Why can’t New Zealand news presenters properly pronounce the names of cities such as Guangzhou and Guadalajara? It’s not particularly difficult.
I dread the day when something happens in Managua, Nicaragua or Ougadougou, Burkina Faso and the carefully coiffed knuckleheads try to wrap their talking gear around those.
…and when is anyone going to pull that useless rugby commentating pair of ignorant fuckwits, Nesbitt and Smith on their pronunciation of pasifikan surnames ?
they go right out of their way to pronounce the saffas names properly, with their stupid spellings of names that dont even sound like the way they’re spelt but revel in mispronouncing ours.
it’s the pasifikan names that have an O in them that particularly grates me. Kaino, Toeava and Vito spring to mind. It’s not fucking Kane-oh or Tow-e-ahva or Vi-tow.
I mean jeez, how fucking hard is it to pronounce AW instead of OH, so the O sound comes out like AW as in Brad Thawn ?
…thus making Kaino – Kai naw, Toeava -Taw e ahva, and Vito – Vi taw.
I’d love to see the players themselves front foot the issue in any interviews and state clearly and forthrightly how their names are to be pronounced.
I don’t mind when people make an effort and it still doesn’t sound right – we all have different accents, different histories of hearing a word. It’s when an effort is not made at all that grates…e.g. my surname is not common and has a silent ‘e’. I don’t mind that the ‘e’ is said when it shouldn’t be, but do mind when the first exceedingly simple syllable is mispronounced.
And yes, I do mispronounce Maori and Pacific words, hopefully not badly enough that people think I am not making an effort. I find the combined vowels are difficult – probably because I visualise the spelling rather than the sound. I also find ‘r’ rolling difficult (as do many others, I guess, hence Brad Thorn being Brad Thawn – you’d never hear a Scot saying that!).
Anyway, my pronunciation problem at the moment is trying to make the German ‘ich’ sound like an ‘e’ then a cat’s hiss sound rather ‘ch’ as in chair, or ‘k’. *sigh*. and on that note I also wonder if some of Key’s mangling of English is in part due to his Austrian mother – lots of ‘sh’ sounds in Austrian-accented German.
Why can’t we find kiwis to read, tv3 has a weather presenter who sounds Irish I think…..why? It’s a national NZ news service so how about kiwis mediawonks.
Why do we still have to have reporters who insist on the first question they will ask visiting personalities to “Godzone” is going to tell us how beautiful the country is and how friendly we are? Cringe …! (Must be part of Journalism 101. We need to understand now that our ancestors did not make a mistake migrating here all those years ago.)
What about knowing where places are? e.g. radio announcer not knowing where Otago is. Place names – how about Tuck-son, Arizona… looking at you – Sasha, TV3.
Why the hell do we need news readers on screen at all, bringing their “personalities” and “anchor” abilities? Non of them know shit from clay so why give them any credibility?
Another example of NZ media corporations following the US lead. Make the MSM (and its presenters) as ignorant and uneducated as possible, (New Zealand, that’s in Norway, right?) in order to achieve the same effect in the population.
Seriously lol. It was awhile ago now, so probably mean of me to mention it – but it’s my yardstick for ignorance of presenters (along with the NZer not knowing where Otago is).
Jeez the history of the evolution of language is replete with mispronunciation! Is it right that because we have the technology to do so, we should encourage the stasis of language?
I say nay, fight oral conservatism!
Quite right. If we listened to all the language freaks who freak out at mispronunciation and new words then quite obviously we would still be speaking cavemanwoman language. In fact actually, there are still traces of it to be heard in John Key’s speech if you listen carefully.
Jeez the history of the evolution of language is replete with mispronunciation! Is it right that because we have the technology to do so, we should encourage the stasis of language?
I say nay, fight oral conservatism!
Sure, language changes. But to mispronounce Tucson and Guadalajara is simply rude, and unnecessary – and so much difficulty would be prevented by newsreaders simply rehearsing their script before going on air! Language changes, but the change can’t be a matter of one person’s choice… I had huge confusion with a friend who said “appo-sight” when he meant apposite – he’d learned the word by reading it and had never heard it said… (Home schooling?) If every one just used their own idiolect even worse confusion would reign than already does. Plus which, there are an increasing number of non-native speakers of English in NZ – do you want them to be unable to understand a news bulletin?
‘jing’ is a soft ‘ch’ sound (as in chair – what presenters sit on and try not to fall off).
Please try to get the pinyin consonants and vowels right. Not that hard. Or get in someone to take the whole radio/tv cast through it.
Shanghai has a long ‘aah’ sound (ie Shaang-hai) and does not rhyme with hang high, but rhymes with hung high.
This applies too all other languages. With modern technology (eg a free skype call), check with local counterparts who know how to get the pronounciation right.
Set a good example to help make us Kiwi say it correctly – in NZ and when we are overseas.
edit. Oh, and that strangely strangled almost backwards ‘moo’ with a happy ‘ah’ thrown in that weather reporters utter when (over) pronouncing Oamaru. (Kind of like the sound I’d expect from a cow experiencing relief at the end of a difficult calfing)
hah yeah, i don’t even bother anymore and just call it Motch, which incidentally is just round the corner from the rather posh lifestyle community of Moo tree…
…and of course that’s Upper Moutere, not to be condfused with the bottom feeders slum dwelling in the bowels of Lower Moo Tree
Oh dear our pronunsion isn’t the best is it. One non-Maori word that I notice gets mangled, the lieberry (where we borrow books in case you don’t recognise).
And pollywog I shame-facedly admit that I use some of those bad verbals myself, though I try to correct myself. I have taken up the pronunciation of Motueka in the past with a Radionz reporter. Seems a bit odd that we have the Maori greetings at the beginning of news programs but the interest in the language doesn’t go to checks on place-name mangling.
Ah yes, that’s an example of the Americanisation of New Zealand English. Things such as Eye-rack and Eye-racki (Iraq, Iraqi) and Mos-cow (Moscow) were never heard 10 years back…
Other examples are ‘sked-yool’ and gotten both of which seem to have taken over completely. Gotten particularly irks me – Americans use it only for past perfect whereas NZers use it for past simple and past perfect and no one seems to even know the difference!
In all fairness to the local pronounciators, the actual pronounciation of the “cow” in “Moscow” should probably be something like “kva”. I have no idea whether the mispronounciation or the misspelling came first.
Similarly, there would be fewer bad pronounciations of “Oamaru” around if its (as far as I know) superfluous first ‘a’ disappeared.
One TV3 journo said that a woman had suffered “punctuation” wounds!
She (her name was Tilda Ampersand) was obviously in a comma having come to a full stop after receiving a backslash to her colon which opened her parentheses. She made a dash to the hospital where they made a hash of it and failed to close her parentheses. She now drinks carets through straws and has to wear braces.
