Trump literally does not give a shit about the millions of – to him – peasants who are being driven to dispair and abject poverty by his shutdown. That is because he is an aristocrat in all but name who lives entirely in a world where he can afford to purchase the services (and security) he needs. He doesn’t care that Yosemite is drowning in trash. The contractors still clear the trash from the golf course at Mar-El-Largo. He doesn’t care if the museums close, the guy is a pussy grabbing Philistine. He doesn’t care of the EPA, IRS and food inspectors all go home – it is all grist to the mill for a tax cheating, corrupt businessman like him.
He is so unfit for office in every possible way that I am beginning wonder when/if the military chiefs will take him aside and quietly point out his health might benefit from an early retirement…
You have correctly pointed out that POTUS is not in ‘charge’ …
Trump is a product of the system….a system which want’s him (or anyone) to be there…because it makes no meaningful difference … the road maps remain the same…
The military are also gatekeepers, and violent and aggressive as they inherently are designed to be, they are part of the wider system…
So who or what is really in control…Trump or POTUS is not the answer to that question….
The President in particular is very much a figurehead — he wields no real power whatsoever. He is apparently chosen by the government, but the qualities he is required to display are not those of leadership but those of finely judged outrage. For this reason the President is always a controversial choice, always an infuriating but fascinating character. His job is not to wield power but to draw attention away from it. On those criteria Zaphod Beeblebrox is one of the most successful Presidents the Galaxy has ever had — he has already spent two of his ten presidential years in prison for fraud.
Is Trump setting up his run in 2020? Cornering the democrats on the wall? I mean he could not get the Mexicans to pay for it, so why does everyone think his dithering means the Democrats will use taxpayers money to. Is that the point, that Trump will go back asking for re-election so he has a real mandate to build the wall?
Seem the wall however large won’t stop them coming..
He has filed for re-election campaigning the day he was sworn in. After all that grifter needs money, and campaigning allows him to fundraiser all that sweet sweet cash that washed up orange bullshitter needs to pay of his debtors.
yeah. wealth needs a psuedo billionaire in the Whitehouse to show how much big monies wealth runs a country. pandering to stupid walls… …oh, oh, and the genius of having a total fruit loop as vice president to keep them from chucking his fat…
Of course the wall “won’t stop them coming”. The reason; Most undocumented immigrants are in the US after overstaying their work visas. Only a very tiny minority crossed the border illegally. Most entered the US legally and then overstayed.
The US economy is reliant on this system of official and unofficial vulnerable migrant labour. And even on so called illegal overstaying. Because this workforce have no citizenship, they are vulnerable, they have few recognised legal rights and so can be exploited mercilessly, and deported at whim by their employers.
It’s a system of official, unofficial immigration.
And the wall will not stop it. Nor is it designed to. The purpose of the wall is to strike fear into people on both sides of it.
I thought it was more like crates of cash handed out to Muslims in the axis of evil to buy their consent… …just done in the lower western states instead…
““In 2020, Biden-style centrism will become a toxic and losing brand of politics in Democratic primaries,” said Waleed Shahid, a left-wing activist.” Partisan leftists don’t want to make common cause with moderates in order to get the numbers up to defeat the right. Being a noble loser is more important.
Biden is 76, and a stale pale male, so you can see why he’s currently the front-runner in the polls. There’s evidence he would be likely to win the presidency by stealing part of the Republican support base of voters: “among the 200 Republicans sitting in the 116th Congress, 90 per cent will be white men. The number of female Republicans in the House has actually fallen, from 23 to 13 this year”.
Personally, if I was a US voter, I wouldn’t vote such an old person into that kind of office out of simple self-interest. The complications of probable bad health and the political issues of transfer if he wound up with death or bad health are very large.
Politically I’m mostly be looking at the who I’d be voting for as vice-president and who the likely Speaker of the house would be after the mid-terms.
The US is run by a gerontocracy due to their inability to handily change rules that were made for a pre-industrial rural society of slave owners with an average life expectancy of something under 40.
