I’ve just been watching Max Keiser Report number 947, and it gave me food for thought.
Inequality has become quite grotesque in the USA and in New Zealand, with the richest people in this country increasing their wealth by obscene amounts while the rest of the country struggle to make ends meet. (Slight exaggeration)
It seems to me that, unless we elect a government determined to reverse this trend, we really will end up as serfs. Automation will destroy jobs in the future, so more and more people will join the precariate, while the profits from employing less humans will go straight to the top ten per-cent.
So, as I would suggest, we stand at a crossroads in the history of our country. If we continue on as we are, then we will cement in a new aristocracy, the money-owners, and a new peasantry, the working class who exist on minimum wages and zero hours, or reluctant government handouts.
Or we can take a really radical direction and aim to share the benefits of the economy equally among all the people who live in this country. Radical reform may include a UBI. It must include tax redistribution, shifting the burden of tax from the poor, who can’t escape paying, to the rich, who now avoid paying.
What is absolutely certain is that we cannot do nothing.
Just as an aside, this is why I would support a Trump presidency. Will Clinton nothing meaningful will change. She has been bought and paid for by the very people who don’t want to see economic equality, and she’ll do their bidding.
With the Donald, hell, we don’t know what we’re getting, but it sure isn’t
e*t*b*i*h*e*t. (I bet that will get past moderation!) Yes, I think the man is a shallow showman, and there’s more than a suggestion he might be deliberately throwing his chances of being elected, but if he does get the nod, he won’t tug his forelock to the – to that word again.
But I look in vain in New Zealand for a political party with the gumption to propose a legislative revolution. I fear we shall have to take to the streets in the end, to force political change and to unseat the (God, there’s that word again – can I never get away from it?)
“It seems to me that, unless we elect a government determined to reverse this trend, we really will end up as serfs.”
Unless we also look at improving our political structure, the elite (through political donations or corporate lobbying) can end up commanding the Government we elect.
Tony, there are historical parallels for your Trump leaning. And history tells us that they always work out badly for working people. Reagan, Thatcher, the Austrian bloke who ran Germany in the thirties … all elected on the promise to end the establishment. All cemented the establishment in place.
It’s an infantile pretension, similar to the extreme left concept that we need concentration camps before the lumpen proles will rise up.
On the up side, Trump, who had to admit lying this morning, has surged to a massive 8% chance of winning, according to 538. Hillary Clinton has a mere 91% chance of becoming president.
TRP – I do really agree with what you’re saying. If I were an American voter I would cast my ballot for Jill Stein, and to hell with the consequences. But don’t look to HRC for any meaningful change in the USA.
And perhaps it is unhealthy to oppose the Clintons?
Trump’s Democratic opponents and a growing number of republicans say Trump is temperamentally unsuitable for the presidency. They need to delete the ‘tempera’ part of the adverb. He is mentally ‘unsuitable’..
Honestly, if he were an ordinary person ranting on the street without his money or power, the people in white coats would pick him up, give him a nice room and some medication.
te reo putake I don’t think there is any chance of a goodwin when we talk about what a fascist state has done to working people.
I know Bill and I bring up Franco a lot, there is a reason. Franco’s Spain was a nightmare, the way that economy worked was to brutalise sections of the working class based on ethnicity and/or whether they had fought for republic or not. Even then the so called pro-Franco peasants did not do that well.
trump is a fascist, he may not be a hitler, but his economics and his approach is fascist. This does not bode well for working people, the sick, the disabled, and most of all women. And we should smack him and his ideas down like the destructive force they are.
…while the profits from employing less humans will go straight to the top ten per-cent.
As it always has done under capitalists type systems. We see the same thing in Ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt and we all know what happened to them.
It really is capitalism that doesn’t work. Unfortunately a few get rich until it all falls down and they’re the ones making the rules to suit themselves.
If we continue on as we are, then we will cement in a new aristocracy, the money-owners, and a new peasantry, the working class who exist on minimum wages and zero hours, or reluctant government handouts.
QFT
Of course, the money owners like that idea which is why they always advocate and lobby government for the policies that will bring it about.
Radical reform may include a UBI. It must include tax redistribution, shifting the burden of tax from the poor, who can’t escape paying, to the rich, who now avoid paying.
It must include a UBI and changing all businesses to cooperatives. The workers need to control the business and have a say in who gets paid how much. Shares will need to be converted to loans so that shareholders no longer have a say in running a business and the business itself cannot be owned by the workers either – it needs to be self-owned.
It must include tax redistribution, shifting the burden of tax from the poor, who can’t escape paying, to the rich, who now avoid paying.
That’s how capitalism works. The rich get rich by having the poor pay them for everything. And that is why it also fails.
But I look in vain in New Zealand for a political party with the gumption to propose a legislative revolution.
And that is the problem that we have. No political party is willing to throw out the failed system that is capitalism and look for a better system.
Look ahead a bit to the long game with Trump. The likes of Koch brothers haven’t just tamely accepted it but will move onto the next strategy.
Should Trump get in he would be surrounded by the Republican far right who will isolate him as much as possible and do the governing in his name.
And how long is it before Trump is impeached or assassinated ( not that I would wish that on anyone) and then Mike Pence ( a tea party far right) becomes president in a job nobody would ever vote him into. At that point the Tea party has the reigns of power.
Coming down the road behind every Trotsky is a Lenin and a Stalin.
But HRC really needs to up her game to and make concrete moves towards the Bernie position. Other wise there will be an action replay of this in 4 years.
We became serfs in our own country a long time ago its just credit and low interest rates and cheap crappy goods and men like Key smiling and telling us in a soothing voice we all can be rich if we just elect him and his party and BELIEVE in the BRIGHTER FUTURE we can all have our own cardboard box too live in or move up to the family stationwagon or garage.
Exactly why did someone assign today – the coldest and wettest day of the year – to get me up at 6am to put up their electoral hoardings?
To my colleagues who are joining me, to you I say: OMG, and Solidarity Forever.
In the great Leftie Second Coming, all those who actually did pull their boots on, and their raincoats, and got out there and hauled timber for yet another local government election effort, will be read aloud and praised to the victorious crowds in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
I don’t always agree with Chris Trotter, but this quote from a Daily Blog posting is, I think, quite pertinent:
“Practical progressive organisations like the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) are few and far between. Vastly outnumbering them are the tens-of-thousands of self-defined progressives who confuse posting comments on Facebook or The Daily Blog with effective political action.”
Chris Trotter: The Daily Blog.
I’m off this morning to help in the John Minto campaign to become mayor of Christchurch!
Tony Veitch (not the partner-bashing 3rd rate broadcaster) 3.1
If you are anywhere near Moorhouse Ave at 11, Tony, there’s a protest outside Pak n Slave. These corporate shits pay their South Island workers $2 an hour less than their Nth Island counterparts.
This morning on the Al Jazeera news they did a story on homelessness in NZ, it wasn’t a short piece, Bernard Hickey was interviewed, and at the end of the story the news presenter said that they had asked the Minister of Social Housing for an interview a number of times but they declined. Tried to find a link on line for it, but couldnt. Disappointing that government could not even take a few moments to comment on a story about a situation they have created which has lead to one of the worlds largest news networks doing a report on it.
Enough suffering, time for change, thanks Al Jazeera for your coverage on one of the most desperate situations our people have ever faced.
yes certainly shows up our hopeless jonkey nact agenda bought tv journalism Hoskings and Henry style …and corporate bought foreign ownership mainstream media newspapers…only John Campbell and RNZ escapes imo
Chooky- I inadvertently caught two of Hosking’s smirk sentences the other night- Mea culpa.
It said, complete with trademark smirk,”You know what the trouble is with Education today ? The unions….” At which point my usual frantic Henry/Hosking search for the remote was successful.
And yes, I have listened in the past which is why I don’t listen now.
Chooky
‘Only JC and RNZ escapes imo’. If only I could agree. JC has been taught a lesson about challenging your employers view. RNZ is struggling to maintain funding and quality journalism. There are a few glimmers of hope @ RNZ, Media Watch, JC, Phil Pennington, Kim Hill, and then I begin to run out of suggestions. RNZ is sadly deteriorating and slowly drowning. A healthy and broad alternative media is essential. Australian Public Broadcast current affairs is far better than ours.
“Rumors of war – this time in the South China Sea. Washington appears – step by step – to be moving away from a policy of engagement with Beijing to one of confrontation. This is a policy approach counterproductive for all involved. Attempting to contain China militarily is nothing less than dangerous.
CrossTalking with Harry Kazianis, James Bradley and Peter Navarro.”
and
“Japan summons Chinese ambassador over ships
Japan’s foreign ministry Friday summoned China’s ambassador to protest what it said were intrusions into its territorial waters by Chinese coast guard and fishing vessels. The two countries are locked in a long-running dispute over uninhabited islets in the East China Sea known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China. Japanese vice foreign minister Shinsuke Sugiyama called in Cheng Yonghua, Beijing’s ambassador to Tokyo, the foreign ministry said. Sugiyama “strongly protested” to Cheng that the incursions were a “violation of Japan’s sovereignty.” The Japan Coast Guard said that two coast guard vessels from China’s State Oceanic Administration entered territorial waters near the Senkaku islands during the afternoon before eventually departing. (AFP)”
This is totally predictable. The USA is a war machine. I will say it again for all you duped fans of the yanks–The USA is a war machine.
If you don’t believe me just ask yourself why it has more military might than the rest of the world combined and why it has 1,000 military bases around the world.
“China has hit out at Japan, which has urged it to abide by the terms of a recent international ruling that challenges Beijing’s claims to the South China Sea. Meanwhile, South Asian countries have also failed to display a united position on the ruling.
