Two questions. First, how much of Peter Leitch’s and that old trout Micelle Boags comments to Lara Bridger were simple, old fashioned class based snobbery? From Maori TV:
“…Lara Wharepapa Bridger, 23, says she was at a vineyard on Waiheke Island earlier this week with her mother. Leitch, famously known as The Mad Butcher, approached the group about not drinking and driving. He doubted that they were locals, which sparked Bridger to tell him she was born on the island. This promoted Leitch to make the comment – which he describes as light hearted banter but Bridger took as a racist taunt…”
Leitch doubted they were local because they were not white on a white mans island, and we all understand the nexus between race and class in New Zealand. Here was a rich white man, who noticed a brown woman inside his gate. He was nonplussed at her reply, did she not know how God had ordered their estate?
My second question is would pointing out the primacy of his snobbery, rather than falling back on the reflexive identity politics of race, been the better way of attacking a National party establishment figure like Leitch? Which would resonate better with Joe Sixpack?
2016 saw elite identity politics discredited as an elite scam. Time for the left to change tactics and the angle of attack, methinks.
What the hell are you blathering on about now? Let me guess, you are clinging to the wreckage of identity politics because that is your safe place?
I asked two questions, you addressed neither of them and then went off on a complete tangent.
BTW, I don’t want this discussion to be derailed by identity politics trolls. If it were, it would be the perfect ironic demonstration of what a cancer identity politics is to the left, but that is about all.
I did address your points, but your focus on your own agenda seems to have resulted in you missing my points. You seem to want to fit the incident into your own particular political agenda, which dismisses anything that doesn’t directly address class as the primary focus.
The incident clearly was about ‘race’ – and yes there maybe a class element in it, as I indicated by referring to the context as a recently gentrified island.
As you also say Sir Mad noticed her as a “brown woman”, possibly there was a gender element. Would a rich white guy be so willing to approach a group of brown men to make such statements?
The nexus of ‘race’, class and gender, doesn’t mean somehow class has primacy – that is fitting it into your own political agenda. It’s only your perception that (so-called) “identity politics” has been discredited as an elite scam. There seems to be a few guys around lately banging that drum – it doesn’t make it so generally.
You seem to be wanting to use the incident to attack Sir Mad for being rich. This is not the incident for that. ‘Race’ was at the front and centre of the incident.
I have had conversations with Māori people who talk about the deep pain felt by the dispossession of their land. It is something beyond the comprehension, or not even on the radar of many Pākehā. Consequently, it is so painful, many Māori find it difficult to talk about. It is totally insensitive to want to fit the incident into your own political agenda.
The core incident was a woman saying she was tangata whenua, and Sir Mad replying that it was a “white man’s island”.
Let’s not be consumed by this storm in a tea cup…. it’s playing right into the hands of our dimwit Media. This “off the cuff” stuff will always be with us. To put it mildly there are far greater issues around than this.
Light hearted banter…..taken out of context……misquoted….I misspoke (a shonky personal fav if caught out)…..etc etc
Easy work to dog whistle in this country and never get called on it when the MSM is chock full of sympathetic hacks and commentators like Boag, Henry, Hoskings, Trevitt, Watkins etc etc
Move on people and leave the racist snobs who inhabit the likes of waiheke, pauanui etc to their white world view.
Yeah, I am struck how the entire establishment is busy issuing statements to support Leitch – Boag, the Warriors, race relations commissioner, establishment media figures…
Amazing to see the establishment swing into action to protect its own. The toffs and their apologists are obvious when they take the velvet gloves off.
Nearly fell of my bar stool, What with boags mugshot and so called off the record comment actually mentioned in the herald –let alone splashed across the front page I’m wondering if maybe /just maybe .– Is the worm turning?
Sanctuary – it was an unthinking, ignorant comment to make on the part of Sir Mad Butcher which amounted to racism – not identity politics – and possibly prompted by his own self-importance as a rich white man – one of the many who have taken over Maori land and see that as an okay thing to do. Racism comes in many forms – even in so-called light-hearted banter. And Ms Awful Boag added to it. Hers is a shocking comment – superior, dismissive, nasty, and also racist.
Does Dame Susan Devoy include herself in this appraisal of racistness of Sir Peter Leitch? If so, I think it’s time to install Leitch himself as Race Relations commissioner. After all we want the very least racist person in that position, don’t we?
Race Relations commissioner Dame Susan Devoy has labelled Sir Peter Leitch “the least racist person I know”.
MPI’s fishing quota system has failed. Catch volumes routinely falsified. Actual catch 2.7 times the “official” stats. MPI observer fired for stating the truth. Slave labour fishing fleets taking half of the NZ catch, and plundering the South Pacific.
A succinct summary ropata. Neoliberalism’s status as a formula for colonisation shows up if you consider the likely response to a small nation overtly privileging the public good over the so-called free market and individual responsibility, and adapting the idea of efficiency to improving the lives of citizens rather than reducing the burden on corporations. That country would not be seen as simply following a regular democratic process, but as too provocative to be let get away with it.
I think that the mania for ensuring that the public good never again gets a foothold will be the thing that brings neoliberalism down in the end. Weakened, divided societies, made up of people who cannot do much apart from administrate and consume, or else subsist as outcasts, are vulnerable societies.
Now the power elite has moved on to more insidious methods and goals.
I am not as politically educated as you are so I might well be wrong, but I think that the current methods and goals depend upon the same core values, with the focus on making them even more difficult to dislodge.
Ford cancels US$1.6B Mexico plant; plans $700M Michigan expansion instead.
Indeed. But Trump is doing it. After three decades of all major political parties ‘kowtowing to the free market’, he’s doing it. He is expressing the politics of sovereignty, economic strength, and national interest.
Which is simply to say – if the top 5% of a society want a thing to happen, it will happen.
(This is not to ignore that other parts of his promised programme eg charter schools, more fossil fuel exploitation etc. are highly problematic)
Bernie Sanders has the right idea: rather than shrinking from Trump and treating him like the stuff of nightmares, he plans to support things like keeping jobs in the US, and fiercely oppose things like cutting cutting social services. He will not win them all, but he ought to win some, especially where Trump looks to be going against his own promises.
Olwyn
Stopping jobs being shifted to Mexico, stopping desperate Mexicans entering the USA, spells problems of its own.
Trump needs all his marbles and cunning strategy to see that this is a bad recipe. He needs to help Mexicans invest in themselves employing Mexicans, offer Mexico investment some policy carrots, so there are other industries apart from tourism and drugs.
The free market and unbridled capitalism distorts our stable world till it becomes the vision seen through warped mirrors, a chamber of horrors. Break the mirrors so you can’t see or think about it is no answer, it is just a free pass for worse and a disgrace to us all for being aware and letting it happen. Something has to be done beyond band-aids.
He needs to help Mexicans invest in themselves employing Mexicans, offer Mexico investment some policy carrots, so there are other industries apart from tourism and drugs.
And that can only be done by stopping the present delusional ideology of free-trade.
The really interesting thing that is that three new car lines to serve the US market will give only 700 direct jobs.
Trump can intorduce all the tarriffs and threats he wants (while his own products are made overseas or with overseas materials). The fact is that automation is the real threat to production: if Ford’s new self-driving car works autonomously and cost-effectively, a quarter of a million cabbies are out of work. Stick that in your “700 jobs”.
Even if ford thought he had a fair chance of getting 35% tarriffs and screwing up nafta past congress and this impacted their decision, and he fails in his promise to cancel the F35 (which claims to provide 2600 jobs in Michigan alone), the manufacturing jobs are still fucked by automation.
“The national unemployment rate in November was 4.4 percent, not seasonally adjusted, down from 4.8 percent
a year earlier.” https://www.bls.gov/news.release/metro.nr0.htm
Yeah Obama is F**kin useless!
That’s better than National here BTW.
You’re more naive than I thought if you believe the statistics. Instead of peoples lived experiences in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Because voters in those states got tired of people like you saying THINGS ARE BETTER UNDER OBAMA when their every day experience with their families and their communities showed that you were full of shit.
BTW don’t forget to look for the near record low workforce participation rate under Obama. They use that to hide unemployed people they no longer want to count.
Hey cv. Don’t be fooled just because I don’t constantly say everything is doomed and culture change is impossible. I care about a lot of things even without feeling the need to shit on everyone who actually does practical things to achieve change. Well other than voting in fascist demagogues.
So before you pretend to know what I care about or why, go fuck yourself.
The Middle East is critical to the third worlds supply of energy including New Zealand, and will remain so until we’ve eliminated poverty. The Middle East is described as the source of stupendous wealth. It’s clear who is the beneficiary of those resources and it’s not the third world. The Middle East has to be under excessive US control, only those acceptable to US power and leadership have moral or legal rights to conduct programmes in the Middle East but the main concern is the profits have to flow to the US and secondarily to its jr partner the British foreign state. Internal documents from 1945 revealed a conversation between both foreign secretaries and said, profits must be taken from behind the Arab facade meaning British rule, they’re still around and called the Arab facade and there’s a recent documentary called The Killings of Tony Blair.
That’s a basic structure of the system, naturally it engenders conflict because the region doesn’t understand why they can’t be the beneficiaries of the resources from that region. We are backwards that way and it causes internal problems of radical nationalism and economic nationalism and so on. For the general public they use different terms like international terrorism or a clash of civilisation and other fancy terms but its economic nationalism which is a strange idea that the resources of a region should benefit the people of that region, and the strange idea there should be policy designed to bring about a broader distribution of wealth and raise the standard of living for the masses.
While that goes on things are likely to get worse if you believe 99% of climate scientists. It’s generally said that low energy prices are a fad and there is an oil shortage because we are doubling consumption of oil. Half of the known untapped oil is in the Middle East so they’ll be looming issues in efforts to control the world. They’re is a lot of hype about US domestic production but that was fainted to fake US support for European Union to organises efforts against Russia for a failed US Kew against Ukraine, because Ukraine buys 100% of there gas from Russia. This is also an effort to form an alliance between Europe and America against Iran. Those are prospect that are expected which means the Middle East will be a major centre of conflict, there are new alignments you should keep eyes on between Turkey and Israel which is supposed to keep control of the Palestinians. But these three alignments design has an effect of maintaining the flow profits from New Zealand to America.
Was reading an article the other day (Think I linked to it) which said that the highest reported job in 28 US states was truck driver. If autonomous vehicles work, and they will, then we’re not talking hundreds of thousands of people out of work but millions – and that’s just in the US. The loss of truck driver in NZ will hit thousands.
The real problem is capitalism and private ownership. The owners of those autonomous vehicles will make a nice, passive income while the people who used to do the jobs will be struck further into poverty under the present system.
I just realised I didn’t respond to your claim that Trump is moving away from the neoliberal model. He does seem to be, but it is still very early days. Moreover, New Zealand seems to have put itself in a position that makes moving on hard, with an economy that is now largely dependent on house prices and immigration. I like the idea of rebuilding local manufacturing to a level that would be necessary to get through a disaster, but I don’t know how well supported or even possible that would be. It would have the advantages of starting to move investment away from housing toward productivity, and if successful should give us a bit more leverage as a country.
Moreover, New Zealand seems to have put itself in a position that makes moving on hard, with an economy that is now largely dependent on house prices and immigration.
The economy isn’t – the financial system is.
We could crash the financial system and repair the economy at the same time. Would require a lot of work so I doubt if there’d be any unemployment for quite a few years.
I think that the mania for ensuring that the public good never again gets a foothold will be the thing that brings neoliberalism down in the end. Weakened, divided societies, made up of people who cannot do much apart from administrate and consume, or else subsist as outcasts, are vulnerable societies.
Thanks for the link Draco. I am not sure I agree that everyone who is rich should be denigrated as a thief (what about great entertainers and such?) but I do think that a society that follows the lines ours does breeds people who are made useless by self-indulgence one one side and by privation on the other. We all need to grapple with the world in some way to gain judgement, which requires both basic materials and surmountable challenges. A medieval castle says, “don’t mess with me. I am able to defend my land and my people”. A modern mansion too often says, “I am, in some inane way, superior and important”. The former comes with a broader social demand, the latter not so much.
I am not sure I agree that everyone who is rich should be denigrated as a thief (what about great entertainers and such?)…
Do great entertainers really work hard enough to warrant multi-million dollar incomes?
Do their investments available to them from that income justify them having an even higher income?
High incomes always come from a lot of people paying what appears to be a small amount. But what would happen if all the hundreds of millions who watch Tom Cruise got together and decided that they’d pay him $100k per annum to star in movies? And did that across the board and refused to pay shareholders at all. How many more movies could be made? How many more actors could become stars?
OK. I seem to remember Ivan Illich saying that limiting the maximum income was more effective than raising the minimum. His ideal was a “convivial” society, and he thought that ever-rising incomes, with everyone trying to catch up, went against that.