Chuck Grassley (chairman of the Senate’s judiciary committee, you know the guys who confirm supreme court judges) is 85.Donald Trump is 72, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell is 76, and the ranking Republican senator, Orrin Hatch, is 84. Nancy Pelosi is 78, while Dianne Feinstein, the ranking member on the Senate judiciary committee, is 85. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, are 77 and 69 respectively, which scarily makes Biden at 76 the middle of that pack of presidential contenders. Hillary Clinton was 69 when she lost, practically a callow youth in that company. The average age of the current congress is 59 (in NZ the average age of parliament is 49, but our PM is just 38 and the leader of the opposition is 42 so both are actually at a vigorous age).
The USA needs to introduce some retirement rules for congress, the senate and the supreme court.
Minor correction, Orrin Hatch is now retired and Chuck Grassley is now president pro tempore of the senate and chairman of the finance committee. Lindsey Graham (baby of the bunch at 63) is now chairman of the judiciary committee
I am a US voter (in California, so my vote is irrelevant), and I would really struggle with voting for someone as old as Sanders or Biden. For the reasons you’ve mentioned, plus the idea that someone making the kind of decisions the prez makes should be likely to live the consequences for a substantial part of their life.
But just to clarify the line of succession thing, that list only comes into play if the prez and veep are taken out in the same event. Otherwise if the prez goes, veep becomes prez and gets to choose a new veep and the only restriction is the new veep must meet the eligibility requirements to be prez. After Agnew cut and ran, Ford became veep because Nixon chose him; Ford was House Minority Leader not Speaker. Similar after Ford became prez, he chose Rockefeller who governor of New York at the time.
Looking at our current situation, the only way Pelosi becomes prez is if the satsuma shitgibbon and Pence are impeached in the same proceeding. But even if Pence turns out to be even deeper in it than the mandarin manutang (very unlikely), you can be sure Turtle McConnell will find some way separate the proceedings in the Senate so that Pence can get sworn in, appoint a palatable new veep and confirm the successor before turfing Pence out.
Thanks for that wonderfully worded clarification, Andre.
I kept thinking there was something not quite right in some of the simplistic/wishful thinking being bandied about. I was also taken aback by Sanctuary’s stark presentation of the ages of the current US leaders. Made me feel quite young!
Actually leftists don’t want to make common cause with so-called “moderates” because:
a) they are not moderate at all – the radical centre they occupy is increasingly just an old fashioned conservative defense of the (neoliberal) status quo with a fair dollop of social liberal thrown in.
b) “Moderate centrism” as a viable political force is now dead. Hillary Clinton should have conclusively demonstrated this – she lost to Donald fucking Trump for Christ’s sake, how much more evidence that her status quo, “centrist” message was electorally toxic do you need? I don’t how long it will take the smug middle class defenders of centrism to get through their thick skulls that centrism is dead, but the sooner the better.
c) “Partisan leftists” are the ONLY ones with an ideological agenda capable of competing with right wing populism, because people want change and pearl clutching socially liberal conservatives calling themselves “moderates” are offering sweet fuck all.
I sympathise somewhat. The idealist in me isn’t dead. Just retired, hurt (as in cricket) during the seventies, yielding to the pragmatist. Who, of course, inevitably must point out that moderate centrism is not in fact dead – as Biden’s front-runner status currently proves.
That’s because HC never had a monopoly on the brand. In fact, she was such a poor exemplar of the brand as to make better options (Sanders) look good in comparison.
Now if you cite Sanders’ brand-identification as socialist, history proves you correct. Both/and. Reading his political biography proves to the reader that he operated as a moderate centrist when in office. It’s the usual difference between what leftists say and what they do. Preaching and praxis. When they differ, they generate alternate identities.
Yeah, word-play. I come to it from a technical perspective: belief combined with action (theory combined with application) produces praxis as lifestyle.
Hey now, I’ve explained how it works. Nobody has protested that it’s too hard for them to understand. Some have even commented in appreciation of the notion. I agree that evidence that humans have become a lot stupider since the Greeks invented it (several millennia back) abounds, but assuming commenters here reflect the current norm seems unfair.
The idealist in me isn’t dead. Just retired, hurt (as in cricket) during the seventies, yielding to the pragmatist. Who, of course, inevitably must point out that moderate centrism is not in fact dead – as Biden’s front-runner status currently proves.
If you’re centrist then you’re not pragmatic. Centrism goes against all practicality.