“Two hundred years ago industry said that the end of the slave trade was uneconomic and would lead to loss of jobs, and there was public demand for slaves as they were a necessity. Industry proposed that reductions in use of slaves should be left to market forces and self regulation, and that industry itself would improve conditions and limit numbers. Legislation against the slave trade led to the industries involved developing hugely successful technological solutions in very short timescales.
“By legislating against ecocide, companies would develop new technologies and new ways of working far more rapidly than they would otherwise.”
Polly Higgins & Ecocide
People’s Book Prize Winner 2011
9:20am, Today (Mon 5 Sep)
Nine to Noon with Kathryn Ryan, Radio NZ
7 – 9pm, Today (Mon 5 Sep)
Auckland University
Lecture Theatre 260-098, Owen Glenn Building
‘Traditional’ slaves weren’t anywhere near as necessary in industrial settings as they were in intensive agriculture. (Not saying there wasn’t bonded labour in factories throughout the north of England and elsewhere. There was.)
But essentially, slavery wasn’t so much abolished as subjected to a shift in focus that resulted in an explosion in the number and size of available markets (as well as profit levels) through the enforced imposition of new social inventions called jobs. Slavery wasn’t abolished but simply expanded to encompass the people we term today as workers.
Strange then, how we measure individual worth by the degree of exhibited acceptance and involvement in the workforce, no?
@Bill – Slavery, as it was practised with entrapment and kidnapping from home family and country to be carted away in ships with minimum conditions for living needs, and then sold to other people and used as human animals, was abolished by law. Don’t confuse that please.
One of the points Polly Higgins makes is that William Wilberforce and others, had to work hard for change against the cry that the economy depended on the trade. But she makes the point that after abolition other businesses were started. You make the point that these did not offer good working conditions either. But the push for better fairer treatment of each other is on-going, its utopian to consider otherwise when looking at our past. And reining in greed to get more dosh at the expense of workers, or union members at the expense of the public (as with the Cook Strait ferries) is an ongoing task.
@ Jim Nald Well that interview went through smoothly. What do you know how about the dissemination of a taped interview from public radio? Even if it could be bought from Replay Radio, it would be dear at about $25 I think for a 15 minute interview. Would anyone take exception if I distributed the taped interview? And what if I charged for the cost of the tape say $3? Any advice?
I thought Lynn Freeman ran the interview well and managed & allowed the interview to get the most out of Polly. Good questions asked also so there’s a good Nine-to-Noon team thinking and working well.
Polly’s proposal is solidly grounded in law, legal/court practice, and comes from the right places. She probably very likely, in her previous job, advised corporations how to ‘catch them if [the law enforcers] can’. Also, from what she referred to about her closed meetings with corporations, corporations have told her they welcome an incentive, legal authority & the policy of nation-states to help them move on to a new, green economy.
2. Suggest you direct people to the RNZ webpage and the link to the podcast or streaming. That will be free with existing internet connection and just the power bill. The podcast should be up soon and I will be back here to note it for the benefit of all.
3. Another option would be to download the podcast, convert that MP3 format to WAV, and burn it onto a CD that can play on standard CD players. *** BUT *** you should check with the RNZ folks first. We don’t want you to get into trouble over copyright, appropriate acknowledgments and charging!
How about email ninetonoon@radionz.co.nz to ask?
4. Bill – I have comments to that but that will have to wait till later. Go to her lecture tonight in AKL if possible and you can hear for yourself the argument, elaboration and clarification made out intelligently. Or ask your question.
So what I cannot get my head around is how Melissa Lee moved UP three places in National’s list.
It is very obvious that they have a token ethnic representative bracket on their list and that talent and ability are not requirements to inhabit this list.
Like as not there were usual suspects pushing some climate change skepticism round these parts, based on some startling new research published peer reviewed NASA blah blah.
Editor of the journal that published same has just issued mea culpa and resigned. paper was awful and should never have been published:
The hype surrounding a new paper by Roy Spencer and Danny Braswell is impressive (see for instance Fox News); unfortunately the paper itself is not. News releases and blogs on climate denier web sites have publicized the claim from the paper’s news release that “Climate models get energy balance wrong, make too hot forecasts of global warming”. The paper has been published in a journal called Remote sensing which is a fine journal for geographers, but it does not deal with atmospheric and climate science, and it is evident that this paper did not get an adequate peer review. It should not have been published.
John Abraham, an associate professor at the University of St Thomas’s school of engineering in Minnesota who criticised the Spencer paper upon its publication, told the Guardian: “It is remarkable that an editor-in-chief has stepped down from his role at a journal because of the publication of a flawed paper. This significant event reflects on the significance of the flaws in the paper and its review process. It is commendable that Wagner has reacted responsibly to the situation.”
He continued: “Spencer and his colleagues have a long history of minimising the effects of human-caused climate change; they also have a long history of making serious technical errors. This latest paper is only one in a decade-long track record of errors that have forced Spencer to revise his work as the errors are brought to light. Spencer is well known in the scientific community for publishing high-profile papers that initially dispute global warming and only later are found to be faulty.
“This latest article reportedly showed that the climate is not as sensitive to increases in greenhouse gases. It also called into question the cause-and-effect relationship between clouds and climate change. Wolfgang’s resignation was based on the quality of the review the paper received and the obvious technical errors which the paper contained.”
Autocide? prob not given the missus was reported to be at the wheel. Some of the cops car crash forensic investigations do turn up interesting details. Most NZ towns and regions have money lenders and rentiers that operate on patronage and the odd spot of sponsorship and philanthropy. They contribute to the local money go round, but once Hubbard became involved with bank guarantees and speccies his credibility was gone for good.
I realise the poor bugger is dead but I believe Hubbard and perhaps his wife were a couple of con people.,I also wonder just how many of those rich Canterbury investers would have supported him if the poor old tax payers had not paid out a billion dollars to them .I also wonder how many of those same people would support some poor Solo mum charged with pinching a few dollars to exist.?
All in the Labour party who denigrated Glenn’s integrity to save Clark from admitting she was wrong backing a proven liar should resign in shame. “self serving” is what Glenn called Labour and Winston…. he was right. The message – “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you” springs to mind.
Vaguely interesting – man who didn’t quite make it clear he was paying a bribe in exchange for a consulship (rather than just a donation) is explicitly stating he’s buying votes.
c900,000 14 y.o. or under = c$100 to each family for every child they have, as long as they vote national. Fucker should be charged.
Nah – I just don’t think he made it clear at the time he was trying to pay a bribe, rather than just making a donation to a party that had led the best government in 25 years (not that that’s saying much).
This time he’s being repulsively blunt about buying votes. The disgusting thing is that he probably will get away with making the offer, whether it works or not.
Does that count as third-party campaigning? Isn’t $100mil a tad over the limit?
Not when they try to buy votes by waving it under the nose of the some 12,000 people who bothered to watch The Nation last Saturday. Let’s just see what the Police Commissioner has to say about it shall we.