‘ ‘Ill-founded, farcical’: Beijing blasts South China Sea ruling, vows to defend its interests’
“We at The Peace Place are very excited that Auckland Peace Action will be launching their campaign and national petition against the up-coming Weapons Expo and US Warship Visit here at The Peace Place this coming Saturday 6th August at 4pm.”
Outgoing Tory’ leader Cameron’s granting of knighthoods and peerages to his millionaire money donors is corrupt, blatant and understandable but the OBE , whatever that is, awarded to his wife’s stylist, for ‘political and public service’ was ludicrous.
What next? A knighthood for Bill English’s hairdresser? Certainly not Stephen Joyce’s.
Good on the Aussies for dismissing this medieval/feudal anachronism. When, oh when will New Zealand grow up?
This is grimly amusing, especially with the timing that coincides (not coincidentally?) with the start of the Brazil Olympics.
The committee set up to investigate the lack of transparency in Panama’s financial system itself lacks transparency, Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz has said after resigning from the Panama Papers commission…
Stiglitz and Swiss anti-corruption expert Mark Pieth joined a seven-member commission to investigate Panama’s notoriously opaque financial system, but both quit the group on Friday, saying Panama refused to guarantee the committee’s report would be made public… last week they received a government letter that drew back from its commitment to making the findings public…
“I have had a close look at the so called Panama Papers and I must admit that, even as an expert on economic and organised crime, I was amazed to see so much of what we talk about in theory was confirmed in practice,” Pieth said…
“We’re being asked to do this as a courtesy for them and we’re paraded in front of the world media first,” said Pieth, a criminal law professor at Basel University. “Then we’re told to shut up when they don’t like it.”
They always release their polls on a Sunday. Over the last 18 months, the gap between each CB has varied between 6 and 8 weeks. Tomorrow, It’ll be an outrageous 9 weeks since their last release. Can we expect it to lead One News 6pm tomorrow night or has the Pollster just thrown in the towel along with Herald-Digi ?
“you must be the only lefties who actually looks forward to the polls”
Dunno about that. The polls through March-June were by no means all bad news for the Opposition* – Roy Morgan, UMR and Curia all had the Nats sliding during all or part of that period. The current interest is in finding out how reliable the last (Nat-friendly) Roy Morgan was.
* Oppo Bloc = Yes, I know, Winnie could swing either way (politically-speaking, you understand).
Perhaps they are waiting on one that favours Key maybe ??? I don’t know how they set their polling periods. SF can you enlighten or will we see one 2 nite.
“I don’t know how they set their polling periods. SF can you enlighten or will we see one 2 nite.”
Not sure. The gap usually varies from 6 to 8 weeks. Fieldwork generally takes place over 5-6 days (always starts on a Saturday and is completed by Wednesday or Thursday). Then roughly 6-8 weeks until the next one. Probably depends on how busy they are with their more commercial work. Or maybe the timing’s entirely dictated by One News.
But now 9 weeks and counting, so I’m assuming there’ll be one tomorrow on One News 6pm. (Colmar Brunton always release on a Sunday). Then again, maybe like Roy Morgan they’ve decided to make it less regular ? *
* Their director, Andrew Robertson (who blogs as Grumpollie) has recently left for a new position in the Public Service, so that upheaval might have delayed things.
I was polled by Reid Research about a week ago. The do the ones for TV3 don’t they?
There may be one on TV3 tomorrow night or the following Sunday depending upon where they were in the poll when they rang me.
3 News/Newshub usually release their Reid Research polls between 3-5 days after the final day of polling. Their fieldwork generally takes place over 6-8 days.
So your one should be released at some point over the next week (unlike Colmar Brunton, they don’t restrict their release to a particular day of the week – in CB’s case: Sunday).
Have a look at 3 News tonight – Can’t rule out a release today – if so, maybe upstaging a Colmar Brunton tomorrow ?
If one emerges in the next few days, then I will be sorely tempted to accuse them of… waiting until nearly the end of a month-plus long parliamentary recess before conducting the poll. Such polls always favour the governing party because they are the only ones afforded any publicity. Example… post Xmas holiday recess. There is invariably a poll released around the beginning of February.
Cynical I know, but having been a keen observer of politics and the media for several decades it’s an understandable conclusion to come to.
The few laws that govern and restrain the actions of NZ Judges, have been eroded.
in 2010 the Supreme Court of NZ ruled by a 3-2 margin in Attorney General v Chapman that rights guaranteed by the NZ Bill of Rights Act 1990 were no longer enforceable against judges.
Then there was the Public Records Act 2005 which required all branches of government to create and maintain accurate public records of their affairs. In March 2009, Ministry of Justice Counsel Jeff Orr asserted that judges were exempt – stating judges are governed by their own customs and “not by the requirements of any enactment (eg the Public Records Act, the Crimes Act 1961)”.
In Greer v Smith [2015] all five judges of the Supreme Court of NZ convened privately, without submissions from government or public, to rule a single judge in their court can issue private judgments refusing access to public records at our highest court – and that such a private order was also unappealable.
Last month, the Official Information Act 1982 became the object of judicial exemption when the Ombudsman rejected an appeal against the Judicial Office for Higher Courts’ refusal to provide an “official agenda” for a taxpayer-paid judge retreat earlier this year on the ground, “The judicial conference agenda does not constitute ‘official information’ because it is held by the judiciary which is not subject to the OIA.”
But the judiciary are only exempt from such transparency in their judicial function. Taxpayer funded official agendas and judicial cocktail parties are not exempt.
The exemption from law extends beyond our 61 High Court judges and 144 lower court judges. The Judicial Office for Higher Courts has 115 staff employees – all of whom are exempt from the Official Information Act
Then there is the Supreme Court Act 2003 which requires under section 16 that Supreme Court judges give reasons for refusals. The dirty secret that is uniquely NZ is many Supreme Court decisions are kept off the record, which is helpful in evading this law which pertains entirely to judges.
And those who challenge the off-record secrecy are shut out of the courts altogether.
No links and the structure that is very much what you’d see on conspiracy websites that are all about telling you how bad government is. I suspect that if we could properly investigate the allegations and get the correct context it would be nothing like what he said.
If you keep an eye on HRC’s campaign schedule compared to Trump’s, you’ll see that she conducts way fewer public engagements than he does. Whereas he might do 2 engagements in a day, HRC might do one every 2 or 3 days.
Saw that ugly alright say anything against the big owners and bang your dead youd have to be brave to take them on .By the sound of it the american fruit co stacked up a few bodies too putting it mildly was that in nicuagrua or the hondures? sorry not much good at spelling or geography !.Incidentely bananas grow just fine in northland .I eat my own most days and for weeks at a time depending on how theyre producing .Ive usually got enough to dry some also .
what a great woman!…and it is wonderful her story turned out well!
…other women were destroyed by the baby snatchers and their snatched babies also were destroyed …i read of one woman who searched the rest of her life for her daughter and her daughter searched for her mother…they were very close to finding each other but both committed suicide before they could meet…a tragedy!
this is a story of crimes against women and their children
That was the normal situation when I was a young woman.
In fact I know some very prominent New Zealand women of that day who still have not talked publically about the secret babies they bore, who were adopted.
One was a married woman who unexpectedly found herself pregnant when she separated from her abusive husband – she already had a toddler and arranging a job that would allow for her to care for them both was impossible. There was no benefit available, and her husband vanished. In effect, giving the child away was her only option apart from murder/suicide, so she had her little girl adopted and grieved for ever after.
Thank god, and Second Wave feminists, that the DPB was introduced in the 1970s, though it was over the dead body of some MPs. I recall one who said “If you play, you pay”, and that was the attitude of men in power in those days.
See the other post here today reminding us of the Prime Minister’s and the Speaker’s abominable treatment of female MPs last year, and I think those attitudes are still there, just hidden under a thin veneer of pretend tolerance.
yes sexism is entrenched alright…(my daughter working independently in the workforce is now recognising it in some patronising older men, after pooh poohing feminism in her teens…)
I have nothing but absolute admiration for the women that came before me and their struggles and tragedies …these women were the shock troops for women’s rights and feminism…
birth control contraception and abortion were absolute rights fought for and won by New Zealand women! (despite the misogynist Catholic Church)…also the DPB to enable women to keep and look after their babies and children
…and equal education opportunities and equal pay for equal work recognised in principle but not in actuality…also legislation against sexual harassment and assault
…and these fundamental rights are still NOT for many women around the world!
The Guardian draws opinion from all over the globe and this article is by Dunedin based writer, Eleanor Roy. In it, in part, she describes John Key’s brighter future…
”we have the second highest rate of youth suicide in the OECD. That a third of our children live below the poverty line and 10% of our working-age population is on social welfare.”
What you dont know about NZ is: its really expensive to live there, when you are someone who has to work for a living. Salaries are comparatively low (I am an engineer) and a normal job has normal 40h+/week working hours. House prices are sky rocking in Auckland. Renting is no real option and again expensive. The 4 season a day weather results in one of the highest global asthma rates and damp houses with very low ceilings (the newly built ones). Life in NZ is: lawn mawing, barbecue, rugby, talking about the All Blacks and mortgages, sailing if you can afford it. Everything closes by 6pm, streets are empty at the latest by 10pm. Kiwis are usually friendly people, but I felt that life down there was very narrow. Kiwis usually live a close knit family life that includes childhood friends. Activities are lived in their back yard. For overseas newcomers its relatively difficult to get access. In work life, things are done the Kiwi way, sometimes the laws of physics, chemistry etc. are ignored to “save” costs thereby resulting in even damper houses. Business partners conduct meetings a little like village talk as everyone somewhat knows everyone else and is somehow related, part of family etc. which has an effect on how decisions are made > resulting in a lack of quality > the job does not always go to the best, but the best related person group etc. Life down there felt like living in a transit and I am very glad to be back in Europe again.