Well it’s worked for me. Since adopting the stance in ’71, no regrets. Maybe you interpret the label differently. I combine radical centrism as a praxis with pragmatism as a way of finding common ground in current reality…
I find this problem with all people who say that they’re pragmatic these days. They seem to think that pragmatism means doing what’s politically correct rather than what it does mean which is doing what’s practical and conforms with reality.
Due to this delusional belief they keep supporting things that aren’t practical or sustainable and thus proving that they are not pragmatic.
Well I’ve been non-pc since the sixties, when it seemed that all intelligent teenagers were choosing the nonconformist path – so much that it became fashionable to follow the trend. So your description doesn’t apply to me.
What’s more, applying your reasoning to the current reality provides the rational for the coalition to continue with neoliberalism. It works, so it must be practical. I’d rather ditch it in favour of the path to a sustainable society and economy. Too impractical for most politicians still. But, inasmuch as doing so requires pragmatic compromises along the way, making progress towards that goal synthesises idealism & pragmatism.
What’s more, applying your reasoning to the current reality provides the rational for the coalition to continue with neoliberalism. It works, so it must be practical.
Really?
If you’re trying that logic after the failure of the last few decades of neo-liberalism then you’re definitely not capable of being pragmatic.
But, inasmuch as doing so requires pragmatic compromises along the way, making progress towards that goal synthesises idealism & pragmatism.
And it’s that delusion that has the Overton Window going ever further to the right.
When I say it works, I don’t mean works well, or even satisfactorily. I just mean it works sufficiently well that the people in western countries have kept voting to stay with it – in preference to choosing any other option.
And working so well that most political activists have consistently refrained from working together to present voters with a positive alternative. Just because I’ve spent so long trying to develop one doesn’t mean I can’t be pragmatic enough to accept that such an overwhelming consensus throughout all those countries is evidence that most people think neoliberalism works!
Try to explain what you think that delusion is. The one you mentioned. Is it why Bill got so impatient? Why he no longer contributes? I’m impatient by nature too, as I told him, and only considerable age has mellowed that. I’m just as keen to make progress, faster, as anyone else. But, as the coalition is proving to everyone, it can only proceed at the pace that consensus permits. Pragmatic acceptance of this limit is realistic: it is democracy.
I just mean it works sufficiently well that the people in western countries have kept voting to stay with it – in preference to choosing any other option.
Have they or is it that the politicians have kept it in place against the wishes if the populace?
Think about that for a sec.
It was, most definitely, put in place against the wishes of the NZ populace but Labour kept doing it any way. National said that they were going to undo it and got their 1990 landslide victory at which point they then went and entrenched it further.
I was at the Labour meeting in New Lynn a few years back when Andrew Little was leader. He started a sentence ‘We’re going ban foreign ownership…’
At that point he got cheered. When the room quieted again he went on ‘…of owning any more than 5 hectares.’
With that he got ringing silence. The entire room, except the sitting politicians, were disgusted with him.
At the same meeting David said that he couldn’t understand why there were people outside protesting the TPPA. He seemed to think that Labour’s position was clear. Labour, once in power, signed an unchanged TPPA while saying that it had been changed.
So, given this evidence when did the population ever vote for neo-liberalism?
Try to explain what you think that delusion is.
The delusion that if you compromise with the right-wing that they’ll do it right back. They don’t – they just swing further right and demand that the Left compromise again on the new position taking us even further rightwards.
But, as the coalition is proving to everyone, it can only proceed at the pace that consensus permits.
I’d love to know what the consensus is. Wonder what would happen if we had a referendum on many policies.
Wonder how much compromise there’d be with the RWNJs. I’m reasonably certain that it would be far less than what our representatives are doing.
Yeah, okay, that all makes sense. I agree that the politicians have been driven by an elite agenda. That’s why they get invited to the Bilderberger conferences. So the ongoing voter support for neoliberalism is the result.
Pragmatic acceptance of that reality doesn’t mean that those of us who don’t agree ought to stop trying to provide voters with a better option. Just means democracy (the system) is the problem, so politics (the game) has to be played more cleverly.
Which is why I came up with the notion of an alternative political movement. All political groups who organise to leverage the system operate at a higher level of influence than representative democracy. They function as opinion-leaders within the social ecosystem of politics. NGOs, PACs, institutes, unions, some of these lobby groups have been operating since the 19th century, mediating between govt & public. Fabian Society for Labour leverage, right?
