Open mike 05/12/2010

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, December 5th, 2010 - 51 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:

Open mike is your post.

It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

Comment on whatever takes your fancy.

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Step right up to the mike…

51 comments on “Open mike 05/12/2010 ”

  1. just saying 1

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10692080

    I’m glad Mccarten said it. I didn’t even feel I could say it on ‘the Standard’ – a left wing site and wonder if others felt the same. Thought I might be jumped on for being hard-hearted and insensitive to the victims if I strongly criticised the new saint of mining disasters.

    • I am sure that all but the rwnjs will still jump up and down but the cause of the disaster needs to be discussed.

      I understand Andrew Little asked to be on stage but was refused. It seems the workers representative was not considered to be part of the group on stage.

      Nice touch with “solidarity forever”.

      All together now …

    • vipers revenge 1.2

      Why are they giving this theif any airtime.

  2. Oops I meant to say “the rwnjs will jump up and down”. Where is edit when you need it?

    • Tigger 3.1

      So will the taxpayer being paying for those morning teas? And he’ll be doing it in work time I guess…

      • Rosy 3.1.1

        Did Key actually donate any money, or is he above that sort of thing?

        • ianmac 3.1.1.1

          It is a great the way John Key performs as a media celebrity. After a while with too much exposure, people tire of famous people strutting their stuff.
          They start seeking more:
          Perhaps a naked photo-shoot?
          Or win a night in bed with the PM?
          Or win a holiday for two at his prime home in Hawaii?
          Or a free sky-dive with the PM?
          You must keep up feeding the popularity appetite.

    • ianmac 4.1

      It seems that USA secondary schools like many in NZ have set piece lessons. If you are teaching maths for a particular period it has a set beginning middle end. I guess this could be filmed and evaluated. As far as it goes!
      But in the NZ Primary School system of integrated learning this is not how lessons operate. In fact it may be that the secondary set piece lesson is the reason why many kids lose interest when they get to College. An integrated secondary system where trialled in NZ has a remarkable success rate, but it would not fit the USA model.
      Wonder why USA education is world-ranked about 25th where NZ is ranked in the top 1 – 5?

      • jcuknz 4.1.1

        Thank you Ianmac for the explanation which I think I follow …I didn’t know what they were talking about but thought it might be of interest to educationalists.

  3. vipers revenge 5

    Ah the jealously of the left, it was ok for the she beast to sign a paiting that she didn’t paint, for charity but when the most popular prme minister ever does somethng for charity you lefties splurt shit.

    [Hello VR. Kindly mind your manners around here, or I’ll put you in moderation. And just by the way, your hero Key was not a more popular PM than Clark. — r0b]

    • felix 5.1

      You must be furious with Muhammad Ali for signing a robe he didn’t make then.

      And presumably with John Key, who isn’t even a boxer.

  4. Colonial Viper 6

    I see I’ve got a fan club now! More the merrier 🙂

  5. illuminatedtiger 7

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10692177

    It appears a certain former Cabinet Minister’s husband was using the travel perk to research his family history. Their corruption knows no bounds.

    • ianmac 7.1

      And fly from Auckland to mow his lawns in Christchurch!

      • Treetop 7.1.1

        http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/4422522/Husband-billed-taxpayer-for-100-000-of-air-travel
        You posted the above link yeasterday.
        1) In May 2002 the family (Wong) Christchurch home was sold .
        2) In 2002-03 Wong took 55 trips – mostly to and from Christchurch totalling $13.715.
        3) The following year he took 47 trips, the majority involving Christchurch costing $8213.
        4) S Wong was a director and had shares in two Christchurch based companies 1999 – 05/06
        5) “The pattern of Sammy Wong’s travel between Christchurch and Auckland is consistent with travelling to support his wife, ” consultant Hugh Mc Phail says in his report.

        Surely matching up minutes of meetings, business appointments or signing business documents with the date and time frame that private domestic travel was taken will reveal whether or not business was conducted.
        As well the Christchurch home did not require maintenance after the settlement date.

        Has there also been a housing rort?

        • Treetop 7.1.1.1

          A BIG error has been made by me in 1) The Christchurch home was sold in May 2010 not May 2002.

