pebbles hooper shouldn’t lose her job at the herald. she fucked up, almost certainly realizes why her tweet was wrong, and should be given the space to grow and move on. generosity of spirit: you can’t have an open society without it.
it’s clearly not conducive to a vibrant society to have people losing their jobs over single tweets. it’s necessary for especially young people to feel that they can put their ideas out there in faith that the worst thing that will happen is that they’ll be respectfully, or at the very least, briskly corrected.
so here are some things to keep in mind when figuring out how to deal with someone when they say or do something egregious: how old are they? how can their life lived to date be used to interpret their comments/behaviour? (i.e., a scientist making arguably sexist comments in korea deserves a bit more respect if his career and other stuff he’s said show that he’s not a sexist monster) in similar vein, is this part of a pattern showing more serious problems?
As I have just commented on the relevant thread, I have no particular issue with “Pebbles”, sadly there are plenty of likeminded “Pebbles” out there, but….to pay and broadcast her opinions ?????? Tells us alot about media.
No they should sack her she’s 25 ,she is in a position of influence and she made it clear at the start of her tweet she new what she was doing was wrong and did it any way.
I would hazard a guess that the thing Pebbles has learnt in all this is to now express one’s fucked up perspectives in public. Except she probably doesn’t yet realise how fucked up her perspective is. It’s not like her apology acknowledged the problems with her thinking (she apologies for offending people, which just means she shouldn’t have said it outloud).
You missed some pertinent things off the the list of things to keep in mind. Waghorn gets it: Pebbles is in a position of power and therefore is more accountable than if it were you or me.
I don’t care if she loses her job or not, but I do care that The Herald takes some responsibility for its appalling contributions to culture. If they need to fire her to do that, then she can suck it up and take it as a learning experience. Given her world views already expressed in public, it’s hard to see how her staying on is going to be anything other than more of the same.
Vaughan
I object to the scions of the wealthy condemning and sneering at the hoi polloi in a leading newspaper. And I don’t think your objective view is at all justified.
It was a disgrace by the Herald to provide space for such subjective, bigoted stuff. I wouldn’t like them to give space to other sneering malign people like skinheads. She is in the same vein just from another wealth class. Leave her to join the internet set of self-centred malcontents and find a place there away from responsible media outlets.
If Pebbles Hooper loses her job it should be because she’s not a journalist, is not clever, insightful or witty. Her clumsily cruel tweet about Cindy George is evidence of that. But, if people push for Hooper to be sacked because of a tweet made in her own name, they risk legitimising the sacking of the likes of Scott McIntyre.
“The insertion of the outrageous and shocking to leaven the usual fare of banal trivia is standard stuff for today’s gossip columnists – filling the void where intelligence, insight and wit ought to be – but the comment and the attitudes it betrayed went beyond even our modern pale. Whilst I, like a lot of others, condemn Hooper for being an air-headed, stony-hearted scribbler who thought it was acceptable to sharpen her claws on a dead woman, I reserve a greater opprobrium for those who encourage her view of herself as remarkable and entitled. “
Alongside Mike Hosking, Bob Jones, Deborah Hill-Cone etc, the Herald’s choice for opinion writers seems to reflect a certain propensity to encourage the voices of the ill-informed, illogical and illiterate. Any calls for Pebbles Hooper to be let go from the Herald, fit into the general call for better quality opinion and information from that publication.
That perspective is true regardless of her personal tweet or not.
I would prefer that people show their true thoughts (ill-considered) though they are – and calls for her firing for this reason – when her job is nothing to do with compassion, empathy or considered thinking – is inappropriate.
Ask the Herald to stop using her because her regular columns contribute nothing to their publication or the public’s interest.
Defend her right to publicly say what she is feeling – and then have to defend it – when the public reacts.
1. no training for the job
2.no code of ethics either in existence or learned/taught
3. hiring people based on who their parents are rather than their actually ability
4. having a job based on gossip
Have you read his full speech? What a twisted manipulated mysogynist prejudiced sanctimonious untrue load of evil crap.
Higher thinkers like to say evil doesn’t exist, that it’s just a person seperated from their soul; that, underneath, they’re just human and don’t know what they’re doing – like children picking their noses till it bleeds. I guess it’s to avoid seperating a person from their humanity, and encouraging the descent into the kind of political eradication programs that no one needs to repeat.
