardware.
Its possible but extremely unlikely, the Takahe was also thought to be extinct until it was rediscovered in the late 40s, but it seems to me his big problem seems to be with answering questions too honestly
I wouldn’t mind betting that some (most?) of the MPs we have now probably have some extremely bat-shit crazy views but are smart enough to keep them to themselves
Although it seems to me that those with religious views almost seem to want to be ridiculed as it reinforces their views…almost like they’re martyrs or something so they’re probably cheering CC on
(I apologize to those on here who are religious but arn’t bat-shit crazy for lumping them all in together)
– While I don’t think what he did is all that bad but it really does just illustrate politicians lax views towards electoral rules (left and right), surely hes telling fibs that he didn’t know yet he knows he can quite clearly get away with doing it because the police probably won’t do anything about it
surely hes telling fibs that he didn’t know yet he knows he can quite clearly get away with doing it
Fair enough trying make a deal out of it, but honestly, doesn’t the fact he deleted it quick enough that hardly anyone even got a screen grab, and then informed on himself about it, kind of indicate that it was more cock up than intent to ‘get away with it’?
What was the plan? I’ll tweet something, delete it real quick so hardly anyone sees it, turn myself in, aah, win?
“Refreshing” is such a nicer term then got out telling porkies isn’t it
“Mr Cunliffe alleged Ms Adams went to “great lengths” to keep the information from the public, telling Parliament there was a “very low” risk of a large scale oil spill occurring.”
– Turned out the report was on-line the whole time
Anytime Cunliffe pledged support to Goff or Shearer and the exaggeration over the extent of his work on the formation of Fonterra
When did Cunliffe break his promise to support Goff or Shearer?
CV embellishment – if you are soooo concerned about such things, when/if Hooton announces he’s standing for parliament, I expect to see your full outrage against the CV embellishment that has long been in his work website. (after Bradbury tweeted about Hooton potentially standing for ACT leader, Hooton tweeted a couple of hours ago,
MatthewHootonNZ’s avatar
Matthew Hooton @MatthewHootonNZ
I may have more to say on the @actparty issue on Friday
)
Now that point about Adams report is just extreme total desperation.
Oh, it’s a dastardly one, PB. He’s going to convince us all that he’s upfront and trustworthy, even when he makes mistakes, by acting in an upfront and trustworthy way after he makes a mistake. Fuckin’ Machiavellian, that.
Piss73 – they (the upper echelons of the Police) actually might prosecute Cunliffe……..having learned their lesson about playing sucky politics – right wing sucky as it happens. McCready humiliated them. Ups to him.
Let’s suppose they do prosecute Pisso. An artful law student could probably word up a diversion submission before second appearance. Botox is headed for a jury Piss. That’s the diff’.
Piss attempt at painting moral equivalence there Piss.
I am starting to believe that the RWNJs are seeing the act in this light because even they are not blind to the writing on the wall for John Key. With their beloved hero, back against the wall, appealing to NZ not to vote him out next year and to vote in his only chances for electoral victory in the forms of Colin “Chemtrails” Craig and an as yet unnamed ACT representative (showing just how likely *that* is) – their only hope is that Cunliffe is removed.
Expect to see every single misstep from him represented in these preposterous terms all the way until election day – and the more they repeat it, the less the electorate will listen because it will become a continuing narrative of irrelevance from the Right as they focus on non-issues.
Billy says something about a rocket going to Venus, but he may have been taking the piss (or on it).
Next. Tracey, she believes in lots of them … Twin Towers, something about the Titanic not really sinking, a couple more, but – she emphasises – she does like Colin Craig.
Next guy also lists all of them. Must be heavy sarcasm. Well, maybe.
Mike says all the victims of 9/11 were paid to destroy the buildings from the inside. Plus something about Marilyn Monroe.
The next caller links the Christchurch earthquake(s) and Israel. Because Bob Parker went to Israel. Obviously.
Mark – 6,000 years ago there were the floods of Noah. The dinosaurs were killed off. Dragons survived in Wales and Loch Ness, but most were killed. The Bible is right, basically.
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As support continues to fall, Luxon also now faces his biggest internal ructions within the coalition since the election, with David Seymour reacting badly to being criticised by the PM. File photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Not since 1988 when Richard Prebble openly criticised David Lange have we seen such a challenge to a Prime Minister as that of David Seymour to Christopher Luxon last night. Prebble suggested Lange had mental health issues during a TV interview and was almost immediately fired. Seymour hasn’t gone quite ...
Three weeks in, and the 24/7 news cycle is not helping anyone feel calm and informed about the second Trump presidency. One day, the US is threatening 25% trade tariffs on its friends and neighbours. The reasons offered by the White House are absurd, such as stopping fentanyl coming in ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Wherever you look, you'll hear headlines claiming we've passed 1.5 degrees of global warming. And while 2024 saw ...
Photo by Heather M. Edwards on UnsplashHere’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s politics and economy in the week to Feb 10 below. That’s ahead of live chats on the Substack App and The Kākā’s front page on Substack at 5pm with: on his column in The ...
Is there anyone in the world the National Party loves more than a campaign donor? Why yes, there is! They will always have the warmest hello and would you like to slip into something more comfortable for that great god of our age, the High Net Worth Individual.The words the ...
Waste and fraud certainly exist in foreign aid programs, but rightwing celebration of USAID’s dismantling shows profound ignorance of the value of soft power (as opposed to hard power) in projecting US influence and interests abroad by non-military/coercive means (think of “hearts and minds,” “hugs, not bullets,” “honey versus vinegar,” ...
Health New Zealand is proposing to cut almost half of its data and digital positions – more than 1000 of them. The PSA has called on the Privacy Commissioner to urgently investigate the cuts due to the potential for serious consequences for patients. NZNO is calling for an urgent increase ...
We may see a few more luxury cars on Queen Street, but a loosening of rules to entice rich foreigners to invest more here is unlikely to “turbocharge our economic growth”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Let us not dance daintily around the elephant in the room. Our politicians who serve us in the present are not honest, certainly not as honest as they should be, and while the right are taking out most of the trophies for warping narratives and literally redefining “facts”, the kiwi ...
A few weeks ago I took a look at public transport ridership in 2024. In today’s post I’m going to be looking a bit deeper at bus ridership. Buses make up the vast majority of ridership in Auckland with 70 million boardings last year out of a total of 89.4 ...
Oh, you know I did itIt's over and I feel fineNothing you could say is gonna change my mindWaited and I waited the longest nightNothing like the taste of sweet declineSongwriters: Chris Shiflett / David Eric Grohl / Nate Mendel / Taylor Hawkins.Hindsight is good, eh?The clarity when the pieces ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 16 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 10The Kākā’s weekly wrap-up of news about politics and the economy is due at midday, followed by webinar for paying subscribers in Substack’s ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 2, 2025 thru Sat, February 8, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Today, I stumbled across a Twitter Meme: the ending of The Lord of the Rings as a Chess scenario: https://x.com/mellon_heads/status/1887983845917564991 It gets across the basic gist. Aragorn and Gandalf offering up ‘material’ at the Morannon allows Frodo and Samwise to catch Sauron unawares – fair enough. But there are a ...
Last week, Kieran McAnulty called out Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis for their claims that Kāinga Ora’s costs were too high.They had claimed Kāinga Ora’s cost were 12% higher than market i.e. private devlopersBut Kāinga Ora’s Chair had already explained why last year:"We're not building to sell, so we'll be ...