          1996 – 2008 Pansy Wong maintained an apartment in Thorndon as a base when in Wellington, for which she used a parliamentary accommodation subsidy.

  6. Pascal's bookie 8

    Pointing and laughing update:

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10692073
    The reaction to this from the kbr will be perfect.

    iPredict:

    “OMG she called us the tea party and thinks it’s an insult!! Teh Tea party is the awesome and totally ground rooted and will sweep away the muddle headed socialits like Coddlewhallop”

    • NickS 8.1

      Huh?

      Coddington making sense? Ye mind-eating Eldar things…

      *ahem*

      Anyhow, while see does some bloody excellent points, I don’t think such a party would be able to pull enough support, and would probably fall flat, just as parties like the Kiwi Party, Destiny NZ, and all the other single issue/fundie parties have. Of course, they could get a National MP with a safe seat jumping over and like ACT stick around, but given Muriel Newman has no brains and believes bullshit such as Celtic colonisation of NZ etc, I’m sure National’s (and Labour’s) PR hacks will spin them into a grave given any opportunities to do so.

      And then there’s the good old misogynistic language and attitude present, but QoT’s gone eloquently over that crap more than enough.

      • felix 8.1.1

        Yeah, but they might be able to pull it off if they broaden out from the “single issue” of the foreshore and embrace racism more generally.

        Between Winston and these fuckwits it could be a really exciting scrap over the carcass of ACT.

        • NickS 8.1.1.1

          Fuck.

          I forgot about Kiwi’s bad racist habits for a moment. Which is odd, since I live in one of the most racist cities in NZ :/

          Of course, the smarter ones aren’t attracted to solely racist policy, so as well as being more generally racist, they’d need to come up with some actually policy. Which given they’ll likely go after the stupid vote, would translate as anything Ayn Rand wrote, anything which “skeptics” claim as true, anything that’s anti-beneficiary and anything that’s ever been supported by a talk-back radio host. Making for a highly fragmented and contradictory policy platform…

          Though given how National got in last election with next to no policy statements other than “we’re not Labour” I might be wrong /shudder

          And these morons might just get a seat or several. Unless Winny rides again. /shudder

  7. Colonial Viper 9

    Gordon Campbell not keen on The Standard using Treasury figures to attack film industry tax breaks.

    I see two points here

    1) Treasury follows an extremely neocon Chicago School line: free markets all the way baby, building up specific industries and industry specific competencies to the point that they can compete with the world – meh.

    2) These aren’t NZ film industry tax breaks. They are Peter Jackson tax breaks. LOTR, Avatar, King Kong, The Hobbit. Common denominator anyone? Much more has to be done to broaden our local film industry beyond this very narrowly concentrated stage of development.

    http://gordoncampbell.scoop.co.nz/2010/12/03/gordon-campbell-on-treasury%E2%80%99s-hostility-to-film-tax-breaks/

  8. Draco T Bastard 10

    Leaked Paper – NZ U.S. Rift On Intellectual Property In TPPA

    The expert analyses show that capitulating to US demands in the vain hope of some concessions on dairy access will carry a high price, jeopardising the affordability of medicines under Pharmac and fettering our ability to strengthen our own innovative capacity.

    I’ve been saying for awhile now that the present IP laws are being used not to encourage innovation, which is supposedly their purpose for existence, but to prevent it. The reason is obvious once you think about it – competition lowers profits.

    • Colonial Viper 10.1

      In fact if I read you correctly your usual (and correct) point is that competition tends to increase costs and lower profits. Wham wham.

      Every major business wants to be a monopolist – or be as close to one as possible. No capitalist would be interested in investing in any other kind because the returns would not be high enough.

  9. Jenny 11

    An early Christmas present for the conservative wing of the Labour Party?

    For months now more conservative members of the Labour Party have been talking up the possibility of New Zealand First as a coalition partner. This despite the Greens polling much higher and the all polls so far showing that the Maori Party would be the King Maker.

    The latest Horizon poll may give some substance to this wishful thinking.

    Peters the Kingmaker again?

    The country’s next prime minister could be decided by New Zealand First leader Winston Peters.

    What this will mean for New Zealand politics is unclear.