The bolded bit among others, brutally true of New Zealand decision makers short-sightedness on so many crucially important projects and policy for future generations.
Not at all. People don’t know each other as another comment on the blog where I sourced this from attests to.
Having lived a lot in London and auckland I must say that socially London is a lot better. I know most of the people who live in my street, which was never true in auckland. Benefit of terraced housing and walking to school maybe?
I’d agree with this in that that New Zealand fails badly on security of community. The amateur landlord class flipping properties for capital gain has rendered low income renting communities powerless and transient.
Low income New Zealand renters just want to be stable and have security of tenancy. They want their kids to be able to attend the same school without fear of disruption through no fault of their own. They want their kids to know the neighbours kids without being moved on by some property flipping investor. However, the fuelling of the investment property market both internally and through the advertising of the same to offshore buyers with cheap money is destroying that community spirit.
The truth is that lower wages and poverty can account for so many of the things that older generations find so mystifying about millennials.
For example, millennials drive less than their parent’s generation—and until recently, at least—were relatively uninterested in buying cars. As The Atlantic reported in 2012, this crisis prompted automakers to appoint “youth emissaries” and come up with new car colors like “techno pink” and “denim.”
But trying to make cars cooler doesn’t change the fact that, as CityLab found, there’s a significant gap in vehicle miles traveled between millenials who make over $30,000 a year and those who make less. Simply put: Cars cost money and millennials have less of it.
Dude goes to town on Trump’s “economic” advisers –
I get preferring businessmen over "economists", but Trump's team is dominated by vulture sectors of the economy. None of 'em make stuff.— Justin Wolfers (@JustinWolfers) August 5, 2016
"Hope, get me the former chief economist at Bear Stearns. Must be a smart guy. Maybe he'll advise me on economics." https://t.co/yHLsEsHphI— Justin Wolfers (@JustinWolfers) August 5, 2016
Offering a rare insider analysis of the climate assessment process, Carnegie’s Katharine Mach and colleagues at the Department of Global Ecology examined the writing and editing procedures by which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change creates summaries of their findings for policymakers. Despite recent critiques that these summaries are too difficult for non-experts, Mach and colleagues found them comparable to reference texts in terms of reading comprehension level. Their results are published by Science Advances.
“Using multiple tools for measuring reading ease, we found that IPCC reports are designed for grownups, but they are not harder to read than other science documents, including those written for the public by professional writers,” said co-author Chris Field, who served as the co-chair of the second IPCC Working Group.
Nevertheless, Mach and colleagues also suggest ways that the summary reports could be improved by using less jargon and more cohesive language to link the ideas they contain. The summaries could also be enhanced by graphics, videos, animations, and online multimedia, in addition to extensive media availability by panel leadership.
Well after this horror week for rugby, I think I just witnessed a player do a ‘mince’ walk to accept his award for winning the competition. Then the whole team received tankards as individual prizes. Maybe players and the whole rugby culture are a bit slow in learning, or maybe it’s best to leave it out there for all to see.
Everyone at the awards ceremony pretty cool about it all, though? If so, it just goes to show that the $$$$$/sporting section of the community they are most in touch with and that they care most about don’t give a ****.
Yeah pretty much, the guy is being congratulated for his walk on twitter.
I wonder if a few supporters are questioning their membership for next year though. Be interesting to look at a certain franchise’s balance sheet for 2017.
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If we are to avoid dangerous anthropogenic climate change, we need to rapidly decarbonise our transport fleet. The good news: its starting to happen:The number of electric vehicles on New Zealand's roads have nearly tripled in the past two years. There are currently 15,453 registered electric vehicles (EVs), up ...
We need to fundamentally reframe our systems settings to address the drivers causing and underpinning inequality; structural change in systems especially financial. The Equality Network Hui was held in Wellington on 27 June 2019. The hui covered important topics such as child poverty; a living wage; taxation; public health; mental ...
The views-per-page for some of my recent postings:Depressing, isn't it? Provide thoughtful and wise commentary on the mainstream of British politics and no-one notices. Make a passing reference to Tommy DICKHEAD Robinson in a thread title and you get hundreds of views. Write something about anti-Semitism and you get another ...
The government has announced plans to move the Treaty of Waitangi and other taonga to a new site. Great news! So where are they going? Right next to the old one:The new plan will see a new 22,000-square-metre archive built on the former site of Defence House - the former ...
Back in June, StatsNZ went public about a project to track population data on an hourly level by using people's cellphones. It wasn't as bad as it initially looked - they were receiving no individual data, only counts by suburb - but there was still a huge consent problem, so ...
Most economists agree that a currently slowing economy could do with some stimulus – and they would also agree that there is no shortage of infrastructure projects which could be brought to productive fruition with help from that stimulus. In view of the current practice of sub-contracting economic policy decisions ...
I did an interview on the TVNZ Breakfast Show about the situation in Hong Kong. I tried to frame the issue as a collective action problem between two sides with very different end games. The video is here. Because of time constraints we could not discuss the fact that the ...
Image Credit: Wild Rose College A new study reporting the ranges of values for kidney and liver parameters in a healthy population is being actively misrepresented by anti-fluoride campaigners. The Fluoride Action Network’s (FAN) latest ...
Image Credit: Wild Rose College A new study reporting the ranges of values for kidney and liver parameters in a healthy population is being actively misrepresented by anti-fluoride campaigners. The Fluoride Action Network’s (FAN) latest ...
AN OPEN LETTER FOR SIGN ON BY ORGANISATIONS AND MOVEMENTS ACROSS THE WORLD, ALLIED IN THE FIGHT AGAINST INEQUALITY. This letter was released at the UN Political Forum on 9 July, where the Sustainable Development Goal on inequality was reviewed. The purpose of the letter is to call out the ...
We asked a young gay science student and critic of trans ideology and the trans activists’ assault on women’s and gay rights to outline his views on Redline. Thanks to him for his article. by Cian Ó Catháin Gender identity ideology (Gender ID) is ripping through western society at full ...
The Environment Committee is currently hearing submissions on the Zero Carbon Bill, and Stuff is reporting on the submissions. Today, they're covering yesterday they heard from "NZ" Steel:NZ Steel has told MPs it may be forced to close with the loss of thousands of jobs if changes aren't made to ...
Students are striking against climate change on September 27. And this time, they're asking everyone to join them:Students are taking to the streets, beaches and parks on 27 September, and we're inviting everyone to join us. That's right, this is an intergenerational issue, and you're all invited to put pressure ...
Peter McKenzie has a piece on Newsroom this morning about how local body politics is awash with property developer cash. 70% of all the donations in the 2016 Wellington mayoral election came from property developers. And its pretty obvious what they want in exchange:That’s particularly important in local government, according ...
Source: Unknown, twitter user Recently, I wrote a (relatively) short paper titled as above, to explore what self-determination could like in a practical sense. Maybe I’m a bit of an international trade truther or something, but I absolutely believe trade is at the heart of achieving peace and self-determination. Since ...
In the 1960s, after I had graduated with a first-class Oxford postgraduate law degree, I joined the British Foreign Office as the top entrant of my year. There, I worked for a couple of years on European affairs and was eventually posted to the Embassy in Brussels. After this exposure ...
Alone, Alone. All, All Alone: Will it be a good or a bad thing, when humanity’s bright blue spacecraft is stricken by the civilisation-destroying problem of Climate Change, that no Huston Control will be standing-by to rescue the crew?“WE HAVE A PROBLEM, HUSTON.” These were the words used by the ...
I heard a 45 minute interview with Monica Lewinsky talking to TED’s Chris Anderson on BBC Radio 4 over the weekend, and have listened to it another two times out walking. I recommend it. Highly. Man, I am so impressed with how this woman has integrated her life experiences and ...
Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff, The Coddling of the American Mind: how good intentions and bad ideas are setting up a generation for failure, London, Penguin, 2019, 352pp; reviewed by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff’s book The Coddling of the American Mind is a timely book, whose ...
When the Justice Committee reported back on the Administration of Justice (Reform of Contempt of Court) Bill, free speech advocates breathed a sigh of relief. As originally introduced, the Bill reitered the ancient offence of "scandalising the court" - basicly, a special sedition law protecting judges from criticism. The select ...
Eighteen months ago, the government promised to strengthen the Bill of Rights Act, by explicitly affirming the power of the courts to issue declarations of inconsistency and requiring Parliament to formally respond to them. Since then - crickets. Which raises the obvious question: are they actually going to do this, ...
Back in March, the Ministry of Justice conducted a public consultation exercise on whether to hold a review of the Official Information Act. 285 people submitted on it. Now, Stuff has trawled through those submissions, and the case for reform is strong:The Justice Ministry asked Kiwis what they thought was ...
National's prisoner voting ban has gone down as one of the worst laws in New Zealand history. Passed after a farcical debate (including this farcial speech from ACT MP Hilary Calvert), it has subsequently been found to be inconsistent with the Bill of Rights Act by the High Court, Court ...
Divided Loyalties: Can the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, be relied upon? That’s what the boys and girls at Foggy Bottom and the Pentagon needed to be reassured about. Because, from the perspective of Washington, it’s looking more and more like Jacinda Ardern and her Labour Party comrades are getting ready ...