Stuff’s Political Editor Luke Malpass - A Fellow at New Zealand IniativeLast week I half-joked that Stuff / The Post’s Luke Malpass1 always sounded like he was auditioning for a job at the New Zealand Initiative.Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. For a limited time, subscriptions are 20% off. Thanks ...
At a funeral on Friday, there were A4-sized photos covering every wall of the Dil’s reception lounge. There must have been 200 of them, telling the story in the usual way of the video reel but also, by enlargement, making it more possible to linger and step in.Our friend Nicky ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is methane the ...
The Government’s idea is that the private sector and Community Housing Providers will fund, build and operate new affordable housing to address our housing crisis. Meanwhile, the Government does not know where almost half of the 1,700 children who left emergency housing actually went. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong ...
Oh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youOh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youSongwriters: Alexander Ebert / Jade Allyson CastrinosMorena,I’m on a tight time frame this morning. In about an hour and a half, I’ll need to pack up and hit the road ...
This is a post about the Mountain Tui substack, and small tweaks - further to the poll and request post the other day. Please don’t read if you aren’t interested in my personal matters. Thank you all.After oohing-and-aahing about how to structure the Substack model since November, including obtaining ...
This transcript of a recent conversation between the Prime Minister and his chief economic adviser has not been verified.We’ve announced we are the ‘Yes Government’. Do you like it?Yes, Prime Minister.Dreamed up by the PR team. It’s about being committed to growth. Not that the PR team know anything about ...
The other day, Australian Senator Nick McKim issued a warning in the Australian Parliement about the US’s descent into fascim.And of course it’s true, but I lament - that was true as soon as Trump won.What we see is now simply the reification of the intention, planning, and forces behind ...
Among the many other problems associated with Musk/DOGE sending a fleet of teenage and twenty-something cultists to remove, copy and appropriate federal records like social security, medicaid and other supposedly protected data is the fact that the youngsters doing the data-removal, copying and security protocol and filter code over-writing have ...
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tuneBird fly high by the light of the moonOh, oh, oh, JokermanSong by Bob Dylan.Morena folks, I hope this fine morning of the 7th of February finds you well. We're still close to Paihia, just a short drive out of town. Below is the view ...
It’s been an eventful week as always, so here’s a few things that we have found interesting. We also hope everyone had a happy and relaxing Waitangi Day! This week in Greater Auckland We’re still running on summer time, but provided two chewy posts: On Tuesday, a guest ...
Queuing on Queen St: the Government is set to announce another apparently splashy growth policy on Sunday of offering residence visas to wealthy migrants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, February 7:PM Christopher ...
The fact that Waitangi ended up being such a low-key affair may mark it out as one of the most significant Waitangi Days in recent years. A group of women draped in “Toitu Te Tiriti” banners who turned their backs on the politicians’ powhiri was about as rough as it ...
Hi,This week’s Flightless Bird episode was about “fake seizure guy” — a Melbourne man who fakes seizures in order to get members of the public to sit on him.The audio documentary (which I have included in this newsletter in case you don’t listen to Flightless Bird) built on reporting first ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The 119th Congress comes with a price tag. The oil and gas industry gave about $24 million in campaign contributions to the members of the U.S. House and Senate expected to be sworn in January 3, 2025, according to a ...
Early morning, the shadows still long, but you can already feel the warmth building. Our motel was across the road from the historic homestead where Henry Williams' family lived. The evening before, we wandered around the gardens, reading the plaques and enjoying the close proximity to the history of the ...
Thanks folks for your feedback, votes and comments this week. I’ll be making the changes soon. Appreciate all your emails, comments and subscriptions too. I know your time is valuable - muchas gracias.A lot is happening both here and around the world - so I want to provide a snippets ...
Data released today by Statistics NZ shows that unemployment rose to 5.1%, with 33,000 more people out of work than last year said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “The latest data shows that employment fell in Aotearoa at its fastest rate since the GFC. Unemployment rose in 8 ...
The December labour market statistics have been released, showing yet another increase in unemployment. There are now 156,000 unemployed - 34,000 more than when National took office. And having thrown all these people out of work, National is doubling down on cruelty. Because being vicious will somehow magically create the ...
Boarded up homes in Kilbirnie, where work on a planned development was halted. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 5 are;Housing Minister Chris Bishop yesterday announcedKāinga Ora would be stripped of ...
This week Kiwirail and Auckland Transport were celebrating the completion of the summer rail works that had the network shut or for over a month and the start of electric trains to Pukekohe. First up, here’s parts of the press release about the shutdown works. Passengers boarding trains in Auckland ...
Through its austerity measures, the coalition government has engineered a rise in unemployment in order to reduce inflation while – simultaneously – cracking down harder and harder on the people thrown out of work by its own policies. To that end, Social Development Minister Louise Upston this week added two ...
This year, we've seen a radical, white supremacist government ignoring its Tiriti obligations, refusing to consult with Māori, and even trying to legislatively abrogate te Tiriti o Waitangi. When it was criticised by the Waitangi Tribunal, the government sabotaged that body, replacing its legal and historical experts with corporate shills, ...
Poor old democracy, it really is in a sorry state. It would be easy to put all the blame on the vandals and tyrants presently trashing the White House, but this has been years in the making. It begins with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan and the spirit of Gordon ...
The new school lunches came in this week, and they were absolutely scrumptious.I had some, and even though Connor said his tasted like “stodge” and gave him a sore tummy, I myself loved it!Look at the photos - I knew Mr Seymour wouldn’t lie when he told us last year:"It ...
The tighter sanctions are modelled on ones used in Britain, which did push people off ‘the dole’, but didn’t increase the number of workers, and which evidence has repeatedly shown don’t work. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, ...
Catching you up on the morning’s global news and a quick look at the parallels -GLOBALTariffs are backSharemarkets in the US, UK and Europe have “plunged” in response to Trump’s tariffs. And while Mexico has won a one month reprieve, Canada and China will see their respective 25% and 10% ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission. Gondolas are often in the news, with manufacturers of ropeway systems proposing them as a modern option for mass transit systems in New Zealand. However, like every next big thing in transport, it’s hard ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkBoth 2023 and 2024 were exceptionally warm years, at just below and above 1.5C relative to preindustrial in the WMO composite of surface temperature records, respectively. While we are still working to assess the full set of drivers of this warmth, it is clear that ...
Hi,I woke up feeling nervous this morning, realising that this weekend Flightless Bird is going to do it’s first ever live show. We’re heading to a sold out (!) show in Seattle to test the format out in front of an audience. If it works, we’ll do more. I want ...
From the United-For-Now States of America comes the thrilling news that a New Zealander may be at the very heart of the current coup. Punching above our weight on the world stage once more! Wait, you may be asking, what New Zealander? I speak of Peter Thiel, made street legal ...
Even Stevens: Over the 33 years between 1990 and 2023 (and allowing for the aberrant 2020 result) the average level of support enjoyed by the Left and Right blocs, at roughly 44.5 percent each, turns out to be, as near as dammit, identical.WORLDWIDE, THE PARTIES of the Left are presented ...
Back in 2023, a "prominent political figure" went on trial for historic sex offences. But we weren't allowed to know who they were or what political party they were "prominent" in, because it might affect the way we voted. At the time, I said that this was untenable; it was ...