    But the ramifications could be manifold. Commentators are picking that Peters is picking up the right wing redneck vote, disillusioned with National who they feel have gone to far to accommodate the Maori Party over the Seabed and Foreshore.

    • felix 11.1

      Notice the weasel-words that the dirty little stoat David Farrar is quoted as using?

      “It is a headache for both parties because National ruled Winston out in the past, …”

      Err, no David, I think you’ll find that National ruled him out in the future, not in the past.

      David is trying to frame Key’s promises as historical curiosities, not active commitments. Which is pretty much how Key treats them too.

      • Jim Nald 11.1.1

        Norty sentence that.

        “… headache for both parties because National …”
        – ahh right, so admission that double-face, double-dealing National has double personality

        Labour has more credibility in making agreements to form MMP Governments given their track record.

        Shipley threw out Winston in the late 1990s, the Nats undermined NZF in late 2000s, and Key ruled him out.

        • ianmac 11.1.1.1

          Hope Key doesn’t use NZF as a reason to abandon MMP?
          I do think that a true democracy does need action from not only the Centre but both extremes of belief.
          Perhaps Rodney and Act could join with Winston and form a “New Zealand Act First think Later Party?” Heh heh. Rodney and Winston plotting together?Heh!

    • gingercrush 11.2

      I can’t believe serious political commentators such as Hooton and Trotter or even Farrar would talk about such an utterly useless poll. It simply can’t be taken seriously.

  10. felix 12

    Anyone see the Back Benches youth-wings special this week?

    That was Enfield’s “tory boy”, wasn’t it?

    http://tvnz.co.nz/back-benches/s2010-e41-video-3937077

  11. NickS 13

    Ah, I should have posted this yesterday, but yeah, low motivation and RPG-coma fun…

    So by now, if you haven’t heard the eye-rolling hyperbole over the arsenic using bacteria, or have made the understnadable mistake of believing it, here’s the always excellent Ed Young on it:

    Mono Lake bacteria build their DNA using arsenic (and no, this isn’t about aliens)

    Arsenic isn’t exactly something you want to eat. It has a deserved reputation as a powerful poison. It has been used as a murder weapon and it contaminates the drinking water of millions of people. It’s about as antagonistic to life as a chemical can get. But in California’s Mono Lake, Felisa Wolfe-Simon has discovered bacteria that not only shrug off arsenic’s toxic effects, but positively thrive on it. They can even incorporate the poisonous element into their proteins and DNA, using it in place of phosphorus.

    Out of the hundred-plus elements in existence, life is mostly made up of just six: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur and phosphorus. This elite clique is meant to be irreplaceable. But the Mono Lake bacteria may have broken their dependence on one of the group – phosphorus – by swapping it for arsenic. If that’s right, they would be the only known living things to do this.

    The discovery is amazing, but it’s easy to go overboard with it. For example, this breathlessly hyperbolic piece, published last year, suggests that finding such bacteria would be “one of the most significant scientific discoveries of all time”. It would imply that “Mono Lake was home to a form of life biologically distinct from all other known life on Earth” and “strongly suggest that life got started on our planet not once, but at least twice”.

    *ahem*

    Oh yeah, this is a majorly interesting and exciting discovery, but the like Ada it’s been sold utterly wrongly and massively overhyped.

    • NickS 13.1

      Arse, I meant “Ida” rather than “Ada’. /d’oh

    • Draco T Bastard 13.2

      IIRC, and it’s entirely possible that I don’t, both are fairly active metals with similar reactive properties. If this is so then such a replacement shouldn’t have been completely dismissed. Improbable but not out of the realms of the possible.

      Right, I’ll let the biologists argue over it now.

      • NickS 13.2.1

        You mean biochemists (and organic chemists) 😛

        iirc it’s down to bio availability and the strength at which the phosphorous and arsenic bind oxygen at different temps and pH’s to form PO4 (phosphate) and AsO4 (arsenate) and thus the electrical environments each molecule has the governs the strength of the ester bonds that make up the backbone of DNA, and formation and breaking of ester bonds to proteins that are vital for the activity of some proteins.

        There’s also a bit of origin of life stuff in why life uses phosphate, but I’d have to dig up some old biochem lab project notes on that :/

        Wait, I do still have some stuff, but not all the bloody papers.