If you’ve got the dosh Owen, put your money where your mouth is and donate it now. Give it to an organization that is really going to help young people ie not the Govt. Why wait until after the election?
So individuals should not be allowed to decide how they donate their own money ?
Its more like no individual or organisation should be allowed to use their own money to subvert the course of democratic discussion, or to have more of a voice than someone else who does not have the same levels of money to spend.
As opposed to being abhorrent when it’s NZ1, but okay when it’s National?
Or okay when it’s the Brethren supporting National?
Like I said, last time Glenn may or may not have adequately communicated that he was trying to bribe someone, rather than just make a donation. This time he’s outright said he will give X for Y. How much longer before he finally gets investigated under the electoral act?
How much longer before he finally gets investigated under the electoral act?
Apparently all he needs to do is deny it long enough for the statue of limitations to expire then he can’t be prosecuted – if he can’t be prosecuted because the statute of limitations has expired then he’s exonerated and did nothing wrong – that was the position of the Labour-led govt.
Or perhaps National can retrospectively validate his actions and the lovers of corruption will say it’s ALL OK.
rather than just making a donation to a party that had led the best government in 25 years
We didn’t even know that he had donated it – Winston didn’t declare it and continued to deny it (with his “NO” sign) till such time as he had to admit it….
And you call a govt that takes donations and fails to declare them the best govt in 25 years…. Is corruption one of the big things you like in govt ?
Nah, it’s not the main factor. I prefer to judge a government by it’s record on GDP, addressing inequality, child health, housing, employment, infrastructure investment, mortality rates, public health, inflation, and so on. Corruption is included, but as a negative.
Six New Zealand institutions feature in the Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings and five of them have slipped down.
Auckland Uni went from 68th to 82nd.
According to Vice-chancellor Stuart McCutcheon New Zealand’s overall result is worrying but not unexpected. “Mr McCutcheon says the Government’s tertiary education spending is weighted toward student support, rather than toward improving the quality of tertiary institutions.”
Six New Zealand institutions feature in the Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings and five of them have slipped down.
Auckland Uni went from 68th to 82nd.
According to Vice-chancellor Stuart McCutcheon New Zealand’s overall result is worrying but not unexpected. “Mr McCutcheon says the Government’s tertiary education spending is weighted toward student support, rather than toward improving the quality of tertiary institutions.”
That deterioration in standards is a result of lower entry criteria and easy access to low-interest student loans from the last labour admin to cozy up to light-weight impressionable first-time voters…
R&D cuts wouldn’t have any thing to do with it no no.
running universities into ground capping funding no no .
No increases in staff wages .
Having universities going back to the competitive model.
Steven Joyce as tertiary minister.Stickto petrol sniffing and building holiday highways to john Keys bach.
Then our universities might start climbing again.
Be careful micky savage. If you ask real questions then some tory jackanapes is going to jump up and accuse you of being mean and spiteful because you want the truth.
OK, not even the right are asking the questions here (other than Hickey and Morgan), but the criticism against the left – the politicians and intellectuals, not the activists – in this article seem pretty consistent with what we see here.
Is it really just because the media is corrupt, or do people need to be yelling louder, speaking more truthfully and provocatively?
Because, to quote / steal the punchline…”for Labour’s old crusade to make capitalism virtuous, it is a case of: “If not now, when?”
Too true, but not the point; it seems the people most vocal about it’s current predicament are from the Right.
Why aren’t the Left, not the activists but the leaders, the MP’s, the intellectuals, taking the opportunity of the current situation – that even the climate and peak oil and everything else deniers can’t deny – inequality, unemployment, the markets, the double dip depression, the failings of austerity and the surely irrefutable failing of the neo-liberal ideal?
I already know you don’t buy it DTB, but the public aren’t hearing a decent conversation from the people who represent them, cause their all too busy playing the political game and pandering to their fear of the focus group. And they can’t continue to blame that on the Right, or on the media, the media is reporting it all around the world, just not from the mouths of the Left.
I’ve said it before. If the paliamentarians allegedly representing the left did their job they would be reported. Meaningless waffle will only be reported when it comes out of the arse, I mean mouth of Key.
One of the big stories of the moment that our bloody useless MSM have been ignoring is an ongoing series of massive demonstrations in Israel over the rising cost of living, rents in particular. On Saturday, some 430 000 people took part in marches across the country. That’s over 5% of the population and the largest show of public anger since “400,000 that took to the streets in September 1982 to protest Israel’s role in the massacre at Sabra and Shatilla refugee camp in Beirut” (WSWS). The marchers apparently include both Jewish-Israelis and Arab-Israelis. Some links:
uke what 1st world country is not experiencing this phenomena ?
If this news item was given air to breath imagine all those out there that may realise that the current system is not working for them !!!
Couple this with that CEOs, corporations and the like are creaming it e.g Ref Joe 16 above, and there are some out there wanting to give to this group even more, so how do we fund societial needs? http://news.scotland.efinancialcareers.co.uk/newsandviews_item/newsItemId-34339
The utilitarian society that many of us experienced is only unfortunately here in name only.
Yep, you’re right – it’s part of this bigger problem. But I think the neglect of these Israeli protests is a good test-case for MSM bias. They just don’t fit right-wing narratives about Israel (or left-wing ones for that matter). Who would ever think that Israeli society might be suffering the social inequality problems like other Western countries?
Guess we haven’t quite experienced the mass protest-rioting stage in NZ. If NACT win the upcoming election, however, I am confident we would see a big riot within the next 3 years.
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With hindsight, it was inevitable that (a) Hamas would agree to the ceasefire deal brokered by Egypt and Qatar and that ( b) Israel would then immediately launch attacks on Rafah, regardless. We might have hoped the concessions made by Hamas would cause Israel to desist from slaughtering thousands more ...
Placards and mourners outside the Kilbirnie Mosque following the Christchurch terror attack: MSD has terminated the Kaiwhakaoranga service, which has been used by 415 families since the attacks. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The Government’s pledge to only cut ‘back office’ staff rather than ‘frontline’ services is on increasingly shaky ground, with ...
There’s been a few smaller public transport announcements over the last week or so that I thought I’d cover in a single post. Fareshare I’ve long called for Auckland Transport to offer a way to enable employer-subsidised public transport options. The need for this took on even more importance ...
Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National Minister Matt Doocey, reflects poorly on Genter and ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Who likes being sneered at? Nobody. Worse yet, when the sneerer has their facts all wrong, and might well be an idiot.The sneer in question is The adults are in charge now, and it is a sneer offered in retort to criticism of this new Government, no matter how well ...
When in government, Labour pushed to extend the Parliamentary term to four years, to reduce accountability and our ability to vote out a bad government. And now, they're trying to do it through the member's ballot, with a Four-Year Parliamentary Term Legislation Bill. The bill at least requires a referendum ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill (Hūhana Lyndon) The bill would prevent the government from stealing Māori land in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It ...