I'm going, I'm goingWhere the water tastes like wineI'm going where the water tastes like wineWe can jump in the waterStay drunk all the timeI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayAll this fussing and fighting, man, you know I sure ...
Waitangi Day is a time to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and stand together for a just and fair Aotearoa. Across the motu, communities are gathering to reflect, kōrero, and take action for a future built on equity and tino rangatiratanga. From dawn ceremonies to whānau-friendly events, there are ...
Subscribe to Mountain Tūī ! Where you too can learn about exciting things from a flying bird! Tweet.Yes - I absolutely suck at marketing. It’s a fact.But first -My question to all readers is:How should I set up the Substack model?It’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask since November ...
Here’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s political economy on politics and in the week to Feb 3:PM Christopher Luxon began 2025’s first day of Parliament last Tuesday by carrying on where left off in 2024, letting National’s junior coalition partner set the political agenda and dragging ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
A new monthly podiatry clinic has been launched today in Wairoa and will bring a much-needed service closer to home for the Wairoa community, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.“Health New Zealand has been successful in securing a podiatrist until the end of June this year to meet the needs of ...
The Judicial Conduct Commissioner has recommended a Judicial Conduct Panel be established to inquire into and report on the alleged conduct of acting District Court Judge Ema Aitken in an incident last November, Attorney-General Judith Collins said today. “I referred the matter of Judge Aitken’s alleged conduct during an incident ...
Students who need extra help with maths are set to benefit from a targeted acceleration programme that will give them more confidence in the classroom, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Last year, significant numbers of students did not meet the foundational literacy and numeracy level required to gain NCEA. To ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced three new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ...
Ki te kahore he whakakitenga, ka ngaro te Iwi – without a vision, the people will perish. The Government has achieved its target to reduce the number of households in emergency housing motels by 75 per cent five years early, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The number of households ...
The opening of Palmerston North’s biggest social housing development will have a significant impact for whānau in need of safe, warm, dry housing, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The minister visited the development today at North Street where a total of 50 two, three, and four-bedroom homes plus a ...
Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. – The United States shares the pathologies of all dying empires with their mixture of buffoonery, rampant corruption, military fiascos, economic collapse and savage state repression.ANALYSIS: By Chris Hedges The billionaires, Christian fascists, grifters, psychopaths, imbeciles, narcissists and deviants who ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government has secured bipartisan support for a major new regime covering political donations and spending, after making significant concessions. The government agreed to increase the proposed threshold above which donations must be disclosed ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra With the election only months away, the Labor government finds itself suddenly battling with the Trump administration for an exemption from new US tariffs on steel and aluminium. The opposition has supported the effort, but ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julee McDonagh, Senior Research Fellow of Frailty Research, University of Wollongong PeopleImages.com – Yuri A/Shutterstock Ageing is a normal part of the life course. It doesn’t matter how many green smoothies you drink, or how many “anti-ageing” skin care products you ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bronwyn Carlson, Professor, Critical Indigenous Studies and Director of The Centre for Global Indigenous Futures, Macquarie University The Conversation, CC BY-SAAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and images of deceased people. Colonial commemorations ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Hazel, Associate Professor, School of Animal and Veterinary Science, University of Adelaide Masarik/Shutterstock In some overseas countries, pets can travel with their owners in a plane’s cabin, in a carrier under a seat. In Australia, pets must travel in the ...
A raft of proposed legislation changes to the media and screen industry have been announced this morning – we read through it all all so you don’t have to. What’s all this then? This morning the Ministry for Culture and Heritage released its draft proposed changes to media and screen ...
David Seymour's recent off-road parliamentary excursion led to a reprimand from the Speaker, who also said the rules didn't apply to this instance. What are the rules? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee Morgenbesser, Associate Professor, School of Government and International Relations, Griffith University, Griffith University Many Americans have watched in horror as Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, has been permitted to tear through various offices of the United States government in recent ...
By Patrick Decloitre,RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk French Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls has announced he will travel to New Caledonia later this month to pursue talks on the French territory’s political future. These discussions on February 22 follow preliminary talks held last week in Paris in “bilateral” mode ...
As Benjamin Netanyahu threatens to resume war, Hamas outlines widespread Israeli ceasefire violations in document sent to the mediators.By Jeremy Scahill and Sharif Abdel Kouddous of Dropsite News Hamas officials submitted a two-page report to mediators yesterday listing a wide range of Israeli violations of the Gaza ceasefire since ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Murray Print, Professor of Education, University of Sydney A federal parliamentary inquiry has just recommended civics and citizenship become a compulsory part of the Australian Curriculum, which covers the first year of school to Year 10. The committee also recommended a ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits of Aotearoa writers, and guests. This week: Claire Baylis, author of Dice and guest at the forthcoming HamLit programme at the Hamilton Arts Festival. The book I wish I’d writtenMy mind seems surprisingly unwilling ...
The courts should deal with illegal fishing, not the "court of public opinion", Shane Jones says, as he announces proposed changes to the Quota Management System. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Megan McElhone, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Monash University A London court has found Sam Kerr not guilty of the racially aggravated harassment of Metropolitan Police officer Stephen Lovell. As captain of the Australian women’s national soccer team, Kerr was widely condemned when ...
Could iwi and hapū be the unexpected solution to the government’s asset dilemma? David Seymour pressured the prime minister into an unwelcome conversation, and in the couple of weeks since the Act leader raised the issue in his state of the nation speech, privatisation has shifted from absent in the ...
Human rights advocates must uphold human dignity, rights and justice, while rejecting the discriminatory tactics we oppose, writes Taimor Hazou.Two weeks ago the Palestinian Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) launched a campaign inviting New Zealanders to call a hotline if they suspected an Israel Defence Force (IDF) soldier that had ...
Immigration New Zealand figures shows more people have been looking at the ETA and visitor visa pages on the website, however fewer people have applied to come or to extend their stay. ...
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For the WTF column: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/9472548/Trek-to-stop-benefit-cut-off. Time Paula Beneficiary-Basher had a bit of the same treatment.
Such nastiness will not be confined to just the small South Waikato town of Putaruru either, beneficiaries all over the country will be suffering the same ‘punishment’ and it should be the duty of WINZ to send a case worker to these towns where there is no permanent office on one or two days a week so as to enable those in such towns to be able to fulfill their ‘obligations’ in a manner befitting human beings in the year 2014…
Yep, nasty nasty nasty
nasty
nasty
nasty
what a horrible nasty Minister.
horrible and nasty
mean
compassionless
welcome to New Zealand, National Party style…….. no thanks
Thanks Slippery — good ole pure new zealand under your ‘leadership’.
So you are telling me 20yrs of welfare bludging should be applauded and Winz officers should now be runing to the welfare dependants, maybe they should pick up their ciggies,booze and groceries while they are at it
To poor to afford the bus was she must be Paula Bennets fault as well
I’m sure nobody could tell you a damned thing.
Well, nothing that will get through the armour of stereotyping stupidity that you have placed between yourself and reality, anyway.
So she hasnt been on the dole for 20years and no buses run to Tokoroa,has no friends that own a car a bike etc, this is a bullshit media beatup, putting me down just shows you for the insulting idiot you are instead of contributing or debating you abuse me, my “reality” is based on the facts given to us btw
grouch
Garbageman
Look just stick to what you are good at. Picking up the garbage – and that is an important job and an admirable one. But don’t wear yourself out trying to think about social matters. You haven’t got a caring bone in your body or a real brain that can understand and assess a problem. So go with your strengths and go and lift something that isn’t living and therefore can’t get hurt.
no your reality is based on your ignorance, prejudice and hypocrisy
1) everyone, including the winz staff memebrs in tokoroa would know theres no bus service
2) its the punitive one size fits all policy set by the govt that created this situation.