As regards the compromise delusion, that happens as you described it, but only in the minds of those who are out-played. Tit for tat is a simple game that kids have learnt for yonks. Surprising when politicos get it wrong, eh? Psychology has to be used to explain why. It’s all about the nexus in which group psychodynamics plays out. The group belief system is effectively analogous to a monoculture in an ecosystem. Bad news. A clever player gets good at mediating the in-crowd/out-crowd interface. Stalin showed how that expertise produces a winner.
Anyway, as I’ve reported here a couple of times previously, the story of tit for tat was told by Robert Axelrod in The Evolution of Cooperation and I’ve mentioned how that became so influential amongst US foreign-policy makers in the eighties that it effectively brought about the end of the Cold War.
It seems to me the growth model is over and in the absence of an alternative the preparations are being made to survive the initial fall-out…after that who knows.
DEATH BEFORE DISHONOUR!, or, “What does she have to fear?”
Kangaroo court is in session….
SQUEALER: For Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, this could be devastating. On a human level, I can emphasise with a person who has locked herself away from normal human contact for days. It’s bound to be depressing holing up in a couple of small rooms in a vain attempt to avoid justice. No wonder she couldn’t even look after her cat properly or, as is alleged, get around to washing herself. In the meantime, the world is sniggering at al-Qunun’s naivety.
STUNNED MULLET: She’s a cunt. “Cleaning out the cat box is a crime against humanity!”
JACKAL: OK this is one of those subjects that gets people going. I’m a lawyer, so let’s look at the allegations. The allegations are: she bleaches her hair, she is a hacker, she neglected an animal, she has poor personal hygiene. So any of these demonstrably proveable as being false? And why should she seek to suppress information provided by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?
BREEN: You think it’s amusing do you, Jackal?
JACKAL: No I don’t. I have always had doubts about Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun and her heroine status. But, as I said, let’s analyse this story. Is it true that she is trying to stop the media from printing stories about her that have been verified by the trustworthy and ethical Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?
BREEN: What doubts were those? And what does it matter if she’s a heroine or not? What evidence are you aware of that supports those ludicrous fantasy charges concocted by the KSA and its media vassals?
JACKAL: I have always had deep concerns about her role in the denigration of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I see nothing principled in her possible involvement in dishonorable conduct while in Thailand.
CapnInsan0: That turgid little worm Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun!
Richard: Shouldn’t she be demanding the release of all records regarding her pet care and personal grooming rather than demanding asylum?
francesca: The kitty litter and personal hygiene bullshit is clearly designed to humiliate and taunt her. You guys make me sick.
SQUEALER: I never knew al-Qunun was a smelly cat abuser until recently. It really matters. It really does. I’m being totally serious. I had no idea about her alleged personal hygiene issues until recently. I do vaguely recall the cat legal case, but I didn’t know she’d been found to have let the animal down. She’s isolated, alone, under pressure and now being laughed at. This cannot be good for her on a human level.
ROSS: If she has been wrongly accused of a vile crime, that would make the accused the victim, surely?
SQUEALER: I’ve served on juries. Did my civic duty to the best of my abilities.
BREEN: Has Jackal expressed his amusement at the plight of Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun yet? And if not, why not?
JACKAL: Because I don’t know who they are?
BREEN: You don’t know who SHE is. It’s one person, so you don’t use the pronoun “they”.
JACKAL: I did not know if the person was a he or she until I googled her name so I chose to use “they”.
SHEEP: “It’s one person, so you don’t use the pronoun ‘they’.” Do you really want to open that can of worms?
RAT: Finally….some sense about this little bitch…..rather then the brown nosing sycophants who think this Saudi weasel is a victim………she needs to stop hiding and be a man.
BREEN: A lot of unimaginative abuse there, mon ami—but nothing to indicate you have the slightest clue about this matter. Could you explain why she’s a “weasel” for wanting asylum?
DOPEY: Here’s the list of that little bitch’s misdemeanours, allegedly. Put your coffee down before reading it. If it’s a spoof, it’s a goody.
JACKAL: Wow …
SHEEP: Well there it is .. “It is false and defamatory to suggest that Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun bleaches her hair.”