        Skimming over the report, based on the Warm-Seep hypothesis ( sub-boiling temp hydrothermal vent) of the environment life evolved in, phosphate’s were readily available, and under the anoxic conditions easy to use as an energy store (forming phosphate ester bonds requires energy, but breaking them also releases energy, making stuff like adenine tri-phosphate, aka ATP, an organic battery). Particularly as the iron-sulphur mineral structure of the warm seeps provided a surface for various types of phosphates to precipitate on. Thus making ready snackage for early life 😛

        Though bear in mind, I’m relying on something I wrote back in 2006, that wasn’t as well researched as what my stuff generally is now, and based off papers looking at the solubility of various types of phosphates. Ergo the hidden assumptions are that arsenic acid was not as available, and may provide less energy when breaking the ester bond….

        And damn have my writing skills improved.

      • NickS 13.2.2

        Found something:

        “As a chemist, I’m obsessed with details,” says Rosen. “I think future studies will really have to tie down how this organism does it.”

        Others held deeper reservations. “It remains to be established that this bacterium uses arsenate as a replacement for phosphate in its DNA or in any other biomolecule found in ‘standard’ terran biology,” says Steven Benner, who studies origin-of-life chemistry at the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution in Gainesville, Florida.

        Arsenate forms much weaker bonds in water than phosphate, that break apart on the order of minutes, he says, and though there might be other molecules stabilizing these bonds, the researchers would need to explain this discrepancy for the hypothesis to stand. Still, the discovery is “just phenomenal” if it holds up after further chemical analysis, Benner adds. “It means that many, many things are wrong in terms of how we view molecules in the biological system.”

        http://www.nature.com/news/2010/101202/full/news.2010.645.html

        Though I disagree with Benner etc as I see lines of evidence suggesting strongly that arsenate is being incorporated into DNA, partly due the (indirect) presence of arsenate in other biomolecules taking the place of phosphates. But of course, it actually does need to be shown directly that arsenates are being incorporated into DNA. And interestingly, there’s also the 40% drop in growth rates observed in the As growth medium, which probably ties into possibly lower energy released by breaking the arsenate ester bonds and removing water from the cytosol or mitigating it’s effects on arsenate ester bond stability.

  12. Draco T Bastard 14

    Cost keeps doctors at bay

    Six per cent of Kiwis had major problems paying medical bills, compared with 9 per cent or less in all other countries apart from the US at 20 per cent.

    More proof that private medical system such as the US use just doesn’t measure up and that we still need to look at our. IMO, doctors visits need to be free.

    • Colonial Viper 14.1

      I would suggest that money and effort should be put instead into measures which help keep people healthy in the first place and away from unnecessary medical visits.

      • Draco T Bastard 14.1.1

        both

        • Vicky32 14.1.1.1

          Both, yes! Sometimes lifestyle changes just can’t cut it (I have Rheumatoid arthritis, which has absolutely got nothing to do with lifestyle, one person’s claim notwithstanding! I can’t afford a doctor but don’t need one (yet) thank God!
          Deb

  13. BLiP 15

    Mass-mirroring Wikileaks

    Wikileaks is currently under heavy attack.

    In order to make it impossible to ever fully remove Wikileaks from the Internet, we need your help. If you have a unix-based server which is hosting a website on the Internet and you want to give wikileaks some of your hosting resources, you can help!

    Please follow the following instructions:

    * Setup an account where we can upload files using RSYNC+SSH (preferred) or FTP

    * Put our SSH key in this server or create an FTP account

    * Create a virtual host in your web server, which, for example, can be wikileaks.yourdomain.com

    * send the IP address of your server to us, and the path where we should upload the content. (just fill the form below)

    We will take care of all the rest: Sending pages to your server, updating them each time data is released, maintaining a list of such mirrors. If your server is down or if the account don’t work anymore, we will automatically remove your server from the list.

    Our content is only html/css/javascript/png static files, so we don’t require much resource to host it.

