If Reeva Steenkamp had been a dead Iraqi woman, this canting
hypocrite would not have tolerated any expressions of support for her. Paul Henry, Friday 4 November 2015, 6:15 a.m.
sanctimoniousadj. 1. showing or marked by false piety or righteousness; hypocritically virtuous; 2. excessively or hypocritically pious.
Big news of the day: Oscar Pistorius gets 15 years for murder…..
PAUL “KILL THEM ALL” HENRY: The internet will be going mad about this. What are they saying, Charlotte?
CHARLOTTE RYAN: There’s relief all over social media. A lot of people are tweeting, simply, “Her name was Reeva Steenkamp.”
PAUL “KILL THEM ALL” HENRY:[gravely] Mmmmm.
CHARLOTTE RYAN: Just to remind people, you know, who she was.
The changes proposed to S.95A of the Act mean that NO residential subdivision and/or development will be able to be publicly notified regardless of adverse effects. This means that the checks and balances of public submission and the ability to appeal to the Environment Court will be removed completely from ALL residential subdivisions and developments.
The result will be that in places such as Queenstown or Wanaka visually intrusive residential developments promoted by well-resourced developers will inevitably gain consent from (specially chosen, often poorly trained) commissioners without any public input. This is a disaster for NZ’s landscapes in the making.
Why on earth have the Maori Party signed up to this?
S.95A should be kept as it it is. In its current form it does not hold back residential development. The Nats are simply using this as an excuse to change it.
One can only hope that Dunne and the Maori Party realise the the disastrous effects of this change before it is too late.
As well as S 95A, have you seen the wee tweak hidden in the depths of the reams of RMA legislation regarding environmental protection of the EEZ? There’s lots and lots of such sneaky devices scattered in there.
I’m sorry you’re surprised with Labour’s support for the changes but its not exactly new news that Labour couldn’t give a fuck about the environment. It was Labour which opened Pike River Mine on conservation land, put tax breaks for fossil fuel corporations into law, and, and and. But don’t panic: Labour has got its media spin in place. Its all about “jobs first” and, believe it or not, “values”.
The Maori Party has been bought off with more money for “social investment” and will probably just hitch a ride on Labour’s excuse when it comes to defending its position. As for Dunne? Who knows, except that Dunne will do what’s best for Dunne.
I know they are smoke-stack socialists where jobs matter and all other considerations pale, but surely Labour can’t support the destruction of NZ’s landscape in this day and age. For one thing it is actually a long-term loss to the economy.
but surely Labour can’t support the destruction of NZ’s landscape in this day and age.
Apparently they do.
IMO, Labour are still operating as if we’re in the 19th century and that all of the knowledge gained in the 20th century doesn’t exist. This is somewhat better than National who are trying to take us back to the 15th century and serfdom – but not by much.
Worst thing is Twyford being stupid enough to parrot libertarian nonsense about land supply being the main problem with housing affordability. Genius strategy.
Boots, Bombs and Bullets. Well done to those Labour MP’s who crossed the house in the UK to do what was right. Shall now sit back and watch the Marxist Corbyn and his brown, I mean red shirts “Movement” attempt to intimidate and harass those MP’s that are now classed as traitors. How very socialist.
“Afshin Rattansi goes underground with John Pilger. Award winning journalist and author, John Pilger talks to us about how Washington, London and Paris gave birth to ISIS-Daesh. Plus we examine the media’s role in spreading disinformation ahead of a vote in Parliament for UK bombing of Syria. Afshin looks at the Autumn Statement and why in a time of high alert we are cutting the police force and buying drones. Also we look at which companies are benefitting from the budget. Plus Afshin is joined once again by former MP and broadcaster, Lembit Opik, to look at the weeks news from a cyber sinking feeling over Trident to budget boosts for the BBC.”
Méndez attributed Uruguay’s success to three key factors: credibility (a stable democracy that has never defaulted on its debts so it is attractive for long-term investments); helpful natural conditions (good wind, decent solar radiation and lots of biomass from agriculture); and strong public companies (which are a reliable partner for private firms and can work with the state to create an attractive operating environment).
…
But, perhaps, the biggest lesson that Uruguay can provide to the delegates in Paris is the importance of strong decision-making.
That first paragraph could be describing New Zealand. The second paragraph… not so much.
Wikileaks new drop on TISA .. how to unravel any Paris CC agreements.
1. This companion agreement to TPPA is being negotiated IN SECRET. like the TPPA
2. This “agreement” proposes putting all forms of energy production on same footing- both pollutiing and non-polluting- calling it” technological neutrality”,
solar.nuclear, wind from coal, or geothermal from fracking”
3. TISA also establishes a free market for energy suppliers, https://wikileaks.org/tisa/Analysis-TiSA-Annex-on-Energy-related-Services-QA/page-1.html
Folks – what is ‘PUBLIC’ about so-called ‘public transport’ in Auckland?
There are 10 private bus companies, 4 private ferries and a French multi-national which operates and manages Auckland trains.
How much public subsidy is/ has been provided to these PRIVATE passenger transport providers since Auckland Transport came into existence on 1 November 2010?
Auckland Transport won’t provide that information in an ‘open, transparent and accountable way’ – claiming this information is ‘contractually confidential’.
(I know because I asked.)
In my view – that’s outrageous.
It’s PUBLIC money – where EXACTLY is it being spent?
If the private sector are so ‘efficient’ – why do they need public subsidies?
Why should the public subsidise that which we no longer own, operate or manage?
Where’s the ‘cost-benefit’ analysis, which PROVES that public subsidy of private passenger services is a ‘cost-effective’ use of public money?
How can you do a proper ‘cost-benefit’ analysis if you don’t know exactly (and accurately) where the costs fall?
Why aren’t bus, ferry and train services brought back ‘in house’ under the ‘public service’ model?
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption / anti-privatisation Public Watchdog’
2016 Auckland Mayoral candidate.
How much public subsidy is/ has been provided to these PRIVATE passenger transport providers since Auckland Transport came into existence on 1 November 2010?
Every single cent of profit that they’ve taken. After all, the government (ACC in this case) could have done it with the same people using the same principles and without profit. Actually, as there would be a reduction in bureaucracy the council simply running the PT would be cheaper.
Folks – what is ‘PUBLIC’ about so-called ‘public transport’ in Auckland?
Ah…Simple. They may be private companies, but their buses & trains are for the use of “the public”. Therefore, it’s “public transport”. Thus said, all those unconcerned may resume their slumber.
The first question is on emission reductions. I’m putting the link here, not because I have strong attachments to either this or that side of the inevitable political point scoring that’s going on, but because it’s an example of an OECD country/parliament having a somewhat grown up debate about CC during First Minister question time. A very stark contrast to NZs theatrical Prime Minister’s question time and (I suspect) streets ahead in terms of addressing CC.
U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez says the conviction of former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship on a misdemeanor charge sends a message that “no mine operator is above the law.”
Perez made the statement in a news release Thursday after the verdict was announced in Blankenship’s criminal trial in Charleston.
Perez said there “must be accountability when people lose their lives because of the neglect of their employer.”