ASSORTED ANIMALS: Ha ha ha ha ha!… Silly bitch!…. They wouldn’t be after her if she hadn’t done something!….
Thank you for your fantastic intelligence and eloquence Morrissey, and your skill at demonstrating the utter utter bullshit.
Even though you’re not A PROGRAMMER (I assume)
You’re a delight!!
Thank you Brigid! No, I’m not a programmer—the headmaster has correctly bagged me as a “credulous dimwitted techno illiterate”.
I like to think of myself more as a de-programmer. There is some disturbingly cult-like behaviour manifesting on this normally sane website, and it’s distressing to me. I am encouraged, however, by the presence of people like you and francesca. Just as the occasional sight of, say, Ralph Nader or Daniel Ellsberg on American television shows that there ARE decent, thoughtful people in the U.S., having you here is a sign that civilized and thoughtful people will not be intimidated into staying away.
Yeah, well….
Among lots of other people who were nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize we have had Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, Benito Mussolini, Richard Nixon, Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan.
I think he is in suitable company.
ie Totally unqualified.
The Obama one was possibly a joke as well—but he got it. It was in anticipation of all the wonderful things he was going to do. Hope and change, that sort of thing.
Well you’ve demonstrated one thing.
I needed 2 words when I classed Assange as “Totally unqualified”
You’ve managed to do it in just one.
“Idiot” seems to sum him up nicely.
I see that Mr Shaw is devoting his time to trivia again.
Instead of devoting his time and effort to the only real responsibility he has, he is picking out the new cars for Ministers.
He should be devoting his efforts to getting a new Census held in 2021. The one last year was a total disaster but he sits around twiddling his thumbs and trying to pretend everything is fine and he doesn’t have to worry about the matter.
He, and the Department, have already wasted 10 months when they could have been arranging the new, proper, Census.
Get on with it!
Instead I see that James is looking at new cars to carry him, and his fellow Greens, around in luxury while pretending they are doing good things for the world. As this article says.
“Climate Change Minister James Shaw signalled in September he was looking into increasing the number of electric cars used by ministers as part of a wider policy push to get more people driving EVs.”
Churlish, Alwyn. “In total, 29 per cent of all ministerial vehicles – including Crown and self-drive cars are electric vehicles (EVs). That’s up from 2 per cent this time last year.”
So why not give credit where it’s due? “Climate Change Minister James Shaw signalled in September he was looking into increasing the number of electric cars used by ministers as part of a wider policy push to get more people driving EVs.”
It’s called leading by example, Alwyn. Remember how many years National’s leaders kept on failing at that? And still no sign they’ve learnt from the consequences of their failure.
Firstly he isn’t actually responsible for the purchase of vehicles.
It comes under the overview of Chris Hipkins.
Shaw’s only real responsibility for anything significant as a Minister is Statistics and in particular the Census.
It was totally stuffed up under his watch and he has had his head in the sand ever since. He had 6 months in the job and he should have made damn sure that it was done properly. He didn’t and all his, and his Departments excuses, since and their blaming National are b*s.
James Shaw became Minister of Statistics on 26 Oct 2018 – a total of only 132 days (4 1/2 months) before the 2018 Census was held on 6 March 2018.
By the time he became Minister in Oct 2018, all policies, processes, procedures had been well set in concrete with very little if any ability to change anything.
Planning for the 2018 Census began in 2013 after the last Census that year – when Maurice Willamson was still Minister of Statistics.
First policy decisions on the 2018 Census were made in Feb 2014 by the Cabinet Economic Growth and Infrastructure Committee (EGI).
In May 2014, Nicky Wagner (who took over as Minister of Statistics for five months May – Oct 2014) announced a new internet first model would transform how the 2018 census would be delivered and collected, and would increase the use of administrative data.
Budget 2014 provided an initial $13.1 million of new operating funding in 2014/15 and $547,000 of new capital funds from the Future Investment Fund towards a modernised census to be held in 2018.
In Oct 2014, Craig Foss became Minister of Statistics.
In May 2015, public input into the 2018 Census via an online discussion forum was called for; as well as formal submissions from 18 May to 30 June 2015.