“Collapse can be avoided and population can reach equilibrium if the per capita rate of depletion of nature is reduced to a sustainable level, and if resources are distributed in a reasonably equitable fashion.”
only question is how it is determined this is to be achieved.?..that is if it is determined at all.
Indeed. You need to slow the card down *before* you leave the cliff.
Because after you have left the cliff, no amount of stabbing the pedals, flailing with the steering wheel, beeping the horn and changing the radio station makes the slightest bit of difference.
I was wondering more if certain sections hadn’t already decided to let the impending disaster create the new equilibrium for them as opposed to attempting any meaningful change.
Outrageous that Michelle Boag should dare to bleat about the dissemination given her “barely coffee coloured” observation to a journalist re the young woman on Waiheke Island. “I was being flippant……”. “I didn’t know I was talking to a (journalist)journalist.” http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11776797
Huh ! Imagine the distress of the young woman repeatedly assaulted by John Key when she realised that Key’s pal the wannabe Rachel Glucina was not in fact a journalist but an undercover operative from Planet Key. All set to do a media hatchet job on her as the victim.
Leitch racist ? I find that a long bow to draw frankly. His comment misinterpreted ? Possibly. Certainly however Leitch’s “white mans’ island” comment is emblematic of the gentrification of Waiheke and the subliminal racism which of course attends that gentrification. Leitch has bought into that even if unwittingly.
Accepting Boag’s rationalisation in her “barely coffee coloured” comment is to give kudos to the canard – ‘merely saying what everyone else (allegedly) is thinking’. Hmmm. OK. Let me say that ever since Leitch’s “This Is Your Life” with Paul Holmes I think it was, this is what I’ve been thinking – Leitch presents as a fairly unabashed lickspittle to the rich and powerful in New Zealand.
Why do I think that ? Because of the stunned looks on the faces of particularly Kiwi Adam Blair but also other Kiwis/Warriors present. As they, Leitch having done his ‘turn’ with them, were put aside for excruciatingly slavish dancing with Holmes and Key.
Oh well…….good on you Sir Peter, your good works etc. But to hell with you Michelle Boag for your racist elitisim. Some PR person you turned out to be !
Oh well…….good on you Sir Peter, your good works etc.
It always seems to me that the Peter Leitchs of this world are really only playing to their own vanity when they ‘reflect’ loudly on their good works. The true philanthropists never talk about their philanthropy. It gets done quietly behind the scenes without any fuss.
Al Capone gave millions of dollars to charity. So does that scourge of public education, Bill Gates. So does that gruesome old, racist, sexist, violent boor “Sir” Robert Jones.
Yep. I tend to the view that rich people going on about their giving to charity is try to hide the unethical actions that they’ve had to do to become rich.
Yeah thanks Anne, Morrissey, Maui. I’d always entertained that my acknowledged ‘indulgence’ amounted to nothing more than over-commitment to substances and physically attractive people. But no, clearly. Many thanks for ‘saying what I was always thinking’ ! When it comes to snobs/poor boys made ‘good’, bootstraps, licking John Key’s arse, etc etc etc, I’m taking on the hues of the zealous martinet. For the rest of 2017.
Poor Old Butcher. He really fucked it up when he got the Boagy Lady on the job. Wonder what she charged him ? Conscience should command her to pay it all back. Conscience ? Well of course that’s fucking weird in connection with that entitled crone.
Actually North, Leitch has been “fucking up” for years. He was a loud defender of Graham Lowe’s crude and ignorant outbursts about the Warriors having too many Polynesians, and he’s been one of John Key’s most avid supporters.
He deserves every bit of opprobrium that’s been heaped on his horrible head.
Then there’s the time he backed up Murray Deakers use of the N word. He’s racist alright, he can’t hide behind his multicultural support of the Warriors.
I would expect those kind of words possibly from a World War 2 vet, when words like hori and nip were used, not from someone Leitchs age. Hes only had like 60 years to grow out of it! As an ambassador for Pacific sport too there’s no excuse for him I believe.
But that’s just the thing. Despite the noise from all parts of the political spectrum, I am almost certain that Leitch doesn’t give a damn about having an excuse for this or that. He’s just who he is and he just does what he does.
You seem to enjoy particular felicity with the horrible bastards CV……we know what Leitch thinks and we don’t need you to tell us. Especially not with the applause you reserve for the horrible bastards. Supreme, unequalled leftie, disaster you.
I know, why doesn’t someone start a petition to strip Leitch of his knighthood. Or some other equally pointless and unpopular bullshit. Then you can sign it to signal to everyone how outraged you are about how deplorable and irredeemable Leitch is.
Well, he’s an old white guy with residual attitudes and terminology common and left over from a certain generation.
Nonsense. My grandfather was older than Leitch, and I never heard him use derogatory language about Maori, either in earnest or in “jest”. Nor did I hear his friends ever talk like that.
Leitch’s words are disgusting, no matter what the context in which he uttered them.
Sounds like you don’t understand the society that your grandfather grew up in. Clue: NZ still had a poll tax against Chinese at the time, and was actively trying to stomp out Maori culture.
But you know all these things, so why pretend you don’t?
Yes, all those terrible things happened, just as terrible things are happening today. It’s not the Chinese that are being discriminated against now, it’s people from the Middle East. And, as the ugly Don Brash phenomenon of 2004 illustrated, there is still a filthy war being orchestrated against Maori.
Do you think I should assume that you reflexively mouth the racist bilge that fills our airwaves, just because you happen to be living now? Do you attack women and vituperate black people simply because you are living in the Age of Trump?
I’m telling you for a fact that my grandfather was NOT a racist, and he never said an unkind word—either seriously or jokingly—about Maori. And neither did my grandmother. Nor did my parents.
It was politicians who brought in the Chinese poll tax, just as it’s politicians bringing about the iniquities of the present day.
You wrote the following highly contentious statement to explain Leitch’s ugly behaviour:
he’s an old white guy with residual attitudes and terminology common and left over from a certain generation.
To refute that, I pointed out to you that many other—probably MOST other—“old white guys” were not racist, and I used my grandfather as an example. I was refuting a spurious excuse for Leitch’s racism that you brought up, not making it a conversation about my grandfather as you choose to misconstrue it.
Too true CV – the one thing that this blog is really good at is Outrage. We all need a bit of rage to fuel us up for changes for the better. Pity it gets let out just to cast aspersions, dildos and rotten eggs.
Keep it for fuel I suggest and feed it though your mind in measured doses, enough to go out and support arguments for better policies, earnest discussions with practical outcomes, support for people grappling with need such as foodbanks and free clothing etc.
en you can take your muscles and your trailers and make yourself available to shift people, things, for those who are permanently footloose and resource-poor because of our venal economic society. Women could try being less fault-finding, middle class and po-faced and look for helpful ways to promote peoples welfare, having a regular school clinic for nits, encouraging health camps to be set up, taking families for doctor’s visits, paying for people’s prescriptions, helping kids and parents to read better.
Actually do something, let others know you are doing something to encourage more doing-somethings of a worthwhile nature. Don’t be afraid to air it so as you can claim to be better than a rich guy flaunting his good deeds, just tell others, start a ‘doing, being helpful’ movement which is working away with number of people already but more is needed. The theme hasn’t got enough push to become the in thing in society yet.
There are parts of your comment I agree with greyrawshark (there’s a hell of a lot of outrage on this site…). Having said that, ironically, I find myself pretty pissed off at the sexism embedded in your assumption that men should lift and carry things for people, and women should look after families and such. Plus, why single out women for being “po-faced”? (And BTW, “middle class” applies to men as well as women (duh!). And you seem to assume that women can’t be working class, or bosses, or business owners.)
Stuff your PCness and sexist filter on comments. It is time to talk frankly about reality not tiptoe around, worrying if some brainwashed people are unable to hear what is said because they have to check that it doesn’t offend somebody’s sensibilities.
I’m talking about things I know about and describe needs accurately. And by the way men tend to have bigger muscles than women, ever looked at the average woman’s arms, and will usually be welcomed by organisations shifting furniture, books, carting cartons of clothes for opportunity shops etc.
Men like driving as a rule. So they will also be welcomed if they are of good repute, to deliver meals on wheels etc.
How dare you suggest that there might sometimes be real differences between men and women, and that we should not be afraid to recognise that fact! /sarc
“I’M LITERALLY SHAKING” You don’t give a fuck CV and that’s hardly a good basis on which to enter comment. Be different were there any ‘Sino’ attached of course. That’s racist as all fuck to start.
Ms Boag says she didn’t know until after making the “coffee coloured” comment that she was on speaker phone to a number of other people (insert: SHIT HOT MEDIA PR SPECIALIST BOAG IN ACTION).
On Stuff:
“Hours after the Race Relations Commissioner called Sir Peter Leitch “the least racist person” she knew, she has condemned his comments as “casual racism”.”
About face?
The most painful aspect of this uproar is to realise how many people (even the apparently well-intentioned) have such a limited understanding of how racism,or sexism, or class discrimination plays out.
Full text and analysis of Syrian cease fire agreement between Syria, Iran and Russia; excludes US involvement
– Political process for working with agreeable non-extremist rebels outlined
– US irrelevant
– Turkish agreement critical as jihadists cannot be resupplied without Turkish co-operation
– Can Erdogan be trusted (probably not)
– Kurdish aspirations the meat in the sandwich again
– Russia gets what it has always wanted: a separation of “moderate” rebels from Wahhabi jihadists, allowing latter to be annihilated and former co-opted into a peaceful political process.
Whilst it was these fictional negotiations between Lavrov and Kerry which continued to hold the limelight, the real negotiations were going on behind the scenes between the militaries of Russia and Turkey, without the US being consulted or involved.
Moreover it is now clear from Shoigu’s words that the Turks made a political decision to come to a settlement with the Russians over Syria by October at the latest, so that the discussions which took place during November and December were of an essentially technical nature: determining what territories the groups that would be covered by the ceasefire actually controlled, getting the groups to sign up to the ceasefire plan, and agreeing the technicalities of monitoring the ceasefire and enforcing it.
Most of the ceasefire plan, the text of which I have provided above, sets out the monitoring and enforcement procedures, and confirms that Turkey has agreed to guarantee the compliance of the seven groups who have signed up to it.
On Susan Devoy, she really isn’t suited to the job at all. Casual, clumsy, and unable to differentiate the personal from the professional. We’ve seen her get into hot water several times.
Yes she was – really good idea wasn’t it, to give an appointment like that to someone who was good at hitting a ball at a wall!
By the way, someone on facebook just stated the blindingly obvious that if Leitch was an ok person there’s no way he’d have someone like Boag speaking for him. Indeed – birds of a feather, and all that!
Yeah, appointed over the back fence. Talking to next-door-neighbour the super-family-values-super-hypocrite-super-something else-in-fact, guy. What was his name ? The sartorial scream, former lawyer, former Minister of Health.
Thanks for that, Sacha. Someone should read these words out on the radio….
I was one of Bill’s three kids always sitting in the back of the old-beat-up-car or hiding under the stands at Carlaw, one of the kids you barely noticed as you said what you liked about who, what and when you liked. A kind of self-appointed-King in Auckland’s rugby league circles. Monied and mouthy and filthy rich. People generally knew not to mess with the Butcher. Because if they did, there was generally something to lose.
That’s because you are known for your ‘generosity’. You are known for being the guy who cultivates friendship and favour by making big donations, whether in cash or kind to the cause. And you and I both know that when my dad’s compulsive gambling habit had taken over his life (to the point where when he had no job and his second “coconut” wife had left him – yes I remember you calling her that – and he was bankrupt, again), you were one of the few people that gave him a job. Selling meat out of the back of his car for you. I remember that. I remember traipsing around Auckland with dad in his bomb and him pulling over to sell frozen meat to people. Hoping they might buy some so he could pay you back. I don’t know if the arrangement was under the table, but I suspect it was.
Yup, that was 1990s Auckland – and in league circles no one blinked an eye at Bill doing a bit of work on the side for the Butcher. Cause the thing is you were the King. And your generosity had another name. A name I’ve come to appreciate in my adult years as I’ve encountered more and more people in positions of influence and power. It’s called Patronage. Looking after people so long as they look after you.
More Zero Hedge “fake news”: Russia sends naval ships to Philippines for joint exercises
I wonder how the USN stationed in and around the Philippines feels about this. That CIA wet team must be looking at sorting out Filipino President Duterte any month now so the USA can return common sense to the nation.
Possibly. There are people throughout the governmental structures of the Philippines who are part of the nascent narco state. As their survival becomes more at stake, the more extreme the measures they will take against Duterte.
And the regime change experts from the USA will actively assist them.
Race Relations Commissioner Susan Devoy defends Donald Trump:
“I know he’s the least racist person I know in the world.”
In a statement released this morning, Dame Susan has condemned casual racism.