3) perhaps she had other means of transport available to her, just not on the exact same day and time winz demanded she trun up
4) you complain about people putting you down and abusing you – yet thats exactly what you opened with.
maybe get over your hatred and holier than thou stance and understand that this woman was doing what was demanded of her – and it was a situation that could have easily been rectified with a bit of common sense and mutual organising. Thats the point
Your disgusting attitude is “putting you down” plenty enough. There are beneficiaries isolated simply because they live on social security. You sound like the type to ditch friends should they become welfare dependant, although I wouldn’t be surprised if you have none except for some of those clones of you commenting on that Stuff article. ‘Garbage’, ‘Rubbish’, ‘Trash’.. certainly….’.Man’… not so much.
more of a man than you will ever be Fondler you just stick to slapping people on the back that agree with you and attacking people personally that dont agree with you, i have noticed its an ongoing theme on this site, try attacking the issue for a change, more than likely another dole bludger must be if you are happy to be paying taxes for 20 years to any welfare recipient it is supposed to be used for a helping hand to future employment not a lifestyle
The woman from that article doesn’t need garbage dump loiterers throwing trash at her, making judgements about her imagined habits and sobriety; she looked perfectly sober on the news. I applaud her for raising four children alone, that’s an admirable feat and something you seem unable to comprehend.
Love the way you attacked her then advocate only attacking the issue when your refuse gets returned, your wheelie-bin is overflowing.
perhaps you should stop attacking people first
you little whine about people being totes mean to you rings rather hollow, its neither accurate or original
And you obviously havent noticed that the issues do get debated back and forth quite readily – just not with fools who think that manners is a one way street
Garbageman
You say ‘ try attacking the issue for a change,’ because we criticise you. But you are part of the issue. You don’t see bringing children up as a job? You don’t think that children and teenagers are important and need good caring support as they grow up? Because you don’t appreciate or value what parenting you had, which may have been little, it doesn’t mean that others shouldn’t have better.
Good on you for walking 40 minutes to your job. I hope when you get home you don’t have to do the housework, cook, and get the children to do their homework and to bed ready to get up and go to school another day. Also pay the bills out of small resources, and try to find some work that fits in with the children’s needs. And the constant jobs, mending their clothes, trying to get second hand school uniforms, finding shoes they can wear for sports again because the last pair got stolen from their school locker, it goes on and on.
You apparently imagine that a good fairy does all that, or you never had that sort of care and have no memories of what is involved in doing a good job as a parent. You just like hating and criticising, and want to kick someone because your life is unhappy, so look enviously on someone who, in your imagine, is getting a better deal.
Well said GW, plenty for Garbage man to think about there, if he’s able to.
Could you walk that far in the time she does? I’m impressed by the effort she puts in to meet some stupid bureaucratic requirement. I’m not impressed by your repetition of the same shit garbage that you fools come out with all the time. Garbage is right.
Actually i walk 40 mins to and from work every day,so you are impressed thats nice i personally would be more impressed if this lady put as much effort over the last 20 years into getting a job and yes Garbage is right thanks
I’d be impressed if your 20 minutes each way amounted to a marathon distance. However it was more like what? 2-3kms
Actually its 40 mins each way every day to work which i guess isnt really relevant just clearing that up thanks
so you cant do 25k down a main highway? – what a patheitc wimp! There i was thinking you were a randian superman – im somewhat disappointed
LOL actually i would jump in my car or on my bike maybe get the bus if i had to or cadge a ride from someone and to show im not the heartless prick you lot seem to be trying to make me out to be im very happy she has had many offers of support and rides if needed but like i said initially its still just a bullshit media beat up
You arent her – your abilities, resources and opportunities (as well as mine) are irrelevant to the issue of someone with out any form of transport at that time, (other than walking) being required to travel a round trip of 25k over a state highway to get to an appointment that could have been rescheduled!
i would believe your not a heartless prick if you went back to your previous heartless comments, apologised for them and comprehended exactly why you got the reaction you did.
Few here would actually know each other in real life – so all anyone has to go on is what is written.
You started by attacking the person, spouted a whole lot of ignorant stereotypes, complained about people being mean right back at you and ignored the actual substance of any reply to you that attempted to examine or refute your claims
now youve got what?, Bragging about how far you walk to work and “LOL”?!
He should be able to make the road as he walks on it, and all without slowing down.
Did anyone hear Simon Mercep’s weak interview with Hekia Parata over declining international standing of NZ in education?
I felt he failed to ask her any of the key tricky questions?
Deliberate or incompetent?
We cannot blame National Standards for this one.
However, the next report will almost certainly show a further decline for which the Standards should be implicated. It’s the paperwork, paperwork, …
Teachers have had to change their focus to produce a heap of “irrelevant” paper in the last decade to satisfy the statisticians at the expense of focusing on the children in front of them.
There has also been a significant increase in the number of children arriving at the school gates, tired and under-nourished – hardly in a fit state to learn.
Deliberate or incompetent?
Timid and incompetent.
Morrisey
Unlike your good self. You could be a good guy on a panel. There could be a guest spot available on Radio Live or wherever JT and WJ usually hang out. You could get people going for sure. With the right amount of irritation to produce some lively talk.
Thank you, greywarbler, but I’d be a dud. I’m absolutely sure I’d end up bending over backwards to be polite to the likes of Hekia Parata. I excoriate Simon Mercep for it, but I know I wouldn’t be any better than he is.
Morrissey
Good point. Striking the right balance – neither sycophantic (which makes the rest feel sick) or incisive and attacking (which results in drawn knives and cries of foul from the other side) is a hard thing. I didn’t realise that Maggie Barry was such a right wing gal till after she had left – she covered up so well from my perspective.
But don’t talk yourself down, you could have a role in stirring what can be a festering murky brew on some talkback, to mix some sunlight in. Or even add different colours to change the hue, some spilt blood red for instance. Then a touch of blue blood. Spin that colour wheel like a pizza cutter. wheee!
Blood and pizza. I LIKE the sound of that!
‘Mr Dunn is a serial leaker’ Winston Peters, RNZ.
Pot and Kettle.
If you were still thinking that GMO was a good idea then think again:
I never thought these thoughts would occur to me but today when I eat virtually anything I wonder if it has been over-modified, over-processed and whether it has been comprehensively tested for any potential effects from those overs-.
Clearly there will be a very rapidly growing market for non-modified and non-processed foods. It is already underway but I suspects it is about to go nuts….
… which of course will send the US corporates like Monsanto nuts, and their paid lobbyists in the TPPA and other corrals under construction will ramp it all up too.
Grow your own. The only way. With non-modified seeds.
the only way
walk away
from the supermarche
“Grow your own. The only way. With non-modified seeds. ”
That’s good for you but the vast majority of the world actually can’t grow there own.
Doesn’t mean it’s not a good idea mate.
As below the overwhelming consensus is that they are safe for human consumption.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonentine/2013/08/29/are-gmos-safe-global-independent-science-organizations-weigh-in/
Don’t care. Mine are better.
?
Which word are you having trouble with?
Your what are better?