    The complete website should not take more than a couple of GB at the moment (with base website and cablegate data)

    To add your mirror to the list, please download the SSH key you will find below, then fill the following form to add your website to our mirror list.

    http://46.59.1.2/mass-mirror.html

    • BLiP 15.1

      Ooops – While I am a fervent supporter, the “we” is “they”. I should’ve put the message in quotes.

    • lprent 15.2

      Good to know. I’ll discuss this with the others to see what we can do (but not on our primary site).

      One of the things I like about wikileaks is that they have been generally responsible in my opinion about what and how they publish leaks with the redaction (in fact the level of redact seems to be the main cause of internal argument). Since this type of leaking will continue given that we have public nets, I’d prefer them to do it compared to possible alternatives.

      Imagine someone like Whale in charge of a leak site… The fact content would be obscured by the bullshit added on top.

    • anarcho 15.3

      another link to wikileaks mirrors etc..

      http://wikileaks.c4ss.org/

  14. ianmac 16

    Reminds me of that 3 egg cups trick. Under which egg cup is the prize? Now you see it now you don’t.
    Wish I had a server to help. Good luck.

  15. Colonial Viper 17

    US Unemployment Back to April 2010 Highs Even as Corporates Profit

    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/04/business/economy/04jobs.html

    Bill and John are kidding themselves if they think the economic situation is improving next year. US, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Iceland are still going to be in a morass, and that’s without any new and unexpected shocks.

    Labour has got to push the innovative, resilient economy narrative. The NATs have no plan, Labour has got a courageous and practical plan. And not just that, that LAB will follow through that plan very fast with leadership and initiative once in Government.

    • ZeeBop 17.1

      Just listen to the ceo of peak river say implicitly that the mine will return, before we know anything, the guy is promising to have methane testers etc all up and running. Unfortuately the report managed to create a great question, that implementation of safety was exposed, but didn’t actually ask that question. Allowing the ceo to redirect the question to subordinates, some who might be dead now! Now nobody is expecting him to have all the answers, but then why give promises, why be so self assured, why the PR narrative that the mine will get going again.

      That’s the problem with a generation of managers who got experience in a world of cheap oil and cheap finance, where it mattered a lot to keep the narrative clean and upbeat otherwise you won’t have a job.