In August 2015, Finance Minister Bill English and Statistics Minister Craig Foss announced a new New Zealand Data Futures Partnership, an independent group made up of members from the private, NGO, academic and public sectors, to champion the safe collection, use and sharing of government and business data. This included the 2018 Census. The members of this group were announced in Oct 2015, with Dame Diane Robertson (outgoing Auckland City Missioner) as Chair.
On 1 July 2016, Foss announced the date for the 2018 Census as Tuesday, 6 March 2018, 613 days (ie 1 year 8 months) away.
“For 2018, Statistics NZ is building new, responsive mobile versions of the census forms, along with tablet and desktop versions, to make it as easy as possible for all Kiwis to access and complete their forms.
“We’re aiming for 70 per cent of forms to be completed online. This is an ambitious goal, doubling the 34 per cent achieved in 2013.
“Collecting census data online means Statistics NZ can produce the census counts and other robust census-related information much, much faster.
Paper forms will still be available for those who prefer them.”
On 1 Dec 2016, Mark Mitchell replaced Foss as Minister of Statistics, but for four months only.
On 24 April 2017, Scott Simpson replaced Mitchell as Minister of Statistics – for six months until 26 October 2017 when the new government was sworn in with James Shaw as Minister of Statistics.
So the vast majority of the decisions, planning and setting in place of the processes and procedures were set in place under National;
— over a period of over four years (2013 – 2017) – and
— under the oversight of five National Ministers of Statistics – Williamson, Wagner, Foss, Mitchell and Simpson;
compared to the four short months/132 days that Shaw was Minister of Statistics before the 2018 Census was held in March 2018.
FYI – the above is a short summary of the Executive Summary to a paper I did for other purposes but which is not a public paper. I have links etc for every one of the above dates etc, but will not post them. If you want to check all of the above, go do your own searches.
Well yes, I have read it. I won’t ask why it was done and who was trying to cover their butt.
However I would like to know answers to the following things.
You quote Foss as announcing
““We’re aiming for 70 per cent of forms to be completed online. This is an ambitious goal, doubling the 34 per cent achieved in 2013.
“Collecting census data online means Statistics NZ can produce the census counts and other robust census-related information much, much faster.
Paper forms will still be available for those who prefer them.”
Only 70% of the information was expected to be captured on-line. This was, I gather, exceeded. Thus when Foss at least released this things seemed to be on track.
The problem was that there were no plans or people put in place to gather the information from the 30% of people who were NOT expected to fill it in on-line.
It was surely possible to know, on the day after Census day, where no returns were provided and to have had people on the ground who would immediately start finding the people concerned.
Why was this not done?
When was the decision made not to have these backup people in place?
Who made that decision and who was told about it?
How many briefings were given to Shaw, and when did they take place?
Was he advised of the risk to the integrity of the Census from the lack of follow-up staff, for the missing returns?
What interest did he actually take in the Census. How much of his time did he spend on the only important thing he was responsible for?
Why did he show so little interest that he skived off overseas to tour the Pacific and was not around on the day? On Census day there was a news repot from Samoa.
“There’s been widespread criticism of the new digital collection system, with many people complaining they never received the code they need to fill in the online form. Mr Shaw spoke with our reporter Mei Heron in Samoa. He says he’s very confident everyone’s data will be collected.”
Why did he say after Census day how well it had gone and how they would be able to fill in the “missing” data.
Why have they not admitted, after another 10 months, that the Census was a shambles, that the data was largely useless and start planning to hold it again, and get back on the normal cycle with the Census being repeated in 2021?
Why are the people responsible not being held accountable?
Why has he not taken responsibility for the fiasco and why has he not resigned?
1. He wasn’t the Minister on, and for about 5 months previously, the Minister?
or
2. It all ran beautifully and it wasn’t stuffed up?
I think that anyone with any sense at all would say it was stuffed up and it was on his watch AND no real attempt has been made to fix the problem and hold a proper Census in 2021.
I’m not suggesting, I’m stating that when you make such poorly conceived political statements as the one I quoted, you reveal yourself as insincere and lacking credibility as a commenter. The cure is simple; stop doing that; present better, credible comments; we know you can.
Just to be clear: You argue that the incoming minister should have identified the extent of any problem, reorganised the entire census process, and hired all the additional personnel within five months, and that failure to do so means that a better organised supplementary census needs to be urgently arranged in the next couple of years?