Blankenship was convicted of conspiring to willfully violate mine safety standards. The misdemeanor charge carries up to one year in prison. He was not found guilty of a more serious conspiracy charge. He was also acquitted of making false statements and securities fraud.
The case centered on West Virginia’s Upper Big Branch Mine, which exploded in 2010, killing 29 men.
“Who is this?”
“His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one and, if you repeat it frequently enough, people will sooner or later believe it.”
” That’s from a psychological profile of Adolf Hitler prepared by the Office of Strategic Services, the predecessor of the CIA.”
“Will Andrew Little turn 2017 into a re-run of 1999? Will he use the occasion of Labour’s 2016 centenary conference to invite James Shaw and Metiria Turei to join him on the stage for a symbolic group hug? Will the three of them then invite the New Zealand voter to bring centre-left politics into the Twenty-First Century by electing a Labour-Green Coalition Government? The “optics” – as the spin-doctors say – would be compelling.”
It’s a process that also puts a lot of potentially excellent Labour candidates off. Someone confident in their understanding of industry, agriculture, science, or (God forbid!) running a business, rightly feels affronted at the prospect of being figuratively pinched, poked and prodded by people whose experience of the world is often extremely limited and narrow.
Translation: Some with an extremely narrow view of the world is put off when others don’t hold their limited view of the world.
Hmmm.
Apparently the Alliance going down 2.25% in the polls from 1996 had nothing to do with the Greens gaining 5% in 1999, according to Trotter.
I did like the phrasing “someone confident in their understanding of”, though – that doesn’t mean “someone with an accurate or competent understanding of”. Subtle difference.
But if Orthodox Economics pays no heed to the real world and cannot predict an event as devastating as the GFC; if it scorns all those who posit a different interpretation of the economic data; if it guards the tenets of its economic faith as jealously as any member of the Roman curia, and punishes heretics with equal severity; then what, exactly, is the orthodox economics profession?
The answer lies in the word “faith”. Wade himself said that there is a religious quality to the thinking of the men and women in economic institutions like the NZ Treasury. And this, of course, is exactly what the orthodox economics profession has become – a modern priesthood.
And that really is what modern economics is – a religion and it’s just as wrong as all the other religions.
When the world becomes Godless and Soulless men will still need something to believe in and then they end up choosing poor substitutes like “economics” and “consumerism”, with the new temples “business schools” and “shopping malls.”
Some of the biggest economic criminals claim to be religious. And likewise, most athiests/agnostics are decent enough without needing to follow the instructions of a magic book.
Nope. But you did say that without belief in the supernatural people ended up making poor choices to substitute. My third sentence addresses that point.
Faith based belief is inevitable because the universe is too large to readily be rationally comprehended. Few people do as Newton did and calculate the basis for what is assumed to be reality – they repose their trust instead in an authority of some kind. Church, Science, Media, Politics. While the institution is self-critical and unambitious this does relatively little harm, but transitions, like NZ’s from an actual local democracy to a US style corporate polyarchy tend to be painful.
Meh.
It’s the idea that we’ll all turn into vapid creatures of greed without some sort of magic book scaring us with an afterlife to stop us that I find irritating.
I wonder if that’s true, Ad. And even if it is, whether things will stay that way.
Religions were particularly strong when nobody knew how things worked in the universe, or when people were/are suffering or under threat eg war and needed comfort. Fat lot of good praying to God or Allah or whoever does when you’re all killing each other and praying to the same God for support & deliverance from your enemy.
The belief in an afterlife and a God who will reward dead believers might be strong in some (for whatever reason – most commonly through forced installation into young or uneducated, unsophisticated, or otherwise susceptible minds – but the evidence for its truth is piss poor, in fact, non-existent.
And there seems to be a rising trend in hostility between religions again in places where they are reported to be growing.
The more widely educated people become, I reckon the faster the “I don’t believe in God” or “I don’t know” or “there may be some higher power but I don’t believe any of the established religions” categories will grow.
Rizalman, 39, was initially charged with indecent assault, assault with intent to commit sexual violation and burglary by remaining in a building
However, in a pre-trial hearing on Friday, Rizalman’s lawyer, Donald Stevens QC, told High Court Justice David Collins that his client would change his not-guilty plea to the charge of indecent assault.
Crown prosecutor Grant Burston offered no evidence of the other two charges and the judge discharged Rizalman on both.
Theres more to this story then was first presented by Tanias supporters
Don’t get me wrong, the guy should definitely be in prison but the way that people, Jan Logie especially, were going on about this case and the reality of what happened looks like two different things
The use of the phrase “rape culture” and linking John Key to the case says to me it was more about political point scoring then it was about finding out what happened
Amazing that Slater would back a Muslim in Rizalman, who is a a serial liar and guilty of indecent assault, over an ordinary kiwi not much older than his own daughter.
One suspects that Slater hates women and people of the socially responsible left more than he hates Islam.
…and I dont care how many sky jumps Little does …it is cheap publicity coverup for what the Labour Party really is today …not a left wing party for the grassroots
…a bit like jonkey posing with the All Blacks in an All Black jersey ( phony)
…can you imagine Norm Kirk doing this?…he was a genuine left Labour politician and not a poseur
First, Iceland jailed its crooked bankers for their direct involvement in the financial crisis of 2008. Now, every Icelander will receive a payout for the sale of one of its three largest banks, Íslandsbanki.
If Finance Minister Bjarni Benediktsson has his way — and he likely will — Icelanders will be paid kr 30,000 after the government takes over ownership of the bank. Íslandsbanki would be second of the three largest banks under State proprietorship . . .
. . . why didn’t we do that here? Oh, right. Damn.
Anyone else hear Leighton Smith’s wandery rant about San Bernadino this morning?
It ranks with other NewstalkZB classics, like the 2003 “cheeky darkies” one.
NewstalkZB, Friday 4 December 2015, 8:45 a.m.
Although he is a staunch supporter of massacres perpetrated in the Occupied West Bank, Gaza, Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria, NewstalkZB’s morning host Leighton Smith (New Zealand’s closest equivalent to Bill O’Reilly or Alan Jones) is not quite so keen on massacres perpetrated in Australia, or in England, or in the United States. Yesterday’s massacre in San Bernadino really got his fertile mind fertilising, and he delivered a memorable lecture about the state of the world. First up for condemnation, of course, was his bête noire, the man whose election in 2008 enraged Leighton Smith as much as it enraged any Klansman in the most backward reaches of Mississippi or Alabama…..
LEIGHTON SMITH: Ummmmm, errrrrrr, ummmmmm….. Obama was hoping—I could TELL he was hoping—that the people who did this would turn out to be white Christians. He was HOPING for that! So did the liberals at CNN. Ummmm, errrrrrr, ummmmmm…. That’s the way they think. They wanted it to be Christians, not Muslims, that were responsible for this. But I KNEW right away that it wasn’t Christians. I KNEW it would be TERRORISTS that did this. Ummmm, errrrrrr, ahhhhhhmmm….. And their names were Syed Farook. ….[he pauses to let the ethnicity of that name play on the mind of his listeners]…. Syed Rizwan Farook, to be precise… [another meaningful pause]…. and his wife Tashfeen Malik. Ummmm, errrrr… Obama was HOPING they would be Christians so that he could push his anti-guns agenda. Obama TALKS TOO MUCH. …. Ummm, errrrr, ummmmm…. But they were Muslims, of course. Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik. [He puts on a high mocking voice] “But Leighton, it might have been a HYBRID!” Give me STR-R-R-RENGTH! Ummm, ahhhh, ummmmmmm…. By the way, did you know he was an ecologist? It has to do with the ecology type of thing. BE CAREFUL OF ECOLOGISTS! Ummm, errrrr…. Time for a commercial break.