But when you see it in action, hear it spelled out, the lies, the deliberate attempt to inflict pain, to destroy other people and the environment they live in, and the glee and satisfaction it gives the person who understands the ridiculously small material return for the effort, it’s really hard not to point and say, “Look, that’s evil right there…. right…. fucking… there.”
Bill English knows what he’s doing and why. Using every capability of his adult intellect, he freely admits it. I dont suggest we line them up and shoot them; hang them from a telegraph wire or any other historically effective method; but it’s evil none-the-less. They should be nowhere near a position to influence policy. And if Australian business leaders sat there and lapped it up: Fuck the concerns and whinging of businesses. Fuck the whole economic attitude.
“The public think we know, or at least they think we’ve got good intentions.”
…with regard to “social investment in society’s problems” instead of government intervention, or in his case, government exacerbation*. He intends to do that with many things. A method he calls “radical incrementalism” or somesuch – excusing the fact most of his support that he intends to “take along with him” have a abhorence of radicalism of any kind. Greenpeace are “radicals” they shrill – look at the signs they have, too loud, too forceful, too much action!
The public thinks they know, he says, they think they know, but my god they do not. All they know is what keeps them seeing whatever it is that makes them feel secure in their own minds: The Pebbles Hooper Effect…
*He’s so smug about it, he contradicts himself, saying his government is so caring, so full of good intention, that they raised benefit levels – the first time in forty years (not that they actually did) – but soon says it’s the wrong thing to do, something they won’t be doing again. So which is it, Bill? Good intention is bad, or hidden bad intention is good; or perhaps hidden bad intention is good until such time as deceptively good intention can be replaced by entirely evil intent? Evil uses good, against itself.
His ideal is that the Rogernomic “Make changes so fast that by the time anyone finds out what you’re up to, it’s already done…” was good for the eighties, but now he’d like to do the same, but slower, to suit the times. I’d call his views “radical excrementalism.”
+^^^^ in infinity Charles your comment is so correct. I would like to print it out and paste it on my wall. So the friends and family can see that there are people out there that know the real meaning of evil.
Is it deliberate bullshit, stupidity or laziness or most likely all three.
Key on MR asked about the possibility of recession and amongst other industries “going well” cited wine. Of course because he doesn’t “own” a wine company he wouldn’t know that this years crop is down 30+ %, that’s $500 million of exports returns alone, plus we’ll need to import more crap to make up the local consumption shortfall.
Funny how National claims the success of the economy is due to their clever stewardship, but any downturn is not their fault as it is world events outside their control. Like pride of a child’s success but disowning the child’s downfall.
That seems to always be the way with the right-wing. They take responsibility for the good times even if they had nothing to do with it (which they usually didn’t as their policies do the exact opposite) and blame someone else for the bad times despite it being their policies that brought them about.
The right-wing never, ever take responsibility for their actions.
Qatari dictatorship’s channel praises “Russia’s bloggers risking all for free speech.”
Al Jazeera, 10:35 a.m., Monday 6 July 2015
After the News, full of doom-laden English “reporters” snarling out dire warnings about Greece’s future now that they have been foolish enough to actually exercise their democratic rights, the newsreader says: “Next, Witness looks at Russia’s online bloggers who are risking all for free speech.”
The program is called “RUSSIA’S ONLINE WAVEMAKERS“, and the opening scenes are underscored by low, minatory electronic music that you’d expect in a horror movie. So far, it’s all flagrant anti-Russian propaganda.
Which would be fine, except for the fact that I have yet to see a single documentary about the American bloggers who are risking all for free speech. And if, by chance, the Qatari dictatorship’s channel does do such a program, I doubt that they would dare to score it with such ominous and crude mood music.
This industry has relied on superficially intuitive arguments for drug testing: It’ll make employees use drugs less often and it’ll ensure a more efficient workplace. But those arguments have some significant holes.
And what’s our govt doing? Oh, That’s right – more drug testing.
IMO, the only time people should be tested fro drugs, including alcohol, is when they’re obviously impaired or when an accident occurs that could have been the result of impairment.
Part of the problem is that alcohol levels are an impairment proxy, but there’s no such evidentiary base for things like marijuana or even fatigue. It’s just an employer-wank.