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    Cheers to reader Deane for this quote from Breakfast TV today:Chloe Swarbrick to Brook van Velden re the coalition agreement: “... an unhinged grab-bag of hot takes from your drunk uncle at Christmas”Cheers also to actual Prime Minister of a country Christopher Luxon for dorking up his swearing-in vows.But that's enough ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Sanity break
    Cheers to reader Deane for this quote from Breakfast TV today:Chloe Swarbrick to Brook van Velden re the coalition agreement: “... an unhinged grab-bag of hot takes from your drunk uncle at Christmas”Cheers also to actual Prime Minister of a country Christopher Luxon for dorking up his swearing-in vows.But that's enough ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • National’s murderous smoking policy
    One of the big underlying problems in our political system is the prevalence of short-term thinking, most usually seen in the periodic massive infrastructure failures at a local government level caused by them skimping on maintenance to Keep Rates Low. But the new government has given us a new example, ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago
  • NZ has a chance to rise again as our new government gets spending under control
    New Zealand has  a chance  to  rise  again. Under the  previous  government, the  number of New Zealanders below the poverty line was increasing  year by year. The Luxon-led government  must reverse that trend – and set about stabilising  the  pillars  of the economy. After the  mismanagement  of the outgoing government created   huge ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    2 days ago
  • KARL DU FRESNE: Media and the new government
    Two articles by Karl du Fresne bring media coverage of the new government into considerations.  He writes –    Tuesday, November 28, 2023 The left-wing media needed a line of attack, and they found one The left-wing media pack wasted no time identifying the new government’s weakest point. Seething over ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • PHILIP CRUMP:  Team of rivals – a CEO approach to government leadership
    The work begins Philip Crump wrote this article ahead of the new government being sworn in yesterday – Later today the new National-led coalition government will be sworn in, and the hard work begins. At the core of government will be three men – each a leader ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • Black Friday
    As everyone who watches television or is on the mailing list for any of our major stores will confirm, “Black Friday” has become the longest running commercial extravaganza and celebration in our history. Although its origins are obscure (presumably dreamt up by American salesmen a few years ago), it has ...
    Bryan GouldBy Bryan Gould
    2 days ago
  • In Defense of the Media.
    Yesterday the Ministers in the next government were sworn in by our Governor General. A day of tradition and ceremony, of decorum and respect. Usually.But yesterday Winston Peters, the incoming Deputy Prime Minister, and Foreign Minister, of our nation used it, as he did with the signing of the coalition ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Top 10 news links at 10 am for Tuesday, Nov 28
    Nicola Willis’ first move was ‘spilling the tea’ on what she called the ‘sobering’ state of the nation’s books, but she had better be able to back that up in the HYEFU. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere at 10 am ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • PT use up but fare increases coming
    Yesterday Auckland Transport were celebrating, as the most recent Sunday was the busiest Sunday they’ve ever had. That’s a great outcome and I’m sure the ...
    2 days ago
  • The very opposite of social investment
    Nicola Willis (in blue) at the signing of the coalition agreement, before being sworn in as both Finance Minister and Social Investment Minister. National’s plan to unwind anti-smoking measures will benefit her in the first role, but how does it stack up from a social investment viewpoint? Photo: Lynn Grieveson ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Giving Tuesday
    For the first time "in history" we decided to jump on the "Giving Tuesday" bandwagon in order to make you aware of the options you have to contribute to our work! Projects supported by Skeptical Science Inc. Skeptical Science Skeptical Science is an all-volunteer organization but ...
    3 days ago
  • Let's open the books with Nicotine Willis
    Let’s say it’s 1984,and there's a dreary little nation at the bottom of the Pacific whose name rhymes with New Zealand,and they've just had an election.Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, will you look at the state of these books we’ve opened,cries the incoming government, will you look at all this mountain ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Climate Change: Stopping oil
    National is promising to bring back offshore oil and gas drilling. Naturally, the Greens have organised a petition campaign to try and stop them. You should sign it - every little bit helps, and as the struggle over mining conservation land showed, even National can be deterred if enough people ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • Don’t accept Human Rights Commission reading of data on Treaty partnership – read the survey fin...
    Wellington is braced for a “massive impact’ from the new government’s cutting public service jobs, The Post somewhat grimly reported today. Expectations of an economic and social jolt are based on the National-Act coalition agreement to cut public service numbers in each government agency in a cost-trimming exercise  “informed by” head ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • The stupidest of stupid reasons
    One of the threats in the National - ACT - NZ First coalition agreements was to extend the term of Parliament to four years, reducing our opportunities to throw a bad government out. The justification? Apparently, the government thinks "elections are expensive". This is the stupidest of stupid reasons for ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • A website bereft of buzz
    Buzz from the Beehive The new government was being  sworn in, at time of writing , and when Point of Order checked the Beehive website for the latest ministerial statements and re-visit some of the old ones we drew a blank. We found ….  Nowt. Nothing. Zilch. Not a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • MICHAEL BASSETT: A new Ministry – at last