“Many of us have said or done things that are hurtful to others without really realising what we were saying is offensive: but that’s not the end of the story. The important thing is being able to recognise when we’ve offended someone, to work to resolve it with mana and to make sure we never do it again.
“The thing about so-called casual racism is that it doesn’t feel very casual if it happens to you or your family as some of our friends of the darker persuasion have shown us.”
She said she knew Mr Trump and thought he was a “very good person at heart”, but his actions were offensive to some touchy negroid people and it “needed to be fixed up”.
Earlier, Dame Susan told RNZ News it was unlikely his comments were meant to offend.
“I know he’s the least racist person I know in the world and yet what he said was obviously taken as offence by all those young women. But I wasn’t there and I wasn’t part of the conversation. It’s grown real legs, hasn’t it?”
Dame Susan said Mr Trump often used light-hearted locker-room banter, which could be misinterpreted.
“The last thing he would have wanted in the world was to offend someone, I know that. Let’s not forget he’s done a lot of great work in terms of race relations in the United States – providing opportunity and building bridges between different cultures.
“I think it’s generational and culturally different these days and he’s probably licking his wounds today.”
Dame Susan said what was acceptable 40 years ago was not now.
“We at the Commission launched a campaign about casual racism, getting people to stand up and address it.
“The thing to remind ourselves is it’s good to have conversations about these issues but also to remind ourselves that we have to reasonable and rational in our discussions about it too.
“Everyone’s entitled to have an opinion, but respect each other when you’re doing that.”
“Another side to Peter Leitch”. Thank you Sacha. Compelling. Absolutely compelling. My heart goes out to you Leilani Tamu, and your dad. Good on you Leilani ! Come to think about it……..Leitch is so John Key. The rich, clay feet, bullshitter. Fuck him !
What might not appeal Sir Peter is the ‘intelligence’ on Waiheke that you and yours are just slightly, you know…….nouveau riche, gauche, flashy, wannabes. Not “our” kind of people but tolerated because you’re seriously wedged up.
The funny thing about Martyn is he will probably write at least 6 pieces on how this isn’t a story. Just like he obsessed about not caring about Real Housewives of Auckland. He talked about that show so much I almost thought I should watch an episode. Luckily good taste intervened.
The fact that consumerism and materialism was destroying both the fabric of society and the fabric of the environment came to prominence in the 1960s and 1970s.
Not only are we now 50 years further down this destructive path, I can’t see any new proposals from the Left to do anything more effective to change course.
Wait until the 500 million new middle class peeps in India and China want their new car.
[sorry CV, but you are not welcome to comment on my posts at this time. Anyone wants to discuss that, take it to OM – weka]
More dismal disinformation posing as news tonight.
TV1 News, Thursday 5 January 2017
Yet another nasty little propaganda nugget masquerading as a news report tonight on TV1—this time from one of the Clinton-friendly U.S. networks. After accurately reporting how Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has scotched the absurd Democratic Party lie about Russian hacking, the “reporter” wheeled out some floppy-fringed “intelligence analyst” who sneeringly claimed that Assange did not have a clue what he was talking about and the Russians were indeed masterminding everything that happened in the U.S.
Then the “reporter” intoned ominously:
“Many people believe Julian Assange is an enemy of the state.”
The propaganda exercise concluded with a shot of the absurd New York Senator Charles Schumer uttering a dark warning to Trump about crossing the intelligence establishment.
By the way, anyone interested in shaking off these sleazy servants of the state and finding out something truthful about Assange should have a look at the following….
Far out anything to discredit Julian after his insightful interview with Fox muppet Hannity (whose wana be charade of innocence on some topics cracked me up). Sounds like ABC and TVNZ desperately trying to tone it down, wankers.
Will have a listen to Noam laters, ty so much for the link Morrissey.
Not so long ago Trump said Assange should be in jail, seems to have changed his tune of late.
Julian Assange is a very intelligent human, computer security expert and a sharer of reliable information, he is not a criminal, rather a helpful man whom is educating so many on the realities of the world.
Our Cranky Uncle Game can already be played in eight languages: English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish. About 15 more languages are in the works at various stages of completion or have been offered to be done. To kick off the new year, we checked with how ...
The (new) Prime Minister said nobody understands what co-governance means, later modified to that there were so many varying interpretations that there was no common understanding.Co-governance cannot be derived from the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It does not use the word. It refers to ‘government’ on ...
It’s that time of the week again when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kaka. Jump on this link for our chat about the week’s news with special guests Auckland Central MP Chloe Swarbrick and Auckland City Councillor Julie Fairey, including:Auckland’s catastrophic floods, which ...
In March last year, in a panic over rising petrol prices caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the government made a poor decision, "temporarily" cutting fuel excise tax by 25 cents a litre. Of course, it turned out not to be temporary at all, having been extended in May, July, ...
This month’s open thread for climate related topics. Please be constructive, polite, and succinct. The post Unforced variations: Feb 2023 first appeared on RealClimate. ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two fresh press releases had been posted when we checked the Beehive website at noon, both of them posted yesterday. In one statement, in the runup to Waitangi Day, Maori Crown Relations Minister Kelvin Davis drew attention to happenings on a Northland battle site in 1845. ...
It’s that time of the week again when I’m on the site for an hour for a chat in an Ask Me Anything with paying subscribers to The Kaka. Jump in for a chat on anything, including:Auckland’s catastrophic floods, which are set to cost insurers and the Government well over ...
Australia’s Treasurer Jim Chalmers (left) has published a 6,000 word manifesto called ‘Capitalism after the Crises’ arguing for ‘values-based capitalism’. Yet here in NZ we hear the same stale old rhetoric unchanged from the 1990s and early 2000s. Photo: Getty ImagesTLDR: The rest of the world is talking about inflation ...
A couple of weeks ago, after NCEA results came out, my son’s enrolment at Auckland Uni for this year was confirmed - he is doing a BSc majoring in Statistics. Well that is the plan now, who knows what will take his interest once he starts.I spent a bit of ...
Kia ora. What a week! We hope you’ve all come through last weekend’s extreme weather event relatively dry and safe. Header image: stormwater ponds at Hobsonville Point. Image via Twitter. The week in Greater Auckland There’s been a storm of information and debate since the worst of the flooding ...
Hi,At 4.43pm yesterday it arrived — a cease and desist letter from the guy I mentioned in my last newsletter. I’d written an article about “WEWE”, a global multi-level marketing scam making in-roads into New Zealand. MLMs are terrible for many of the same reasons megachurches are terrible, and I ...
Time To Call A Halt: Chris Hipkins knows that iwi leaders possess the means to make life very difficult for his government. Notwithstanding their objections, however, the Prime Minister’s direction of travel – already clearly signalled by his very public demotion of Nanaia Mahuta – must be confirmed by an emphatic ...
Open access notables Via PNAS, Ceylan, Anderson & Wood present a paper squarely in the center of the Skeptical Science wheelhouse: Sharing of misinformation is habitual, not just lazy or biased. The signficance statement is obvious catnip: Misinformation is a worldwide concern carrying socioeconomic and political consequences. What drives ...
Mark White from the Left free speech organisation Plebity looks at the disturbing trend of ‘book burning’ on US campuses In the abstract, people mostly agree that book banning is a bad thing. The Nazis did us the favor of being very clear about it and literally burning books, but ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has undergone a stern baptisim of fire in his first week in his new job, but it doesn’t get any easier. Next week, he has a vital meeting in Canberra with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese, where he has to establish ...
As PM Chris Hipkins says, it’s a “no brainer” to extend the fuel tax cut, half price public subsidy and the cut to the road user levy until mid-year. A no braoner if the prime purpose is to ease the burden on people struggling to cope with the cost of ...
Buzz from the Beehive Cost-of-living pressures loomed large in Beehive announcements over the past 24 hours. The PM was obviously keen to announce further measures to keep those costs in check and demonstrate he means business when he talks of focusing his government on bread-and-butter issues. His statement was headed ...
Poor Mike Hosking. He has revealed himself in his most recent diatribe to be one of those public figures who is defined, not by who he is, but by who he isn’t, or at least not by what he is for, but by what he is against. Jacinda’s departure has ...
New Zealand is the second least corrupt country on earth according to the latest Corruption Perception Index published yesterday by Transparency International. But how much does this reflect reality? The problem with being continually feted for world-leading political integrity – which the Beehive and government departments love to boast about ...
TLDR: Including my pick of the news and other links in my checks around the news sites since 4am. Paying subscribers can see them all below the fold.In Aotearoa’s political economyBrown vs Fish Read more ...
TLDR: Including my pick of the news and other links in my checks around the news sites since 4am. Paying subscribers can see them all below the fold.In Aotearoa’s political economyBrown vs Fish Read more ...
In other countries, the target-rich cohorts of swinging voters are given labels such as ‘Mondeo Man’, ‘White Van Man,’ ‘Soccer Moms’ and ‘Little Aussie Battlers.’ Here, the easiest shorthand is ‘Ford Ranger Man’ – as seen here parked outside a Herne Bay restaurant, inbetween two SUVs. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / ...
In other countries, the target-rich cohorts of swinging voters are given labels such as ‘Mondeo Man’, ‘White Van Man,’ ‘Soccer Moms’ and ‘Little Aussie Battlers.’ Here, the easiest shorthand is ‘Ford Ranger Man’ – as seen here parked outside a Herne Bay restaurant, inbetween two SUVs. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / ...
Transport Minister and now also Minister for Auckland, Michael Wood has confirmed that the light rail project is part of the government’s policy refocus. Wood said the light rail project was under review as part of a ministerial refocus on key Government projects. “We are undertaking a stocktake about how ...
Sometime before the new Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced that this year would be about “bread and butter issues”, National’s finance spokesperson Nicola Willis decided to move from Wellington Central and stand for Ohariu, which spreads across north Wellington from the central city to Johnsonville and Tawa. It’s an ...
They say a week is a long time in politics. For Mayor Wayne Brown, turns out 24 hours was long enough for many of us to see, quite obviously, “something isn’t right here…”. That in fact, a lot was going wrong. Very wrong indeed.Mainly because it turns ...
One of the most effective, and successful, graphics developed by Skeptical Science is the escalator. The escalator shows how global surface temperature anomalies vary with time, and illustrates how "contrarians" tend to cherry-pick short time intervals so as to argue that there has been no recent warming, while "realists" recognise ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: Here’s a quick roundup of the news today for paying subscribers on a slightly frantic, very wet, and then very warm day. In Aotearoa’s political economy today Read more ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: Here’s a quick roundup of the news today for paying subscribers on a slightly frantic, very wet, and then very warm day. In Aotearoa’s political economy today Read more ...
Tomorrow we have a funeral, and thank you all of you for your very kind words and thoughts — flowers, even.Our friend Michèle messaged: we never get to feel one thing at a time, us grownups, and oh boy is that ever the truth. Tomorrow we have the funeral, and ...
Lynn and I have just returned from a news conference where Hipkins, fresh from visiting a relief centre in Mangere, was repeatedly challenged to justify the extension of subsidies to create more climate emissions when the effects of climate change had just proved so disastrous. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The ...
Lynn and I have just returned from a news conference where Hipkins, fresh from visiting a relief centre in Mangere, was repeatedly challenged to justify the extension of subsidies to create more climate emissions when the effects of climate change had just proved so disastrous. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The ...
A new Prime Minister, a revitalised Cabinet, and possibly revised priorities – but is the political and, importantly, economic landscape much different? Certainly some within the news media were excited by the changes which Chris Hipkins announced yesterday or – before the announcement – by the prospect of changes in ...
Currently the government's strategy for reducing transport emissions hinges on boosting vehicle fuel-efficiency, via the clean car standard and clean car discount, and some improvements to public transport. The former has been hugely successful, and has clearly set us on the right path, but its also not enough, and will ...
Buzz from the Beehive Before he announced his Cabinet yesterday, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced he would be flying to Australia next week to meet that country’s Prime Minister. And before Kieran McAnulty had time to say “Three Waters” after his promotion to the Local Government portfolio, he was dishing ...
The quarterly labour market statistics were released this morning, showing that unemployment has risen slightly to 3.4%. There are now 99,000 people unemployed - 24,000 fewer than when Labour took office. So, I guess the Reserve Bank's plan to throw people out of work to stop wage rises "inflation", and ...
Another night of heavy rain, flooding, damage to homes, and people worried about where the hell all this water is going to go as we enter day twenty two of rain this year.Honestly if the government can’t sell Three Waters on the back of what has happened with storm water ...
* Dr Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Chris Hipkins continues to be the new broom in Government, re-setting his Government away from its problem areas in his Cabinet reshuffle yesterday, and trying to convince voters that Labour is focused on “bread and butter” issues. The ministers responsible for unpopular ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins continues to be the new broom in Government, re-setting his Government away from its problem areas in his Cabinet reshuffle yesterday, and trying to convince voters that Labour is focused on “bread and butter” issues. The ministers responsible for unpopular reforms in water and DHB centralisation ...