….continues ranting all morning….
INTERESTING FACT: Two of this station’s slogans have included: “NewstalkZB: Tune Your Mind”, and “NewstalkZB: Fair and Balanced.”
This is just appalling! http://norightturn.blogspot.co.nz/2015/12/despair.html
When are we going to call on the Australian ambassador and ask him to tell his government to get their shit together! When are we going to say to Australia unless you do something about your blatant abuses of Human Rights we will not cooperate with you militarily and your products are no longer welcome in this country – and more importantly don’t bother with sending your Cricket Team here next year.
yes it is – and that is why we have to as a country stand up to out nearest and dearest and say “Hey Mate – that’s not good enough! And we are going to take our bat and ball home with us, and you can’t come to our place and play cricket until you learn to behave yourself and treat people decently!
Sometimes, It’s only when your best friends start to become concerned with your behaviour that one starts to think …”hmmm maybe what I am doing is wrong?”
We once banned a rugby tour to South Africa over Apartheid (1985). Maybe its time to Ban a Cricket Tour over a similar abuse of Human Rights.
ICC Banned tours of South Africa between 1982 and 1990
I’ve just been watching the test match between South Africa and India being played in Delhi – the composition of the South African team is so multicultural its amazing. 🙂 That would not have been the case 30 years ago.
Sounds good to me to. I doubt the PM has moved on from the days when he couldn’t remember which side of the apartheid protests he was on. Maybe this could be a wee reminder.
The tide starts to come back in for DotCom we just might see a few of these corrupt prosecuters get their just deserts… remember it was Sony lawyers who advised against involvement because it was not unimaginable that DotCom might prevail
This meeting has been convened by Penny Bright, assisted by concerned local residents.
“There has been a considerable amount of work that has gone into recommendations to Auckland Transport’s proposed changes, by local residents, and their residents and community groups, these proposed changes being supported by the Orakei Local Board Chair, Desley Simpson.
The purpose of this Public Meeting, is to give the Auckland Transport representatives, (who will have an opportunity to explain their proposed changes), a clear and positive message, that will help improve Eastern Bays bus services for those who use them.
I look forward to ‘facilitating’ a very constructive Public Meeting, which helps result in a ‘WIN / WIN’ outcome for both Auckland Transport and the residents of the Eastern suburbs and their communities.”
Coming up in Auckland. The pleasure of December festivities and music.
Don’t miss:
“WHEN SINATRA WAS A RED”
THIRSTY DOG, K RD.
SATURDAY NIGHT DECEMBER 12
8PM.
$10 at the door (What an affordable price – give yourself and friends a gift!)
. :
Saturday December 12 is Frank Sinatra’s birthday.
In Auckland he’ll be remembered on his birthday at the Thirsty Dog on K Rd.
And remembered as—Ol’ Pinko Eyes.
Saturday is Frank Sinatra’s birthday. And not just any old birthday,
his centenary birthday.
Frank Sinatra was born on that date in 1915, in Hoboken, New Jersey,
and died in 1998, aged 82.
In that lifetime he was the winner of nine Grammy Awards.
While Linn Lorkin & Friends sing Sinatra standards, the crowd at the Thirsty Dog will hear an account of Sinatra in the 1940s when he was named 12 times in communist witch-hunt hearings in Washington.
Featuring:
Justin Horn, vocals
Linn Lorkin, vocals
Hershal Herscher, piano and accordion
Stuart Grimshaw, bass
Dave Powell, tenor sax
Dean Parker, narration
Today he’s known as an entertainer who sided with Republican politicians like Nixon and Reagan, hung out with mobsters and swaggered about Las Vegas with his cronies singing, “I did it my way…”
But there was another side to Sinatra, an early radical Frank.
He emerged from a political and historical context—the great flood of poverty-stricken European immigrants washed up on the shores of America at the end of the 19th century, the catastrophic economic depression that followed in the 1930s, then a world war meant to establish a peace worth fighting for.
At the height of his popularity, in the 1940s, Sinatra was branded a Red, a commo—Ol’ Pinko Eyes.
He was one of the first major stars of the era to stand shoulder to shoulder with the poor and the oppressed.
While Bing Crosby was crooning to a Republican tune, Sinatra was backing Roosevelt’s New Deal of state-funded work schemes and nationalised industries.
Asked by a reporter in 1946 what he considered the biggest problem America faced in its post-war world he replied, “Poverty… Every kid in the world should have his quart of milk a day.”
The great bandleader Duke Ellington remembered Sinatra in the 1940s as
being the leader of the campaign against race hatred..
And the Popular Front, the United Auto Workers’ sit-down strike in Michigan…
And the 1947 number that pinned Sinatra’s politics to his lapel,
“The House That I Live In”—
“The house I live in, a plot of earth, a street
The grocer and the butcher, and the people that I meet
The children in the playground, the faces that I see
All races and religions, that’s America to me
“The place I work in, the worker by my side
The little town or city where my people lived and died
The ‘howdy’ and the handshake, the air of feeling free
And the right to speak my mind out, that’s America to me…”
Linn Lorkin, Justin Horn and Hershal Herscher will be singing Sinatra standards, with Herscher joining Dave Powell and Stuart Grimshaw in Auckland’s Frank Sinatra Big Band.
“Fly Me To The Moon” … “I Get A Kick Out Of You”… “Strangers In The Night” .
At –
“WHEN SINATRA WAS A RED”
THIRSTY DOG, K RD.
SATURDAY NIGHT DECEMBER 12
8PM.
$10 at the door
AND ON SUNDAY 13 DECEMBER –
WHAT : THE JBB IN “CHANUKA IN THE PARK”
WHERE: Albert Park at the top
WHEN: Evening of Sunday December 13th
Live entertainment on the rotunda 5.30pm – 8.30pm
MORE INFO: A celebration of Chanuka (sometimes called the “Jewish Xmas”).
Food and gift stalls.
Live entertainment on the rotunda 5.30pm – 8.30pm. The groups Truppman, Sababa and Simcha will perform, as will a choir, and The Jews Brothers Band with maestro guest violinist James Sneyd will be adding to the mix, doing a nice long set 7.15 – 8pm
Come join in the special festivities!
The UK’s establishment press (i.e. the pro-war press) has been raving about a speech that Labour MP Hilary Benn made in support of joining the US, France and Russia in bombing Syria.
The Spectator published the text of the speech with the headline “Full text of Hilary Benn’s extraordinary speech in favour of Syria airstrikes”
Below are some quotes from it and my comments.
The speech opens with a call for Prime Minister David Cameron to apologize for calling Jeremy Corbyn a “terrorist sympathiser”. That’s the high point of Benn’s speech. It’s all downhill from there.