    Michael Bassett writes – Like most people, I was getting heartily sick of all the time being wasted over the coalition negotiations. During the first three weeks Winston grinned like a Cheshire cat, certain he’d be needed; Chris Luxon wasted time in lifting the phone to Winston ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Luxon's Breakfast.
    The Prime Minister elect had his silver fern badge on. He wore it to remind viewers he was supporting New Zealand, that was his team. Despite the fact it made him look like a concierge, or a welcomer in a Koru lounge. Anna Burns-Francis, the Breakfast presenter, asked if he ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • LINDSAY MITCHELL:  Oranga Tamariki faces major upheaval under coalition agreement
     Lindsay Mitchell writes – A hugely significant gain for ACT is somewhat camouflaged by legislative jargon. Under the heading ‘Oranga Tamariki’ ACT’s coalition agreement contains the following item:   Remove Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 According to Oranga Tamariki:     “Section ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • BRIAN EASTON:  Peters as Minister
    A previous column looked at Winston Peters biographically. This one takes a closer look at his record as a minister, especially his policy record. Brian Easton writes – 1990-1991: Minister of Māori Affairs. Few remember Ka Awatea as a major document on the future of Māori policy; there is ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Cathrine Dyer's guide to watching COP 28 from the bottom of a warming planet
    Is COP28 largely smoke and mirrors and a plan so cunning, you could pin a tail on it and call it a weasel? Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: COP28 kicks off on November 30 and up for negotiation are issues like the role of fossil fuels in the energy transition, contributions to ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Top 10 news links at 10 am for Monday, Nov 27
    PM Elect Christopher Luxon was challenged this morning on whether he would sack Adrian Orr and Andrew Coster.TL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere at 10 am on Monday November 27, including:Signs councils are putting planning and capital spending on hold, given a lack of clear guidance ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on the new government’s policies of yesteryear
    This column expands on a Werewolf column published by Scoop on Friday Routinely, Winston Peters is described as the kingmaker who gets to decide when the centre right or the centre-left has a turn at running this country. He also plays a less heralded but equally important role as the ...
    3 days ago
  • The New Government’s Agreements
    Last Friday, almost six weeks after election day, National finally came to an agreement with ACT and NZ First to form a government. They also released the agreements between each party and looking through them, here are the things I thought were the most interesting (and often concerning) from the. ...
    4 days ago
  • How many smokers will die to fund the tax cuts?
    Maori and Pasifika smoking rates are already over twice the ‘all adult’ rate. Now the revenue that generates will be used to fund National’s tax cuts. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The devil is always in the detail and it emerged over the weekend from the guts of the policy agreements National ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How the culture will change in the Beehive
    Perhaps the biggest change that will come to the Beehive as the new government settles in will be a fundamental culture change. The era of endless consultation will be over. This looks like a government that knows what it wants to do, and that means it knows what outcomes ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • No More Winnie Blues.
    So what do you think of the coalition’s decision to cancel Smokefree measures intended to stop young people, including an over representation of Māori, from taking up smoking? Enabling them to use the tax revenue to give other people a tax cut?David Cormack summed it up well:It seems not only ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #47
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 19, 2023 thru Sat, Nov 25, 2023.  Story of the Week World stands on frontline of disaster at Cop28, says UN climate chief  Exclusive: Simon Stiell says leaders must ‘stop ...
    5 days ago
  • Some of it is mad, some of it is bad and some of it is clearly the work of people who are dangerous ...
    On announcement morning my mate texted:Typical of this cut-price, fake-deal government to announce itself on Black Friday.What a deal. We lose Kim Hill, we gain an empty, jargonising prime minister, a belligerent conspiracist, and a heartless Ayn Rand fanboy. One door closes, another gets slammed repeatedly in your face.It seems pretty ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago
  • “Revolution” is the threat as the Māori Party smarts at coalition government’s Treaty directi...
    Buzz from the Beehive Having found no fresh announcements on the government’s official website, Point of Order turned today to Scoop’s Latest Parliament Headlines  for its buzz. This provided us with evidence that the Māori Party has been soured by the the coalition agreement announced yesterday by the new PM. “Soured” ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The Good, the Bad, and the even Worse.
    Yesterday the trio that will lead our country unveiled their vision for New Zealand.Seymour looking surprisingly statesmanlike, refusing to rise to barbs about his previous comments on Winston Peters. Almost as if they had just been slapstick for the crowd.Winston was mostly focussed on settling scores with the media, making ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • When it Comes to Palestine – Free Speech is Under Threat
    Hi,Thanks for getting amongst Mister Organ on digital — thanks to you, we hit the #1 doc spot on iTunes this week. This response goes a long way to helping us break even.I feel good about that. Other things — not so much.New Zealand finally has a new government, and ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Thank you Captain Luxon. Was that a landing, or were we shot down?
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Also in More Than A FeildingFriday The unboxing And so this is Friday and what have we gone and done to ourselves?In the same way that a Christmas present can look lovely under the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Cans of Worms.