What they, TC?
My non-modified, non-processed foods.
Do you not even read the comments you reply to? Just lurch in? It won’t save you any time in the long run.
Which foods are you eating that are non-modified?
Which foods are you eating that are non-modified?
In the context of the discussion above (yeah I know it’s really hard) lots of them.
In the context of the meaninglessness you’re trying to move the discussion to (everything is just molecules and it doesn’t matter how they’re arranged, man) none.
I was asking for specifics.
No you weren’t. You were attempting to demonstrate that everything is “modified” from something else in some way or other and then extrapolate that every modification is equally stable and worthwhile, and hope no-one noticed the massive leap in between.
No.
Many of them could if their colonial masters hadn’t forced them to grow our fucking coffee.
What does that have to do with the safety of GMO?
I don’t know. But it has a great deal to do with your assertion that “the vast majority of the world actually can’t grow there own.”
Which I imagine is why it was placed as a reply to that assertion. But then I do have a very active imagination which even allows me to follow straightforward conversations without ending up like you.
GMO is a good idea, is supported in roughly the same overwhelming consensus of scientists as global warming and has been shown to safe for human consumption and study after study has shown it.
As to your specific link:
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2013/04/22/better-late-than-never-when-hysteria-about-gmos-takes-root/
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2013/06/17/bad-science-about-gmos-it-reminds-me-of-the-antivaccine-movement-revisited/
Thanks for that. Always good to hear both sides.
How many generations of humans have been studied with regards to GMO food?
First you need to define GMO food because humans have been changing the genetics of food for 100s if not 1000s of years.
selective breeding isnt the same thing as genetic modification though is it
Rubbish. They haven’t been around long enough to test properly for long term effects on animals and humans. And all the published research is funded by the patent owners. Yes, you are really thinking this through, I can tell !
National Academy of Sciences owns GMO patents?
FUNDED by patent owners ..
doesn’t matter who does the research .. cherchez le holy dollars !!!
“GMO’s for dinner .. fine menu selection, sir.
Would you like a side-order of tumours with that ??”
What tumours? Got a link?
Also got a link to support the studies done by the National Academy of Sciences was funded by the patent owners?
What tumours? Got a link?
Also got a link to support the studies done by the National Academy of Sciences was funded by the patent owners?
“GMO is a good idea, is supported in roughly the same overwhelming consensus of scientists as global warming and has been shown to safe for human consumption and study after study has shown it.”
It may be supported by an overwhelming consensus of Monsanto lobbyists working for the FDA, but my impression of the wider science community is that the jury is out and we should proceed with caution. Many more scientists oppose GMO because they see the damage that corporate monoculture does to agriculture. The soy in South America is about as good for the natural and social environment as Fonterra is for Aotearoa, but on a much larger scale. Do you have a source for your overwhelming consensus?
“It may be supported by an overwhelming consensus of Monsanto lobbyists working for the FDA, but my impression of the wider science community is that the jury is out and we should proceed with caution.”
Are these organisations lobbyists with the FDA? They are the same organisations that speak on the efficiency of vaccines and the truth of man-made global warming.
http://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/GLP-Science-and-GMOs.pdf
“It may be supported by an overwhelming consensus of Monsanto lobbyists working for the FDA, but my impression of the wider science community is that the jury is out and we should proceed with caution.”
These are some of the global, preeminent science organisations. Monsanto lobbyists they are not.
http://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/GLP-Science-and-GMOs.pdf
“It may be supported by an overwhelming consensus of Monsanto lobbyists working for the FDA, but my impression of the wider science community is that the jury is out and we should proceed with caution.”
These are some of the global, preeminent science organisations. Monsanto lobbyists they are not.
http://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/GLP-Science-and-GMOs.pdf
And:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonentine/2013/08/29/are-gmos-safe-global-independent-science-organizations-weigh-in/
“It may be supported by an overwhelming consensus of Monsanto lobbyists working for the FDA, but my impression of the wider science community is that the jury is out and we should proceed with caution.”
These are some of the global, preeminent science organisations. Monsanto lobbyists they are not.
http://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/GLP-Science-and-GMOs.pdf
And:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonentine/2013/08/29/are-gmos-safe-global-independent-science-organizations-weigh-in/
Errr, not sure why the above repetition happened. Kept getting errors….
Errr, not sure why the above repetition happened. Kept getting errors….
Errr, not sure why the above repetition happened. Kept getting errors….
Because you submitted again after getting the error.
There may have been some repeated submitting…
Oh well, I keep getting put in moderation, and I thought I’d been behaving myself lately…
You usually behave yourself (apart from your taste in music of course). The site or rather the spam checker we use is having loading issues. So comments are winding up in moderation because they can’t get spam checked.
You have it easy. I’m cleaning up 500+ spam comments per day that are getting through the spam checker for me to examine.
Working on fixing it now.
Your hard work is very much appreciated lprent, I have much respect and gratitude for all that you do here. This end is certainly the easy part compared to your workload, I can only dream of having your skills and commitment.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11166500
Split in Destiny church.
god will be really upset about this.
Just another person following the advice that, supposedly, L. Ron Hubbard got: If you want to become rich, start your own church. And why not? It obviously worked for Hubbard and for Brian Tamaki.
…and Henry VIII. However the Tudors had the smarts to make their under-lords rich also. Brian is failing to share out the filthy lucre that his gang is pilfering from the poor.
what I love about the destiny church and brian tamaki thingy is the illustration it is of the extent to which humans can self-justify.
most amusing, we humans …..
Schisms occur in big business too you know.
especially when flagship projects start to stall, like the Tamaki Jonestown.
Jonestown – “Love is the only weapon. Martin Luther King died for love…” @2:07
Religion is Big Business didn’t you know. The growth industry.
We hear that chartered accountants are attracted to all sort of figures but at the end of the day they don’t add up to much.
We hear that chartered accountants are attracted to all sorts of figures but at the end of the day they don’t add up to much.
“This is where I STOP being a liberal!”
“After a comedy show, one is often mobbed by the ladies…”
Mediocrity Watch No. 9: ANDREW CLAY
On yesterday’s Open Mike, our friend and colleague Murray Olsen asked: “Who is Andrew Clay and should I be worried?”…
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-03122013-2/#comment-738655
Well, Murray, have a gander at an appearance he made on Jim Mora’s show earlier this year…
“After a comedy show, one is often mobbed by the ladies”
Angry boyfriends target Tall Poppy Andrew Clay
The Panel, Radio NZ National, Thursday 28 April 2013
Jim Mora, Andrew Clay, Lisa Scott
Andrew Clay is a comedian, who a couple of years ago was paid to go to Afghanistan, ostensibly to entertain New Zealand’s occupation troops, but in fact to ensure he never again uttered a critical word about government policy. His comedic comrade MIKE KING was similarly co-opted, and even made a ridiculous television program about his trip. Clay likes to say he is a liberal, but every time he appears on The Panel he manages to froth and rave against such irritating trivialities as prisoners’ rights, or even human rights in general. Maybe he’s been out drinking with soldiers too often….
JIM MORA: We start with the very sad story of Jesse Ryder, who is in an induced coma after a very bad assault in Christchurch early this morning.
ANDREW CLAY: This is where I STOP being a liberal! I don’t CARE about the human rights of people who do this! Part of me just wants to HURT the people who did this to Jesse Ryder! Now I know I shouldn’t say that, but that’s the way I feel.