…we have a moral and a practical duty to extend the action we are already taking in Iraq to Syria…We now have a clear and unambiguous UN Security Council Resolution 2249….because every state has the right to defend itself – why would we not uphold the settled will of the United Nations”
He uses third rate sophistry to insinuate that the UK has some kind of legal obligation to bomb Syria. The UN resolution he refers to is not a chapter VII resolution. The U.K. would therefore have a very dubious legal authorization – never mind obligation – to bomb Syria.
…can we really stand aside and refuse to act fully in our self-defence against those who are planning these attacks?”
He simply asserts that dropping bombs defends people in the UK rather than exposing them – never mind innocent bystanders in Syria – to even more risk.
And if we do not act, what message would that send about our solidarity with those countries that have suffered so much – including Iraq and our ally, France….It has been argued in the debate that airstrikes achieve nothing. Not so. Look at how Daesh’s forward march has been halted in Iraq.”
Ah yes Iraq – that stunning success that continues to embarrass anti-war activists. Damn. Was hoping he would not bring it up. Didn’t Tony Blair say in 2003 that – twelve years invading Iraq to get rid of non-existent WMD – the UK would be bombing a terrorist group with a foothold in Iraq, Syria and Libya? Was over a decade of bombing “acting in self-defence” as has been constantly claimed, or was it acting in self-destruction by enflaming the threat of anti-western terrorism – to say nothing of the destruction unleashed on the people in those war ravaged countries?
Now, I share the concerns that have been expressed this evening about potential civilian casualties. However, unlike Daesh, none of us today act with the intent to harm civilians. Rather, we act to protect civilians from Daesh – who target innocent people.”
Well that makes all the difference in the world to people who watch their loved ones get blown up by UK bombs doesn’t it? The lack of concern is why a moronic speech like this is widely hailed by the establishment press. Consequences for UK are brushed aside, never mind Syrians.
But I’ll tell you what else we know, is whatever the number – 70,000, 40,000, 80,000 – the current size of the opposition forces mean the longer we leave taking action, the longer Daesh will have to decrease that number.”
Here we have pathetic delusions of military grandeur – as if no other countries were bombing Syria and the UK’s contribution was going to be a game changer. The nineteenth century is over. Please move on.
Benn closes with the stupid but obligatory and predictable WWII analogy below. Surprised he didn’t work in a warning that the UK must not risk being like Neville Chamberlain.
And we are here faced by fascists. Not just their calculated brutality, but their belief that they are superior to every single one of us in this chamber tonight, and all of the people that we represent. They hold us in contempt. They hold our values in contempt. They hold our belief in tolerance and decency in contempt. They hold our democracy, the means by which we will make our decision tonight, in contempt. And what we know about fascists is that they need to be defeated. And it is why, as we have heard tonight, socialists and trade unionists and others joined the International Brigade in the 1930s to fight against Franco. It’s why this entire House stood up against Hitler and Mussolini. It is why our party has always stood up against the denial of human rights and for justice. And my view, Mr Speaker, is that we must now confront this evil. It is now time for us to do our bit in Syria. And that is why I ask my colleagues to vote for the motion tonight.”
Thanks Morrisey for that headsup on Hilary Benn. With Labour friends like that who needs enemies.
You say it was surprising they didn’t resurrect Chamberlain. (I used to think of him as having made a bad move, but in hindsight his appeasing was said to have enabled Britain to speed up its defences and armaments program, and if war had been declared earlier Britain would have been overwhelmed, outgunned etc.)
I started thinking of all the togetherness and alliances of countries that led to WW1. The shooting of one noble of one country by a gunman from an opposing group, was inflated to be a declaration of hostilities (could be compared to France blowing up the Rainbow Warrior in our port). In 1914 the bellicose and the over-active anxieties of countries led to a domino-like fall to war, so horribly.
This post points out the dangerous side of alliances. He lists the various moves of countries who felt uneasy about their neighbours’ intentions.
Alarmed by this strong central bloc:
a. France in 1894 made an alliance with Russia, and
b. In 1904 France made an agreement with Britain called the Entente Cordiale (= ‘Friendly Relationship’ – not a formal alliance, but a promise to work together).
c. In 1907, Britain made an entente with Russia, thus forming the Triple Entente (France, Russia, Great Britain).
d. In 1902 Britain made a naval treaty with Japan.
The Triple Entente alarmed Germany, which felt itself surrounded by the France-Russia alliance.
The countries of Europe thought that the alliance system would act as a deterrent to war; in fact it tied the countries together so that, when one country went to war, the others felt themselves obliged to follow.
(The map shows in two colours red and yellow the position, red for Britain, France and enormous Russia and in between in yellow Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy.. http://www.johndclare.net/causes_WWI2.htm.
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Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Asia Pacific Report From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps. And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
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The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
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Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 26 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
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‘
TFIF
If Reeva Steenkamp had been a dead Iraqi woman, this canting
hypocrite would not have tolerated any expressions of support for her.
Paul Henry, Friday 4 November 2015, 6:15 a.m.
sanctimonious adj. 1. showing or marked by false piety or righteousness; hypocritically virtuous; 2. excessively or hypocritically pious.
Big news of the day: Oscar Pistorius gets 15 years for murder…..
PAUL “KILL THEM ALL” HENRY: The internet will be going mad about this. What are they saying, Charlotte?
CHARLOTTE RYAN: There’s relief all over social media. A lot of people are tweeting, simply, “Her name was Reeva Steenkamp.”
PAUL “KILL THEM ALL” HENRY: [gravely] Mmmmm.
CHARLOTTE RYAN: Just to remind people, you know, who she was.
Here’s a slightly less reverential approach by Henry to the dead…
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-27052015/#comment-1021090
This chickenhawk’s father will be rolling in his grave.
http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/hilary-benns-speech-930?utm_source=Facebook&utm_campaign=viceuk&utm_medium=social
The applause from the Media for Benn is to try and destroy the credibility of Corbyn. Probably works too.
Benn’s raving has also won the support of at least one of the insiders on this very site.
What is Labour doing voting in favour of the RMA reforms? Let me repeat my post of a couple of weeks back:
The Nats and there friends at the Herald are spinning the line that there are only minor changes to the RMA proposed. See here:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11552680
This is NOT true. Let me repeat; NOT true.
The changes proposed to S.95A of the Act mean that NO residential subdivision and/or development will be able to be publicly notified regardless of adverse effects. This means that the checks and balances of public submission and the ability to appeal to the Environment Court will be removed completely from ALL residential subdivisions and developments.
The result will be that in places such as Queenstown or Wanaka visually intrusive residential developments promoted by well-resourced developers will inevitably gain consent from (specially chosen, often poorly trained) commissioners without any public input. This is a disaster for NZ’s landscapes in the making.
Why on earth have the Maori Party signed up to this?
S.95A should be kept as it it is. In its current form it does not hold back residential development. The Nats are simply using this as an excuse to change it.
One can only hope that Dunne and the Maori Party realise the the disastrous effects of this change before it is too late.
‘
As well as S 95A, have you seen the wee tweak hidden in the depths of the reams of RMA legislation regarding environmental protection of the EEZ? There’s lots and lots of such sneaky devices scattered in there.