Simeon Brown, alongside Wayne Brown, is favouring a political figleaf now in exchange for loading up tens of millions in extra interest costs on Auckland ratepayers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is pushing back hard at suggestions from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Buzz from the Beehive One headline-grabber from the Beehive yesterday was the OECD’s advice that the government must bring the Budget deficit under control or face higher interest rates. Another was the announcement of a $1.9 billion “investment” in Corrections over the next four years. In the best interests of ...
Chris Trotter writes – Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
The tikanga regulations will compel law students to be taught that a system which does not conform with the rule of law is nevertheless law which should be observed and applied…Gary Judd KC writes – I have made a complaint to Parliament’s Regulation ...
The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECD’s chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changes—introducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
New Zealand voted in favour of a resolution broadening Palestine’s participation at the United Nations General Assembly overnight, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The resolution enhances the rights of Palestine to participate in the work of the UN General Assembly while stopping short of admitting Palestine as a full ...
Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
An Australian Strategic Policy Institute report says Pillar Two could raise the industry to state of the art capability - or "crush" it "under the weight of the globe's biggest player". ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marlene Longbottom, Associate Professor, Indigenous Education & Research Centre, James Cook University ShutterstockThis article contains information on deaths in custody and the violence experienced by First Nations people in encounters with the Australian carceral system. It also contains references to ...
“Instead of following along countries that are investing in death and better ways of killing people faster, we need to invest in life and in making Aotearoa a fair, just and equitable place where everyone has what they need for a dignified life.” ...
MARIAMENO KAPA-KINGI, TPM MP FOR TAI TOKERAU This Government will not waver in its mission to exterminate Māori. CHRISTOPHER LUXON Oh well look you know I don’t think that hard-working Kiwis want to hear language like that. It’s just really unhelpful rhetoric. My Government is genuinely committed to advancing outcomes ...
The body positivity movement started with women confronting the unrealistic expectations and unrepresentative portrayals of them in media and advertising. Men weren’t part of it … their bodies hadn’t been sexualised to the same extremes and they didn’t really need it. But now that’s changed. And in a warped sort ...
The New Zealand comedy legend takes us through her life in television, including the time she hugged Elton John and the unshakeable legacy of a girl named Lyn. In 1981, Ginette McDonald stood on the stage of Auckland’s St James Theatre and directly addressed Queen Elizabeth II. It was a ...
An essay by Lily Duval from the just-released anthology Otherhood: Essays on being childless, childfree and child adjacent.I was 22 when my friend Alice gave birth in the living room of our pokey Addington flat. She laboured in the blow-up pool for hours. Garish fish swam along the inflated ...
Ella Borrie on the best books about motherhood she’s come across so far. Over the past few years I’ve been drawn to books about motherhood. I’m fascinated by the joys and horrors of becoming a parent. The question of children also feels more pressing than it used to. It’s like ...
Out of gift ideas for mum? You can’t go wrong with a bottle of toilet cleaner and a new squeegee. Emily Writes is the writer and editor of Emily Writes Weekly. This week marks five years since I published a post on The Spinoff about Mother’s Day marketing titled ‘A ...
My husband is posted overseas for 12 months and I’m armed with an expensive, newfangled vibrator. Will I miss him? The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.A few days after my husband leaves, a new sex toy arrives at the front door. Nestled ...
Jaimie Baird’s new book Here Today Gone Tomorrow is a record of four decades of graffiti and street art in Wellington, told through more than 1,200 photographs. He spoke with Joel MacManus about what inspired the book. How did you first get interested in photographing street art? I remember ...
Editor Madeleine Chapman looks back at a busy week where food of all political leanings dominated. Sometimes you’re just going about your week thinking you’ve got a good handle on what might be coming as far as news topics and then someone (usually a politician) says something so ridiculous that ...
In a week of cold rain and frost, the climate in courtroom four upstairs at the Invercargill courthouse was simmering with restrained indignation. At times it felt like the famous Mexican standoff scene from Reservoir Dogs, or, as someone watching the proceedings described it, there was so much throwing of ...
A banner notification alerts me to the fact that I’ve received an Instagram message from @felicity.loves. She always comments on my posts. I shouldn’t have opened the message, but clicked on the notification before rationalising this. OMG! Are you in Wellys? X I debate not replying, but Instagram will inform ...
In Melbourne’s hardscrabble western suburbs where AFL – Aussie rules football – is a state religion, Callum Donaldson has been quietly grafting away, four months into an odyssey that he hopes will take him to another promised land: the NRL. It was a solid 2023 for the softly spoken 20-year-old ...
Pacific Media Watch Television New Zealand Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to investigative journalism and Pacific communities in a ceremony at Government House, reports 1News. She has been the Pacific correspondent for 1News since 2002, breaking many ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Tuesday’s budget will respond to the deepening public agitation over Australia’s housing shortages by pouring new money into crisis accommodation for women and children, social housing and infrastructure. A specially-convened national cabinet late Friday ticked ...
By Kaneta Naimatu in Suva Journalists in the Pacific region play an important role as the “eyes and ears on the ground” when it comes to reporting the climate crisis, says the European Union’s Pacific Ambassador Barbara Plinkert. Speaking at The University of the South Pacific (USP) on World Press ...
Aldora Itunu is back in the Black Ferns squad after a three-year absence. The last of her 24 internationals was an underwhelming loss to France (7-29) in Castres to conclude the disastrous 2021 Northern Tour. The powerhouse prop won a Rugby World Cup in 2017 and thought she was done. ...
The fight to control major transport policy and projects in Auckland has burst into the open again, with councillors rejecting Mayor Wayne Brown’s latest attempt to steer things more under his influence. Councillors from the left and right broke ranks on the mayor’s bid to control Auckland Transport more directly ...
Exhausted by the general election campaign, horrified by the twilight zone of coalition negotiations, distracted by the silly season and waiting for the honeymoon to begin, Raw Politics has been in hibernation since October. From today, we’re back. Our weekly political video show and podcast returns for ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk Authorities in the small town of Boulouparis have commemorated Armistice Day on May 8 with a new memorial honouring New Zealand soldiers who were stationed in New Caledonia during World War II. The ceremony took place in the township on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Dehm, Senior lecturer, international migration and refugee law, University of Technology Sydney The High Court unanimously ruled today that the Australian government can keep asylum seekers in immigration detention indefinitely in cases where they do not “voluntarily” cooperate with their own ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Munro, Lecturer, Creative Industries and Digital Media, University of South Australia Twenty-four hours after the release of Macklemore’s pro-Palestine protest song Hind’s Hall on social media on May 7, the video had already notched up over 24 million views. In ...
Failing to anticipate the complexity of the consenting system is being cited as the the current builder's shortcomings, an Infrastructure Commission review says. ...