Why aren’t you calling for it to be next month, or feb2020, if they’re so easy to sort out?
He simply needed to show some interest in the matter.
Getting people to do the follow-up work was what was needed and that doesn’t take years to organise.
So if it was such a debacle and the organisation so easy, why are you wanting to bring the next census forward only two years, instead of three or four? And why aren’t you blaming the ministers who failed to show an interest between Feb ’13 and Nov ’17?
It’s a simple question. If the entire thing needs to be redone and can be completely reorganised in five months, why do you want to wait until 2021 for the next census? Shouldn’t you be complaining that we’re not having a proper census next month?
You’re still acting as a standard Authoritarian Follower and defending the complete ballsup that your leaders caused. And that, really, is all you’re doing.
All the evidence is that it fully rests upon National and so you’re making lots of noise, talking BS, to try and distract from that fact.
Absolute perfect example of the RWNJs and their propensity to avoid taking responsibility for their actions.
I get an error on some pages on The Standard where the page loads, but is completely blank. It’s always happened every now and then but is currently happening on the pages “Russell Brands New Year Revolutions”, “Julian Assange and the Barbara Streisand Effect” and “Drug Testing at Music Festivals” – and also ironically on the Contact page, hence I thought I’d post it here as I can’t find the appropriate email address.
I’m using an iPhone with the latest iOS, and it happens on both Safari and Chrome.
Sorry when I said “every now and then” I meant it doesn’t happen on every article on The Standard but just some of them. Some articles just come up as blank pages. In the past I’ve ignored it as it’s only been the odd article, but now there’s 3 in the last few days. This only happens on The Standard so I’m afraid it’s a site issue, not my phone.
For it to be a site issue it would be happening to everybody. It’s not. It’s only happening to you.
That makes it that the most probable issue is something on your phone interfering with your browsing of The Standard. Perhaps some sort of security software or maybe a virus or trojan.
A site issue doesn’t mean it happens to everybody – it would be pretty obvious if no one could access these posts.
I used to work in web design and maintenance. If it happens to one person chances are it happens to more who don’t report a problem because it’s not worth the effort.
I suggest the site admins log it as a bug to look into; I can confirm it happens with the above pages in mobile view from iOS 12.1.2. When I request desktop view these pages can be accessed as per normal.
Yes. I am having the same problem and same pages on my phone. Android with latest updates. But its OK on my laptop mac book air. Which I’m connecting via my phone hotspot.
Mr Prent doesn’t need a ridiculous goody two-shoes like you to interpret for him.
Now, maybe you can do what Psycho Milt evidently cannot: explain why pointing out the dishonesty and political subservience of the Grauniad makes me a believer in “Soros, the Illuminati or the Lizard People.”
Feel free to post your exposition under this. There’s a good fellow.
Perhaps you could answer PM’s first question, “Who issues these instructions to the Guardian?” Go ahead, astound me by actually answering the question instead of finding some way to wriggle out of it. Better yet, leave me absolutely gobsmacked with an answer that actually makes sense, ie doesn’t rely on some bizarre conspiracy.
So pointing out the dishonesty and the ideological subservience of the Grauniad makes me a fruitcake, does it?
I have no opinion on that.
Your comment made the claim that the Guardian follows instructions about what editorial approaches to take in its coverage. That prompted the fairly obvious, not to mention simple, question: “Who issues the instructions?” I note that you haven’t answered that question.
Unscientific: only 171 in the sample. Political polls use a thousand or thereabouts here to get the standard margin of error, so in the UK with a population fifteen times bigger the sample required is around 15000.
“Our results demonstrate that physically weak males are more reluctant than physically strong males to assert their self-interest”. I suspect their next study will discover that if you drop something, it falls down.
“so in the UK with a population fifteen times bigger the sample required is around 15000”.
Sorry Dennis but because you have a population 15 times as large doesn’t mean that the sample has to be larger to retain the same accuracy.
If you think that 1,000 is enough in New Zealand it will be just as good in the UK.