Hi,It’s weird to me that in 2023 we still have people falling for multi-level marketing schemes (MLMs for short). There are Netflix documentaries about them, countless articles, and last year we did an Armchaired and Dangerous episode on them.Then you check a ticketing website like EventBrite and see this shit ...
Nanaia Mahuta fell the furthest in the Cabinet reshuffle. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: PM Chris Hipkins unveiled a Cabinet this afternoon he hopes will show wavering voters that a refreshed Labour Government is focused on ‘bread and butter cost of living’ issues, rather than the unpopular, unwieldy and massively centralising ...
Nanaia Mahuta fell the furthest in the Cabinet reshuffle. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: PM Chris Hipkins unveiled a Cabinet this afternoon he hopes will show wavering voters that a refreshed Labour Government is focused on ‘bread and butter cost of living’ issues, rather than the unpopular, unwieldy and massively centralising ...
Shortly, the absolute state of Wayne Brown. But before that, something I wrote four years ago for the council’s own media machine. It was a day-in-the-life profile of their many and varied and quite possibly unnoticed vital services. We went all over Auckland in 48 hours for the story, the ...
Completed reads for January Lilith, by George MacDonald The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (poem), by Samuel Taylor Coleridge Christabel (poem), by Samuel Taylor Coleridge The Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok, by Anonymous The Lay of Kraka (poem), by Anonymous 1066 and All That, by W.C. Sellar and R.J. ...
Pity the poor Brits. They just can’t catch a break. After years of reporting of lying Boris Johnson, a change to a less colourful PM in Rishi Sunak has resulted in a smooth media pivot to an end-of-empire narrative. The New York Times, no less, amplifies suggestions that Blighty ...
On that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth.Genesis 6:11-12THE TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS that dumped a record-breaking amount of rain on Auckland this anniversary weekend will reoccur with ever-increasing frequency. The planet’s atmosphere is ...
Buzz from the Beehive There has been plenty to keep the relevant Ministers busy in flood-stricken Auckland over the past day or two. But New Zealand, last time we looked, extends north of Auckland into Northland and south of the Bombay Hills all the way to the bottom of the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters When early settlers came to the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers before the California Gold Rush, Indigenous people warned them that the Sacramento Valley could become an inland sea when great winter rains came. The storytellers described water filling the ...
Wayne Brown managed a smile when meeting with Remuera residents, but he was grumpy about having to deal with “media drongos”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: In my pick of the news links found in my rounds since 4am for paying subscribers below the paywall:Wayne Brown moans about the media and ...
Wayne Brown managed a smile when meeting with Remuera residents, but he was grumpy about having to deal with “media drongos”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: In my pick of the news links found in my rounds since 4am for paying subscribers below the paywall:Wayne Brown moans about the media and ...
Dr Bryce Edwards writes – Last night’s opinion polls answered the big question of whether a switch of prime minister would really be a gamechanger for election year. The 1News and Newshub polls released at 6pm gave the same response: the shift from Jacinda Ardern to Chris Hipkins ...
Hipkins’ aim this year will be to present a ‘low target’ for those seeking to attack Labour’s policies and spending. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: Anyone dealing with Government departments and councils who wants some sort of big or long-term decision out of officials or politicians this year should brace for ...
Hipkins’ aim this year will be to present a ‘low target’ for those seeking to attack Labour’s policies and spending. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: Anyone dealing with Government departments and councils who wants some sort of big or long-term decision out of officials or politicians this year should brace for ...
Last night’s opinion polls answered the big question of whether a switch of prime minister would really be a gamechanger for election year. The 1News and Newshub polls released at 6pm gave the same response: the shift from Jacinda Ardern to Chris Hipkins has changed everything, and Labour is back ...
Over the last few years, it’s seemed like city after city around the world has become subject to extreme flooding events that have been made worse by impacts from climate change. We’ve highlighted many of them in our Weekly Roundup series. Sadly, over the last few days it’s been Auckland’s ...
And so the first month of the year draws to a close. It rained in Auckland on 21 out of the 31 days in January. Feels like summer never really happened this year. It’s actually hard to believe there were 10 days that it didn’t rain. Was it any better where ...
A ‘small target’ strategy is not going to cut it anymore if National want to win the upcoming election. The game has changed and the game plan needs to change as well. Jacinda Ardern’s abrupt departure from the 9th floor has the potential to derail what looked to be an ...
When Grant Robertson talks about how the economy might change post-covid, one of the things he talks about is what he calls an unsung but interesting white paper on science. “It’s really important,” he says. The Minister in charge of the White Paper — Te Ara Paerangi, Future Pathways ...
The clean up has begun but more rain is on the way. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: Auckland’s floods over the last three days are turning into a macroeconomic event, with losses from Aotearoa’s biggest-ever climate event estimated at around $500 million and Auckland’s schools all closed for a week until ...
The clean up has begun but more rain is on the way. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: Auckland’s floods over the last three days are turning into a macroeconomic event, with losses from Aotearoa’s biggest-ever climate event estimated at around $500 million and Auckland’s schools all closed for a week until ...
The news media were at one ceremony by the looks of things. The Governor-General, the Prime Minister and his deputy were at another. The news media were at a swearing-in ceremony. The country’s leaders were at an appointment ceremony. The New Zealand Gazette record of what transpired says: Appointment of ...
I n some alternative universe, Auckland mayor Efeso Collins readily grasped the scale of Friday’s deluge, and quickly made the emergency declaration that enabled central government to immediately throw its resources behind the rescue and remediation effort. As Friday evening became night, Mayor Collins seemed to be everywhere: talking with ...
They called it an “atmospheric river”, the weather bombardment which hit NZ’s northern region at the weekend. It exacted a terrible toll on metropolitan Auckland and the rest of the region. Few living there may have noted a statement from electricity generator Mercury Energy labelled “WET, WET, WET!” This was ...
I know, that is a pretty corny title but given the circumstances here in the Auckland region, I just had to say it. The more oblique reference embedded in the title is to the leadership failures exhibited by Mayor Wayne Brown and his so-called leadership team when confronted by the ...
How much confidence should the public have in authorities managing natural disasters? Not much, judging by the farcical way in which the civil defence emergence in Auckland has played out. The way authorities dealt with Auckland’s extreme weather on Friday illustrated how hit-and-miss our civil defence emergency system is. In ...
TLDR: Here’s the key news links and useful longer reads I’ve spotted since 4 am this morning, including:calls for a more ‘spongey’ urban infrastructure after Auckland’s floods;demands for an inquiry into Auckland Council’s communications failure;the latest on Chris Hipkins’ plans for Three Waters; inside the PR trainwreck that is Wayne ...
TLDR: Here’s the key news links and useful longer reads I’ve spotted since 4 am this morning, including:calls for a more ‘spongey’ urban infrastructure after Auckland’s floods;demands for an inquiry into Auckland Council’s communications failure;the latest on Chris Hipkins’ plans for Three Waters; inside the PR trainwreck that is Wayne ...
Mayor Wayne Brown, under fire for his communication failures, quietly visited the scene of the fatal Remuera slip on Sunday, with his staff taking photos for social media updates. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: The cleanup and the post-mortem have begun, even though the rain just keeps falling in Auckland after ...
Mayor Wayne Brown, under fire for his communication failures, quietly visited the scene of the fatal Remuera slip on Sunday, with his staff taking photos for social media updates. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: The cleanup and the post-mortem have begun, even though the rain just keeps falling in Auckland after ...
Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.The recent leadership change in the governing Labour party resulted in a very strange response from National’s (current) leader, Christopher Luxon. Mr Luxon berated Labour for it’s change of leader, citing no actual change.As ...
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 22, 2023 thru Sat, Jan 28, 2023. Story of the Week New Study Reveals Arctic Ice, Tracked Both Above and Below, Is Freezing LaterClimate change is affecting the timing of both ...
We’ve just announced a massive infrastructure investment to kick-start new housing developments across New Zealand. Through our Infrastructure Acceleration Fund, we’re making sure that critical infrastructure - like pipes, roads and wastewater connections - is in place, so thousands more homes can be built. ...
The Green Party is joining more than 20 community organisations to call for an immediate rent freeze in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, after reports of landlords intending to hike rents after flooding. ...
When Chris Hipkins took on the job of Prime Minister, he said bread and butter issues like the cost of living would be the Government’s top priority – and this week, we’ve set out extra support for families and businesses. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to provide direct support to low-income households and to stop subsidising fossil fuels during a climate crisis. ...
The tools exist to help families with surging costs – and as costs continue to rise it is more urgent than ever that we use them, the Green Party says. ...
Over $10 million infrastructure funding to unlock housing in Whangārei The purchase of a 3.279 hectare site in Kerikeri to enable 56 new homes Northland becomes eligible for $100 million scheme for affordable rentals Multiple Northland communities will benefit from multiple Government housing investments, delivering thousands of new homes for ...
A memorial event at a key battle site in the New Zealand land wars is an important event to mark the progress in relations between Māori and the Crown as we head towards Waitangi Day, Minister for Te Arawhiti Kelvin Davis said. The Battle of Ohaeawai in June 1845 saw ...
More Police officers are being deployed to the frontline with the graduation of 54 new constables from the Royal New Zealand Police College today. The graduation ceremony for Recruit Wing 362 at Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua was the first official event for Stuart Nash since his reappointment as Police ...
The Government is unlocking an additional $700,000 in support for regions that have been badly hit by the recent flooding and storm damage in the upper North Island. “We’re supporting the response and recovery of Auckland, Waikato, Coromandel, Northland, and Bay of Plenty regions, through activating Enhanced Taskforce Green to ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has welcomed the announcement that Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, will visit New Zealand this month. “Princess Anne is travelling to Aotearoa at the request of the NZ Army’s Royal New Zealand Corps of Signals, of which she is Colonel in Chief, to ...
A new Government and industry strategy launched today has its sights on growing the value of New Zealand’s horticultural production to $12 billion by 2035, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said. “Our food and fibre exports are vital to New Zealand’s economic security. We’re focussed on long-term strategies that build on ...
25 cents per litre petrol excise duty cut extended to 30 June 2023 – reducing an average 60 litre tank of petrol by $17.25 Road User Charge discount will be re-introduced and continue through until 30 June Half price public transport fares extended to the end of June 2023 saving ...
The strong economy has attracted more people into the workforce, with a record number of New Zealanders in paid work and wages rising to help with cost of living pressures. “The Government’s economic plan is delivering on more better-paid jobs, growing wages and creating more opportunities for more New Zealanders,” ...
The Government is providing a further $1 million to the Mayoral Relief Fund to help communities in Auckland following flooding, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced today. “Cabinet today agreed that, given the severity of the event, a further $1 million contribution be made. Cabinet wishes to be proactive ...
The new Cabinet will be focused on core bread and butter issues like the cost of living, education, health, housing and keeping communities and businesses safe, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has announced. “We need a greater focus on what’s in front of New Zealanders right now. The new Cabinet line ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins will travel to Canberra next week for an in person meeting with Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. “The trans-Tasman relationship is New Zealand’s closest and most important, and it was crucial to me that my first overseas trip as Prime Minister was to Australia,” Chris Hipkins ...
The Government is providing establishment funding of $100,000 to the Mayoral Relief Fund to help communities in Auckland following flooding, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced. “We moved quickly to make available this funding to support Aucklanders while the full extent of the damage is being assessed,” Kieran McAnulty ...
As the Mayor of Auckland has announced a state of emergency, the Government, through NEMA, is able to step up support for those affected by flooding in Auckland. “I’d urge people to follow the advice of authorities and check Auckland Emergency Management for the latest information. As always, the Government ...
Ka papā te whatitiri, Hikohiko ana te uira, wāhi rua mai ana rā runga mai o Huruiki maunga Kua hinga te māreikura o te Nota, a Titewhai Harawira Nā reira, e te kahurangi, takoto, e moe Ka mōwai koa a Whakapara, kua uhia te Tai Tokerau e te kapua pōuri ...
Carmel Sepuloni, Minister for Social Development and Employment, has activated Enhanced Taskforce Green (ETFG) in response to flooding and damaged caused by Cyclone Hale in the Tairāwhiti region. Up to $500,000 will be made available to employ job seekers to support the clean-up. We are still investigating whether other parts ...
The 2023 General Election will be held on Saturday 14 October 2023, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. “Announcing the election date early in the year provides New Zealanders with certainty and has become the practice of this Government and the previous one, and I believe is best practice,” Jacinda ...
Jacinda Ardern has announced she will step down as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party. Her resignation will take effect on the appointment of a new Prime Minister. A caucus vote to elect a new Party Leader will occur in 3 days’ time on Sunday the 22nd of ...