MORA: Mmmm, mmmm.
LISA SCOTT: Mmmmm.
ANDREW CLAY: We shouldn’t talk like that about people but….
LISA SCOTT: It’s okay for scum.
JIM MORA: Hmmmmmm…. We have this ugly thing in the New Zealand male psyche that makes us pick fights with sports stars, don’t we.
LISA SCOTT: It’s the Tall Poppy syndrome isn’t it.
ANDREW CLAY: It sure is. I’ve experienced it myself. After a comedy show, one is often mobbed by the ladies, and I have more than once felt the angry looks of male punters. Although I’ve never actually been assaulted, I’ve felt in imminent danger on several occasions and had to walk away. It’s the Tall Poppy syndrome.
JIM MORA: [politely dubious] Hmmmmmm….
LISA SCOTT: [skeptical] Mmmmmmm…
Read more about Andrew Clay, including an extraordinarily embarrassing overshare about his ignorance of the Khmer Rouge….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-28032013/#comment-611053
Mediocrity Watch aims to keep you informed of—or, to quote the epically mediocre Simon Dallow, to be “right across”—the shoddiest, least professional, most insulting journalism and taxpayer-subsidised-sensitive-singer-songwriting from all over the world, but especially New Zealand. It is produced by DeakerWatch®, a division of Daisycutter Sports Inc.
More mediocrities….
No. 8: Ed Sheeran “I See Dire”
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-071113/#comment-723312
No. 7: Paul Little: [Russell Brand] is “petulant, ungracious and unfunny” and a “cut-rate Chomsky”.
No. 6: David Farrar: “Things were generally very relaxed in this area.”
No. 5: Jordan Williams: ““Capping rents seems like a recipe for disaster.”
No. 4: Prof. Robert Patman: “Hezbollah is totally a creature of the Iranian regime.”
No. 3: Jeremy Wells: “What evidence is there that secondhand smoking does any harm? Where is the evidence? WHERE IS THE EVIDENCE?”
No. 2: Gavin Gray: “…never been any problems associated with the name King George.”
No. 1: Susie Ferguson: “If, as you say, this has all been done before, why do it all again?”
I remember seeing Mike King in Timor Leste, teaching young kids to say “Aussie wanker”. It was cringeworthy stuff.
on my rounds this morn..i found this tasty musical-treat..
“..Everyone knows Police and Thieves – but there was more to Junior Murvin than that one song.
Here’s the proof..”
http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2013/dec/03/junior-murvin-five-great-performances-police-and-thieves
(hope that rocks yr morn..
phillip ure..
My experience with ts this morning. I wrote a comment and submitted with an involuntary double click and got duplicate message. Went back to my comment and it was back in editing mode, so I did that, and submitted again and got the closed sign. Then I went back and refreshed with Home and there it was in the Comments list.
on my rounds this morn..i found this tasty musical-treat..
“..Everyone knows Police and Thieves – but there was more to Junior Murvin than that one song.
Here’s the proof..”
http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2013/dec/03/junior-murvin-five-great-performances-police-and-thieves
(hope that rocks yr morn..)
phillip ure..
My experience with ts this morning. I wrote a comment and submitted with an involuntary double click and got duplicate message. Went back to my comment and it was back in editing mode, so I did that, and submitted again and got the Connection closed by remote server page. Then I checked if I was still under submitting control. Then I went back and refreshed with Home and there it was in the Comments list.
Now I have double comments in moderation about the moves I had to make to get on ts this morning. Sigh. Bye for now. I’ll get on with my day.
Re Simon Merceps interview of Parata. Simon’s first question was, paraphrasing, “isn’t Labour just as much to blame?” He repeated this point in the same interview. It would appear he could be an apologist for the governments line. I have noticed Geof Robinson do the same thing when a government minister declined to be interviewed and he, by default, found himself taking the government line. Bizarre really.
@phil..
..if you accept..as i seem to be hearing..that much of this rankings-slump is down to poverty/inequality..
..that it is an outcome/symptom from the dickensian-horrors that is a life of grinding/abject-poverty..
..with no end in sight..
..then the rogernomics/clark labour govts most certainly are ‘as much to blame’..
..as the current band of tory opportunists/class-warriors/asset-looters..
..how can they not be..?
..(‘working for (some) families’..?..anyone..?..)
..phillip ure..
Chomsky not impressed by Bob Dylan’s incoherent rambling
June, 1994
Just the other day I was sitting in a radio studio waiting for a satellite arrangement abroad to be set up. The engineers were putting together interviews with Bob Dylan from about 1966-7 or so (judging by the references), and I was listening (I’d never heard him talk before — if you can call that talking). He sounded as though he was so drugged he was barely coherent, but the message got through clearly enough through the haze. He said over and over that he’d been through all of this protest thing, realized it was nonsense, and that the only thing that was important was to live his own life happily and freely, not to “mess around with other people’s lives” by working for civil and human rights, ending war and poverty, etc. He was asked what he thought about the Berkeley “free speech movement” and said that he didn’t understand it. He said something like: “I have free speech, I can do what I want, so it has nothing to do with me. Period.” If the capitalist PR machine wanted to invent someone for their purposes, they couldn’t have made a better choice.
http://www.chomsky.info/letters/199406–.htm
ok..a stoned-rant in/from 1966..
..got anything else..?
phillip ure..
a stoned rant from 2013 suffice?
Stoned or not, Dylan’s political naïveté and the lack of intelligence is a sad fact of life for too many pampered American musicians. Here’s another fool who doesn’t seem to have much idea about anything….
certainly not The Ghost of Tom Joad and a long way back to The River .
It’s true that the wonderful word play, various interpretations/ meanings of a Dylan song outshine his ability to make sense with his spoken word more often than not. Many artists are better off letting their art do the talking.
Talk Talk
You could have a valid point there. Perhaps Shakespeare was an indolent thinker and an incoherent dolt in his everyday discourse. Certainly Martin Amis is. As was his father Kingsley. And Bruce Springsteen.
In fact, it’s hard to think of a singer or a writer who does have the ability to express him/herself coherently, and who has actually done some serious reading and thinking.
It’s true that the wonderful word play, various interpretations/ meanings of a Dylan song outshine his ability to make sense with his spoken word more often than not.
Dylan made perfect sense, even though, as Chomsky observed, he was clearly under the influence of drugs at the time. The problem is not that his thinking was so muddled; the problem is that it is so threadbare, so irresponsible, and so contemptuous of people who did actually care about something other than themselves. Dylan was not stupid, he was indolent. Judging by some of his recent utterances, nothing has changed in forty-seven years.
He seemingly hasn’t moved on from trying to shock and offend the way he did in the ’60’s when he wanted to shake off the “voice of a generation”, “prophet” etc. labels people tried to pigeonhole him with. He’s the quintessential troubadour and would be best to keep to that field of expertise. i.e. Blind Willie McTell
Bob and John incoherent, – pissed or stoned.
edit: Bob’s been busy too.
Stoned immaculate joe; Wonderful footage. 😀
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/12/04/colin-craig-now-denies-moon-landing/
I cannot figure what strategy Colin Craig has in mind in making non-committal statements about science. Attention seeking? Is he simply reflecting his constituency?
I hope there are not too many people out there which the education system has failed given that we live in a democracy.
Maybe it is all part of a master plan to not educate people well so the powers that be can rule with impunity.