Failing to anticipate the complexity of the consenting system is being cited as the the current builder's shortcomings, an Infrastructure Commission review says. ...
350 Aotearoa is calling the Environment Select Committee’s decision to allow oral submissions from just 40% of individual, unique submitters who asked to speak to the committee ‘a disgraceful blight to democracy’. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Helal, Assistant Dean (Sustainability), The University of Melbourne Dubai skylineAleksandarPasaric/Pexels Since ancient times, people have built structures that reach for the skies – from the steep spires of medieval towers to the grand domes of ancient cathedrals and mosques. Today ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Edward Musole, PhD Law Student, University of New England Girts Ragelis/ShutterstockRecent trends show Australians are increasingly buying wearables such as smartwatches and fitness trackers. These electronics track our body movements or vital signs to provide data throughout the day, with ...
Papua New Guinea experienced a significant earthquake on 24 March in East Sepik and there has also been recent flooding there and in surrounding provinces. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yousuf Mohammed, Dermatology researcher, The University of Queensland Maridav/Shutterstock You wake up, stagger to the bathroom and gaze into the mirror. No, you’re not imagining it. You’ve developed face wrinkles overnight. They’re sleep wrinkles. Sleep wrinkles are temporary. But as your ...
The Environment Select Committee has just announced that 60 percent of individuals who asked to speak at the hearings will not be heard. This equates to almost 700 people who made individual submissions and more than 1000 more who made a form submission. ...
The Royal New Zealand Ballet is performing Swan Lake around the country. What kind of dream does the ballet sell?Before going to see the Royal New Zealand Ballet perform Swan Lake, I had about as much familiarity with the plot of this ballet as could be expected from having ...
A new poem by Auckland poet Eamonn Tee. High Tide at Local Maxima It is only going to get worse. The streams will be narrow and fickle. The week will bend and buckle like a pot-bellied waist. You will make it to the weekend with one ...
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*mini-rant*
Why can’t New Zealand news presenters properly pronounce the names of cities such as Guangzhou and Guadalajara? It’s not particularly difficult.
I dread the day when something happens in Managua, Nicaragua or Ougadougou, Burkina Faso and the carefully coiffed knuckleheads try to wrap their talking gear around those.
Maaori also dispair – when things happen in Porirua, Tamaki Makaurau, Papatoetoe etc, etc, etc.
…and when is anyone going to pull that useless rugby commentating pair of ignorant fuckwits, Nesbitt and Smith on their pronunciation of pasifikan surnames ?
they go right out of their way to pronounce the saffas names properly, with their stupid spellings of names that dont even sound like the way they’re spelt but revel in mispronouncing ours.
it’s the pasifikan names that have an O in them that particularly grates me. Kaino, Toeava and Vito spring to mind. It’s not fucking Kane-oh or Tow-e-ahva or Vi-tow.
I mean jeez, how fucking hard is it to pronounce AW instead of OH, so the O sound comes out like AW as in Brad Thawn ?
…thus making Kaino – Kai naw, Toeava -Taw e ahva, and Vito – Vi taw.
I’d love to see the players themselves front foot the issue in any interviews and state clearly and forthrightly how their names are to be pronounced.
Worcestershire.
Always a laugh to hear butchered, either as a place or a sauce.
I don’t mind when people make an effort and it still doesn’t sound right – we all have different accents, different histories of hearing a word. It’s when an effort is not made at all that grates…e.g. my surname is not common and has a silent ‘e’. I don’t mind that the ‘e’ is said when it shouldn’t be, but do mind when the first exceedingly simple syllable is mispronounced.
And yes, I do mispronounce Maori and Pacific words, hopefully not badly enough that people think I am not making an effort. I find the combined vowels are difficult – probably because I visualise the spelling rather than the sound. I also find ‘r’ rolling difficult (as do many others, I guess, hence Brad Thorn being Brad Thawn – you’d never hear a Scot saying that!).
Anyway, my pronunciation problem at the moment is trying to make the German ‘ich’ sound like an ‘e’ then a cat’s hiss sound rather ‘ch’ as in chair, or ‘k’. *sigh*. and on that note I also wonder if some of Key’s mangling of English is in part due to his Austrian mother – lots of ‘sh’ sounds in Austrian-accented German.
Why can’t we find kiwis to read, tv3 has a weather presenter who sounds Irish I think…..why? It’s a national NZ news service so how about kiwis mediawonks.
Why do we still have to have reporters who insist on the first question they will ask visiting personalities to “Godzone” is going to tell us how beautiful the country is and how friendly we are? Cringe …! (Must be part of Journalism 101. We need to understand now that our ancestors did not make a mistake migrating here all those years ago.)
What about knowing where places are? e.g. radio announcer not knowing where Otago is. Place names – how about Tuck-son, Arizona… looking at you – Sasha, TV3.
Why the hell do we need news readers on screen at all, bringing their “personalities” and “anchor” abilities? Non of them know shit from clay so why give them any credibility?
Another example of NZ media corporations following the US lead. Make the MSM (and its presenters) as ignorant and uneducated as possible, (New Zealand, that’s in Norway, right?) in order to achieve the same effect in the population.
Tuck-son? Seriously?
🙂 Unreal…
Seriously lol. It was awhile ago now, so probably mean of me to mention it – but it’s my yardstick for ignorance of presenters (along with the NZer not knowing where Otago is).
Might that sound like Oh-tay-go or Oh-t-air-go ?
Or why not let them mutilate Otepoti.
Jeez the history of the evolution of language is replete with mispronunciation! Is it right that because we have the technology to do so, we should encourage the stasis of language?
I say nay, fight oral conservatism!
Quite right. If we listened to all the language freaks who freak out at mispronunciation and new words then quite obviously we would still be speaking cavemanwoman language. In fact actually, there are still traces of it to be heard in John Key’s speech if you listen carefully.
Sure, language changes. But to mispronounce Tucson and Guadalajara is simply rude, and unnecessary – and so much difficulty would be prevented by newsreaders simply rehearsing their script before going on air! Language changes, but the change can’t be a matter of one person’s choice… I had huge confusion with a friend who said “appo-sight” when he meant apposite – he’d learned the word by reading it and had never heard it said… (Home schooling?) If every one just used their own idiolect even worse confusion would reign than already does. Plus which, there are an increasing number of non-native speakers of English in NZ – do you want them to be unable to understand a news bulletin?
Otakou Otepeti is Dunedins name Otakou is the original Maori name mangled to Ootaa gooooo.
Oh no, she didn’t! Horror! 😀
And Beijing becomes Bei-zzhh-ing.
‘jing’ is a soft ‘ch’ sound (as in chair – what presenters sit on and try not to fall off).
Please try to get the pinyin consonants and vowels right. Not that hard. Or get in someone to take the whole radio/tv cast through it.