This handy Queer Theory Glossary is from thetranswidow.com In case you’ve had trouble keeping up with the spate of new queer theory terms, here’s a handy glossary for your reference. Queer – A straight person with an interesting haircut. Non-binary/genderqueer – A chubby young female, typically 16-28, who has ...
by Daphna Whitmore US social psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt spoke on 1 August in Auckland to a crowd of around one thousand people. He is best known for his bookThe Coddling of the American Mind which examines the new climate of trigger warnings and acute sensitivity of Gen Z. ...
What an extraordinarily depressing experience it is to be compelled to watch, at 12,000 miles distance, the contortions and machinations of the British political class as they set about their determined attempt to overturn the decision taken by the British people that they wish to leave the European Union. The ...
The winter grazing issue is becoming a highly sensitised one that I hope will not become so politicised that it delays solutions and results in the suicides of some very stressed farmers.Winter grazing has hit the headlines after a determined campaign, including the release of a video of some very ...
by Don Franks Way back when British guitar virtuoso Joe Brown was a beginning session guy he got to back a visiting American artist. Young Joe was an able technician but had yet to learn some points of professionalism. Part way through “Five foot high and rising” Joe tired of ...
Since scientists started studying climate change, they have warned that it will reduce food production. And now, its happening:The climate crisis is damaging the ability of the land to sustain humanity, with cascading risks becoming increasingly severe as global temperatures rise, according to a landmark UN report compiled by some ...
The Abortion Legislation Bill just passed its first reading, 94-23. Its a far bigger margin than I expected, even allowing for the Winston factor, and it reflects the overwhelming support there is in this country for reform. but that support isn't a new thing - it has existed for literally ...
The Justice Committee has called for submissions on the Referendums Framework Bill. The Bill does what it says on the label - establishes a framework for referenda. Things you may want to address in your submission: Whether the bill should apply only at the 2020 election, or whether it should ...
The Thompson and Clark / MBIE spying scandal continues to result in fallout, this time in the form of a report on the implementation of MBIE's "Operation Exploration", its internal operation to enforce the infamous Anadarko Amendment which criminalised protests against the oil industry. MBIE's enforcement operation was tainted by ...
So, Winston Peters is defending his last-minute demand for a referendum on abortion by claiming he was "blindsided" by the bill. Really? The bill is a government bill. It has been working through the cabinet approval process since December last year. As part of that process, NZ First was consulted, ...
The Green Part has been accused of lack of transparency in two recent situations. The first was the claimed media lockdown during Green's annual conference and the second was Julie Ann Genter's refusal to release a letter she had sent to Phil Twyford.I do get frustrated when journalist's succumb to ...
The Green Part has been accused of lack of transparency in two recent situations. The first was the claimed media lockdown during Green's annual conference and the second was Julie Ann Genter's refusal to release a letter she had sent to Phil Twyford.I do get frustrated when journalist's succumb to ...
Last week, the ongoing democracy protests in Hong Kong saw a pro-Hong Kong student assaulted at the University of Auckland. The Chinese consulate in Auckland followed this up with a press release "express[ing] its appreciation to the students for their spontaneous patriotism" - effectively condoning the assault and inciting further ...
Only those who close their eyes and minds to the evidence can still be in any doubt that we are facing a climate change crisis. The evidence is conclusive that the world is not only getting inexorably hotter, but also that the rising temperatures are creating a number of other ...
Opportunities to dodge tax are shrinking with the completion of a new tax agreement with Switzerland, Revenue Minister Stuart Nash announced today. Mr Nash and the Swiss Ambassador David Vogelsanger have today signed documents to update the double tax agreement (DTA). The previous DTA was signed in 1980. “Double tax ...
Applying New Zealand’s international human rights commitments, particularly those in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, can help in resolving the situation at Ihumātao, Chief Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt says. ...
Climate campaigners impersonating bank staff have taken to the streets this week to expose ANZ Bank’s sponsorship of the fossil fuel industry. In the series of satirical actions in Wellington, Dunedin, and Auckland, the ‘bank staff’ promoted ...
Auckland Action Against Poverty joins the Children’s Commissioner , The Green Party , The New Zealand Drugs Foundation , Child Poverty Action Group and other organisations in the calls for an immediate end to the drug testing benefit sanctions. ...
Negotiations between Port Otago workers represented by the Rail and Maritime Transport Union (RMTU) and the Maritime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ) and management failed today and the unions have issued notice of an overtime ban from Saturday 7th September. ...
Queenstown Lakes District Council’s comments that it has applied for a consent to pollute waterways to avoid 'prosecutions by the Otago Regional Council' are unacceptable,’ Fish & Game New Zealand Chief Executive Martin Taylor says. ...
On March 15, the real world impact of online hate became abundantly, horrifically clear. As a shooter opened fire at two Christchurch mosques, the online image board 8chan anticipated, celebrated and amplified his killing spree. ...
Friday, 23 August: Government delegates from around the world, including New Zealand, are meeting in New York for the third of four meetings at the United Nations to agree a Global Oceans Treaty that could help to protect 30% of our oceans by 2030. Greenpeace ...
The excuses about a reportedly unwanted $57,000 payrise for Dunedin City Council CEO Sue Bidrose are laughable, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union. ...
The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance has launched the “Ratepayer Protection Pledge” committing to no more than 2% annual rate hikes over the next Council term, and has written to all Mayoral and Council candidates asking them to sign. The pledge will ...
This Saturday, Pakuranga Hunt Day at the Ellerslie Racecourse will see anti-horse racing protesters demonstrating at the corner of Ascot Avenue and Greenlane East. ...
Mayoral candidate John Tamihere will meet with Pacific Island leaders and community elders today at Puhunui Reserve in South Auckland to commit to a Pasefika Cultural Centre. ...
Cruel and invalid Forced Swim Tests carried out at Victoria University of Wellington, will be exposed at the University Open Day today, so prospective students can be warned about the flawed and unethical research being conducted at the institute. ...
The organiser of the annual YWCA Equal Pay Awards has expressed her disappointment with the latest Gender Pay Gap figure for New Zealand workers. The figure rose slightly from 9.2% in 2018 to 9.3% for the quarter ended 30 June 2019. ...
The Council of Licenced Firearm Owners (COLFO) is urging firearms owners to pass on information to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Attack on Christchurch Mosques now that the period for submissions has been extended to 27 September. ...
An application was filed in the Employment Relations Authority in Wellington today, seeking an injunction to prevent the Board of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation from removing the President from office. ...
The Government’s commitment to support literacy and numeracy training in the workplace is a strong signal from Government on recognising the importance of upskilling, reskilling and increasing productivity alongside their commitment to address the challenges ...
“The infrastructure sector sees a major role for the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission/Te Waihanga in lifting the nation’s sagging infrastructure performance,” says Paul Blair, incoming CEO of Infrastructure NZ. ...
The AA is calling on the Government to bring forward critical highway projects while time is spent properly developing the plans for a rapid transit system in Auckland. ...
Between 2015/16 and 2017/18, DHBs spent $280 million treating patients due to adverse drug reactions, reveals the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union in its latest briefing paper on health productivity . ...
The Pay Equity Coalition Auckland (PECA) is pleased the gender pay gap has decreased slightly. Statistics released today show the gap is now 11.9%, nearly 2 percent less than last year. ...
The Council of Licenced Firearm Owners (COLFO) is urging firearms owners to make sure they pass on any information they have to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Attack on Christchurch Mosques before submissions close tomorrow (Friday). ...
The big electricity companies consider solar energy “disruptive” and want pricing to suppress it. In contrast, advocates of local energy say that solar, energy efficiency, and other local energy solutions are the cheapest ways to reduce carbon emissions. ...
The Earthquake Commission and Shine Lawyers are delighted to announce that EQC has reached an agreement with the Gibling family, agreeing to cover the cost of repairs of remaining earthquake damage on their property. ...
Four months into the inquiry, the Royal Commission is gathering significant information and continues to receive valuable submissions from the public, from current and former State servants, experts and community groups. ...
While Fish & Game New Zealand is pleased to see Federated Farmers Environment Spokesperson Chris Allen say that 'we all want good, fresh water', he conveniently overlooks some key facts. ...
What: Wellington demo “Save the Amazon Forest/Salve a Amazônia!” When: Friday, 6 September 2019 from 12:30-13:30 Where: Embassy of Brazil in Wellingtona ...
Rt Hon Trevor Mallard, Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives, welcomes the visit of His Excellency Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues, President of the Assembly of the Republic of Portugal. ...
A cross political Mental Health and Addictions Wellbeing group will be launched on Wednesday 28 August hosted by Sir John Kirwan and Moe Milne (ONZM) who have both been at the forefront of our country’s often difficult conversations about mental ...
Confirmation that the government will be progressing an independent Parliamentary Budget Office is great news for democracy and transparency, Federated Farmers says. ...
At first glance, Simon Bridges’ strident opposition to the government’s proposal to establish an independent office to cost political parties’ election spending plans looks childish and petty. ...
Euthanasia-Free NZ is appalled that Parliament spent so little time debating Part 2 of the End of Life Choice Bill and voted to leave it full of holes. ...
Jordan Williams, a spokesman for the Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance and its nationwide sister group the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is slamming Auckland Mayor Phil Goff for his comments today that John Tamihere would need the Government’s support to ...
A ‘one size fits all’, inflexible and punitive regulatory regime for water quality just gets backs - and costs - up and most importantly will not work, Federated Farmers says. ...
Mediation yesterday between secondary principals and the government has resulted in a deal that the principals' negotiating team is recommending to its members. ...
Clubs New Zealand welcomes the decision of Justice Minister Andrew Little to put forward a bill amending the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act to allow all licensed premises to remain open for Rugby World Cup matches. ...
The Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation has ordered a review looking at labelling of added sugars in food and drinks. An option under investigation is ‘a pictorial approach applied to sugary beverages / sugar-sweetened beverages’ ...
Labour market data released by Statistics New Zealand today indicates that a gender pay gap persists in New Zealand, despite improvement in some areas. ...
In the midst of the 6th Great Extinction Event the coalition, STOP Trashing Our Planet is urging voters to take full responsibility for the legacy we are leaving our children. ...
LGNZ will carefully consider the proposed National Policy Statement on Urban Development (NPS-UD) to assess if it meets the Government’s aim of enabling urban development or simply adds more red tape to the planning process. ...
Statistics out today from the Government show that the gender wage imbalance, or gap, in the average wage is 11.9%, a strong 2 percentage point improvement from 13.9% last year. The gender pay imbalance in the median wage is 9.3%. ...
Newstalk ZB Drive host and Herald on Sunday columnist Heather du Plessis-Allan is taking on the challenge of keeping 2019 Auckland Mayoral contenders Phil Goff and John Tamihere in line and on point in tonight’s live NZ Herald Newstalk ZB debate. ...
After twenty years Napier residents have endured heavy sleep and health disruptive noise and air pollution from freight trucks gridlock operations to and from the Napier port and other regions. ...
The EMA says much is riding on the board and chief executive of the new National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) announced by Infrastructure Minister Hon Shane Jones today, with a difficult task ahead to deliver on its purpose. ...
The Public Service Association welcomes the introduction of workplace standards by the State Services Commission that make it clear public services should expect positive and safe workplaces. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Willamson, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, Monash University Australia’s gender pay gap is diminishing, says a new report, but some contributors to it seem harder to overcome than others. For me, the finding hit close to home. The report, by KPMG for ...
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 Te Tiriti o Waitangi: The Treaty of Waitangi by Toby Morris with Ross Calman, Mark Derby, and ...
Honey producer Comvita has confirmed a full year net loss of $27.7m with China market access restrictions and tougher regulations locally affecting the company's sales. ...
James Elliott realises John Tamihere's uncosted bridge proposal wasn't actually a metaphor, but a fine example of 'folks is mighty generous with money what they ain’t got'. ...
A new poem by Oamaru-born poet Nick Ascroft.SupermanHalfway up the ascent zigzagging from Royal Terrace to upper Stuart Street carrying four too-heavy grocery bags I begin to understand that I will not make it. My huffing personage – from the fingers, white with the strain, to a face the colour of rhubarb – will ooze into the pavement and roll slowly ...
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in reality television and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s.Sound the alarm, because it’s time for another absolute chaos pod. We’re talking haunted dolls in Waipu, we’re talking giant hands taking over Wellington, we’re talking soft serve cones dipped in powdered Milo. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Press, Adjunct Professor, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania This week, the ABC revealed that the Australian Defence Force wants to roll out military technology in Antarctica. The article raises the issue of what is, or is not, ...
New Zealand teacher aides say their pay reflects an outdated idea of what they do. Elizabeth McLeod hears from four TAs, and one parent, about the classroom realities they face every dayCleaning up poo, defusing violent situations, copping physical and verbal abuse: these are the realities of a teacher aide’s ...
The lanky sidekick from Jono and Ben journeys around New Zealand trying to solve small town problems. Does he succeed?Guy Williams, hardly a shy, retiring type, has been screaming out for his own vehicle for years. A loud, lanky, fearless comic, he’s spent nearly a decade in MediaWorks purgatory, sat ...
Ballot Box.Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – The nature of New Zealand general election campaigns could be significantly changed with the proposed establishment of an “umpire” to adjudicate over political party manifesto policies. A suggestion has been put forward by the Government for the establishment of a parliamentary watchdog ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s content by Dr Bryce Edwards.Ihumātao Delphine Herbert and Dan Satherley (Newshub): Tainui to buy Ihumātao land – sources Danielle ...
Extinction Rebellion takes a tour of downtown Wellington to point out the coal industry stalwarts and ask why they’re still there in the face of a climate emergency. “There are coal companies in Wellington??”That’s the incredulous response every single time we mention taking the public on a tour of the biggest ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel A. Ankeny, Professor of History and Philosophy, and Deputy Dean Research (Faculty of Arts), University of Adelaide The South Australian government recently announced its intention to lift the long-standing statewide moratorium on genetically modified (GM) crops, following a statutory six-week consultation ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vicki Sentas, Senior Lecturer, UNSW Law, UNSW Being strip searched by the police can be intrusive, humiliating and harmful. Typically, strip searches involve being required to strip naked in front of police officers, who often give the direction to “squat and cough”, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Louise Remond, Clinical Psychologist, University of Technology Sydney Hi, I was just wondering if something’s wrong with me because I’m never happy and never want to do anything and I’m getting really lazy and I really hate school. Thanks – Anonymous ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Zaphir, Researcher for the University of Queensland Critical Thinking Project; and Online Teacher at Education Queensland’s IMPACT Centre, The University of Queensland From as early as Grade 3 teachers start teaching children how to put across their own points of view. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW It’s four years since then Prime Minister Tony Abbott warned Australia had been heading to “a Greek-style economic future”. He was referring to what he said had been happening under the previous Labor government. When Labor ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samia Khatun, Senior Lecturer, SOAS, University of London Some 1,000 kilometres inland from Sydney, over the Blue Mountains, past the trees that drink the tributaries of the Darling River, there stands a little, red mosque. It marks where the desert begins. The ...
Online gambling is growing fast in New Zealand, but critics say new government ideas for regulating websites focus on what's good for the industry, rather than protecting people from harm. ...
An "extreme pro-Beijing" writer has caused controversy in the Chinese community and awkwardness for the Labour Party by standing for political office in Auckland. ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Concern about slow progress for major transport projects, smoking researcher under pressure over funding, and hikoi marches from Ihumātao to Ardern’s office.NZTA is struggling to get spending out the door, so the money isn’t flowing through the economy, reports Thomas Coughlan ...
Speaker of the House Trevor Mallard will look at whether people making submissions on proposed law changes should be forced to disclose conflicts of interest. ...
Rugby and league legend Honey Hireme has put all her careers on hold - including her Warriors debut - to take care of her mum, who has terminal cancer. ...
In the ongoing battle to prevent 480 houses being built on ancestral land, a petition with more than 26,000 signatures was delivered to the Prime Minister’s Mt Albert office yesterday. Leonie Hayden was there.Lead by the inimitable Pania Newton, about 100 kaitiaki set off from Ihumātao near Māngere yesterday morning ...
Every scholarship exam and approximately every two external assessments are wrapped in their own single-use plastic bag. We’re asking the NZQA to cut it out, writes year-13 student Sophia HoneyEvery year after an exam, I see the same conversation happen. Friends turn to each other, talk about how difficult that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Even Scott Morrison, with his abundant self-belief, couldn’t have imagined that on Saturday’s first anniversary of his seizing the prime ministership, he’d be winging his way to France for a G7 meeting, where Australia has ...
A group of students, including some Youth MPs, have been banned from Parliament for a year, after singing a waiata in the public gallery in support of the Ihumātao hīkoi. ...
National MP Nick Smith has lodged a serious accusation against Parliament's Speaker calling him "biased" after once again being booted out of the debating chamber. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sunanda Creagh, Head of Digital Storytelling Last weekend, hundreds of thousands of people again took to the streets in Hong Kong to protest against the government – the 11th straight weekend of demonstrations that began in June over a proposed extradition bill. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Scott Hamilton, Strategic Advisory Panel Member, Australian-German Energy Transition Hub, University of Melbourne Australia’s primary federal renewable energy target – to have 33 terawatts of renewable energy by 2020 – has essentially been achieved. There is much uncertainty as to what is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lewis Mitchell, Senior Lecturer in Applied Mathematics, University of Adelaide I swear by Hypatia, by Lovelace, by Turing, by Fisher (and/or Bayes), and by all the statisticians and data scientists, making them my witnesses, that I will carry out, according to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Blaxland, Professor, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University Just when we thought Australia was getting serious about shifting priorities away from the Middle East to its own neighbourhood, the prime minister has announced another Middle East step up. Australia ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Keogh, ARC DECRA Fellow, Queensland University of Technology In the last three months, the Australian Classification Board has “refused classification” for at least four video games – effectively banning them in Australia. The latest is zombie-survival shooter DayZ. Despite being previously ...
Open mike 06/08/2016 
Open mike is your post.