Don’t! Ask Colin
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11166736
-he’s still “looking into it”. -“…Here’s a truck-stop instead of St Peter’s , yeah yeah yeah yeah”
“…Asked again, Mr Craig said he had “no idea” whether man had walked on the moon…’
Wow. Just…wow.
I don’t understand how he can claim to not hold a position because it’s not worth his time to think about.
The questions would go away if he stopped umming and arrrring – instead, it appears he has thought about it enough to be aware of conspiracy theories.
the Minimum We Can Do
More research coming out showing that raising the minimum wage has no effect upon employment.
Banks has called a press conference for 11am. Boscowan in attendance.
The Prime Minister happily looks forward to the press conference …
http://media.nzherald.co.nz/webcontent/image/jpg/201349/12633fb638a61ec361a1be3808ec8a0caaf7ac76_620x310.jpg
(Photo: NZ Herald, today)
Dr Doom (no, not Victor) -Nouriel Roubini
on NZ and other international Housing Bubbles:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11166353
“policy-makers will not have the tools of 2008 to cushion the fall”. (just a little pin-prick…there will be some aaargh ) 😎
i will claim to have possibly been the first in nz to predict the g.f.c…and the reasons for it..(in sept ’06 @ whoar..)
..and i was relying on the words/predictions of roubini..in making that call..
..so..if roubini sez we have an about to burst housing bubble..
..i’d tend to believe him..
..eh..?
..he has quite the record for being accurate..
http://whoar.co.nz/?s=roubini
phillip ure..
whoar! 🙂
Parliamentary Select Committee piloting live streaming now. Serious Fraud Office Review.
Thanks Karol. Wonder if that will be constant?
Cunliffe on Radio Live with Plunket just now: 10.20-10.30 (audio on their website 1 hour later).
Really strong and clear. And Plunket is no pussy cat.
Tweet – owns it, no waffle, no BS.
Craig – will not be a coalition partner, period. And asked the same Qs (moon landings, chem trails etc) Cunliffe’s answers are unequivocal and – thank goodness – sane.
Banks – toast.
Anyone who has any lingering doubts about Cunliffe vs Key (or Shearer, or whoever) should listen.
And Radio live headlines the audio with David Cunliffe admits Christchurch East tweet error”
For analysis that puts the whole thing in perspective Imperator Fish’s latest is right on the money
http://imperatorfish.com/2013/12/03/you-will-never-take-me-alive/
Heh. Armed with a smart phone and dangerous!
And now his latest latest: A statement from Colin Craig
Very good performance from Cunners, even allowing for Plunket being such a persistently annoying dickhead over the tweet issue and talking over him at times.
Cunliffe tweet referred to the police by Electoral Commission
Seriously? A police investigation for this, a tweet which was deleted after a few seconds?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11167011
“Cunliffe on Radio Live with Plunket just now: 10.20-10.30 (audio on their website 1 hour later).
Really strong and clear. And Plunket is no pussy cat.
Tweet – owns it, no waffle, no BS.”
There was BS- Cunliffe claimed he has only a couple of thousand twitter followers- https://twitter.com/DavidCunliffeMP shows three times that amount.
Because “a couple” is only ever literally used to mean “2”. 🙄
Yes- http://www.thefreedictionary.com/couple
I can understand it being up near three thousand and saying a couple, but it is more accurate for me to say nearly ten thousand people could have seen that tweet than Cunliffe saying only a couple of thousand of people could have seen that tweet.
How dare a politician be circumspect! They must always resort to hyperbole, name calling, hair pulling and mud slinging – 100% of the time, 24/7, round the clock, yadda yadda yadda
RedRobin you’re a fucking moron.
Audio here: http://www.radiolive.co.nz/Audio.aspx Wednesday 10:15 am segment.
Cunliffe says “a few thousand”.
He probably doesn’t look at the number of followers he has and doesn’t normally know the number at all.
Banks to hold Press conference at 11am this morning.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11166756
Travellerev may have to vote for Colin Craig, if he keeps this up.
funny, yet unlikely.Craig would be more supportive of the AQ thesis
I hear Colin Craig is not sure if gravity exists, although he is inclined to believe it.
He has not investigated whether electricity is real, either.
shocking revelation as credibility plummets to Hades;
Styx and stones may break our bones, yet fools leave us in stitches. 😉
those two are rather good 🙂 – have you taken up a post at the civilian?
maybe someone could provide him with a chair (ok, that’s two ‘contexts’ for the price of one) 🙂
“funny, yet unlikely.Craig would be more supportive of the AQ thesis”
He was asked about this just the other day by Sean Plunket. He reckons “probably terrorists but who knows” or words to that effect.
Ho Ho! Mr Banks will not seek re-election in 2014. Wow! Surprise. But it seems he will not resign. So he will continue to be a thorn in Key’s side?
Ho Ho! Mr Banks will not seek re-election in 2014. Wow! Surprise. But it seems he will not resign. So he will continue to be a thorn in Key’s side?
Crikey. Reply getting carried away – twice- again!
Read this link. It’s why we are in the state we are because almost all out pollies try to do the opposite
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1P83hd_hvX8/SbnUWo7nxCI/AAAAAAAAAG4/-jpyXk1XPIQ/S240/Jefferson_believed.jpg
And as long as we continue with representative democracy we will have politicians continuing to try and prevent the people from having a say in their own governance. First they will continue to ensure that the people don’t have enough information (TPPA) and then they’ll ignore what the people say anyway (Asset sales).
Bring on an informed participatory citizen democracy.
I’m wondering if we could cut out some of the middlemen and put our names down to be on a panel for our locality interviewing the operational head of a department who would travel the country to be interviewed by a stratified random panel, with others in as observers. They would then have to follow a job description made up by we the peeps with input from them.
The politicians don’t seem to be interested in their electors and they don’t want to have any control over their workers, saying to any queries ‘Oh I couldn’t comment, it is an operational matter’. They are worse than useless because they will take a functioning system and discard it, or replace it. So something better is required.
As far as running things by referendum is concerned as another way, I don’t really like the It becomes another tax evasion system where people will go for the cheapest option unless it’s urgently necessary to have something done in their own neighbourhood.
They missed the word “owning” before “the people”.
Testing comment bouncer.
That worked…
Test it again..
Ok, due to a neat little trick in .htaccess, I’m now reflecting any attempt to leave comments without a referrer back to the Ip that it is calling from.
The effect is to block stupid spambots.
A few more of those and the current deluge of spam might stop clogging the servers.
Back to being slow and getting lost when commenting.
Working on it now. Unfortunately I really have to do this stuff when the number of users online is low..
Ok. Partially a problem with akismet, and it looks like a routing problem on a server to the database.
I’m going to try a more passive anti-spam system that doesn’t involve squirting message data around the world.
Off to bed.
Colin Craig provides further evidence for falling educational standards
Colon Craig provides evidence people can succeed in business with only their brain stem functioning.
ah ah lol
Bouncer? You getting heavy lprent?
This site is awfully slow to load lately, why?
amirite
You could try searching for lprent and all the things that are being done to the site and for it will come up. Which helps to keep up with the latest. Lynn said recently that there was a lot of spam coming through and overwhelming the system. I’m having some problems and think it possible that its partly my phone connections and/or my hardware.
Mr C!
hosted overseas
by attentive ears.
I’m still laughing: Colin Craig said he had “no idea” whether moa are still alive in remote parts of New Zealand but some people might believe that.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11166736
Key trying to prove that his potential coalition partner is not just a joke.