Shanghai has a long ‘aah’ sound (ie Shaang-hai) and does not rhyme with hang high, but rhymes with hung high.
This applies too all other languages. With modern technology (eg a free skype call), check with local counterparts who know how to get the pronounciation right.
Set a good example to help make us Kiwi say it correctly – in NZ and when we are overseas.
My personal ‘favorite’ is the ‘cow’ in Moscow.
edit. Oh, and that strangely strangled almost backwards ‘moo’ with a happy ‘ah’ thrown in that weather reporters utter when (over) pronouncing Oamaru. (Kind of like the sound I’d expect from a cow experiencing relief at the end of a difficult calfing)
Motueka is the placename that causes lots of difficulty from what I hear. Lots of ‘chew’ in there when mispronounced.
hah yeah, i don’t even bother anymore and just call it Motch, which incidentally is just round the corner from the rather posh lifestyle community of Moo tree…
…and of course that’s Upper Moutere, not to be condfused with the bottom feeders slum dwelling in the bowels of Lower Moo Tree
@pollywog – Ever been to Warkupawark?
yeah, it’s just down the road from Addawai isn’t it ?
close to where my my kids go to school at Hi-rah
man, i love living here in Wockatoo…
‘noose in’ I think you mean
Oh dear our pronunsion isn’t the best is it. One non-Maori word that I notice gets mangled, the lieberry (where we borrow books in case you don’t recognise).
And pollywog I shame-facedly admit that I use some of those bad verbals myself, though I try to correct myself. I have taken up the pronunciation of Motueka in the past with a Radionz reporter. Seems a bit odd that we have the Maori greetings at the beginning of news programs but the interest in the language doesn’t go to checks on place-name mangling.
Here’s grinning air’chew 😉
bless you 🙂
…at Oh -ar -mar-roo!!
Ah yes, that’s an example of the Americanisation of New Zealand English. Things such as Eye-rack and Eye-racki (Iraq, Iraqi) and Mos-cow (Moscow) were never heard 10 years back…
Other examples are ‘sked-yool’ and gotten both of which seem to have taken over completely. Gotten particularly irks me – Americans use it only for past perfect whereas NZers use it for past simple and past perfect and no one seems to even know the difference!
In all fairness to the local pronounciators, the actual pronounciation of the “cow” in “Moscow” should probably be something like “kva”. I have no idea whether the mispronounciation or the misspelling came first.
Similarly, there would be fewer bad pronounciations of “Oamaru” around if its (as far as I know) superfluous first ‘a’ disappeared.
One TV3 journo said that a woman had suffered “punctuation” wounds!
She (her name was Tilda Ampersand) was obviously in a comma having come to a full stop after receiving a backslash to her colon which opened her parentheses. She made a dash to the hospital where they made a hash of it and failed to close her parentheses. She now drinks carets through straws and has to wear braces.
@William Joyce – Choice!
happynz:
Come on now. who the hell can pronounce Guadalajara??
Your post was satire?
Who the hell can’t? Come on, it’s not difficult!
Oh exactly! They are fertile fields for me to gather ‘infelicities’ for my language blog… I have heard some breath-takingly awful things…
“Two hundred years ago industry said that the end of the slave trade was uneconomic and would lead to loss of jobs, and there was public demand for slaves as they were a necessity. Industry proposed that reductions in use of slaves should be left to market forces and self regulation, and that industry itself would improve conditions and limit numbers. Legislation against the slave trade led to the industries involved developing hugely successful technological solutions in very short timescales.
“By legislating against ecocide, companies would develop new technologies and new ways of working far more rapidly than they would otherwise.”
Polly Higgins & Ecocide
People’s Book Prize Winner 2011
9:20am, Today (Mon 5 Sep)
Nine to Noon with Kathryn Ryan, Radio NZ
7 – 9pm, Today (Mon 5 Sep)
Auckland University
Lecture Theatre 260-098, Owen Glenn Building
Strong recommendation from prism and Jim Nald
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-04092011/#comment-371102
Otago Daily Times records Polly’s visit (thanks, John Gibb!):
http://www.odt.co.nz/campus/university-otago/176219/nz-urged-battle-ecocide
‘Traditional’ slaves weren’t anywhere near as necessary in industrial settings as they were in intensive agriculture. (Not saying there wasn’t bonded labour in factories throughout the north of England and elsewhere. There was.)
But essentially, slavery wasn’t so much abolished as subjected to a shift in focus that resulted in an explosion in the number and size of available markets (as well as profit levels) through the enforced imposition of new social inventions called jobs. Slavery wasn’t abolished but simply expanded to encompass the people we term today as workers.
Strange then, how we measure individual worth by the degree of exhibited acceptance and involvement in the workforce, no?
@Bill – Slavery, as it was practised with entrapment and kidnapping from home family and country to be carted away in ships with minimum conditions for living needs, and then sold to other people and used as human animals, was abolished by law. Don’t confuse that please.
One of the points Polly Higgins makes is that William Wilberforce and others, had to work hard for change against the cry that the economy depended on the trade. But she makes the point that after abolition other businesses were started. You make the point that these did not offer good working conditions either. But the push for better fairer treatment of each other is on-going, its utopian to consider otherwise when looking at our past. And reining in greed to get more dosh at the expense of workers, or union members at the expense of the public (as with the Cook Strait ferries) is an ongoing task.
@ Jim Nald Well that interview went through smoothly. What do you know how about the dissemination of a taped interview from public radio? Even if it could be bought from Replay Radio, it would be dear at about $25 I think for a 15 minute interview. Would anyone take exception if I distributed the taped interview? And what if I charged for the cost of the tape say $3? Any advice?
I thought Lynn Freeman ran the interview well and managed & allowed the interview to get the most out of Polly. Good questions asked also so there’s a good Nine-to-Noon team thinking and working well.
Polly’s proposal is solidly grounded in law, legal/court practice, and comes from the right places. She probably very likely, in her previous job, advised corporations how to ‘catch them if [the law enforcers] can’. Also, from what she referred to about her closed meetings with corporations, corporations have told her they welcome an incentive, legal authority & the policy of nation-states to help them move on to a new, green economy.
1. Google tells me info about Replay Radio is at:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/replayradio
2. Suggest you direct people to the RNZ webpage and the link to the podcast or streaming. That will be free with existing internet connection and just the power bill. The podcast should be up soon and I will be back here to note it for the benefit of all.
3. Another option would be to download the podcast, convert that MP3 format to WAV, and burn it onto a CD that can play on standard CD players. *** BUT *** you should check with the RNZ folks first. We don’t want you to get into trouble over copyright, appropriate acknowledgments and charging!
How about email ninetonoon@radionz.co.nz to ask?
4. Bill – I have comments to that but that will have to wait till later. Go to her lecture tonight in AKL if possible and you can hear for yourself the argument, elaboration and clarification made out intelligently. Or ask your question.