The Government is maintaining its strong trade focus in 2023 with Trade and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor visiting Europe this week to discuss the role of agricultural trade in climate change and food security, WTO reform and New Zealand agricultural innovation. Damien O’Connor will travel tomorrow to Switzerland to attend the ...
The Government has extended its medium-scale classification of Cyclone Hale to the Wairarapa after assessing storm damage to the eastern coastline of the region. “We’re making up to $80,000 available to the East Coast Rural Support Trust to help farmers and growers recover from the significant damage in the region,” ...
After four years, executive director Max Tweedie has stepped down from Auckland Pride. He tells Sam Brooks about shepherding the festival through a tumultuous few years, and where he’s going from here.This year’s Auckland Pride Festival is set to be the biggest one yet. Over the course of more ...
A flailing mayor was only the public face of a multifaceted flooding communications failure. Duncan Greive examines the mess, and asks what can be done to improve it.It’s a chilling timeline. Stuff’s Kelly Dennett catalogued, beat-by-beat, the 12 hours in which Auckland was pummelled by a catastrophic deluge, interspersing ...
The Dunedin branch of the Green Party has selected Francisco Hernandez as its candidate for the Dunedin electorate in this year’s general election. Francisco Hernandez was the Otago University Students Association President in 2013. He has held a number ...
Waitangi organisers are trying to push political leaders to the side at Sunday's pōwhiri, but Labour's deputy leader says it's not for them to decide who speaks. Te Tai Tokerau MP and Labour’s deputy leader, Kelvin Davis, says the Prime Minister will speak at Sunday’s pōwhiri at Waitangi, in defiance of local ...
Every weekday, The Detail makes sense of the big news stories. This week, we spoke to an aid worker who had made the trip to the war zone in Ukraine, looked at why Carmel Sepuloni was picked to be the new deputy prime minister, visited the flood-torn streets of Titirangi in West ...
Schools play an integral but often unrecognised and unacknowledged role in helping communities respond to and recover from disastersOpinion: Schools in Auckland and other flood-affected areas are about to re-open after a delayed start to the new school year. Students will return to school having experienced wide-ranging impacts. While some ...
A very short story for Waitangi weekend The pā is a lonely place nowadays. Gorse has marched on it like the British troops of old, consuming the hills and leaving the marae looking a bald patch on the head of the earth mother herself. Even the roads have worn thin, ...
This is The Detail's Long Read - one in-depth story read by us every weekend. This week, it's The School Away From School written by Bill Morris and published in NZ Geographic's January/February 2023 issue. You can find the entire article, with photos from Lottie Hedley, on the NZ Geographic website. One hundred years since its ...
COMMENTARY:By Kayt Davies in Perth I wasn’t good at French in my final year of high school. My classmates had five years of language studies behind them. I had three. As a result of my woeful grip on the language, I wrote a terribly bad essay in my final ...
RNZ Pacific Journalist Victor Mambor, who is the chief editor of the West Papuan newspaper and websiteJubi, has received the Oktovianus Pogau Award from the Indonesian-based Pantau Foundation for courage in journalism. The foundation’s Andreas Harsono said Mambor’s decision to return to his father’s homeland and defend the rights ...
RNZ News Green Party MP Chlöe Swarbrick is brushing off concerns a temporary rent freeze in flood-hit Auckland would just see landlords hike rents even more when the controls were lifted — arguing they should stay permanently. More than 20 organisations have signed a letter urging Minister for Auckland Michael ...
Iwi leaders have accused National and ACT of "fanning the flames of racism", urging the prime minister to be brave and not walk away from partnership on three waters. ...
About this time last week it had become apparent that Auckland was in for a bit more than just a wet Friday. While the state of emergency remains in place for another seven days, it appears the worst should now be behind us. Last night, Niwa shared a fascinating thread ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra ShutterstockIndigenous Australians are respectfully advised that the following includes the names and images of some people who are now deceased. The Reserve Bank of Australia ...
The government has confirmed the money will be spent in Northland, including unlocking greenfields land and transport upgrades like a new bridge in Kamo. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gabrielle Appleby, Professor, UNSW Law School, UNSW Sydney Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed that sometime between August and November this year, the Australian people will go to a referendum for the first time since 1999. We’ll be asked whether we support ...
Viewers across the United States were today shown a slice of New Zealand, with a reporter for Good Morning America broadcasting live from Rotorua. Robin Roberts, a co-anchor for the popular morning TV show, has been touring the country this week. During her visit to Rotorua’s Te Puia centre, she ...
They can be environmentally unsound and are a symbol used to shame millennials, but everyone still loves an avo. I love avocados, always have, always will. The buttery golden-green flesh from a perfectly ripe avocado is a culinary blessing. Today I’d love to simply wax poetic about twisting open a ...
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.AUCKLAND1The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin (Penguin Press, $50) The beautiful ...
A new poem by Robin Peace. To the kahikatea I see from my bed Thinking inside the square, the ellipse, the round of what life is, I only see the trees. Not only as if that were the only thing I see, but only as if the tree matters more. ...
A week ago, Elton John’s first Auckland show was called off at the last minute. What was it like getting there, being there, and trying to return home afterwards?Elton John has long been a blessing for our ears, but in recent years his Auckland shows have been cursed. His ...
For Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown, sorry seems to be the hardest word to say The mayoral chains must have been heavy this week for Auckland’s Wayne Brown, as his response to last week’s flood garnered its own veritable torrent of scandals and media scrutiny. Almost exactly one week on from ...
For Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown, sorry seems to be the hardest word to say The mayoral chains must have been heavy this week for Auckland’s Wayne Brown, as his response to last week’s flood garnered its own veritable torrent of scandals and media scrutiny. Almost exactly one week on from ...
Ours Not Mines is cautiously excited about reporting that the Government is drafting legislation to ban new mines on conservation land. The anti-mining group's spokesperson, Morgan Donoghue says: "The Government has been promising us some action for ...
People who enjoy the outdoors for recreation, fishing and hunting will lose rights under the Natural and Built Environments Bill. Fish & Game New Zealand chief executive Corina Jordan says the proposed replacement for the Resource Management ...
Auckland mayor Wayne Brown has conceded he “dropped the ball” during last Friday’s major flooding event. The state of emergency in the super city has today been extended for a further seven days, though Brown said he expects it will be lifted early. After a week of defensiveness over his ...
As the reality TV juggernaut returns for a new season, Tara Ward steps into the minds of the show’s relationship experts to assess the compatibility of this year’s brides and grooms. Married at First Sight: Australia returns on Monday night, and by season ten, you’d think the show’s relationship experts ...
Auckland’s state of emergency is expected to be extended for another seven days, according to the Herald. It was due to expire overnight after being declared a week ago, the day of the worst flooding in the super city. While weather conditions have improved, the city is continuing to experience ...
Proposed pay equity claim settlements for school librarians and science technicians have been reached between the Ministry of Education and NZEI Te Riu Roa, Secretary for Education, Iona Holsted and NZEI Te Riu Roa president, Mark Potter, announced ...
Members of NZEI Te Riu Roa negotiating on behalf of school librarians, library assistants and science technicians are excited to announce that proposed pay equity settlements are ready to be voted on by their colleagues. They include pay increases of up to ...
The Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) is calling for Michael Wood, the Minister of Transport, and now Auckland, to cancel the light rail project immediately. Auckland Light Rail was never going to happen, as our group has repeatedly said dozens of ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has been asked to intervene following confirmation today that the Government plans to implement a ban on all extractive sector activities on the conservation estate. Wayne Scott, CEO of the Aggregate and Quarry Association, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato Getty Images The heated (and often confused) debate about “co-governance” in Aotearoa New Zealand inevitably leads back to its source, Te Tiriti o Waitangi. But, as its long-contested meanings demonstrate, very little ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Hunter, Lecturer in Art and Performance, Deakin University Jodie Hutchinson/Red StitchReview: Wittenoom, directed by Susie Dee, Red Stitch Deep in the remote Pilbara region of Western Australia, the town of Wittenoom lies empty, desolate … and contaminated. Wittenoom ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Oliver Bown, Postdoctoral fellow, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock The past few years have seen an explosion in applications of artificial intelligence to creative fields. A new generation of image and text generators is delivering impressiveresults. Now AI has also found ...
New Zealand’s egg shortage is hitting cruise ships too – forcing the crew of one vessel to hatch a poaching plan. This story was first published on Stuff. On the hunt for eggs, a crew from a luxury cruise ship got cracking and hatched a cunning plan. Earlier this week, Stuff ...
Now demolished, the First Church of Christ Scientist was a masterclass of architectural imagination. Kate Linzey visits the site on which it once stood, to learn more. The object is delicate and small. Small enough to sit in the palm of my hand and weighing less than 300 grams. It ...
When your food parcel arrives before the emergency alert, you know something’s not working properly.This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. I’ve spent the last week desperately and at times fruitlessly attempting to drain and then sweep my whānau home of knee-deep water, pull up ...
Drongo-gate continues for another day with the Herald reporting that Auckland’s mayor has been caught out using the slang term for a second time. It comes this time from a former minor mayoral candidate, Mike Kampkes, who said he received a message from Brown in response to a media release ...
How does Aotearoa stop relying so heavily on agriculture to prop up our economy? Online tax and accounting service Hnry just raised $35m to grow its software on-demand service across the globe. Bernard Hickey talks with AirTree partner Jackie Vullinghs about how venture capitalists are funding Aotearoa’s fastest growing, least-polluting ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Guastella, Professor and Clinical Psychologist, Michael Crouch Chair in Child and Youth Mental Health, University of Sydney Shutterstock With childcare and schools starting the new year, parents might be anxiously wondering how their child will adapt in a new ...
I am delighted to announce the appointment of John Price ONZM as the new Director Civil Defence Emergency Management and Deputy Chief Executive Emergency Management for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). John has been a member of the ...
Coromandel Watchdog of Hauraki are calling on the new Prime Minister and new Minister of Conservation Willow Jean Prime to immediately implement the 2017 promise to ban new mining activity on conservation lands. “ The mining industry group Straterra ...
How does Aotearoa stop relying so heavily on agriculture to prop up our economy? Online tax and accounting service Hnry just raised $35m to grow its software on-demand service across the globe. In the latest episode of When the Facts Change, Bernard Hickey talks with AirTree partner Jackie Vullinghs about how ...
There’s a fear that highlighting menopause will undermine women, especially at work. But what have centuries of secrecy achieved for us? Are you sick of hearing about menopause? Kim Hill is. The living legend of Aotearoa broadcasting told actor Robyn Malcolm (also a legend) on her Saturday Morning show on RNZ ...
Dunedin city council has reached an agreement to save Foulden Maar from commercial mining. The maar is the site of a crater lake from 23 million years ago with the diatomite of the lake preserving fossils and a climate record covering 100,000 years from that period. It is fantastic news for Otago University ...
Some are speculating whether the Auckland Mayor's leadership is circling the drain. James Elliott hopes they're right. There’s never been a week quite like it. It was the week when the rains came. All of them. Even the rain from Spain that was supposed to fall mainly on the plain, came. ...
The Bus and Coach Association supports the Government’s decision to continue half-price fares on public transport services. The fare reduction was set to expire on 31 March 2023, but will now continue to 30 June 2023. “Half-price fares have cost ten-times ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards. Political Roundup: Hipkins’ bread and butter reshufflePolitical scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins continues to be the new broom in Government, re-setting his Government away from its problem areas in his Cabinet reshuffle yesterday, and trying to convince voters that Labour is focused ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards. Political Roundup: Chris Hipkins hires a lobbyist to run the BeehiveNew Zealand Prime Minister, Chris Hipkins, speaking when Minister of Education, at NZEI Te Riu Roa strike rally on the steps of the New Zealand Parliament, 15th August 2018. Image; Wiki Commons. New Zealand is ...
New Zealand Politics Daily is a collation of the most prominent issues being discussed in New Zealand. It is edited by Dr Bryce Edwards of The Democracy Project. Items of interest and importance todayCO-GOVERNANCE, WAITANGI, THREE WATERS Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): Blowing Off The Froth: Why Chris Hipkins Must Ditch ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brian Tweed, Senior lecturer, Massey University Shutterstock/Renata Apanaviciene As we approach another Waitangi Day, we should be thinking again about what Te Tiriti o Waitangi means. As the late Moana Jackson commented, the meaning of Te Tiriti will be ...
Even prime ministers get caught in bad weather. It’s a week on from the devastating flooding that hit Auckland and Northland and Chris Hipkins has been forced to drive north for the start of Waitangi weekend commemorations after his plan was turned away from Kerikeri airport (twice). Today will see ...