I’m sorry you’re surprised with Labour’s support for the changes but its not exactly new news that Labour couldn’t give a fuck about the environment. It was Labour which opened Pike River Mine on conservation land, put tax breaks for fossil fuel corporations into law, and, and and. But don’t panic: Labour has got its media spin in place. Its all about “jobs first” and, believe it or not, “values”.
The Maori Party has been bought off with more money for “social investment” and will probably just hitch a ride on Labour’s excuse when it comes to defending its position. As for Dunne? Who knows, except that Dunne will do what’s best for Dunne.
I know they are smoke-stack socialists where jobs matter and all other considerations pale, but surely Labour can’t support the destruction of NZ’s landscape in this day and age. For one thing it is actually a long-term loss to the economy.
Apparently they do.
IMO, Labour are still operating as if we’re in the 19th century and that all of the knowledge gained in the 20th century doesn’t exist. This is somewhat better than National who are trying to take us back to the 15th century and serfdom – but not by much.
Worst thing is Twyford being stupid enough to parrot libertarian nonsense about land supply being the main problem with housing affordability. Genius strategy.
Yeah, that’s a big one. Build upwards and the land supply issue goes away but so does the land-bankers unearned profits.
Dunne, ACT and Green voted against it (didn’t think those three would ever end up in one sentence!).
NZ First abstained.
The bill went through first reading by 92 votes (14 against). Natz Govt doing well as political managers in the House.
Boots, Bombs and Bullets. Well done to those Labour MP’s who crossed the house in the UK to do what was right. Shall now sit back and watch the Marxist Corbyn and his brown, I mean red shirts “Movement” attempt to intimidate and harass those MP’s that are now classed as traitors. How very socialist.
Foolish Tory. Let’s sit back and watch Pigcreant Cameron preen.
John Pilger on the British warmongering Labour Party amongst other things:
‘John Pilger on Paris, ISIS and Media Propaganda (280)’
https://www.rt.com/shows/going-underground/323420-paris-isis-daesh-uk/
“Afshin Rattansi goes underground with John Pilger. Award winning journalist and author, John Pilger talks to us about how Washington, London and Paris gave birth to ISIS-Daesh. Plus we examine the media’s role in spreading disinformation ahead of a vote in Parliament for UK bombing of Syria. Afshin looks at the Autumn Statement and why in a time of high alert we are cutting the police force and buying drones. Also we look at which companies are benefitting from the budget. Plus Afshin is joined once again by former MP and broadcaster, Lembit Opik, to look at the weeks news from a cyber sinking feeling over Trident to budget boosts for the BBC.”
I sincerely hope there is a not a human being behind that handle
Lauding death and begging for the blood of more innocent civilians who will die, is beyond ugly
IIRC, there is some speculation that psychopaths are actually a different species.
If you consider killing people is what is right, then you have no decency.
Is that you, Te Reo?
What you can do about reducing carbon emissions in a country of only a few million people if your leadership isn’t something out a Dilbert cartoon: in less than 10 years, Uruguay has shifted to 95% of its energy from renewables.
That first paragraph could be describing New Zealand. The second paragraph… not so much.
Wikileaks new drop on TISA .. how to unravel any Paris CC agreements.
1. This companion agreement to TPPA is being negotiated IN SECRET. like the TPPA
2. This “agreement” proposes putting all forms of energy production on same footing- both pollutiing and non-polluting- calling it” technological neutrality”,
solar.nuclear, wind from coal, or geothermal from fracking”
3. TISA also establishes a free market for energy suppliers,
https://wikileaks.org/tisa/Analysis-TiSA-Annex-on-Energy-related-Services-QA/page-1.html
An example of Uruguay’s decision making- withdrawing from TISA>
http://sputniknews.com/latam/20151015/1028561950/uruguay-tisa-deal.html
Hi John. I told you that you would have to step down. When?
I’m waiting. Do you want me to destroy your party? Step aside, John. You know what I have. You know that you are finished. Bye-bye.
Donald Sutherland: War is for profit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a98uJTo0RkI&feature=player_embedded
+100 …thanks Donald Sutherland
If you are interested in the MPI fisheries review you have about a week to make your views known.
https://www.mpi.govt.nz/law-and-policy/legal-overviews/fisheries/fisheries-management-system-review/have-your-say/
Folks – what is ‘PUBLIC’ about so-called ‘public transport’ in Auckland?
There are 10 private bus companies, 4 private ferries and a French multi-national which operates and manages Auckland trains.
How much public subsidy is/ has been provided to these PRIVATE passenger transport providers since Auckland Transport came into existence on 1 November 2010?
Auckland Transport won’t provide that information in an ‘open, transparent and accountable way’ – claiming this information is ‘contractually confidential’.
(I know because I asked.)
In my view – that’s outrageous.
It’s PUBLIC money – where EXACTLY is it being spent?
If the private sector are so ‘efficient’ – why do they need public subsidies?
Why should the public subsidise that which we no longer own, operate or manage?
Where’s the ‘cost-benefit’ analysis, which PROVES that public subsidy of private passenger services is a ‘cost-effective’ use of public money?
How can you do a proper ‘cost-benefit’ analysis if you don’t know exactly (and accurately) where the costs fall?
Why aren’t bus, ferry and train services brought back ‘in house’ under the ‘public service’ model?
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption / anti-privatisation Public Watchdog’
2016 Auckland Mayoral candidate.
Every single cent of profit that they’ve taken. After all, the government (ACC in this case) could have done it with the same people using the same principles and without profit. Actually, as there would be a reduction in bureaucracy the council simply running the PT would be cheaper.
Profits are the biggest tax on all of us.
Anyone fondly remember the bus services under the Auckland Regional Authority (the ARA)? Compare that service to now.
Yep, I do – it was about the same.
It’s only Hong Kong that has a public transport system that doesn’t need public subsidy. Way it is globally.
Car drivers need subsidy too, but most of that is indirect ie through CAPEX not OPEX.
Folks – what is ‘PUBLIC’ about so-called ‘public transport’ in Auckland?
Ah…Simple. They may be private companies, but their buses & trains are for the use of “the public”. Therefore, it’s “public transport”. Thus said, all those unconcerned may resume their slumber.
Log prices rise…..
Workplace safety falls..
The last time prices were this high there were thirteen killed in forestry…in ONE year.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/north-island/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503932&objectid=11555043
And then there’s the increase in logging trucks on the road over what is forecast to be a hot, dry summer.
More fatal crashes.
More damage to the roads.
‘
Massive, crazy deforestation on the way, folks. Just as well John Key changed our emissions target to “conditional” before heading to Paris.
former act mp’s calls for a ban on muslim migrants is really a call for a police state:
http://readingthemaps.blogspot.co.nz/2015/12/david-garretts-dystopia.html
The first question is on emission reductions. I’m putting the link here, not because I have strong attachments to either this or that side of the inevitable political point scoring that’s going on, but because it’s an example of an OECD country/parliament having a somewhat grown up debate about CC during First Minister question time. A very stark contrast to NZs theatrical Prime Minister’s question time and (I suspect) streets ahead in terms of addressing CC.
http://www.scottishparliament.tv/Archive?categoryId=c4f18fbd-ff17-4f07-a265-37a0c452db4f&parentCategoryClicked=False&pageNumber=1&orderByField=ScheduledStart&queryOrder=DESC
Former Pike River chair John Dow is above the law.