A five minute, non-invasive test for impairment (reaction time, precision, fixation, etc) before operating dangerous machinery would do more for workplace safety than surprise piss tests ever would. Hell, the standard US field sobriety test (walking in a straight line toe-to-toe, arms out, while reciting the alphabet backwards sort of thing) would be a start.
I’ll assume that you paid for 100% of your education, had no subsidies from middle-class or upper-income parents, and had absolutely no good luck completely beyond your control, then. You are a true master of the universe.
He represents the difference between waiting for parents to conceive (him) and truely self-made men, who do not wait for chance, and conceive themselves (me). I will not abide utero… uterusrian… womberarian… damn it I will not abide bludgers of the womb!
Now if you will excuse me I have a universe to run.
Paula Bennett considers money that a emotionally vulnerable woman sent to a scammer overseas qualifies as a loan and therefore an asset thus allowing her benefit entitlement to be reduced. Some legal eagle might have a shot at a successful judicial review of this decision.
A review within the dept should do it. It looks to me like she’s declared the money as a loan or gift and that’s why they’ve counted it as an asset (you can’t give away money when on a benefit if you want additional support*). However, it’s probably a discretionary decision, which means the decision could be reversed.
*there are a lot of rules like this that many on benefits would be aware of. Am thinking of the woman on the DPB in Nelson who was getting financial help from her mother. WINZ wanted to count it as income and thus use it as part of assessing her benefit (i.e. pay less benefit). The onus should be on the department to be up front about these things.
Its her husband I feel sorry for. It would be bad enough to find out that your wife was having an 18 month long online relationship with another man. The fact that she gave this sleaze ball $41k of their money is really rubbing the shit in.
I say ill researched cos she was lauding Zespri for moving quickly on PSA and introducing a new higher yield strand of gold kiwifruit… but she omitted that this amazing breakthrough kiwifruit has a very short shelf life,,, and is going “off” on the way to its exports destinations…
I know 3 kiwifruit growers, all hit by PSA, who dug up and the replaced with the new strain, only to find that it just won’t last after seperation from the vine.
In 2009 Sinister for Biosecurity David Carter cut 60 border jobs.
with National party making cuts to our bio security budget
Biosecurity failures since…
tomato/potato psyllid
hadda beetle
willow aphid
eucalyptus beetle
quava moth
*PSA*
varroa bee mite
and the killer of a horticultural industry
Queensland fruit fly
and many more
Under Nationals watch PSA was welcomed into NZ
Was that so we would welcome GE GMO with open arms?
How dumb does judy think we are?
Judith Collins been making up shit since forever
Early 2003 when we were the world largest and best producers of kiwifruit
vines were cut and sent to Italy to grow there
the contracted pruners had to sign a contract stating they would not tell their unsuspecting work mates that soon they would be out of a job,
not to tell anyone or they would get the sack and maybe taken to court.
Who wants to buy cold stored 6month old kiwifruit when we can have it *fresh* on our shelves from Italy.
That bit of skulldugery cost NZ dearly and most of the orchard owners who were in the syndicate of the new Italian order were also Zespri decision makers.
Did you forget that bit of the kiwifruit saga judy?
Apparently the promised not to use any of the information gleaned when they raided Hager’s home (re: the dirty politics hacking) while the search was being challenged in court, but still shared a person’s name with an officer conducting another investigation.
Beat me to it McFlock. My intro. was going to be… How can we trust the police.
What about the person whose name appeared in a Hagar document? On the basis of that mention they conducted an investigation into him/her. I hope Hagar has informed the person concerned so that they can take appropriate action.
Well, going fishing on the off chance that after publishing he hadn’t cleaned up a note saying “Rawshark is Andrew Little, all the HD recordings I made of our meetings are at http://www.whoopsiedaisy.com” would be the excuse.
But such a search might also shed light on who he’s speaking to and the progress of his current projects, too.
can’t attach this comment to the top thread cos I’m using my phone… this’ll be the last thing I say on the topic today: “I believe in freedom of speech, right up to the point where you say the wrong thing, in which case you’re fired.”
the focus needs to be on character, not words. character comes through in patterns of behaviour and speech over time. I hate a culture in.which so much stock is put by single comments without setting them.in context.