Less than a year ago, co-governance had a future, at least as potentially accepted terminology. Now some iwi leaders want the label removed and replaced, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
“The decision by the Reserve Bank of Australia to not replace the late Queen with Charles on the Aussie $5 note should indicate to our Reserve Bank that it’s time to change the NZ $20 note” said Lewis Holden, campaign chair of New ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christian Wolf, Associate Professor, Astronomy & Astrophysics, Australian National University Somchat Parkaythong/Shutterstock Black holes are bizarre things, even by the standards of astronomers. Their mass is so great, it bends space around them so tightly that nothing can escape, even ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Revell, Associate Professor in Environmental Physics, University of Canterbury Getty Images The ozone layer is on track to heal within four decades, according to a recent UN report, but this progress could be undone by an upsurge in rocket ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Clune, Honorary Associate, Government and International Relations, University of Sydney At the New South Wales election on March 25 a 12-year-old Coalition government will be seeking re-election. Hoping to return as premier is Liberal leader Dominic Perrottet – a political conservative ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Trauer, Associate Professor, Monash University Anastelfy/Shutterstock The XBB.1.5 subvariant, known informally as “Kraken”, is the latest in a menagerie of Omicron subvariants to dominate the headlines, following increasing detection in the United States and United Kingdom. But there ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Madeline Combe, Doctoral student, University of Technology Sydney Shutterstock As the economist Herman Daly pithily said, the economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment – not the reverse. Nature makes our lives possible through what scientists call ecosystem ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Jefferson, Lecturer in Education, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock Grit. Don’t quit. That’s the mantra many parents may have in mind when they, like me, spend what feels like years ferrying children to a seemingly endless variety of sports and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Humphery-Jenner, Associate Professor of Finance, UNSW Sydney Sam Shere/Wikimedia Commons A few weeks ago, Gautam Adani was indisputably India’s richest man. Now his fortune is slipping away as the stocks of his many companies crash, thanks to the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Divna Haslam, Senior Research Fellow, Queensland University of Technology Shutterstock Have you ever found yourself scrolling through social media and noticed you felt a bit down? Maybe a little envious? Why aren’t you on a yacht? Running a startup? Looking ...
The science of ‘event attribution’ is growing, with researchers working to accelerate their assessments. A leading NZ climate scientist tells Toby Manhire how it works, how climate change impacted the ‘off the chart’ weekend downpours, and why we can’t put a number on it tomorrow. Brutal, unexpected, record-breaking, destructive, tragic. ...
Those lockdown vibes are back – and maybe they never really went away. We were supposed to be organised. For a while there, we were. A uniform, purchased across a frenzied weekend dashing between specialist stores, was spread out over our son’s bed. Tags removed, shirts folded, socks in balls, ...
Establishing a Truth, Reconciliation and Justice Commission and recognising Māori tino rangatiratanga are among several recommendations in two pivotal reports released today (Friday 3 February) by Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission. The ...
Jacinda Ardern was treated like royalty at Waitangi with people coming from near and far to see her every February. Newly minted Prime Minister Chris Hipkins isn’t a familiar face in the Far North and will have his work cut out this weekend, writes political editor Jo Moir.Analysis: About ...
By extending the fuel excise duty cut, the Government is encouraging people to drive more, which will only worsen the climate challenges we face in the very near futureOpinion: By most accounts, the storms that have been wreaking havoc in Auckland and Northland are fuelled by climate change. The ...
Is a sponge city the answer to Auckland's flooding woes? The Detail finds out what the concept is all about. With the cleanup in full swing all over Auckland after this week's catastrophic flooding, people are starting to talk about throwing out the old building rules and "unengineering" our city - ...
Donald Trump, greatest American President since Reagan, delivering American jobs to American workers. And he’s not even in office yet!
What’s the deal, d’you reckon? Nice wee tax break come February?
Two questions. First, how much of Peter Leitch’s and that old trout Micelle Boags comments to Lara Bridger were simple, old fashioned class based snobbery? From Maori TV:
“…Lara Wharepapa Bridger, 23, says she was at a vineyard on Waiheke Island earlier this week with her mother. Leitch, famously known as The Mad Butcher, approached the group about not drinking and driving. He doubted that they were locals, which sparked Bridger to tell him she was born on the island. This promoted Leitch to make the comment – which he describes as light hearted banter but Bridger took as a racist taunt…”
Leitch doubted they were local because they were not white on a white mans island, and we all understand the nexus between race and class in New Zealand. Here was a rich white man, who noticed a brown woman inside his gate. He was nonplussed at her reply, did she not know how God had ordered their estate?
My second question is would pointing out the primacy of his snobbery, rather than falling back on the reflexive identity politics of race, been the better way of attacking a National party establishment figure like Leitch? Which would resonate better with Joe Sixpack?
2016 saw elite identity politics discredited as an elite scam. Time for the left to change tactics and the angle of attack, methinks.
Was the group Leitch approached all women? I’ve not heard of any mention of a man in that group.
The response should fit the action, not be fabricated to fit a particular political agenda.
I do think the gentrification of Waiheke is part of the context of the action.
What the hell are you blathering on about now? Let me guess, you are clinging to the wreckage of identity politics because that is your safe place?
I asked two questions, you addressed neither of them and then went off on a complete tangent.
BTW, I don’t want this discussion to be derailed by identity politics trolls. If it were, it would be the perfect ironic demonstration of what a cancer identity politics is to the left, but that is about all.
I did address your points, but your focus on your own agenda seems to have resulted in you missing my points. You seem to want to fit the incident into your own particular political agenda, which dismisses anything that doesn’t directly address class as the primary focus.
The incident clearly was about ‘race’ – and yes there maybe a class element in it, as I indicated by referring to the context as a recently gentrified island.
As you also say Sir Mad noticed her as a “brown woman”, possibly there was a gender element. Would a rich white guy be so willing to approach a group of brown men to make such statements?
The nexus of ‘race’, class and gender, doesn’t mean somehow class has primacy – that is fitting it into your own political agenda. It’s only your perception that (so-called) “identity politics” has been discredited as an elite scam. There seems to be a few guys around lately banging that drum – it doesn’t make it so generally.
You seem to be wanting to use the incident to attack Sir Mad for being rich. This is not the incident for that. ‘Race’ was at the front and centre of the incident.
I have had conversations with Māori people who talk about the deep pain felt by the dispossession of their land. It is something beyond the comprehension, or not even on the radar of many Pākehā. Consequently, it is so painful, many Māori find it difficult to talk about. It is totally insensitive to want to fit the incident into your own political agenda.
The core incident was a woman saying she was tangata whenua, and Sir Mad replying that it was a “white man’s island”.
See this explanation by one who can talk about it.
Let’s not be consumed by this storm in a tea cup…. it’s playing right into the hands of our dimwit Media. This “off the cuff” stuff will always be with us. To put it mildly there are far greater issues around than this.
Light hearted banter…..taken out of context……misquoted….I misspoke (a shonky personal fav if caught out)…..etc etc
Easy work to dog whistle in this country and never get called on it when the MSM is chock full of sympathetic hacks and commentators like Boag, Henry, Hoskings, Trevitt, Watkins etc etc
Move on people and leave the racist snobs who inhabit the likes of waiheke, pauanui etc to their white world view.
Yeah, I am struck how the entire establishment is busy issuing statements to support Leitch – Boag, the Warriors, race relations commissioner, establishment media figures…
Amazing to see the establishment swing into action to protect its own. The toffs and their apologists are obvious when they take the velvet gloves off.
national have done a superb job of stacking these bodies with helpers to support their subtle and overt messages and themes.
You only have to look at Weldon’s mediawonks efforts in neutering their already limited news offerings and removing Campbell.
Or they actually know him and are basing their comments of personal knowledge as opposed to a one sided Facebook rant.
Nearly fell of my bar stool, What with boags mugshot and so called off the record comment actually mentioned in the herald –let alone splashed across the front page I’m wondering if maybe /just maybe .– Is the worm turning?
Sanctuary – it was an unthinking, ignorant comment to make on the part of Sir Mad Butcher which amounted to racism – not identity politics – and possibly prompted by his own self-importance as a rich white man – one of the many who have taken over Maori land and see that as an okay thing to do. Racism comes in many forms – even in so-called light-hearted banter. And Ms Awful Boag added to it. Hers is a shocking comment – superior, dismissive, nasty, and also racist.
“Hers is a shocking comment – superior, dismissive, nasty, and also racist.”
And really, really stupid.
I know she’s not overburdened with political intelligence and sensitivity, but this is extreme…even for her.
Its almost as if she gave serious thought to how she could exacerbate the situation. Deliberately poured fuel on a smoldering fire.
I’m having a Hanlon moment here.
Meh, not Pete’s fault the silly bint doesn’t have a sense of humour.
what do you mean no sense of humour?….so far she’s made fools of Leitch, Boag , and Devoy….and counting.
Hilarious!
Tactics? Are you suggesting the situation was set up?
Leitch media spokesperson and ‘renter’ Boag now requires media spokesperson…lol
Lol. You know the PR person has screwed up when they need a PR person. Same thing happened to Henry’s PR person, and Key’s PR person (Upston).
Does Dame Susan Devoy include herself in this appraisal of racistness of Sir Peter Leitch? If so, I think it’s time to install Leitch himself as Race Relations commissioner. After all we want the very least racist person in that position, don’t we?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11776975
Do any of us really know ourselves? Reeeally?
another storm in a teacup for the summer season with the poli’s on holiday.
MPI’s fishing quota system has failed. Catch volumes routinely falsified. Actual catch 2.7 times the “official” stats. MPI observer fired for stating the truth. Slave labour fishing fleets taking half of the NZ catch, and plundering the South Pacific.
http://thespinoff.co.nz/society/16-05-2016/revealed-new-zealands-enormous-60-year-25-million-tonne-illegal-fishing-operation/
Chinese longlining fishing tracks for 2016. Cook Islanders wonder why there are no fish left.pic.twitter.com/Dmgy3GdxVv
http://thespinoff.co.nz/society/30-03-2016/how-chinas-illegal-fishing-armada-is-plundering-the-south-pacific/
Aw, this is nice, I didn’t understand the UK Snoopers’ Charter until Theresa May and David Cameron sang it so nicely
A succinct summary ropata. Neoliberalism’s status as a formula for colonisation shows up if you consider the likely response to a small nation overtly privileging the public good over the so-called free market and individual responsibility, and adapting the idea of efficiency to improving the lives of citizens rather than reducing the burden on corporations. That country would not be seen as simply following a regular democratic process, but as too provocative to be let get away with it.
I think that the mania for ensuring that the public good never again gets a foothold will be the thing that brings neoliberalism down in the end. Weakened, divided societies, made up of people who cannot do much apart from administrate and consume, or else subsist as outcasts, are vulnerable societies.
Here is a man who unabashedly believes in the public good over the market, and who also knows how to make a political play: http://gizmodo.com/bernie-just-printed-a-gigantic-trump-tweet-and-brought-1790767297?utm_campaign=socialflow_gizmodo_twitter&utm_source=gizmodo_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow
All true but neoliberalism was the fight to have in the 1980s and 1990s. Now the power elite has moved on to more insidious methods and goals.
Now the power elite has moved on to more insidious methods and goals.
I am not as politically educated as you are so I might well be wrong, but I think that the current methods and goals depend upon the same core values, with the focus on making them even more difficult to dislodge.
Ford cancels US$1.6B Mexico plant; plans $700M Michigan expansion instead.
Indeed. But Trump is doing it. After three decades of all major political parties ‘kowtowing to the free market’, he’s doing it. He is expressing the politics of sovereignty, economic strength, and national interest.
Which is simply to say – if the top 5% of a society want a thing to happen, it will happen.
(This is not to ignore that other parts of his promised programme eg charter schools, more fossil fuel exploitation etc. are highly problematic)
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/03/ford-canceling-plans-for-16-billion-plant-in-mexico-investing-700-million-in-michigan-expansion-instead.html
Yes, and he also stopped a carrier company in Indiana from moving jobs to Mexico. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-announces-celebrates-carrier-deal-in-indiana/
Bernie Sanders has the right idea: rather than shrinking from Trump and treating him like the stuff of nightmares, he plans to support things like keeping jobs in the US, and fiercely oppose things like cutting cutting social services. He will not win them all, but he ought to win some, especially where Trump looks to be going against his own promises.
Bernie just printed out a gigantic Trump tweet
http://gizmodo.com/bernie-just-printed-a-gigantic-trump-tweet-and-brought-1790767297?utm_campaign=socialflow_gizmodo_twitter&utm_source=gizmodo_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow
Yes, I attached it to my first comment. Way to go Bernie.
Doh, that’s where I got the link from originally, Olwyn. I’m such a clutz. Thanks.
😆
Olwyn
Stopping jobs being shifted to Mexico, stopping desperate Mexicans entering the USA, spells problems of its own.
Trump needs all his marbles and cunning strategy to see that this is a bad recipe. He needs to help Mexicans invest in themselves employing Mexicans, offer Mexico investment some policy carrots, so there are other industries apart from tourism and drugs.