Key is getting more desperate for Crazy’s support.
So, coming to you all next – Key providing cover, excuses and apologies for Crazy.
Its possible but extremely unlikely, the Takahe was also thought to be extinct until it was rediscovered in the late 40s, but it seems to me his big problem seems to be with answering questions too honestly
I wouldn’t mind betting that some (most?) of the MPs we have now probably have some extremely bat-shit crazy views but are smart enough to keep them to themselves
Although it seems to me that those with religious views almost seem to want to be ridiculed as it reinforces their views…almost like they’re martyrs or something so they’re probably cheering CC on
(I apologize to those on here who are religious but arn’t bat-shit crazy for lumping them all in together)
Nah mate, the bat-shit crazy lot in power at present have been turning their warped views into law/policy, ffs .
Nah, it’s deliberate and there’s nothing honest about it. Craig is targeting his secondary market, plain and simple.
Piss73. “Batshit” was never a word. Please.
Referendum – now 1,008,600 votes
I think we need to set a target which crosses 1.5M votes. Let’s push for it.
Even that writer moi, knows you dont campaign on a election day. Perhaps Cunliffe can share a cell with Banks.
https://twitter.com/katieabradford
– While I don’t think what he did is all that bad but it really does just illustrate politicians lax views towards electoral rules (left and right), surely hes telling fibs that he didn’t know yet he knows he can quite clearly get away with doing it because the police probably won’t do anything about it
Thanks for an insight into the way you think.
Well theres not going to be any repercussions for him are their so theres no need for him or anyone else to be bothered with the electoral commission
surely hes telling fibs that he didn’t know yet he knows he can quite clearly get away with doing it
Fair enough trying make a deal out of it, but honestly, doesn’t the fact he deleted it quick enough that hardly anyone even got a screen grab, and then informed on himself about it, kind of indicate that it was more cock up than intent to ‘get away with it’?
What was the plan? I’ll tweet something, delete it real quick so hardly anyone sees it, turn myself in, aah, win?
Its more concerning that he and everyone else involved apparently didn’t know it wasn’t allowed, I mean its pretty basic stuff that isn’t it?
Curious to see the desperation of some righties – a 10 second tweet is all you’ve got?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9192790/Cunliffe-to-refresh-online-CV
“Refreshing” is such a nicer term then got out telling porkies isn’t it
“Mr Cunliffe alleged Ms Adams went to “great lengths” to keep the information from the public, telling Parliament there was a “very low” risk of a large scale oil spill occurring.”
– Turned out the report was on-line the whole time
Anytime Cunliffe pledged support to Goff or Shearer and the exaggeration over the extent of his work on the formation of Fonterra
Yeah, that’s the sort of thing karol was talking about I guess.
Jesus complex from the righties, Pb. Trying to turn water into wine; a few loaves and fishes into food for the thousands.
They seem to think if they endlessly repeat trivia, with or without embellishments, it’ll somehow become a major crime against humanity.
Painful to keep reading such desperation.
When did Cunliffe break his promise to support Goff or Shearer?
CV embellishment – if you are soooo concerned about such things, when/if Hooton announces he’s standing for parliament, I expect to see your full outrage against the CV embellishment that has long been in his work website. (after Bradbury tweeted about Hooton potentially standing for ACT leader, Hooton tweeted a couple of hours ago,
)
Now that point about Adams report is just extreme total desperation.
Very concerning yes. Deeply, terribly concerning. #concerned
There’s a difference between purposefully breaking the law and trying to get away with it and making a mistake and owning up to it within minutes.
What was the plan?
Oh, it’s a dastardly one, PB. He’s going to convince us all that he’s upfront and trustworthy, even when he makes mistakes, by acting in an upfront and trustworthy way after he makes a mistake. Fuckin’ Machiavellian, that.
Piss73 – they (the upper echelons of the Police) actually might prosecute Cunliffe……..having learned their lesson about playing sucky politics – right wing sucky as it happens. McCready humiliated them. Ups to him.
Let’s suppose they do prosecute Pisso. An artful law student could probably word up a diversion submission before second appearance. Botox is headed for a jury Piss. That’s the diff’.
Piss attempt at painting moral equivalence there Piss.
Banks is on trial for electoral fraud. The other fellow tweeted a straightforward message, and didn’t try to lie about it.
Yet another lamentable lapse of judgement by you.
Perhaps Cunliffe can share a cell with Banks.
Cunliffe’s “crime” would only get a fine – up to $20,000.
I am starting to believe that the RWNJs are seeing the act in this light because even they are not blind to the writing on the wall for John Key. With their beloved hero, back against the wall, appealing to NZ not to vote him out next year and to vote in his only chances for electoral victory in the forms of Colin “Chemtrails” Craig and an as yet unnamed ACT representative (showing just how likely *that* is) – their only hope is that Cunliffe is removed.
Expect to see every single misstep from him represented in these preposterous terms all the way until election day – and the more they repeat it, the less the electorate will listen because it will become a continuing narrative of irrelevance from the Right as they focus on non-issues.
Yeah, there are so many things to focus on … e.g. GCSB, Chorus, SkyCity, Christchurch rebuild, deep sea oil drilling, and the big one today about MRP share prices continuing to drop and the slump in sale proceeds:
http://tvnz.co.nz/business-news/mrp-shares-dip-english-explains-asset-sales-shortfall-5753684
When I saw that Key called Banks a thoroughly honest guy I are you freaking serious thought do you believe what you are saying he’s got to go
both of them have to go.
Radio Live is now broadcasting The Conspiracy Hour. No, I am not making this up!
Callers are invited to outline their conspiracy theory in 90 seconds. There’s a prize for the “best” (craziest).
First up – 9/11.
Second caller – Johnny, says by 2024 there will be a One World Government. Something to do with UFB and digital TV. “Connect the dots” says Johnny.
More soon.
Billy says something about a rocket going to Venus, but he may have been taking the piss (or on it).
Next. Tracey, she believes in lots of them … Twin Towers, something about the Titanic not really sinking, a couple more, but – she emphasises – she does like Colin Craig.
Next guy also lists all of them. Must be heavy sarcasm. Well, maybe.
Mike says all the victims of 9/11 were paid to destroy the buildings from the inside. Plus something about Marilyn Monroe.
Who needs Rush Limbaugh, we got Radio Live!
More conspiracies …
The next caller links the Christchurch earthquake(s) and Israel. Because Bob Parker went to Israel. Obviously.
Mark – 6,000 years ago there were the floods of Noah. The dinosaurs were killed off. Dragons survived in Wales and Loch Ness, but most were killed. The Bible is right, basically.
Next one – not enough fuel to get to Moon and back. So there.
Tim has a law degree. Believe in the Bible, Jesus is Lord, and a whole lot more.
OK, now they’re coming thick and fast. Illuminati, the anti-Christ is behind everything bad.
Common theme so far: God.
Is Radio Live helping compile a long list of candidates for Crazy’s party list as well as assisting with policy development for the Crazy party?
WHERE ARE THE LIZARD PEOPLE!
This….?.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/03/1260000/-Exposed-Globally-Renowned-Activist-Collaborated-With-Intelligence-Firm-Stratfor
http://www.occupy.com/article/exposed-globally-renowned-activist-collaborated-intelligence-firm-stratfor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sr%C4%91a_Popovi%C4%87