“she’s in a position of power” and so are the myriad people who contribute to social media mass-tantrums about he said she said. my old dad said, give them enough rope.and they’ll hang themselves. pebbles and her generation are either gonna hang themselves or find their feet. again, generosity of spirit is a foundation of open society. I’m repeating myself a bit,but I’m repeating stuff that the “off with her head” crowd didn’t address in their replies…
The character, words, patterns, speech and behaviour were put into context, repeatedly, by the “off with her head crowd”. That’s how they arrived at “off with her head”. They weren’t “single comments”. Where was Pebble’s generosity of spirit? So did she contribute to an open society with her words, or closed, cold, isolated one? And more importantly where is Bam Bam?
It’s ok bro, you support people with power ragging on those without. Why do you have to try to convinvce us it’s ok for you to have an opinion? Only thing that matters is that you’re ok with it. If your conscience is ok with it, everything ok. You’re ok, I’m ok. Everybody Okay.
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Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Slee, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, Flinders University Francisco Gonzelez/Unsplash Migraine is many things, but one thing it’s not is “just a headache”. “Migraine” comes from the Greek word “hemicrania”, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earth’s land area – particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Heynen, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy, The University of Queensland A temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars, ParisEkaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sustainability of the event is coming under scrutiny. The organisers have promoted ...
A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. You’d barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capital’s last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Professor in Marine Geology, University of Canterbury Louise Corcoran/Getty Images The decline in the number of doctoral candidates at New Zealand universities is a worrying sign for the country’s effort to build a knowledge-based economy. Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laurie Berg, Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney defotoberg/Shutterstock Migrant worker exploitation is entrenched in workplaces across Australia. Tragically, a deep fear of immigration consequences means most unlawful employer conduct goes unreported. On Wednesday, however, the government officially launched a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vaughan Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania Paris is about to host its third summer Olympics. While we don’t yet know what the legacy of this year’s games will be, let’s take the opportunity to reflect on ...
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pebbles hooper shouldn’t lose her job at the herald. she fucked up, almost certainly realizes why her tweet was wrong, and should be given the space to grow and move on. generosity of spirit: you can’t have an open society without it.
it’s clearly not conducive to a vibrant society to have people losing their jobs over single tweets. it’s necessary for especially young people to feel that they can put their ideas out there in faith that the worst thing that will happen is that they’ll be respectfully, or at the very least, briskly corrected.
so here are some things to keep in mind when figuring out how to deal with someone when they say or do something egregious: how old are they? how can their life lived to date be used to interpret their comments/behaviour? (i.e., a scientist making arguably sexist comments in korea deserves a bit more respect if his career and other stuff he’s said show that he’s not a sexist monster) in similar vein, is this part of a pattern showing more serious problems?
As I have just commented on the relevant thread, I have no particular issue with “Pebbles”, sadly there are plenty of likeminded “Pebbles” out there, but….to pay and broadcast her opinions ?????? Tells us alot about media.
No they should sack her she’s 25 ,she is in a position of influence and she made it clear at the start of her tweet she new what she was doing was wrong and did it any way.
I would hazard a guess that the thing Pebbles has learnt in all this is to now express one’s fucked up perspectives in public. Except she probably doesn’t yet realise how fucked up her perspective is. It’s not like her apology acknowledged the problems with her thinking (she apologies for offending people, which just means she shouldn’t have said it outloud).
You missed some pertinent things off the the list of things to keep in mind. Waghorn gets it: Pebbles is in a position of power and therefore is more accountable than if it were you or me.
I don’t care if she loses her job or not, but I do care that The Herald takes some responsibility for its appalling contributions to culture. If they need to fire her to do that, then she can suck it up and take it as a learning experience. Given her world views already expressed in public, it’s hard to see how her staying on is going to be anything other than more of the same.
Vaughan
I object to the scions of the wealthy condemning and sneering at the hoi polloi in a leading newspaper. And I don’t think your objective view is at all justified.
It was a disgrace by the Herald to provide space for such subjective, bigoted stuff. I wouldn’t like them to give space to other sneering malign people like skinheads. She is in the same vein just from another wealth class. Leave her to join the internet set of self-centred malcontents and find a place there away from responsible media outlets.
Is anyone surprised that Pebbles Hooper is shallow and devoid of compassion? After all, her mother is Denise L’Estrange-Corbet…
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-06092014/#comment-881331
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-04072014/#comment-844334
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-17052013/#comment-634499
Imagine the tone and calibre of dinner table discussions at their house. Poor old Pebbles never had a chance.