The free market and unbridled capitalism distorts our stable world till it becomes the vision seen through warped mirrors, a chamber of horrors. Break the mirrors so you can’t see or think about it is no answer, it is just a free pass for worse and a disgrace to us all for being aware and letting it happen. Something has to be done beyond band-aids.
And that can only be done by stopping the present delusional ideology of free-trade.
The really interesting thing that is that three new car lines to serve the US market will give only 700 direct jobs.
Trump can intorduce all the tarriffs and threats he wants (while his own products are made overseas or with overseas materials). The fact is that automation is the real threat to production: if Ford’s new self-driving car works autonomously and cost-effectively, a quarter of a million cabbies are out of work. Stick that in your “700 jobs”.
700 more new well paid manufacturing jobs than free market adherent Obama could manage.
Plus securing all the other thousands of jobs already at the plant.
No wonder the Democrats lost the working class white vote in Michigan in 2016. And in 2020 too, my bet, if Trump keeps performing like this.
And he isn’t even President yet.
Nah.
Even if ford thought he had a fair chance of getting 35% tarriffs and screwing up nafta past congress and this impacted their decision, and he fails in his promise to cancel the F35 (which claims to provide 2600 jobs in Michigan alone), the manufacturing jobs are still fucked by automation.
Even if they don’t know it.
“The national unemployment rate in November was 4.4 percent, not seasonally adjusted, down from 4.8 percent
a year earlier.”
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/metro.nr0.htm
Yeah Obama is F**kin useless!
That’s better than National here BTW.
Hi McFlock, don’t feel the need to give a damn about working class manufacturing jobs suddenly.
Hey Macro,
You’re more naive than I thought if you believe the statistics. Instead of peoples lived experiences in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Because voters in those states got tired of people like you saying THINGS ARE BETTER UNDER OBAMA when their every day experience with their families and their communities showed that you were full of shit.
BTW don’t forget to look for the near record low workforce participation rate under Obama. They use that to hide unemployed people they no longer want to count.
Mexican news paper El Universal says Trump has already cost 3,600 jobs which were due to move from the US to Mexico
Talk about delivering for his rustbelt working class supporters. And Trump isn’t even President yet.
http://www.businessinsider.com/mexico-spooked-by-trumps-leverage-in-keeping-jobs-in-the-us-after-fords-pivot-2017-1?IR=T
Hey cv. Don’t be fooled just because I don’t constantly say everything is doomed and culture change is impossible. I care about a lot of things even without feeling the need to shit on everyone who actually does practical things to achieve change. Well other than voting in fascist demagogues.
So before you pretend to know what I care about or why, go fuck yourself.
The Middle East is critical to the third worlds supply of energy including New Zealand, and will remain so until we’ve eliminated poverty. The Middle East is described as the source of stupendous wealth. It’s clear who is the beneficiary of those resources and it’s not the third world. The Middle East has to be under excessive US control, only those acceptable to US power and leadership have moral or legal rights to conduct programmes in the Middle East but the main concern is the profits have to flow to the US and secondarily to its jr partner the British foreign state. Internal documents from 1945 revealed a conversation between both foreign secretaries and said, profits must be taken from behind the Arab facade meaning British rule, they’re still around and called the Arab facade and there’s a recent documentary called The Killings of Tony Blair.
That’s a basic structure of the system, naturally it engenders conflict because the region doesn’t understand why they can’t be the beneficiaries of the resources from that region. We are backwards that way and it causes internal problems of radical nationalism and economic nationalism and so on. For the general public they use different terms like international terrorism or a clash of civilisation and other fancy terms but its economic nationalism which is a strange idea that the resources of a region should benefit the people of that region, and the strange idea there should be policy designed to bring about a broader distribution of wealth and raise the standard of living for the masses.
While that goes on things are likely to get worse if you believe 99% of climate scientists. It’s generally said that low energy prices are a fad and there is an oil shortage because we are doubling consumption of oil. Half of the known untapped oil is in the Middle East so they’ll be looming issues in efforts to control the world. They’re is a lot of hype about US domestic production but that was fainted to fake US support for European Union to organises efforts against Russia for a failed US Kew against Ukraine, because Ukraine buys 100% of there gas from Russia. This is also an effort to form an alliance between Europe and America against Iran. Those are prospect that are expected which means the Middle East will be a major centre of conflict, there are new alignments you should keep eyes on between Turkey and Israel which is supposed to keep control of the Palestinians. But these three alignments design has an effect of maintaining the flow profits from New Zealand to America.
Was reading an article the other day (Think I linked to it) which said that the highest reported job in 28 US states was truck driver. If autonomous vehicles work, and they will, then we’re not talking hundreds of thousands of people out of work but millions – and that’s just in the US. The loss of truck driver in NZ will hit thousands.
The real problem is capitalism and private ownership. The owners of those autonomous vehicles will make a nice, passive income while the people who used to do the jobs will be struck further into poverty under the present system.
And then – there is the problem of road rage!
😈
No worries McF Trump has it all sorted!
Thinking along much the same lines as you are, Stephen Hawking has said, If communities and economies cannot cope with current levels of migration, we must do more to encourage global development, as that is the only way that the migratory millions will be persuaded to seek their future at home. I agree. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/01/stephen-hawking-dangerous-time-planet-inequality?CMP=fb_gu
I just realised I didn’t respond to your claim that Trump is moving away from the neoliberal model. He does seem to be, but it is still very early days. Moreover, New Zealand seems to have put itself in a position that makes moving on hard, with an economy that is now largely dependent on house prices and immigration. I like the idea of rebuilding local manufacturing to a level that would be necessary to get through a disaster, but I don’t know how well supported or even possible that would be. It would have the advantages of starting to move investment away from housing toward productivity, and if successful should give us a bit more leverage as a country.
The economy isn’t – the financial system is.
We could crash the financial system and repair the economy at the same time. Would require a lot of work so I doubt if there’d be any unemployment for quite a few years.
Which is what makes capitalism an oligarchy which is simply wrong as that which needs to be done to support the masses isn’t done.
I wonder how much those jobs pay…It has to be pointed out that Trump is more or less anti-union.
Nasa-funded study: industrial civilisation headed for ‘irreversible collapse’?
When you celebrate a few people being rich rather than denigrate them as the thieves that they are then society will inevitably collapse.
Thanks for the link Draco. I am not sure I agree that everyone who is rich should be denigrated as a thief (what about great entertainers and such?) but I do think that a society that follows the lines ours does breeds people who are made useless by self-indulgence one one side and by privation on the other. We all need to grapple with the world in some way to gain judgement, which requires both basic materials and surmountable challenges. A medieval castle says, “don’t mess with me. I am able to defend my land and my people”. A modern mansion too often says, “I am, in some inane way, superior and important”. The former comes with a broader social demand, the latter not so much.
Do great entertainers really work hard enough to warrant multi-million dollar incomes?
Do their investments available to them from that income justify them having an even higher income?
High incomes always come from a lot of people paying what appears to be a small amount. But what would happen if all the hundreds of millions who watch Tom Cruise got together and decided that they’d pay him $100k per annum to star in movies? And did that across the board and refused to pay shareholders at all. How many more movies could be made? How many more actors could become stars?
How many more hospitals could society afford?
OK. I seem to remember Ivan Illich saying that limiting the maximum income was more effective than raising the minimum. His ideal was a “convivial” society, and he thought that ever-rising incomes, with everyone trying to catch up, went against that.
Limit personal incomes to $250,000 p.a. after tax – anything over that and you have to spend it on approved charities and causes or you forfeit it.
That’s pretty much the view I hold but I have both a minimum and a maximum income – A UBI and a 100% tax rate at $100k.
“Collapse can be avoided and population can reach equilibrium if the per capita rate of depletion of nature is reduced to a sustainable level, and if resources are distributed in a reasonably equitable fashion.”
only question is how it is determined this is to be achieved.?..that is if it is determined at all.
Indeed. You need to slow the card down *before* you leave the cliff.
Because after you have left the cliff, no amount of stabbing the pedals, flailing with the steering wheel, beeping the horn and changing the radio station makes the slightest bit of difference.
I was wondering more if certain sections hadn’t already decided to let the impending disaster create the new equilibrium for them as opposed to attempting any meaningful change.
Indeed. There’s a reason why the global hundred millionaire class considers NZ a top five “bolthole” for when “SHTF” back home.
Well, the free-market isn’t doing it. In fact, I doubt any sort of monetary system can.
If I’m correct then we’re going to need some sort of way to democratically distributing the nations resources.
and if my suspicion is correct the distribution will be anything but democratic
Outrageous that Michelle Boag should dare to bleat about the dissemination given her “barely coffee coloured” observation to a journalist re the young woman on Waiheke Island. “I was being flippant……”. “I didn’t know I was talking to a (journalist)journalist.” http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11776797
Huh ! Imagine the distress of the young woman repeatedly assaulted by John Key when she realised that Key’s pal the wannabe Rachel Glucina was not in fact a journalist but an undercover operative from Planet Key. All set to do a media hatchet job on her as the victim.
Leitch racist ? I find that a long bow to draw frankly. His comment misinterpreted ? Possibly. Certainly however Leitch’s “white mans’ island” comment is emblematic of the gentrification of Waiheke and the subliminal racism which of course attends that gentrification. Leitch has bought into that even if unwittingly.
Accepting Boag’s rationalisation in her “barely coffee coloured” comment is to give kudos to the canard – ‘merely saying what everyone else (allegedly) is thinking’. Hmmm. OK. Let me say that ever since Leitch’s “This Is Your Life” with Paul Holmes I think it was, this is what I’ve been thinking – Leitch presents as a fairly unabashed lickspittle to the rich and powerful in New Zealand.
Why do I think that ? Because of the stunned looks on the faces of particularly Kiwi Adam Blair but also other Kiwis/Warriors present. As they, Leitch having done his ‘turn’ with them, were put aside for excruciatingly slavish dancing with Holmes and Key.
Oh well…….good on you Sir Peter, your good works etc. But to hell with you Michelle Boag for your racist elitisim. Some PR person you turned out to be !
– Boag
Quite. ‘Get off my island!’, being the thrust of it.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2017/01/michelle-boag-regrets-coffee-coloured-skin-comment.html
Boag has been the subject of much loathing on this forum and many others. All of it deserved….
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/nz.general/0aZOu-zSrNk
Seem like two old whites engaging mouth before brain.q
Oh well…….good on you Sir Peter, your good works etc.
It always seems to me that the Peter Leitchs of this world are really only playing to their own vanity when they ‘reflect’ loudly on their good works. The true philanthropists never talk about their philanthropy. It gets done quietly behind the scenes without any fuss.
Al Capone gave millions of dollars to charity. So does that scourge of public education, Bill Gates. So does that gruesome old, racist, sexist, violent boor “Sir” Robert Jones.
Don’t forget Pablo Escobar.
Yep. I tend to the view that rich people going on about their giving to charity is try to hide the unethical actions that they’ve had to do to become rich.
Leitch racist ? I find that a long bow to draw frankly. His comment misinterpreted ? Possibly.
He’s not a racist but he tells a Maori woman that Waiheke belongs to white people. You’re extremely indulgent, North.
Yeah thanks Anne, Morrissey, Maui. I’d always entertained that my acknowledged ‘indulgence’ amounted to nothing more than over-commitment to substances and physically attractive people. But no, clearly. Many thanks for ‘saying what I was always thinking’ ! When it comes to snobs/poor boys made ‘good’, bootstraps, licking John Key’s arse, etc etc etc, I’m taking on the hues of the zealous martinet. For the rest of 2017.
Poor Old Butcher. He really fucked it up when he got the Boagy Lady on the job. Wonder what she charged him ? Conscience should command her to pay it all back. Conscience ? Well of course that’s fucking weird in connection with that entitled crone.
Actually North, Leitch has been “fucking up” for years. He was a loud defender of Graham Lowe’s crude and ignorant outbursts about the Warriors having too many Polynesians, and he’s been one of John Key’s most avid supporters.
He deserves every bit of opprobrium that’s been heaped on his horrible head.
He’s not racist but… another time he tells Mark Hunt and Ray Sefo they’re….
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/did-he-get-knighted-mma-fighter-mark-hunt-says-mad-butcher-used-term-coconut-samoans
Then there’s the time he backed up Murray Deakers use of the N word. He’s racist alright, he can’t hide behind his multicultural support of the Warriors.
Well, he’s an old white guy with residual attitudes and terminology common and left over from a certain generation.
Is everyone really going to act all surprised and outraged? Shall we enter a round of competitive virtue signalling? I’M LITERALLY SHAKING
I would expect those kind of words possibly from a World War 2 vet, when words like hori and nip were used, not from someone Leitchs age. Hes only had like 60 years to grow out of it! As an ambassador for Pacific sport too there’s no excuse for him I believe.