A Long Time Ago, In A Parallel Universe Far, Far Away: The political journalist scratched his head in confusion. Only then did he notice the name of the building: ‘The Jacinda Ardern Presidential Library and Public Resource Centre’. Making his way inside to the information desk, he asked the librarian ...3 hours ago
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Nothing from me tody - I'm off to Christchurch to pretend to be other people for a weekend. Normal bloggage should resume on Tuesday. ...5 hours ago
Spark is bracing for a customer backlash as rugby fans all across the country struggle to get a picture on their wireless router. With the Rugby World Cup fast approaching, an elderly Taranaki couple are furious after being told that they still won’t be able to watch the tournament, even ...17 hours ago
Several explosions have been reported across Auckland, as well-meaning environmentalists have already begun purchasing too much petrol Starting from next week, customers will no longer need a car to purchase petrol directly from the pump, a development that two major fuel providers are billing as an opportunity to help fight ...18 hours ago
A new study claims to find that a mother’s exposure to fluoridated water during pregnancy may decrease the IQ of male children – but is it correct? (Photo: Getty Images) Anti-fluoride campaigners are promoting ... 20 hours ago
Television advertising has a huge impact on our lives. Even if we don’t recognise that, we know it has to be true, since otherwise why would advertisers spend so much on it? Its significance, however, is greater than simply the influence it has on what we purchase and consume. It ...2 days ago
by Jan Rivers More than 30 years ago a Commission of Inquiry was held in New Zealand to investigate, amongst other things, whether women with cervical cancer were aware that they had been part of a research project and whether they were properly informed of the treatment options ...3 days ago
Everyone Wants To Be Fuhrer: When fascist groups are discussed, the image conjured-up in the minds of most New Zealanders is one of pathetic misfits. This negative impression is reinforced by the latter’s idiotic embrace of the swastika. Even in the second decade of the twenty-first century, the baleful legacy ...3 days ago
In the previous two posts, I laid out the context and set the theoretical framework to answer a question: whether indigenous economies should take the LEAP. This final part outlines ways to conceive of practicing mana motuhake within the existing legal system by carving out special jurisdictions that enable Indigenous ...5 days ago
Fully Informed? Labour’s 2017 promises raised expectations that were little short of revolutionary. Unfortunately, they were never adequately shaken through the fiscal sieve. The hard economic work was not done – and it shows. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s critics have long complained that her grasp of the way the New ...5 days ago
You cannot expect to pound communities into the ground day after day, year after year, decade after decade and just expect them to take it lying down. There’s a point at which the place will explode. And we’re faced with some very big ructions on both sides of the Atlantic ...7 days ago
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Going Down? Once truth and propaganda become fused in the minds of one’s followers, debate and discussion become redundant. If one’s opponents are all outrageous liars, then engaging with them in any way is pointless. Rather than waste its time, a political party should, instead, target all its messages at ...1 week ago
We need to fundamentally reframe our systems settings to address the drivers causing and underpinning inequality; structural change in systems especially financial. The Equality Network Hui was held in Wellington on 27 June 2019. The hui covered important topics such as child poverty; a living wage; taxation; public health; mental ...1 week ago
The views-per-page for some of my recent postings:Depressing, isn't it? Provide thoughtful and wise commentary on the mainstream of British politics and no-one notices. Make a passing reference to Tommy DICKHEAD Robinson in a thread title and you get hundreds of views. Write something about anti-Semitism and you get another ...1 week ago
The government has announced plans to move the Treaty of Waitangi and other taonga to a new site. Great news! So where are they going? Right next to the old one:The new plan will see a new 22,000-square-metre archive built on the former site of Defence House - the former ...1 week ago
Back in June, StatsNZ went public about a project to track population data on an hourly level by using people's cellphones. It wasn't as bad as it initially looked - they were receiving no individual data, only counts by suburb - but there was still a huge consent problem, so ...1 week ago
I did an interview on the TVNZ Breakfast Show about the situation in Hong Kong. I tried to frame the issue as a collective action problem between two sides with very different end games. The video is here. Because of time constraints we could not discuss the fact that the ...1 week ago
Image Credit: Wild Rose College A new study reporting the ranges of values for kidney and liver parameters in a healthy population is being actively misrepresented by anti-fluoride campaigners. The Fluoride Action Network’s (FAN) latest ... 1 week ago
Alone, Alone. All, All Alone: Will it be a good or a bad thing, when humanity’s bright blue spacecraft is stricken by the civilisation-destroying problem of Climate Change, that no Huston Control will be standing-by to rescue the crew?“WE HAVE A PROBLEM, HUSTON.” These were the words used by the ...1 week ago
Divided Loyalties: Can the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, be relied upon? That’s what the boys and girls at Foggy Bottom and the Pentagon needed to be reassured about. Because, from the perspective of Washington, it’s looking more and more like Jacinda Ardern and her Labour Party comrades are getting ready ...2 weeks ago
This handy Queer Theory Glossary is from thetranswidow.com In case you’ve had trouble keeping up with the spate of new queer theory terms, here’s a handy glossary for your reference. Queer – A straight person with an interesting haircut. Non-binary/genderqueer – A chubby young female, typically 16-28, who has ...2 weeks ago
The winter grazing issue is becoming a highly sensitised one that I hope will not become so politicised that it delays solutions and results in the suicides of some very stressed farmers.Winter grazing has hit the headlines after a determined campaign, including the release of a video of some very ...2 weeks ago
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I’ve just been watching Max Keiser Report number 947, and it gave me food for thought.
Inequality has become quite grotesque in the USA and in New Zealand, with the richest people in this country increasing their wealth by obscene amounts while the rest of the country struggle to make ends meet. (Slight exaggeration)
It seems to me that, unless we elect a government determined to reverse this trend, we really will end up as serfs. Automation will destroy jobs in the future, so more and more people will join the precariate, while the profits from employing less humans will go straight to the top ten per-cent.
So, as I would suggest, we stand at a crossroads in the history of our country. If we continue on as we are, then we will cement in a new aristocracy, the money-owners, and a new peasantry, the working class who exist on minimum wages and zero hours, or reluctant government handouts.
Or we can take a really radical direction and aim to share the benefits of the economy equally among all the people who live in this country. Radical reform may include a UBI. It must include tax redistribution, shifting the burden of tax from the poor, who can’t escape paying, to the rich, who now avoid paying.
What is absolutely certain is that we cannot do nothing.
Just as an aside, this is why I would support a Trump presidency. Will Clinton nothing meaningful will change. She has been bought and paid for by the very people who don’t want to see economic equality, and she’ll do their bidding.
With the Donald, hell, we don’t know what we’re getting, but it sure isn’t
e*t*b*i*h*e*t. (I bet that will get past moderation!) Yes, I think the man is a shallow showman, and there’s more than a suggestion he might be deliberately throwing his chances of being elected, but if he does get the nod, he won’t tug his forelock to the – to that word again.
But I look in vain in New Zealand for a political party with the gumption to propose a legislative revolution. I fear we shall have to take to the streets in the end, to force political change and to unseat the (God, there’s that word again – can I never get away from it?)
Got any links to those policies you want on the Trump website?
“It seems to me that, unless we elect a government determined to reverse this trend, we really will end up as serfs.”
Unless we also look at improving our political structure, the elite (through political donations or corporate lobbying) can end up commanding the Government we elect.
+1
The rich already command our government. Hell, they actually make up the present government.
Tony, there are historical parallels for your Trump leaning. And history tells us that they always work out badly for working people. Reagan, Thatcher, the Austrian bloke who ran Germany in the thirties … all elected on the promise to end the establishment. All cemented the establishment in place.
It’s an infantile pretension, similar to the extreme left concept that we need concentration camps before the lumpen proles will rise up.
On the up side, Trump, who had to admit lying this morning, has surged to a massive 8% chance of winning, according to 538. Hillary Clinton has a mere 91% chance of becoming president.
https://theintercept.com/2016/08/05/donald-trump-admits-doesnt-understand-sees-television/
TRP – I do really agree with what you’re saying. If I were an American voter I would cast my ballot for Jill Stein, and to hell with the consequences. But don’t look to HRC for any meaningful change in the USA.
And perhaps it is unhealthy to oppose the Clintons?
http://forum.clonehost.net/topic/30/hillary-clinton/7
It’s going to be an easy Trump win. Bring on the TV debates – the ones that Hillary are scared to death of.
Trump’s Democratic opponents and a growing number of republicans say Trump is temperamentally unsuitable for the presidency. They need to delete the ‘tempera’ part of the adverb. He is mentally ‘unsuitable’..
Honestly, if he were an ordinary person ranting on the street without his money or power, the people in white coats would pick him up, give him a nice room and some medication.
te reo putake I don’t think there is any chance of a goodwin when we talk about what a fascist state has done to working people.
I know Bill and I bring up Franco a lot, there is a reason. Franco’s Spain was a nightmare, the way that economy worked was to brutalise sections of the working class based on ethnicity and/or whether they had fought for republic or not. Even then the so called pro-Franco peasants did not do that well.
trump is a fascist, he may not be a hitler, but his economics and his approach is fascist. This does not bode well for working people, the sick, the disabled, and most of all women. And we should smack him and his ideas down like the destructive force they are.
As it always has done under capitalists type systems. We see the same thing in Ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt and we all know what happened to them.
It really is capitalism that doesn’t work. Unfortunately a few get rich until it all falls down and they’re the ones making the rules to suit themselves.
QFT
Of course, the money owners like that idea which is why they always advocate and lobby government for the policies that will bring it about.
It must include a UBI and changing all businesses to cooperatives. The workers need to control the business and have a say in who gets paid how much. Shares will need to be converted to loans so that shareholders no longer have a say in running a business and the business itself cannot be owned by the workers either – it needs to be self-owned.
That’s how capitalism works. The rich get rich by having the poor pay them for everything. And that is why it also fails.
And that is the problem that we have. No political party is willing to throw out the failed system that is capitalism and look for a better system.
Look ahead a bit to the long game with Trump. The likes of Koch brothers haven’t just tamely accepted it but will move onto the next strategy.
Should Trump get in he would be surrounded by the Republican far right who will isolate him as much as possible and do the governing in his name.
And how long is it before Trump is impeached or assassinated ( not that I would wish that on anyone) and then Mike Pence ( a tea party far right) becomes president in a job nobody would ever vote him into. At that point the Tea party has the reigns of power.
Coming down the road behind every Trotsky is a Lenin and a Stalin.
But HRC really needs to up her game to and make concrete moves towards the Bernie position. Other wise there will be an action replay of this in 4 years.
We became serfs in our own country a long time ago its just credit and low interest rates and cheap crappy goods and men like Key smiling and telling us in a soothing voice we all can be rich if we just elect him and his party and BELIEVE in the BRIGHTER FUTURE we can all have our own cardboard box too live in or move up to the family stationwagon or garage.