If Pebbles Hooper loses her job it should be because she’s not a journalist, is not clever, insightful or witty. Her clumsily cruel tweet about Cindy George is evidence of that. But, if people push for Hooper to be sacked because of a tweet made in her own name, they risk legitimising the sacking of the likes of Scott McIntyre.
“The insertion of the outrageous and shocking to leaven the usual fare of banal trivia is standard stuff for today’s gossip columnists – filling the void where intelligence, insight and wit ought to be – but the comment and the attitudes it betrayed went beyond even our modern pale. Whilst I, like a lot of others, condemn Hooper for being an air-headed, stony-hearted scribbler who thought it was acceptable to sharpen her claws on a dead woman, I reserve a greater opprobrium for those who encourage her view of herself as remarkable and entitled. “
Agree, TeWhareWhero.
Alongside Mike Hosking, Bob Jones, Deborah Hill-Cone etc, the Herald’s choice for opinion writers seems to reflect a certain propensity to encourage the voices of the ill-informed, illogical and illiterate. Any calls for Pebbles Hooper to be let go from the Herald, fit into the general call for better quality opinion and information from that publication.
That perspective is true regardless of her personal tweet or not.
I would prefer that people show their true thoughts (ill-considered) though they are – and calls for her firing for this reason – when her job is nothing to do with compassion, empathy or considered thinking – is inappropriate.
Ask the Herald to stop using her because her regular columns contribute nothing to their publication or the public’s interest.
Defend her right to publicly say what she is feeling – and then have to defend it – when the public reacts.
Agree
it’s also a sign of
1. no training for the job
2.no code of ethics either in existence or learned/taught
3. hiring people based on who their parents are rather than their actually ability
4. having a job based on gossip
Really interesting this. More to teamkey. ..
http://politik.co.nz/en/content/politics/313/IS-THIS-THE-YEAR'S-MOST-IMPORTANT-POLITICAL-SPEECH-Bill-English-John-Key.htm
Have you read his full speech? What a twisted manipulated mysogynist prejudiced sanctimonious untrue load of evil crap.
Higher thinkers like to say evil doesn’t exist, that it’s just a person seperated from their soul; that, underneath, they’re just human and don’t know what they’re doing – like children picking their noses till it bleeds. I guess it’s to avoid seperating a person from their humanity, and encouraging the descent into the kind of political eradication programs that no one needs to repeat.
But when you see it in action, hear it spelled out, the lies, the deliberate attempt to inflict pain, to destroy other people and the environment they live in, and the glee and satisfaction it gives the person who understands the ridiculously small material return for the effort, it’s really hard not to point and say, “Look, that’s evil right there…. right…. fucking… there.”
Bill English knows what he’s doing and why. Using every capability of his adult intellect, he freely admits it. I dont suggest we line them up and shoot them; hang them from a telegraph wire or any other historically effective method; but it’s evil none-the-less. They should be nowhere near a position to influence policy. And if Australian business leaders sat there and lapped it up: Fuck the concerns and whinging of businesses. Fuck the whole economic attitude.
“The public think we know, or at least they think we’ve got good intentions.”
…with regard to “social investment in society’s problems” instead of government intervention, or in his case, government exacerbation*. He intends to do that with many things. A method he calls “radical incrementalism” or somesuch – excusing the fact most of his support that he intends to “take along with him” have a abhorence of radicalism of any kind. Greenpeace are “radicals” they shrill – look at the signs they have, too loud, too forceful, too much action!
The public thinks they know, he says, they think they know, but my god they do not. All they know is what keeps them seeing whatever it is that makes them feel secure in their own minds: The Pebbles Hooper Effect…
*He’s so smug about it, he contradicts himself, saying his government is so caring, so full of good intention, that they raised benefit levels – the first time in forty years (not that they actually did) – but soon says it’s the wrong thing to do, something they won’t be doing again. So which is it, Bill? Good intention is bad, or hidden bad intention is good; or perhaps hidden bad intention is good until such time as deceptively good intention can be replaced by entirely evil intent? Evil uses good, against itself.
His ideal is that the Rogernomic “Make changes so fast that by the time anyone finds out what you’re up to, it’s already done…” was good for the eighties, but now he’d like to do the same, but slower, to suit the times. I’d call his views “radical excrementalism.”