    “And there’ll be no shortage of ‘events’ to test Luxon’s political skills. David Seymour wants a referendum on the Treaty. Winston wants a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Labour’s handling of the Covid crisis. Talk about cans of worms!”LAURIE AND LES were very fond of their local. It was nothing ...
    6 days ago
  • Disinformation campaigns are undermining democracy. Here’s how we can fight back
    This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Misinformation is debated everywhere and has justifiably sparked concerns. It can polarise the public, reduce health-protective behaviours such as mask wearing and vaccination, and erode trust in science. Much of misinformation is spread not ...
    6 days ago
  • Peters as Minister
    A previous column looked at Winston Peters biographically. This one takes a closer look at his record as a minister, especially his policy record.1990-1991: Minister of Māori Affairs. Few remember Ka Awatea as a major document on the future of Māori policy; there is not even an entry in Wikipedia. ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    6 days ago
  • The New Government: 2023 Edition
    So New Zealand has a brand-spanking new right-wing government. Not just any new government either. A formal majority coalition, of the sort last seen in 1996-1998 (our governmental arrangements for the past quarter of a century have been varying flavours of minority coalition or single-party minority, with great emphasis ...
    6 days ago
  • The unboxing
    And so this is Friday and what have we gone and done to ourselves?In the same way that a Christmas present can look lovely under the tree with its gold ribbon but can turn out to be nothing more than a big box holding a voucher for socks, so it ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • A cruel, vicious, nasty government
    So, after weeks of negotiations, we finally have a government, with a three-party cabinet and a time-sharing deputy PM arrangement. Newsroom's Marc Daalder has put the various coalition documents online, and I've been reading through them. A few things stand out: Luxon doesn't want to do any work, ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Hurrah – we have a new government (National, ACT and New Zealand First commit “to deliver for al...
    Buzz from the Beehive Sorry, there has been  no fresh news on the government’s official website since the caretaker trade minister’s press statement about the European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement. But the capital is abuzz with news – and media comment is quickly flowing – after ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Christopher Luxon – NZ PM #42.
    Nothing says strong and stable like having your government announcement delayed by a day because one of your deputies wants to remind everyone, but mostly you, who wears the trousers. It was all a bit embarrassing yesterday with the parties descending on Wellington before pulling out of proceedings. There are ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • Coalition Government details policies & ministers
    Winston Peters will be Deputy PM for the first half of the Coalition Government’s three-year term, with David Seymour being Deputy PM for the second half. Photo montage by Lynn Grieveson for The KākāTL;DR: PM-Elect Christopher Luxon has announced the formation of a joint National-ACT-NZ First coalition Government with a ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • “Old Coat” by Peter, Paul & Mary.
     THERE ARE SOME SONGS that seem to come from a place that is at once in and out of the world. Written by men and women who, for a brief moment, are granted access to that strange, collective compendium of human experience that comes from, and belongs to, all the ...
    6 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 23-November-2023
    It’s Friday again! Maybe today we’ll finally have a government again. Roll into the weekend with some of the articles that caught our attention this week. And as always, feel free to add your links and observations in the comments. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    7 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand’s strategy for COP28 in Dubai
    The COP28 countdown is on. Over 100 world leaders are expected to attend this year’s UN Climate Change Conference in in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which starts next Thursday. Among the VIPs confirmed for the Dubai summit are the UK’s Rishi Sunak and Brazil’s Lula da Silva – along ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    7 days ago
  • Coalition talks: a timeline
    Media demand to know why a coalition government has yet to be formed. ...
    My ThinksBy boonman
    7 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to Nov 24
    Luxon was no doubt relieved to be able to announce a coalition agreement has been reached, but we still have to wait to hear the detail. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago
  • Passing Things Down.
    Keeping The Past Alive: The durability of Commando comics testifies to the extended nature of the generational passing down of the images, music, and ideology of the Second World War. It has remained fixed in the Baby Boomers’ consciousness as “The Good War”: the conflict in which, to a far ...
    7 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #47 2023
    Open access notables How warped are we by fossil fuel dependency? Despite Russia's invasion of Ukraine, 35-40 million cubic meters per day of Russian natural gas are piped across Ukraine for European consumption every single day, right now. In order to secure European cooperation against Russian aggression, Ukraine must help to ...
    7 days ago

  • New Zealand welcomes European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement
    A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Further humanitarian support for Gaza, the West Bank and Israel
    The Government is contributing a further $5 million to support the response to urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, bringing New Zealand’s total contribution to the humanitarian response so far to $10 million. “New Zealand is deeply saddened by the loss of civilian life and the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

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