Exactly why did someone assign today – the coldest and wettest day of the year – to get me up at 6am to put up their electoral hoardings?
To my colleagues who are joining me, to you I say: OMG, and Solidarity Forever.
In the great Leftie Second Coming, all those who actually did pull their boots on, and their raincoats, and got out there and hauled timber for yet another local government election effort, will be read aloud and praised to the victorious crowds in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Amen to that!
I don’t always agree with Chris Trotter, but this quote from a Daily Blog posting is, I think, quite pertinent:
“Practical progressive organisations like the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) are few and far between. Vastly outnumbering them are the tens-of-thousands of self-defined progressives who confuse posting comments on Facebook or The Daily Blog with effective political action.”
Chris Trotter: The Daily Blog.
I’m off this morning to help in the John Minto campaign to become mayor of Christchurch!
Actually a reply to Ad in 2 above.
If you are anywhere near Moorhouse Ave at 11, Tony, there’s a protest outside Pak n Slave. These corporate shits pay their South Island workers $2 an hour less than their Nth Island counterparts.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/82855675/pak-n-save-workers-relying-on-food-banks-says-union
This morning on the Al Jazeera news they did a story on homelessness in NZ, it wasn’t a short piece, Bernard Hickey was interviewed, and at the end of the story the news presenter said that they had asked the Minister of Social Housing for an interview a number of times but they declined. Tried to find a link on line for it, but couldnt. Disappointing that government could not even take a few moments to comment on a story about a situation they have created which has lead to one of the worlds largest news networks doing a report on it.
Enough suffering, time for change, thanks Al Jazeera for your coverage on one of the most desperate situations our people have ever faced.
Gosh the only international photo op that National, turned down!
yes certainly shows up our hopeless jonkey nact agenda bought tv journalism Hoskings and Henry style …and corporate bought foreign ownership mainstream media newspapers…only John Campbell and RNZ escapes imo
Chooky- I inadvertently caught two of Hosking’s smirk sentences the other night- Mea culpa.
It said, complete with trademark smirk,”You know what the trouble is with Education today ? The unions….” At which point my usual frantic Henry/Hosking search for the remote was successful.
And yes, I have listened in the past which is why I don’t listen now.
the quality of Hosking discussion is so infantile, lacking in depth, brainless and jonkey nact fawning and obsequious
…that New Zealanders are in danger of becoming brain dead if they watch that programme.
Chooky
‘Only JC and RNZ escapes imo’. If only I could agree. JC has been taught a lesson about challenging your employers view. RNZ is struggling to maintain funding and quality journalism. There are a few glimmers of hope @ RNZ, Media Watch, JC, Phil Pennington, Kim Hill, and then I begin to run out of suggestions. RNZ is sadly deteriorating and slowly drowning. A healthy and broad alternative media is essential. Australian Public Broadcast current affairs is far better than ours.
Grow an orchard!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/82816934/riverton-the-heritage-fruit-capital-of-new-zealand
great stuff!…this is what really matters
‘South China Sea’
https://www.rt.com/shows/crosstalk/345282-us-china-dangerous-confrontation/
“Rumors of war – this time in the South China Sea. Washington appears – step by step – to be moving away from a policy of engagement with Beijing to one of confrontation. This is a policy approach counterproductive for all involved. Attempting to contain China militarily is nothing less than dangerous.
CrossTalking with Harry Kazianis, James Bradley and Peter Navarro.”
and
“Japan summons Chinese ambassador over ships
Japan’s foreign ministry Friday summoned China’s ambassador to protest what it said were intrusions into its territorial waters by Chinese coast guard and fishing vessels. The two countries are locked in a long-running dispute over uninhabited islets in the East China Sea known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China. Japanese vice foreign minister Shinsuke Sugiyama called in Cheng Yonghua, Beijing’s ambassador to Tokyo, the foreign ministry said. Sugiyama “strongly protested” to Cheng that the incursions were a “violation of Japan’s sovereignty.” The Japan Coast Guard said that two coast guard vessels from China’s State Oceanic Administration entered territorial waters near the Senkaku islands during the afternoon before eventually departing. (AFP)”
This is totally predictable. The USA is a war machine. I will say it again for all you duped fans of the yanks–The USA is a war machine.
If you don’t believe me just ask yourself why it has more military might than the rest of the world combined and why it has 1,000 military bases around the world.
Not just USA involved in this..but surrounding countries Japan and Vietnam …
‘South China Sea: What to look out for in the UN tribunal ruling
Case brought by the Philippines challenges some of Beijing’s maritime claims’
https://next.ft.com/content/3c7d51b0-34e1-11e6-ad39-3fee5ffe5b5b
‘Arbitration on the South China Sea: Rulings from The Hague’
https://amti.csis.org/ArbitrationTL/
China refuses to accept other countries claims and at odds with neighbours:
‘South China Sea row: Hague Tribunal rules in favor of Philippines, China to ignore decision’
https://www.rt.com/news/350756-south-china-sea-hague/
‘Butt out of South Sea dispute, China tells ‘shameful’ Japan’
https://www.rt.com/news/353066-china-asean-sea-japan/
“China has hit out at Japan, which has urged it to abide by the terms of a recent international ruling that challenges Beijing’s claims to the South China Sea. Meanwhile, South Asian countries have also failed to display a united position on the ruling.
‘ ‘Ill-founded, farcical’: Beijing blasts South China Sea ruling, vows to defend its interests’
https://www.rt.com/news/350792-china-south-sea-farce/
http://www.smh.com.au/world/south-china-sea-dispute-chinas-gone-ballistic-since-the-hague-ruling-20160805-gqmffh.html
just as well China can’t manipulate wiki the way they do all their own news outlets
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senkaku_Islands_dispute#Japanese_position
Seen this?
“We at The Peace Place are very excited that Auckland Peace Action will be launching their campaign and national petition against the up-coming Weapons Expo and US Warship Visit here at The Peace Place this coming Saturday 6th August at 4pm.”
The Peace Place
22 Emily Place
Auckland City
Two Prominent Anti-Clinton Activists Found Dead in Two Days; Mainstream Media Blackout
http://forum.clonehost.net/post/136
I wonder if Donald Trump knows this?!
….surely if true there must be a very public discussion and inquiry because it would seem to reinforce the very worst accusations leveled against her
and from Zero Hedge
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-05/lead-attorney-anti-clinton-dnc-fraud-case-mysteriously-found-dead
Clonehost? real objective investigative journalism.Yeah right1sarc.
Outgoing Tory’ leader Cameron’s granting of knighthoods and peerages to his millionaire money donors is corrupt, blatant and understandable but the OBE , whatever that is, awarded to his wife’s stylist, for ‘political and public service’ was ludicrous.
What next? A knighthood for Bill English’s hairdresser? Certainly not Stephen Joyce’s.
Good on the Aussies for dismissing this medieval/feudal anachronism. When, oh when will New Zealand grow up?
This is grimly amusing, especially with the timing that coincides (not coincidentally?) with the start of the Brazil Olympics.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/06/two-resign-from-panama-papers-commission-over-publicity-of-report
Anyone heard from BLiP lately?
NZ’s closest neighbour may be entering another period of revolutionary crisis:
http://readingthemaps.blogspot.co.nz/2016/08/a-quick-note-on-tongas-new-crisis.html
Poll Drought
Surely time for another Colmar Brunton ?
They always release their polls on a Sunday. Over the last 18 months, the gap between each CB has varied between 6 and 8 weeks. Tomorrow, It’ll be an outrageous 9 weeks since their last release. Can we expect it to lead One News 6pm tomorrow night or has the Pollster just thrown in the towel along with Herald-Digi ?
Swordfish – you must be the only lefties who actually looks forward to the polls.
I do enjoy your analysis of them. You must put a lot of time and effort into it and it’s appreciated.
Cheers, James.
“you must be the only lefties who actually looks forward to the polls”
Dunno about that. The polls through March-June were by no means all bad news for the Opposition* – Roy Morgan, UMR and Curia all had the Nats sliding during all or part of that period. The current interest is in finding out how reliable the last (Nat-friendly) Roy Morgan was.
* Oppo Bloc = Yes, I know, Winnie could swing either way (politically-speaking, you understand).
Perhaps they are waiting on one that favours Key maybe ??? I don’t know how they set their polling periods. SF can you enlighten or will we see one 2 nite.
Aunty Helen falls lower in the race for the top UN job.
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11688342
Seems that anything John Key touches these days is doomed to failure. Flag change, TPPA, Clark’s UN bid.
“I don’t know how they set their polling periods. SF can you enlighten or will we see one 2 nite.”
Not sure. The gap usually varies from 6 to 8 weeks. Fieldwork generally takes place over 5-6 days (always starts on a Saturday and is completed by Wednesday or Thursday). Then roughly 6-8 weeks until the next one. Probably depends on how busy they are with their more commercial work. Or maybe the timing’s entirely dictated by One News.
But now 9 weeks and counting, so I’m assuming there’ll be one tomorrow on One News 6pm. (Colmar Brunton always release on a Sunday). Then again, maybe like Roy Morgan they’ve decided to make it less regular ? *
* Their director, Andrew Robertson (who blogs as Grumpollie) has recently left for a new position in the Public Service, so that upheaval might have delayed things.
I was polled by Reid Research about a week ago. The do the ones for TV3 don’t they?
There may be one on TV3 tomorrow night or the following Sunday depending upon where they were in the poll when they rang me.
Ahhh that’s interesting.
3 News/Newshub usually release their Reid Research polls between 3-5 days after the final day of polling. Their fieldwork generally takes place over 6-8 days.