/
previously on TS
U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez says the conviction of former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship on a misdemeanor charge sends a message that “no mine operator is above the law.”
Perez made the statement in a news release Thursday after the verdict was announced in Blankenship’s criminal trial in Charleston.
Perez said there “must be accountability when people lose their lives because of the neglect of their employer.”
Blankenship was convicted of conspiring to willfully violate mine safety standards. The misdemeanor charge carries up to one year in prison. He was not found guilty of a more serious conspiracy charge. He was also acquitted of making false statements and securities fraud.
The case centered on West Virginia’s Upper Big Branch Mine, which exploded in 2010, killing 29 men.
http://www.kentucky.com/news/business/article47706670.html
“Who is this?”
“His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one and, if you repeat it frequently enough, people will sooner or later believe it.”
” That’s from a psychological profile of Adolf Hitler prepared by the Office of Strategic Services, the predecessor of the CIA.”
Are there others closer to home who subscribe to this?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11555496
Crosby Textor playbook?
“Will Andrew Little turn 2017 into a re-run of 1999? Will he use the occasion of Labour’s 2016 centenary conference to invite James Shaw and Metiria Turei to join him on the stage for a symbolic group hug? Will the three of them then invite the New Zealand voter to bring centre-left politics into the Twenty-First Century by electing a Labour-Green Coalition Government? The “optics” – as the spin-doctors say – would be compelling.”
Cuddly Chris of Bowalley fame muses. http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz/
Would you turn up to a Labour dinner that has Roger Douglas and Michael Basset as headline? NOT ME!
Nash and Douglas have a lot in common. They both are deeply in love with themselves.
Stacking the Deck
Translation: Some with an extremely narrow view of the world is put off when others don’t hold their limited view of the world.
Hmmm.
Apparently the Alliance going down 2.25% in the polls from 1996 had nothing to do with the Greens gaining 5% in 1999, according to Trotter.
I did like the phrasing “someone confident in their understanding of”, though – that doesn’t mean “someone with an accurate or competent understanding of”. Subtle difference.
How Economists Are Failing Society: Professor Robert Wade At The Ika Seafood Bar & Grill.
And that really is what modern economics is – a religion and it’s just as wrong as all the other religions.
F-off with your anti-religious slant Draco.
When the world becomes Godless and Soulless men will still need something to believe in and then they end up choosing poor substitutes like “economics” and “consumerism”, with the new temples “business schools” and “shopping malls.”
Oh, bullshit.
Some of the biggest economic criminals claim to be religious. And likewise, most athiests/agnostics are decent enough without needing to follow the instructions of a magic book.
Mate, I didn’t say that people only believe in one thing at a time.
Nope. But you did say that without belief in the supernatural people ended up making poor choices to substitute. My third sentence addresses that point.
Faith based belief is inevitable because the universe is too large to readily be rationally comprehended. Few people do as Newton did and calculate the basis for what is assumed to be reality – they repose their trust instead in an authority of some kind. Church, Science, Media, Politics. While the institution is self-critical and unambitious this does relatively little harm, but transitions, like NZ’s from an actual local democracy to a US style corporate polyarchy tend to be painful.
Meh.
It’s the idea that we’ll all turn into vapid creatures of greed without some sort of magic book scaring us with an afterlife to stop us that I find irritating.
Atheists are in full retreat across the world.
Being religious is the world’s preferred way of being.
That doesn’t make it right.
I wonder if that’s true, Ad. And even if it is, whether things will stay that way.
Religions were particularly strong when nobody knew how things worked in the universe, or when people were/are suffering or under threat eg war and needed comfort. Fat lot of good praying to God or Allah or whoever does when you’re all killing each other and praying to the same God for support & deliverance from your enemy.
The belief in an afterlife and a God who will reward dead believers might be strong in some (for whatever reason – most commonly through forced installation into young or uneducated, unsophisticated, or otherwise susceptible minds – but the evidence for its truth is piss poor, in fact, non-existent.
And there seems to be a rising trend in hostility between religions again in places where they are reported to be growing.
The more widely educated people become, I reckon the faster the “I don’t believe in God” or “I don’t know” or “there may be some higher power but I don’t believe any of the established religions” categories will grow.
This also worth a read Ad
http://www.rationaloptimist.com/blog/humanisms-rise/
I wonder if this would be worth doing here.
http://statesatrisk.org/
And reaction to the housing crisis in Auckland.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/968941989813586/
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/74727957/malaysian-envoy-defecated-outside-womans-house–crown
This is the guy Cameron Slater defended while attacking his victims.
Didn’t defend him, was concerned about the trial and conviction by media and wanted the full story to come out
You know the old innocent until proven guilty thing
Pity he didn’t apply the same innocent until proven guilty policy to Tania Billingsley when he attacked her and her supporters.
http://www.smh.com.au/world/malaysian-diplomat-muhammad-rizalman-pleads-guilty-to-indecent-assault-20151129-glb5oe.html
Rizalman, 39, was initially charged with indecent assault, assault with intent to commit sexual violation and burglary by remaining in a building
However, in a pre-trial hearing on Friday, Rizalman’s lawyer, Donald Stevens QC, told High Court Justice David Collins that his client would change his not-guilty plea to the charge of indecent assault.
Crown prosecutor Grant Burston offered no evidence of the other two charges and the judge discharged Rizalman on both.
Theres more to this story then was first presented by Tanias supporters
including a steaming pile on her porch?
Don’t get me wrong, the guy should definitely be in prison but the way that people, Jan Logie especially, were going on about this case and the reality of what happened looks like two different things
I’m not hearing anything different in the crown case than was said at the time (except the pooing). Guy needs serious help.
So they pled down. Like Veitch did.
What’s your point?
My point is that what was stated to have happened and what the courts have decided sound like two different things
It sounds more like it was a political point scoring exercise
You’ve said that but you haven’t provided any evidence or even explanation.
The use of the phrase “rape culture” and linking John Key to the case says to me it was more about political point scoring then it was about finding out what happened
still no idea what you are on about.
and yet you’ve come to that conclusion before the facts of the case have been decided by the courts, no?
Amazing that Slater would back a Muslim in Rizalman, who is a a serial liar and guilty of indecent assault, over an ordinary kiwi not much older than his own daughter.
One suspects that Slater hates women and people of the socially responsible left more than he hates Islam.
Staggering if true.
Reflecting on Little’s little shuffle. Do the left inside labour realise they have been stab in the back…..again?
How many times is that now?
I really have lost count.
Are you really willing to keep deluding yourselves?
The left is dead inside labour.
A socialist elements is a old dead dream.
Meanwhile the newly ascendant Stuart Nash and the Labour Party treats Douglas and Bassett like VIPs.
What does it all add up to? A party which sold out its soul a long time ago and is proud of it.
+100…adam and CV
…and I dont care how many sky jumps Little does …it is cheap publicity coverup for what the Labour Party really is today …not a left wing party for the grassroots
…a bit like jonkey posing with the All Blacks in an All Black jersey ( phony)
…can you imagine Norm Kirk doing this?…he was a genuine left Labour politician and not a poseur
‘
What a good idea . . .