Lynn Freeman (interviewer), Catherine Walbridge (producer) & the team at Radio New Zealand – well done.
We (NZ) will rate high with being one of the first and earliest in helping generate discussion of Polly’s proposal by mp3.
Go to the following and look up Polly’s interview:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/20110905
More specifically, go directly to
mp3 at
http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/ntn/ntn-20110905-0925-polly_higgins_-_eradicating_ecocide-048.mp3
ogg at
http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/ntn/ntn-20110905-0925-polly_higgins_-_eradicating_ecocide-00.ogg
Think! And have fun, folks.
Also works when you legislate for higher wages and more tax on the wealthy.
Anyone know who bought the Crafar Farms? Rumour mill says they’ve been sold…!
So what I cannot get my head around is how Melissa Lee moved UP three places in National’s list.
It is very obvious that they have a token ethnic representative bracket on their list and that talent and ability are not requirements to inhabit this list.
Movement up the Nat list must be in inverse amount to IQ?????
Erm … the outcome of the brains trust being out & about and filling up?
http://thestandard.org.nz/brains-trust/
That would mean Tau Henare was intellectual, which he is not!
Like as not there were usual suspects pushing some climate change skepticism round these parts, based on some startling new research published peer reviewed NASA blah blah.
Editor of the journal that published same has just issued mea culpa and resigned. paper was awful and should never have been published:
http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/09/02/310889/editor-denier-bunk-resigns-spencer/
Expect retractions in, nah.
More:
“Misdiagnosis of Surface Temperature Feedback”
The hype surrounding a new paper by Roy Spencer and Danny Braswell is impressive (see for instance Fox News); unfortunately the paper itself is not. News releases and blogs on climate denier web sites have publicized the claim from the paper’s news release that “Climate models get energy balance wrong, make too hot forecasts of global warming”. The paper has been published in a journal called Remote sensing which is a fine journal for geographers, but it does not deal with atmospheric and climate science, and it is evident that this paper did not get an adequate peer review. It should not have been published.
And: Journal editor resigns over ‘flawed’ paper co-authored by climate sceptic
John Abraham, an associate professor at the University of St Thomas’s school of engineering in Minnesota who criticised the Spencer paper upon its publication, told the Guardian: “It is remarkable that an editor-in-chief has stepped down from his role at a journal because of the publication of a flawed paper. This significant event reflects on the significance of the flaws in the paper and its review process. It is commendable that Wagner has reacted responsibly to the situation.”
He continued: “Spencer and his colleagues have a long history of minimising the effects of human-caused climate change; they also have a long history of making serious technical errors. This latest paper is only one in a decade-long track record of errors that have forced Spencer to revise his work as the errors are brought to light. Spencer is well known in the scientific community for publishing high-profile papers that initially dispute global warming and only later are found to be faulty.
“This latest article reportedly showed that the climate is not as sensitive to increases in greenhouse gases. It also called into question the cause-and-effect relationship between clouds and climate change. Wolfgang’s resignation was based on the quality of the review the paper received and the obvious technical errors which the paper contained.”
Well here it is: Who runs the world!
Not my paranoia after all but solid science. And Merrill Lynch, John Key’s bank is number 10 in the top 50 of most powerful economic actors.
Thanks, very interesting.
🙂
The Contradictions of David Farrar #1
Now we all know David Farrar from Kiwibog can be inconsistent at the best of times, but once in a while he really outdoes himself…
I wonder if Alan Hubbard was wearing his seat belt? Being precautionary like.
Autocide? prob not given the missus was reported to be at the wheel. Some of the cops car crash forensic investigations do turn up interesting details. Most NZ towns and regions have money lenders and rentiers that operate on patronage and the odd spot of sponsorship and philanthropy. They contribute to the local money go round, but once Hubbard became involved with bank guarantees and speccies his credibility was gone for good.
I realise the poor bugger is dead but I believe Hubbard and perhaps his wife were a couple of con people.,I also wonder just how many of those rich Canterbury investers would have supported him if the poor old tax payers had not paid out a billion dollars to them .I also wonder how many of those same people would support some poor Solo mum charged with pinching a few dollars to exist.?
The one that got away… well not so much got away – was chased away.
TV3 News: Multi millionaire businessman now backs National
All in the Labour party who denigrated Glenn’s integrity to save Clark from admitting she was wrong backing a proven liar should resign in shame. “self serving” is what Glenn called Labour and Winston…. he was right. The message – “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you” springs to mind.
Vaguely interesting – man who didn’t quite make it clear he was paying a bribe in exchange for a consulship (rather than just a donation) is explicitly stating he’s buying votes.
c900,000 14 y.o. or under = c$100 to each family for every child they have, as long as they vote national. Fucker should be charged.
McFlock
You still upset he showed up the previous Labour party and Winston as liars ?
Nah – I just don’t think he made it clear at the time he was trying to pay a bribe, rather than just making a donation to a party that had led the best government in 25 years (not that that’s saying much).
This time he’s being repulsively blunt about buying votes. The disgusting thing is that he probably will get away with making the offer, whether it works or not.
Does that count as third-party campaigning? Isn’t $100mil a tad over the limit?
Isn’t $100,000 a tad over the limit ? Oh let me guess, it’s OK when it benefits the Labour-led govt ?
As posted yesterday, any donation should be to the country, not the government – give it to ChCh to fix the schools FFS!
So individuals should not be allowed to decide how they donate their own money ?
Not when they try to buy votes by waving it under the nose of the some 12,000 people who bothered to watch The Nation last Saturday. Let’s just see what the Police Commissioner has to say about it shall we.
How manipulative is that. Owen Glenn is such a self serving con-artist.
If you’ve got the dosh Owen, put your money where your mouth is and donate it now. Give it to an organization that is really going to help young people ie not the Govt. Why wait until after the election?
Its more like no individual or organisation should be allowed to use their own money to subvert the course of democratic discussion, or to have more of a voice than someone else who does not have the same levels of money to spend.
You might also remember he has already donated a significant sum to ChCh. Was that not enough for you ?
I’d be a lot more impressed if he just paid tax like everyone else has to.
As opposed to being abhorrent when it’s NZ1, but okay when it’s National?
Or okay when it’s the Brethren supporting National?
Like I said, last time Glenn may or may not have adequately communicated that he was trying to bribe someone, rather than just make a donation. This time he’s outright said he will give X for Y. How much longer before he finally gets investigated under the electoral act?
Apparently all he needs to do is deny it long enough for the statue of limitations to expire then he can’t be prosecuted – if he can’t be prosecuted because the statute of limitations has expired then he’s exonerated and did nothing wrong – that was the position of the Labour-led govt.
Or perhaps National can retrospectively validate his actions and the lovers of corruption will say it’s ALL OK.
How are Environment Canterbury going?