So your one should be released at some point over the next week (unlike Colmar Brunton, they don’t restrict their release to a particular day of the week – in CB’s case: Sunday).
Have a look at 3 News tonight – Can’t rule out a release today – if so, maybe upstaging a Colmar Brunton tomorrow ?
Can we assume you chose the Mana Party, alwyn ?
Ta muchly SF. I had visions of them polling every day until they got a Nact result for the right number of days – although I know that is not allowed!
If one emerges in the next few days, then I will be sorely tempted to accuse them of… waiting until nearly the end of a month-plus long parliamentary recess before conducting the poll. Such polls always favour the governing party because they are the only ones afforded any publicity. Example… post Xmas holiday recess. There is invariably a poll released around the beginning of February.
Cynical I know, but having been a keen observer of politics and the media for several decades it’s an understandable conclusion to come to.
The few laws that govern and restrain the actions of NZ Judges, have been eroded.
in 2010 the Supreme Court of NZ ruled by a 3-2 margin in Attorney General v Chapman that rights guaranteed by the NZ Bill of Rights Act 1990 were no longer enforceable against judges.
Then there was the Public Records Act 2005 which required all branches of government to create and maintain accurate public records of their affairs. In March 2009, Ministry of Justice Counsel Jeff Orr asserted that judges were exempt – stating judges are governed by their own customs and “not by the requirements of any enactment (eg the Public Records Act, the Crimes Act 1961)”.
In Greer v Smith [2015] all five judges of the Supreme Court of NZ convened privately, without submissions from government or public, to rule a single judge in their court can issue private judgments refusing access to public records at our highest court – and that such a private order was also unappealable.
Last month, the Official Information Act 1982 became the object of judicial exemption when the Ombudsman rejected an appeal against the Judicial Office for Higher Courts’ refusal to provide an “official agenda” for a taxpayer-paid judge retreat earlier this year on the ground, “The judicial conference agenda does not constitute ‘official information’ because it is held by the judiciary which is not subject to the OIA.”
But the judiciary are only exempt from such transparency in their judicial function. Taxpayer funded official agendas and judicial cocktail parties are not exempt.
The exemption from law extends beyond our 61 High Court judges and 144 lower court judges. The Judicial Office for Higher Courts has 115 staff employees – all of whom are exempt from the Official Information Act
Then there is the Supreme Court Act 2003 which requires under section 16 that Supreme Court judges give reasons for refusals. The dirty secret that is uniquely NZ is many Supreme Court decisions are kept off the record, which is helpful in evading this law which pertains entirely to judges.
And those who challenge the off-record secrecy are shut out of the courts altogether.
…I may have missed something, but shouldn’t this be in Open Mike?
And probably under a ‘fantasy’ tag.
or it could be good info which we would otherwise not know about
Nope, it sounds like BS based around a few well chosen but misrepresented facts spread to scare people. In other words, well crafted lies.
Or your paranoid draco What was it about that persons comment that made it suspect ?
No links and the structure that is very much what you’d see on conspiracy websites that are all about telling you how bad government is. I suspect that if we could properly investigate the allegations and get the correct context it would be nothing like what he said.
Im sure mods are quite capable of picking that up uncooked or are we supposed to be impressed with your detective work ?
This article asks the question, “What happens if the President is mentally impaired?”
(HRC has been seen with a hand tremor among other things)
http://www.theorganicprepper.ca/earth-wrong-hillary-clinton-08042016
If you keep an eye on HRC’s campaign schedule compared to Trump’s, you’ll see that she conducts way fewer public engagements than he does. Whereas he might do 2 engagements in a day, HRC might do one every 2 or 3 days.
I’d hardly call it an article. This one on Reagan and possible methods for early detection of Alzheimer’s is far more interesting, though perhaps less dramatic if that is what you are after – http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/31/health/parsing-ronald-reagans-words-for-early-signs-of-alzheimers.html?_r=0
The ugly story behind New Zealand’s most popular fruit
Saw that ugly alright say anything against the big owners and bang your dead youd have to be brave to take them on .By the sound of it the american fruit co stacked up a few bodies too putting it mildly was that in nicuagrua or the hondures? sorry not much good at spelling or geography !.Incidentely bananas grow just fine in northland .I eat my own most days and for weeks at a time depending on how theyre producing .Ive usually got enough to dry some also .
NZ’s hidden ‘baby scoop’ shame – unmarried women had their babies taken from them
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/82793165/NZs-hidden-baby-scoop-shame-unmarried-women-had-their-babies-taken-from-them
what a great woman!…and it is wonderful her story turned out well!
…other women were destroyed by the baby snatchers and their snatched babies also were destroyed …i read of one woman who searched the rest of her life for her daughter and her daughter searched for her mother…they were very close to finding each other but both committed suicide before they could meet…a tragedy!
this is a story of crimes against women and their children
That was the normal situation when I was a young woman.
In fact I know some very prominent New Zealand women of that day who still have not talked publically about the secret babies they bore, who were adopted.
One was a married woman who unexpectedly found herself pregnant when she separated from her abusive husband – she already had a toddler and arranging a job that would allow for her to care for them both was impossible. There was no benefit available, and her husband vanished. In effect, giving the child away was her only option apart from murder/suicide, so she had her little girl adopted and grieved for ever after.
Thank god, and Second Wave feminists, that the DPB was introduced in the 1970s, though it was over the dead body of some MPs. I recall one who said “If you play, you pay”, and that was the attitude of men in power in those days.
See the other post here today reminding us of the Prime Minister’s and the Speaker’s abominable treatment of female MPs last year, and I think those attitudes are still there, just hidden under a thin veneer of pretend tolerance.
yes sexism is entrenched alright…(my daughter working independently in the workforce is now recognising it in some patronising older men, after pooh poohing feminism in her teens…)
I have nothing but absolute admiration for the women that came before me and their struggles and tragedies …these women were the shock troops for women’s rights and feminism…
birth control contraception and abortion were absolute rights fought for and won by New Zealand women! (despite the misogynist Catholic Church)…also the DPB to enable women to keep and look after their babies and children
…and equal education opportunities and equal pay for equal work recognised in principle but not in actuality…also legislation against sexual harassment and assault
…and these fundamental rights are still NOT for many women around the world!
The Guardian draws opinion from all over the globe and this article is by Dunedin based writer, Eleanor Roy. In it, in part, she describes John Key’s brighter future…
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/05/trump-brexit-is-new-zealand-your-escape-route-too
Some of those comments are pretty revealing.
The bolded bit among others, brutally true of New Zealand decision makers short-sightedness on so many crucially important projects and policy for future generations.
So, NZ is a backward hick country where town closes early, life revolves around enjoying the basics and people actually know each other.
I trust whoever it is finds the new Europe much more to their liking.
Not at all. People don’t know each other as another comment on the blog where I sourced this from attests to.
I’d agree with this in that that New Zealand fails badly on security of community. The amateur landlord class flipping properties for capital gain has rendered low income renting communities powerless and transient.
Low income New Zealand renters just want to be stable and have security of tenancy. They want their kids to be able to attend the same school without fear of disruption through no fault of their own. They want their kids to know the neighbours kids without being moved on by some property flipping investor. However, the fuelling of the investment property market both internally and through the advertising of the same to offshore buyers with cheap money is destroying that community spirit.
Even working class Europe has what we don’t.
Kiwis are welcome to move to London for a better community life. Where the average house price is now £600,000.
Heh. You are like Farrar and Hooten comparing modern day amenities with Victorian times and calling it a win for the National party.
The average wage in London is £50,000. Did you forget that bit?
The Unsexy Truth About Millennials: They’re Poor
Welcome to the wealth siphon that is capitalism that takes wealth from the many and gives it to the rich.
Dude goes to town on Trump’s “economic” advisers –
Tweets by JustinWolfers
tl;dr needs more pictures
Offering a rare insider analysis of the climate assessment process, Carnegie’s Katharine Mach and colleagues at the Department of Global Ecology examined the writing and editing procedures by which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change creates summaries of their findings for policymakers. Despite recent critiques that these summaries are too difficult for non-experts, Mach and colleagues found them comparable to reference texts in terms of reading comprehension level. Their results are published by Science Advances.
“Using multiple tools for measuring reading ease, we found that IPCC reports are designed for grownups, but they are not harder to read than other science documents, including those written for the public by professional writers,” said co-author Chris Field, who served as the co-chair of the second IPCC Working Group.
Nevertheless, Mach and colleagues also suggest ways that the summary reports could be improved by using less jargon and more cohesive language to link the ideas they contain. The summaries could also be enhanced by graphics, videos, animations, and online multimedia, in addition to extensive media availability by panel leadership.
http://phys.org/news/2016-08-climate-summaries-grownups-difficult-policymakers.html
Well after this horror week for rugby, I think I just witnessed a player do a ‘mince’ walk to accept his award for winning the competition. Then the whole team received tankards as individual prizes. Maybe players and the whole rugby culture are a bit slow in learning, or maybe it’s best to leave it out there for all to see.
Everyone at the awards ceremony pretty cool about it all, though? If so, it just goes to show that the $$$$$/sporting section of the community they are most in touch with and that they care most about don’t give a ****.
Yeah pretty much, the guy is being congratulated for his walk on twitter.
I wonder if a few supporters are questioning their membership for next year though. Be interesting to look at a certain franchise’s balance sheet for 2017.
50/50 between whether more people walk away disgusted or join up for more of the same.
Pretty sure the sponsorship dollars are going to go up in either event.
From 1984 – the bloated beast that is America’s Presidential candidate selection process.