+^^^^ in infinity Charles your comment is so correct. I would like to print it out and paste it on my wall. So the friends and family can see that there are people out there that know the real meaning of evil.
Is it deliberate bullshit, stupidity or laziness or most likely all three.
Key on MR asked about the possibility of recession and amongst other industries “going well” cited wine. Of course because he doesn’t “own” a wine company he wouldn’t know that this years crop is down 30+ %, that’s $500 million of exports returns alone, plus we’ll need to import more crap to make up the local consumption shortfall.
Funny how National claims the success of the economy is due to their clever stewardship, but any downturn is not their fault as it is world events outside their control. Like pride of a child’s success but disowning the child’s downfall.
That seems to always be the way with the right-wing. They take responsibility for the good times even if they had nothing to do with it (which they usually didn’t as their policies do the exact opposite) and blame someone else for the bad times despite it being their policies that brought them about.
The right-wing never, ever take responsibility for their actions.
Qatari dictatorship’s channel praises “Russia’s bloggers risking all for free speech.”
Al Jazeera, 10:35 a.m., Monday 6 July 2015
After the News, full of doom-laden English “reporters” snarling out dire warnings about Greece’s future now that they have been foolish enough to actually exercise their democratic rights, the newsreader says: “Next, Witness looks at Russia’s online bloggers who are risking all for free speech.”
The program is called “RUSSIA’S ONLINE WAVEMAKERS“, and the opening scenes are underscored by low, minatory electronic music that you’d expect in a horror movie. So far, it’s all flagrant anti-Russian propaganda.
Which would be fine, except for the fact that I have yet to see a single documentary about the American bloggers who are risking all for free speech. And if, by chance, the Qatari dictatorship’s channel does do such a program, I doubt that they would dare to score it with such ominous and crude mood music.
The Supreme Pointlessness of Drug Testing at Work
And what’s our govt doing? Oh, That’s right – more drug testing.
IMO, the only time people should be tested fro drugs, including alcohol, is when they’re obviously impaired or when an accident occurs that could have been the result of impairment.
Part of the problem is that alcohol levels are an impairment proxy, but there’s no such evidentiary base for things like marijuana or even fatigue. It’s just an employer-wank.
A five minute, non-invasive test for impairment (reaction time, precision, fixation, etc) before operating dangerous machinery would do more for workplace safety than surprise piss tests ever would. Hell, the standard US field sobriety test (walking in a straight line toe-to-toe, arms out, while reciting the alphabet backwards sort of thing) would be a start.
Agree. Especially in terms of THC, which can be picked up seven weeks after use – well after the time of impairment.
Is someone as stupid as this fit to comment on the intelligence of anyone else?
Denise L’estrange-Corbet’s daughter Pebbles Hooper recently tweeted the following:
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I’ll get major slack for this, but leaving a car running inside a closed garage while you’re kids are in the house is natural selection
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The spelling and punctuation errors are Pebbles Hooper’s.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3149696/Kiwi-socialite-Pebbles-Hooper-tastelessly-mocks-death-mother-three-children-despite-losing-life.html
She represents the difference between making your own way (me) and living off your parents (her)
Making your own way?
I’ll assume that you paid for 100% of your education, had no subsidies from middle-class or upper-income parents, and had absolutely no good luck completely beyond your control, then. You are a true master of the universe.
He represents the difference between waiting for parents to conceive (him) and truely self-made men, who do not wait for chance, and conceive themselves (me). I will not abide utero… uterusrian… womberarian… damn it I will not abide bludgers of the womb!
Now if you will excuse me I have a universe to run.
that’s the funniest thing I’ve read on ts all year.
Paula Bennett considers money that a emotionally vulnerable woman sent to a scammer overseas qualifies as a loan and therefore an asset thus allowing her benefit entitlement to be reduced. Some legal eagle might have a shot at a successful judicial review of this decision.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11476193
A review within the dept should do it. It looks to me like she’s declared the money as a loan or gift and that’s why they’ve counted it as an asset (you can’t give away money when on a benefit if you want additional support*). However, it’s probably a discretionary decision, which means the decision could be reversed.