But that’s just the thing. Despite the noise from all parts of the political spectrum, I am almost certain that Leitch doesn’t give a damn about having an excuse for this or that. He’s just who he is and he just does what he does.
You seem to enjoy particular felicity with the horrible bastards CV……we know what Leitch thinks and we don’t need you to tell us. Especially not with the applause you reserve for the horrible bastards. Supreme, unequalled leftie, disaster you.
I know, why doesn’t someone start a petition to strip Leitch of his knighthood. Or some other equally pointless and unpopular bullshit. Then you can sign it to signal to everyone how outraged you are about how deplorable and irredeemable Leitch is.
That petition notion came from you dickhead, not me.
Well, he’s an old white guy with residual attitudes and terminology common and left over from a certain generation.
Nonsense. My grandfather was older than Leitch, and I never heard him use derogatory language about Maori, either in earnest or in “jest”. Nor did I hear his friends ever talk like that.
Leitch’s words are disgusting, no matter what the context in which he uttered them.
Sounds like you don’t understand the society that your grandfather grew up in. Clue: NZ still had a poll tax against Chinese at the time, and was actively trying to stomp out Maori culture.
But you know all these things, so why pretend you don’t?
Yes, all those terrible things happened, just as terrible things are happening today. It’s not the Chinese that are being discriminated against now, it’s people from the Middle East. And, as the ugly Don Brash phenomenon of 2004 illustrated, there is still a filthy war being orchestrated against Maori.
Do you think I should assume that you reflexively mouth the racist bilge that fills our airwaves, just because you happen to be living now? Do you attack women and vituperate black people simply because you are living in the Age of Trump?
I’m telling you for a fact that my grandfather was NOT a racist, and he never said an unkind word—either seriously or jokingly—about Maori. And neither did my grandmother. Nor did my parents.
It was politicians who brought in the Chinese poll tax, just as it’s politicians bringing about the iniquities of the present day.
This conversation wasn’t about your grandfather until you decided to make it that way.
You wrote the following highly contentious statement to explain Leitch’s ugly behaviour:
To refute that, I pointed out to you that many other—probably MOST other—“old white guys” were not racist, and I used my grandfather as an example. I was refuting a spurious excuse for Leitch’s racism that you brought up, not making it a conversation about my grandfather as you choose to misconstrue it.
Too true CV – the one thing that this blog is really good at is Outrage. We all need a bit of rage to fuel us up for changes for the better. Pity it gets let out just to cast aspersions, dildos and rotten eggs.
Keep it for fuel I suggest and feed it though your mind in measured doses, enough to go out and support arguments for better policies, earnest discussions with practical outcomes, support for people grappling with need such as foodbanks and free clothing etc.
en you can take your muscles and your trailers and make yourself available to shift people, things, for those who are permanently footloose and resource-poor because of our venal economic society. Women could try being less fault-finding, middle class and po-faced and look for helpful ways to promote peoples welfare, having a regular school clinic for nits, encouraging health camps to be set up, taking families for doctor’s visits, paying for people’s prescriptions, helping kids and parents to read better.
Actually do something, let others know you are doing something to encourage more doing-somethings of a worthwhile nature. Don’t be afraid to air it so as you can claim to be better than a rich guy flaunting his good deeds, just tell others, start a ‘doing, being helpful’ movement which is working away with number of people already but more is needed. The theme hasn’t got enough push to become the in thing in society yet.
There are parts of your comment I agree with greyrawshark (there’s a hell of a lot of outrage on this site…). Having said that, ironically, I find myself pretty pissed off at the sexism embedded in your assumption that men should lift and carry things for people, and women should look after families and such. Plus, why single out women for being “po-faced”? (And BTW, “middle class” applies to men as well as women (duh!). And you seem to assume that women can’t be working class, or bosses, or business owners.)
Just an observation.
Stuff your PCness and sexist filter on comments. It is time to talk frankly about reality not tiptoe around, worrying if some brainwashed people are unable to hear what is said because they have to check that it doesn’t offend somebody’s sensibilities.
I’m talking about things I know about and describe needs accurately. And by the way men tend to have bigger muscles than women, ever looked at the average woman’s arms, and will usually be welcomed by organisations shifting furniture, books, carting cartons of clothes for opportunity shops etc.
Men like driving as a rule. So they will also be welcomed if they are of good repute, to deliver meals on wheels etc.
How dare you suggest that there might sometimes be real differences between men and women, and that we should not be afraid to recognise that fact! /sarc
“I’M LITERALLY SHAKING” You don’t give a fuck CV and that’s hardly a good basis on which to enter comment. Be different were there any ‘Sino’ attached of course. That’s racist as all fuck to start.
You sound like a white man trying to tell me what racism is, and is not. Keep going, I like to be amused.
Ms Boag says she didn’t know until after making the “coffee coloured” comment that she was on speaker phone to a number of other people (insert: SHIT HOT MEDIA PR SPECIALIST BOAG IN ACTION).
On Stuff:
“Hours after the Race Relations Commissioner called Sir Peter Leitch “the least racist person” she knew, she has condemned his comments as “casual racism”.”
About face?
Bridger should have really told Butcher Boy to just fuck off. That is really the only way to deal with people like him.
I think she did Millsy , in her own way and I think thats why Butcher got pissed and stood over her.
Conan O’Brien told this monster: “You’ve got nothing to be ashamed of…”
What do YOU think?
The most painful aspect of this uproar is to realise how many people (even the apparently well-intentioned) have such a limited understanding of how racism,or sexism, or class discrimination plays out.
I think it’s very important that somebody leaps forward to educate the benighted proles.
Full text and analysis of Syrian cease fire agreement between Syria, Iran and Russia; excludes US involvement
– Political process for working with agreeable non-extremist rebels outlined
– US irrelevant
– Turkish agreement critical as jihadists cannot be resupplied without Turkish co-operation
– Can Erdogan be trusted (probably not)
– Kurdish aspirations the meat in the sandwich again
– Russia gets what it has always wanted: a separation of “moderate” rebels from Wahhabi jihadists, allowing latter to be annihilated and former co-opted into a peaceful political process.
http://thesaker.is/russian-turkish-ceasefire-plan-for-syria-official-text-and-analysis/
Another side to Peter Leitch: https://leilanitamu.com/2017/01/04/my-beef-with-the-mad-butcher/
Wow, that is pretty damning.
On Susan Devoy, she really isn’t suited to the job at all. Casual, clumsy, and unable to differentiate the personal from the professional. We’ve seen her get into hot water several times.
National Party appointment, wasn’t she?
Yes she was – really good idea wasn’t it, to give an appointment like that to someone who was good at hitting a ball at a wall!
By the way, someone on facebook just stated the blindingly obvious that if Leitch was an ok person there’s no way he’d have someone like Boag speaking for him. Indeed – birds of a feather, and all that!
Leach shills for this national govt so he gets the use of their awesome PR machine in the shape of helicopter boag.
Yeah, appointed over the back fence. Talking to next-door-neighbour the super-family-values-super-hypocrite-super-something else-in-fact, guy. What was his name ? The sartorial scream, former lawyer, former Minister of Health.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Ryall
Thanks for that, Sacha. Someone should read these words out on the radio….
More Zero Hedge “fake news”: Russia sends naval ships to Philippines for joint exercises
I wonder how the USN stationed in and around the Philippines feels about this. That CIA wet team must be looking at sorting out Filipino President Duterte any month now so the USA can return common sense to the nation.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-04/russia-sends-two-warships-philippines-joint-naval-drills
Come ON, Doody Turdy will eventually be knocked off his chopper by some drug dealer who gets sick of paying him off.
Possibly. There are people throughout the governmental structures of the Philippines who are part of the nascent narco state. As their survival becomes more at stake, the more extreme the measures they will take against Duterte.
And the regime change experts from the USA will actively assist them.
Race Relations Commissioner Susan Devoy defends Donald Trump:
“I know he’s the least racist person I know in the world.”
In a statement released this morning, Dame Susan has condemned casual racism.
“Many of us have said or done things that are hurtful to others without really realising what we were saying is offensive: but that’s not the end of the story. The important thing is being able to recognise when we’ve offended someone, to work to resolve it with mana and to make sure we never do it again.
“The thing about so-called casual racism is that it doesn’t feel very casual if it happens to you or your family as some of our friends of the darker persuasion have shown us.”
She said she knew Mr Trump and thought he was a “very good person at heart”, but his actions were offensive to some touchy negroid people and it “needed to be fixed up”.
Earlier, Dame Susan told RNZ News it was unlikely his comments were meant to offend.
“I know he’s the least racist person I know in the world and yet what he said was obviously taken as offence by all those young women. But I wasn’t there and I wasn’t part of the conversation. It’s grown real legs, hasn’t it?”
Dame Susan said Mr Trump often used light-hearted locker-room banter, which could be misinterpreted.
“The last thing he would have wanted in the world was to offend someone, I know that. Let’s not forget he’s done a lot of great work in terms of race relations in the United States – providing opportunity and building bridges between different cultures.
“I think it’s generational and culturally different these days and he’s probably licking his wounds today.”
Dame Susan said what was acceptable 40 years ago was not now.
“We at the Commission launched a campaign about casual racism, getting people to stand up and address it.
“The thing to remind ourselves is it’s good to have conversations about these issues but also to remind ourselves that we have to reasonable and rational in our discussions about it too.
“Everyone’s entitled to have an opinion, but respect each other when you’re doing that.”
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/321774/'it-doesn-t-feel-very-casual-if-it-happens-to-you'-devoy
Very clever 🙂
Worth the snake joke, that said this trump cabinet is looking worse and worse as the days go on.
Well, the least frightening appointment is an ex-general who earned the nickname “Mad Dog”…
Coming from the political side who put in ineffective shills like Hillary Clinton and John Kerry into the office.
“Another side to Peter Leitch”. Thank you Sacha. Compelling. Absolutely compelling. My heart goes out to you Leilani Tamu, and your dad. Good on you Leilani ! Come to think about it……..Leitch is so John Key. The rich, clay feet, bullshitter. Fuck him !
What might not appeal Sir Peter is the ‘intelligence’ on Waiheke that you and yours are just slightly, you know…….nouveau riche, gauche, flashy, wannabes. Not “our” kind of people but tolerated because you’re seriously wedged up.
Best daily blog post ever
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2017/01/04/a-young-middle-class-maori-woman-bumps-into-an-old-white-working-class-millionaire-at-a-snobby-winery-on-the-republic-of-waiheke-shit-im-not-caring-about-today/
the follow-up is quite good as well
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2017/01/05/will-peak-leitch-see-tag-team-celebrity-death-match-between-monty-betham-and-ruben-wiki-vs-ufc-fighter-mark-hunt/
The funny thing about Martyn is he will probably write at least 6 pieces on how this isn’t a story. Just like he obsessed about not caring about Real Housewives of Auckland. He talked about that show so much I almost thought I should watch an episode. Luckily good taste intervened.
The fact that consumerism and materialism was destroying both the fabric of society and the fabric of the environment came to prominence in the 1960s and 1970s.
Not only are we now 50 years further down this destructive path, I can’t see any new proposals from the Left to do anything more effective to change course.
Wait until the 500 million new middle class peeps in India and China want their new car.
[sorry CV, but you are not welcome to comment on my posts at this time. Anyone wants to discuss that, take it to OM – weka]
Simply telling the truth like it is.
More dismal disinformation posing as news tonight.
TV1 News, Thursday 5 January 2017
Yet another nasty little propaganda nugget masquerading as a news report tonight on TV1—this time from one of the Clinton-friendly U.S. networks. After accurately reporting how Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has scotched the absurd Democratic Party lie about Russian hacking, the “reporter” wheeled out some floppy-fringed “intelligence analyst” who sneeringly claimed that Assange did not have a clue what he was talking about and the Russians were indeed masterminding everything that happened in the U.S.
Then the “reporter” intoned ominously:
The propaganda exercise concluded with a shot of the absurd New York Senator Charles Schumer uttering a dark warning to Trump about crossing the intelligence establishment.
By the way, anyone interested in shaking off these sleazy servants of the state and finding out something truthful about Assange should have a look at the following….
The U.S. network was ABC. The egregious “report” can be found here…..
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/world/hacked-democratic-emails-trump-raises-pressure-intelligence-agancies-prove-russia
Far out anything to discredit Julian after his insightful interview with Fox muppet Hannity (whose wana be charade of innocence on some topics cracked me up). Sounds like ABC and TVNZ desperately trying to tone it down, wankers.
Will have a listen to Noam laters, ty so much for the link Morrissey.
Not so long ago Trump said Assange should be in jail, seems to have changed his tune of late.
Julian Assange is a very intelligent human, computer security expert and a sharer of reliable information, he is not a criminal, rather a helpful man whom is educating so many on the realities of the world.