Oh, and anything else been pushed through under urgency lately? The list os so loooong…
We didn’t even know that he had donated it – Winston didn’t declare it and continued to deny it (with his “NO” sign) till such time as he had to admit it….
And you call a govt that takes donations and fails to declare them the best govt in 25 years…. Is corruption one of the big things you like in govt ?
Nah, it’s not the main factor. I prefer to judge a government by it’s record on GDP, addressing inequality, child health, housing, employment, infrastructure investment, mortality rates, public health, inflation, and so on. Corruption is included, but as a negative.
This govt fails on all counts.
Poor old Pansey Wong and her rip off husband with their good friend Shipley .
Jail time
Or coverup!
Nup … no jail time, no cover-up …
… it’s a get-out-of-jail-free card…
…wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for an apology from the schmuck brigade though, despite all their nastiness
Joe you are such a trier. So Pansy did nothing wrong but resigned because the awful socialists were being mean to her??
As if.
Hey Tolley, how about this for a league table?
Six New Zealand institutions feature in the Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings and five of them have slipped down.
Auckland Uni went from 68th to 82nd.
According to Vice-chancellor Stuart McCutcheon New Zealand’s overall result is worrying but not unexpected. “Mr McCutcheon says the Government’s tertiary education spending is weighted toward student support, rather than toward improving the quality of tertiary institutions.”
Shouldn’t you like be doing something about it?
Is Tolley tertiary minister? No.
Oops right you are. Obviously need more coffee. Will try again.
Hey Joyce, how about this for a league table?
Six New Zealand institutions feature in the Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings and five of them have slipped down.
Auckland Uni went from 68th to 82nd.
According to Vice-chancellor Stuart McCutcheon New Zealand’s overall result is worrying but not unexpected. “Mr McCutcheon says the Government’s tertiary education spending is weighted toward student support, rather than toward improving the quality of tertiary institutions.”
Shouldn’t you like be doing something about it?
tedious repeater. Correlation doesn’t imply causation…
That deterioration in standards is a result of lower entry criteria and easy access to low-interest student loans from the last labour admin to cozy up to light-weight impressionable first-time voters…
I have a feeling its more because Australian universities (for instance) have way better pay and facilities to attract and keep good staff members.
And have superior post grad scholarships too, so accepting a PhD programme in Oz instead of New Zealand is the thing to do, if you are offered it.
R&D cuts wouldn’t have any thing to do with it no no.
running universities into ground capping funding no no .
No increases in staff wages .
Having universities going back to the competitive model.
Steven Joyce as tertiary minister.Stickto petrol sniffing and building holiday highways to john Keys bach.
Then our universities might start climbing again.
No, Sneaky Steven Joyce is.
Is Tolley tertiary minister? No…–Gingercrush.
That would be Hollowman Joyce. A fullyformed professional rightwinger, Tolley is just an amateur.
News you may have missed #582
US government conceals Bush surveillance memos.
Ex-CIA bin Laden Unit boss wants rendition back
French firm helped Gaddafi spy on opposition.
Be careful micky savage. If you ask real questions then some tory jackanapes is going to jump up and accuse you of being mean and spiteful because you want the truth.
Colonial Viper:
Cspan, NPR are all class, dont think all usa media outlets to the likes of Fox News.
“Why are the failings of capitalism only being exposed by the right?”
http://m.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/aug/21/ed-miliband-capitalism-rightwing-critics?cat=commentisfree&type=article
OK, not even the right are asking the questions here (other than Hickey and Morgan), but the criticism against the left – the politicians and intellectuals, not the activists – in this article seem pretty consistent with what we see here.
Is it really just because the media is corrupt, or do people need to be yelling louder, speaking more truthfully and provocatively?
Because, to quote / steal the punchline…”for Labour’s old crusade to make capitalism virtuous, it is a case of: “If not now, when?”
Can’t make capitalism virtuous as all the slime (psychopaths) rise to the top and then corruption sets in.
Too true, but not the point; it seems the people most vocal about it’s current predicament are from the Right.
Why aren’t the Left, not the activists but the leaders, the MP’s, the intellectuals, taking the opportunity of the current situation – that even the climate and peak oil and everything else deniers can’t deny – inequality, unemployment, the markets, the double dip depression, the failings of austerity and the surely irrefutable failing of the neo-liberal ideal?
I already know you don’t buy it DTB, but the public aren’t hearing a decent conversation from the people who represent them, cause their all too busy playing the political game and pandering to their fear of the focus group. And they can’t continue to blame that on the Right, or on the media, the media is reporting it all around the world, just not from the mouths of the Left.
I’ve said it before. If the paliamentarians allegedly representing the left did their job they would be reported. Meaningless waffle will only be reported when it comes out of the arse, I mean mouth of Key.
And they currently have a global narrative upon which to hang it.
Daily Kos: Serfs up: how coddling the rich is destroying the American dream
Think Progress: Since 2009, 88 Percent Of Income Growth Went To Corporate Profits, Just One Percent Went To Wages
We get this from Ant R0b – Which technically is niot a racists comment
http://thestandard.org.nz/cheeky-darkie-holmes-at-it-again/#comment-350235
But what outcry is there resulting from this?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10749568
Pity principles are less important than the “us” versus “them” attitude
One of the big stories of the moment that our bloody useless MSM have been ignoring is an ongoing series of massive demonstrations in Israel over the rising cost of living, rents in particular. On Saturday, some 430 000 people took part in marches across the country. That’s over 5% of the population and the largest show of public anger since “400,000 that took to the streets in September 1982 to protest Israel’s role in the massacre at Sabra and Shatilla refugee camp in Beirut” (WSWS). The marchers apparently include both Jewish-Israelis and Arab-Israelis. Some links:
400,000 rally for social justice across the country (Jerusalem Post)
Israeli protests: 430,000 take to streets to demand social justice (The Guardian)
Israel’s largest ever protests oppose inequality (WSWS)
uke what 1st world country is not experiencing this phenomena ?
If this news item was given air to breath imagine all those out there that may realise that the current system is not working for them !!!
Couple this with that CEOs, corporations and the like are creaming it e.g Ref Joe 16 above, and there are some out there wanting to give to this group even more, so how do we fund societial needs?
http://news.scotland.efinancialcareers.co.uk/newsandviews_item/newsItemId-34339
The utilitarian society that many of us experienced is only unfortunately here in name only.
Yep, you’re right – it’s part of this bigger problem. But I think the neglect of these Israeli protests is a good test-case for MSM bias. They just don’t fit right-wing narratives about Israel (or left-wing ones for that matter). Who would ever think that Israeli society might be suffering the social inequality problems like other Western countries?
Guess we haven’t quite experienced the mass protest-rioting stage in NZ. If NACT win the upcoming election, however, I am confident we would see a big riot within the next 3 years.
They were however mentioned on the BBC WS – albeit briefly…
Sorry, should have been more specific – I was mainly referring to the New Zealand MSM.