. . . why didn’t we do that here? Oh, right. Damn.
Anyone else hear Leighton Smith’s wandery rant about San Bernadino this morning?
It ranks with other NewstalkZB classics, like the 2003 “cheeky darkies” one.
NewstalkZB, Friday 4 December 2015, 8:45 a.m.
Although he is a staunch supporter of massacres perpetrated in the Occupied West Bank, Gaza, Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria, NewstalkZB’s morning host Leighton Smith (New Zealand’s closest equivalent to Bill O’Reilly or Alan Jones) is not quite so keen on massacres perpetrated in Australia, or in England, or in the United States. Yesterday’s massacre in San Bernadino really got his fertile mind fertilising, and he delivered a memorable lecture about the state of the world. First up for condemnation, of course, was his bête noire, the man whose election in 2008 enraged Leighton Smith as much as it enraged any Klansman in the most backward reaches of Mississippi or Alabama…..
LEIGHTON SMITH: Ummmmm, errrrrrr, ummmmmm….. Obama was hoping—I could TELL he was hoping—that the people who did this would turn out to be white Christians. He was HOPING for that! So did the liberals at CNN. Ummmm, errrrrrr, ummmmmm…. That’s the way they think. They wanted it to be Christians, not Muslims, that were responsible for this. But I KNEW right away that it wasn’t Christians. I KNEW it would be TERRORISTS that did this. Ummmm, errrrrrr, ahhhhhhmmm….. And their names were Syed Farook. ….[he pauses to let the ethnicity of that name play on the mind of his listeners]…. Syed Rizwan Farook, to be precise… [another meaningful pause]…. and his wife Tashfeen Malik. Ummmm, errrrr… Obama was HOPING they would be Christians so that he could push his anti-guns agenda. Obama TALKS TOO MUCH. …. Ummm, errrrr, ummmmm…. But they were Muslims, of course. Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik. [He puts on a high mocking voice] “But Leighton, it might have been a HYBRID!” Give me STR-R-R-RENGTH! Ummm, ahhhh, ummmmmmm…. By the way, did you know he was an ecologist? It has to do with the ecology type of thing. BE CAREFUL OF ECOLOGISTS! Ummm, errrrr…. Time for a commercial break.
….continues ranting all morning….
INTERESTING FACT: Two of this station’s slogans have included: “NewstalkZB: Tune Your Mind”, and “NewstalkZB: Fair and Balanced.”
This is just appalling!
http://norightturn.blogspot.co.nz/2015/12/despair.html
When are we going to call on the Australian ambassador and ask him to tell his government to get their shit together! When are we going to say to Australia unless you do something about your blatant abuses of Human Rights we will not cooperate with you militarily and your products are no longer welcome in this country – and more importantly don’t bother with sending your Cricket Team here next year.
Pretty awful stuff for Australians but apparently the public support the stance/actions taken by this and previous Aussie Governments. Sad reaaly.
yes it is – and that is why we have to as a country stand up to out nearest and dearest and say “Hey Mate – that’s not good enough! And we are going to take our bat and ball home with us, and you can’t come to our place and play cricket until you learn to behave yourself and treat people decently!
Sometimes, It’s only when your best friends start to become concerned with your behaviour that one starts to think …”hmmm maybe what I am doing is wrong?”
There was an ad in NZ recently about speaking up when we see violence in families. Maybe need one for speaking up about those Aussie injustices.
Sadly, the only speaking up about about refugee detention this government will do is to applaud it. It will ignore the inhumanity.
We once banned a rugby tour to South Africa over Apartheid (1985). Maybe its time to Ban a Cricket Tour over a similar abuse of Human Rights.
ICC Banned tours of South Africa between 1982 and 1990
sounds like a good plan to me.
I’ve just been watching the test match between South Africa and India being played in Delhi – the composition of the South African team is so multicultural its amazing. 🙂 That would not have been the case 30 years ago.
Sounds good to me to. I doubt the PM has moved on from the days when he couldn’t remember which side of the apartheid protests he was on. Maybe this could be a wee reminder.
The tide starts to come back in for DotCom we just might see a few of these corrupt prosecuters get their just deserts… remember it was Sony lawyers who advised against involvement because it was not unimaginable that DotCom might prevail
I read that he will retrieve some of his money from Hong Kong but is there something else looking promising?
Any folks here concerned about the proposed Auckland Transport changes to Eastern Suburbs bus services?
FYI
Public Meeting
“Have your say on Auckland Transport proposed changes to Eastern Suburbs bus services.”
WHEN: Saturday, 5 December 2015
TIME: 10.30am – 12.30pm
WHERE: Tamaki Ex-Services Association Hall
Corner of Turua St and Polygon Rd
ST HELIERS
MAP:
http://www.eventfinda.co.nz/venue/auckland-tamaki-ex-services-hall
This meeting has been convened by Penny Bright, assisted by concerned local residents.
“There has been a considerable amount of work that has gone into recommendations to Auckland Transport’s proposed changes, by local residents, and their residents and community groups, these proposed changes being supported by the Orakei Local Board Chair, Desley Simpson.
The purpose of this Public Meeting, is to give the Auckland Transport representatives, (who will have an opportunity to explain their proposed changes), a clear and positive message, that will help improve Eastern Bays bus services for those who use them.
I look forward to ‘facilitating’ a very constructive Public Meeting, which helps result in a ‘WIN / WIN’ outcome for both Auckland Transport and the residents of the Eastern suburbs and their communities.”
Penny Bright
2016 Auckland Mayoral candidate.
What do you support about Desley Simpson?
Coming up in Auckland. The pleasure of December festivities and music.
Don’t miss:
“WHEN SINATRA WAS A RED”
THIRSTY DOG, K RD.
SATURDAY NIGHT DECEMBER 12
8PM.
$10 at the door (What an affordable price – give yourself and friends a gift!)
. :
Saturday December 12 is Frank Sinatra’s birthday.
In Auckland he’ll be remembered on his birthday at the Thirsty Dog on K Rd.
And remembered as—Ol’ Pinko Eyes.
Saturday is Frank Sinatra’s birthday. And not just any old birthday,
his centenary birthday.
Frank Sinatra was born on that date in 1915, in Hoboken, New Jersey,
and died in 1998, aged 82.
In that lifetime he was the winner of nine Grammy Awards.
While Linn Lorkin & Friends sing Sinatra standards, the crowd at the Thirsty Dog will hear an account of Sinatra in the 1940s when he was named 12 times in communist witch-hunt hearings in Washington.
Featuring:
Justin Horn, vocals
Linn Lorkin, vocals
Hershal Herscher, piano and accordion
Stuart Grimshaw, bass
Dave Powell, tenor sax
Dean Parker, narration
Today he’s known as an entertainer who sided with Republican politicians like Nixon and Reagan, hung out with mobsters and swaggered about Las Vegas with his cronies singing, “I did it my way…”
But there was another side to Sinatra, an early radical Frank.
He emerged from a political and historical context—the great flood of poverty-stricken European immigrants washed up on the shores of America at the end of the 19th century, the catastrophic economic depression that followed in the 1930s, then a world war meant to establish a peace worth fighting for.