*there are a lot of rules like this that many on benefits would be aware of. Am thinking of the woman on the DPB in Nelson who was getting financial help from her mother. WINZ wanted to count it as income and thus use it as part of assessing her benefit (i.e. pay less benefit). The onus should be on the department to be up front about these things.
Its her husband I feel sorry for. It would be bad enough to find out that your wife was having an 18 month long online relationship with another man. The fact that she gave this sleaze ball $41k of their money is really rubbing the shit in.
Did anyone read Ms Collins ill researched PR release for Zespri in the SST? If you know some facts it reads like a fluff piece for Zespri
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/69834952/green-turns-to-gold-for-zespri
I say ill researched cos she was lauding Zespri for moving quickly on PSA and introducing a new higher yield strand of gold kiwifruit… but she omitted that this amazing breakthrough kiwifruit has a very short shelf life,,, and is going “off” on the way to its exports destinations…
I know 3 kiwifruit growers, all hit by PSA, who dug up and the replaced with the new strain, only to find that it just won’t last after seperation from the vine.
In 2009 Sinister for Biosecurity David Carter cut 60 border jobs.
with National party making cuts to our bio security budget
Biosecurity failures since…
tomato/potato psyllid
hadda beetle
willow aphid
eucalyptus beetle
quava moth
*PSA*
varroa bee mite
and the killer of a horticultural industry
Queensland fruit fly
and many more
Under Nationals watch PSA was welcomed into NZ
Was that so we would welcome GE GMO with open arms?
How dumb does judy think we are?
Judith Collins been making up shit since forever
Early 2003 when we were the world largest and best producers of kiwifruit
vines were cut and sent to Italy to grow there
the contracted pruners had to sign a contract stating they would not tell their unsuspecting work mates that soon they would be out of a job,
not to tell anyone or they would get the sack and maybe taken to court.
Who wants to buy cold stored 6month old kiwifruit when we can have it *fresh* on our shelves from Italy.
That bit of skulldugery cost NZ dearly and most of the orchard owners who were in the syndicate of the new Italian order were also Zespri decision makers.
Did you forget that bit of the kiwifruit saga judy?
Do you reckon ex-Sinister Carter might slip an extra line into the daily prayer begging pardon for his cock-ups?
Oh look, the cops can’t be trusted.
Apparently the promised not to use any of the information gleaned when they raided Hager’s home (re: the dirty politics hacking) while the search was being challenged in court, but still shared a person’s name with an officer conducting another investigation.
Beat me to it McFlock. My intro. was going to be… How can we trust the police.
What about the person whose name appeared in a Hagar document? On the basis of that mention they conducted an investigation into him/her. I hope Hagar has informed the person concerned so that they can take appropriate action.
Raises the question of just what they were attempting to achieve. Evidence of the hacker or anyone of interest perhaps politically?
Well, going fishing on the off chance that after publishing he hadn’t cleaned up a note saying “Rawshark is Andrew Little, all the HD recordings I made of our meetings are at http://www.whoopsiedaisy.com” would be the excuse.
But such a search might also shed light on who he’s speaking to and the progress of his current projects, too.
can’t attach this comment to the top thread cos I’m using my phone… this’ll be the last thing I say on the topic today: “I believe in freedom of speech, right up to the point where you say the wrong thing, in which case you’re fired.”
the focus needs to be on character, not words. character comes through in patterns of behaviour and speech over time. I hate a culture in.which so much stock is put by single comments without setting them.in context.
“she’s in a position of power” and so are the myriad people who contribute to social media mass-tantrums about he said she said. my old dad said, give them enough rope.and they’ll hang themselves. pebbles and her generation are either gonna hang themselves or find their feet. again, generosity of spirit is a foundation of open society. I’m repeating myself a bit,but I’m repeating stuff that the “off with her head” crowd didn’t address in their replies…
The character, words, patterns, speech and behaviour were put into context, repeatedly, by the “off with her head crowd”. That’s how they arrived at “off with her head”. They weren’t “single comments”. Where was Pebble’s generosity of spirit? So did she contribute to an open society with her words, or closed, cold, isolated one? And more importantly where is Bam Bam?
It’s ok bro, you support people with power ragging on those without. Why do you have to try to convinvce us it’s ok for you to have an opinion? Only thing that matters is that you’re ok with it. If your conscience is ok with it, everything ok. You’re ok, I’m ok. Everybody Okay.