At the height of his popularity, in the 1940s, Sinatra was branded a Red, a commo—Ol’ Pinko Eyes.
He was one of the first major stars of the era to stand shoulder to shoulder with the poor and the oppressed.
While Bing Crosby was crooning to a Republican tune, Sinatra was backing Roosevelt’s New Deal of state-funded work schemes and nationalised industries.
Asked by a reporter in 1946 what he considered the biggest problem America faced in its post-war world he replied, “Poverty… Every kid in the world should have his quart of milk a day.”
The great bandleader Duke Ellington remembered Sinatra in the 1940s as
being the leader of the campaign against race hatred..
And the Popular Front, the United Auto Workers’ sit-down strike in Michigan…
And the 1947 number that pinned Sinatra’s politics to his lapel,
“The House That I Live In”—
“The house I live in, a plot of earth, a street
The grocer and the butcher, and the people that I meet
The children in the playground, the faces that I see
All races and religions, that’s America to me
“The place I work in, the worker by my side
The little town or city where my people lived and died
The ‘howdy’ and the handshake, the air of feeling free
And the right to speak my mind out, that’s America to me…”
Linn Lorkin, Justin Horn and Hershal Herscher will be singing Sinatra standards, with Herscher joining Dave Powell and Stuart Grimshaw in Auckland’s Frank Sinatra Big Band.
“Fly Me To The Moon” … “I Get A Kick Out Of You”… “Strangers In The Night” .
At –
“WHEN SINATRA WAS A RED”
THIRSTY DOG, K RD.
SATURDAY NIGHT DECEMBER 12
8PM.
$10 at the door
AND ON SUNDAY 13 DECEMBER –
WHAT : THE JBB IN “CHANUKA IN THE PARK”
WHERE: Albert Park at the top
WHEN: Evening of Sunday December 13th
Live entertainment on the rotunda 5.30pm – 8.30pm
MORE INFO: A celebration of Chanuka (sometimes called the “Jewish Xmas”).
Food and gift stalls.
Live entertainment on the rotunda 5.30pm – 8.30pm. The groups Truppman, Sababa and Simcha will perform, as will a choir, and The Jews Brothers Band with maestro guest violinist James Sneyd will be adding to the mix, doing a nice long set 7.15 – 8pm
Come join in the special festivities!
For those in need of a good leftie weep; try:
“The Rise of the Illegitimate Authority of Transnational Corporations”, by Susan George.
http://www.truth-out.org/progressivepicks/item/33890-the-rise-of-the-illegitimate-authority-of-transnational-corporations
A barrel-o’-laffs, but still if you want high fibre truthiness, here it is.
High fibre truthfulness – great phrase. One for the list to read.
Remarks on Hilary Benn’s “extraordinary” pro-war speech
by JOE EMERSBERGER, Friday 4 December 2015
https://zcomm.org/zblogs/remarks-on-hilary-benns-extraordinary-pro-war-speech/
The UK’s establishment press (i.e. the pro-war press) has been raving about a speech that Labour MP Hilary Benn made in support of joining the US, France and Russia in bombing Syria.
The Spectator published the text of the speech with the headline “Full text of Hilary Benn’s extraordinary speech in favour of Syria airstrikes”
Below are some quotes from it and my comments.
The speech opens with a call for Prime Minister David Cameron to apologize for calling Jeremy Corbyn a “terrorist sympathiser”. That’s the high point of Benn’s speech. It’s all downhill from there.
He uses third rate sophistry to insinuate that the UK has some kind of legal obligation to bomb Syria. The UN resolution he refers to is not a chapter VII resolution. The U.K. would therefore have a very dubious legal authorization – never mind obligation – to bomb Syria.
He simply asserts that dropping bombs defends people in the UK rather than exposing them – never mind innocent bystanders in Syria – to even more risk.
Ah yes Iraq – that stunning success that continues to embarrass anti-war activists. Damn. Was hoping he would not bring it up. Didn’t Tony Blair say in 2003 that – twelve years invading Iraq to get rid of non-existent WMD – the UK would be bombing a terrorist group with a foothold in Iraq, Syria and Libya? Was over a decade of bombing “acting in self-defence” as has been constantly claimed, or was it acting in self-destruction by enflaming the threat of anti-western terrorism – to say nothing of the destruction unleashed on the people in those war ravaged countries?
Well that makes all the difference in the world to people who watch their loved ones get blown up by UK bombs doesn’t it? The lack of concern is why a moronic speech like this is widely hailed by the establishment press. Consequences for UK are brushed aside, never mind Syrians.
Here we have pathetic delusions of military grandeur – as if no other countries were bombing Syria and the UK’s contribution was going to be a game changer. The nineteenth century is over. Please move on.
Benn closes with the stupid but obligatory and predictable WWII analogy below. Surprised he didn’t work in a warning that the UK must not risk being like Neville Chamberlain.
https://zcomm.org/zblogs/remarks-on-hilary-benns-extraordinary-pro-war-speech/
Thanks Morrisey for that headsup on Hilary Benn. With Labour friends like that who needs enemies.
You say it was surprising they didn’t resurrect Chamberlain. (I used to think of him as having made a bad move, but in hindsight his appeasing was said to have enabled Britain to speed up its defences and armaments program, and if war had been declared earlier Britain would have been overwhelmed, outgunned etc.)
I started thinking of all the togetherness and alliances of countries that led to WW1. The shooting of one noble of one country by a gunman from an opposing group, was inflated to be a declaration of hostilities (could be compared to France blowing up the Rainbow Warrior in our port). In 1914 the bellicose and the over-active anxieties of countries led to a domino-like fall to war, so horribly.
This post points out the dangerous side of alliances. He lists the various moves of countries who felt uneasy about their neighbours’ intentions.
Alarmed by this strong central bloc:
a. France in 1894 made an alliance with Russia, and
b. In 1904 France made an agreement with Britain called the Entente Cordiale (= ‘Friendly Relationship’ – not a formal alliance, but a promise to work together).
c. In 1907, Britain made an entente with Russia, thus forming the Triple Entente (France, Russia, Great Britain).
d. In 1902 Britain made a naval treaty with Japan.
The Triple Entente alarmed Germany, which felt itself surrounded by the France-Russia alliance.
The countries of Europe thought that the alliance system would act as a deterrent to war; in fact it tied the countries together so that, when one country went to war, the others felt themselves obliged to follow.
(The map shows in two colours red and yellow the position, red for Britain, France and enormous Russia and in between in yellow Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy..
http://www.johndclare.net/causes_WWI2.htm.
There’s monsters under the bed as well Ad😀
there is hope yet
‘Bernie polling better than Obama was in 2007’
://www.rt.com/shows/big-picture/324219-bernie-obama-presidential-elections/
“Tonight’s Politics Panel discusses how the Republican presidential candidates are inciting violence and hate, Bernie’s poll numbers today compared with Obama’s in 2007, and whether the rumors surrounding Rubio’s extramarital affairs are true. Thom discusses how the Republican Party promotes misogyny in America with People For the American Way’s Marge Baker and the National Abortion Federation’s Vicki Saporta and Facebook’s expanding of paid parental leave with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters’ Rome Aloise”.