“The mathematics of probability prove that the size of the population is irrelevant unless the size of the sample exceeds a few percent of the total population you are examining. This means that a sample of 500 people is equally useful in examining the opinions of a state of 15,000,000 as it would a city of 100,000.” https://www.surveysystem.com/sscalc.htm
In neither case is your sample other than tiny compared to the population
Well, I was applying the logic of proportionality. My vague recollection from 1969 suggests you are correct and if polling practice, as defined by accepted convention, is to use around a thousand in the UK, then I take your point. In any case, as you imply, the sample they used was way too small.
I did pass the stats exam at Auckland University that year, but not by much. Mumbo jumbo was my verdict on statistics…
Classic Python humour that challenges the nonsense of modern day identity politics.
The brilliant Rachel Stewart has faced the wrath of the Stans of this world.
I went cold on Rachel Stewart when she demanded that I pledge allegiance to the “gender critical feminist” movement – I am supportive but not gonna join a tribe. I declined and thus she called me a coward. So yeah I can believe racist abuse. She has an anger problem
Yep. I’m not going to get over it in a hurry. First time I’ve copped anything like that since I lived in Oz and that was more generalized kiwi bashing. The odd thing here is that whenever Ed is challenged on an ethical issue involving a hero of his, he runs a mile. I’m not calling him a chicken, but I hope he doesn’t live too close to a Tegel factory 😉
“I’d like to think that part of an editor’s job is to guide their contributors gently towards the light, not run full-tilt together holding hands, into the dark.” – Rachel Stewart (Nov. 2017: Media gorging on racist, sexist views)
He made a snarky contribution and got one back. Perhaps he could amaze us all and actually watch The Life of Brian while doing some self reflection. I wouldn’t ask you to as i know you only watch trailers for movies.
Right-hand batsman, Right-arm medium pace bowler, and Right-wing media commentator, Simon Doull, has pretty much excused himself from having any commentary role in the upcoming Bangladesh cricket tour.
As barmy as Doull is, he’s Iain Galloway, Alan Richards, Richie Benaud and John Arlott compared to Ian “Smithy” Smith, who is without doubt the stupidest person in sports.
I did interview Doull once. He was judge on a pub sponsored ‘worst student flat’ competition. Gave first prize to some morons who smeared excrement all over the house they lived in.
A tad non-pc to use cobblers as a term of abuse, perhaps? I suspect some here would view them as respectable tradesmen. Although I suppose that, being self-employed, they were considered impossible to unionise, and thus middle-class.
Fairly thin on the ground nowadays. However there was one still on Broadway, Newmarket, when I last cruised through a year or two back. And I noticed another in one of the regional towns more recently…
“Right-hand batsman, Right-arm medium pace bowler, and Right-wing media commentator, Simon Doull, has pretty much excused himself from having any commentary role in the upcoming Bangladesh cricket tour.”
LMAO…now thats funny (unless you live in a low lying area of course)
A foot fetishist discredited a Reddit post that falsely claimed to show a nude image of New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Vice reported.
[…]
“I’m a contributor to wikifeet and even I have never seen a second toe like that!” Reddit user jokes_on_you commented on the image. The comment also included a link to an image showing the Congresswoman wearing sandals.
The best Brexit negotiating position would be with Labour via a support base mandate for a out of bounds agenda along with being pro to continuing with the EU.
What would the EU do?
Concessions, that would lead to more positive reform (& thus sustainability) on it’s own part, or internal heightened dis-integration relating to the high profile fall out in handling the British democracy demands.
Emma Brockes, who wrote that piece, was discredited fourteen years ago after she wrote a particularly foolish and ill-advised attack on, of all people, Noam Chomsky.
It’s interesting that she’s still “working” for the Grauniad; it looks like this time at least she’s written something truthful. Still, the fact that she’s still “working” in journalism tells you a lot about the integrity and ethics of the British media.
Another of her colleagues is the notorious Luke Harding, who has neither apologized for his lies against Julian Assange, nor suffered any consequences, as far as we know.
Akcherly, old chum, there is little or no evidence either way on the Manafort story.
Manafort denies it, of course. However, he hasn’t gone out of his way to disprove it, either. Which I would have thought would be a piece of piss (phone GPS, flights, hotels, taxi receipts etc.). If he simply wasn’t in London at the time, again, easy to prove. Of course, he may have been legitimately in the UK at the time, which might cloud the issue. I hear Salisbury is lovely that time of year.
The other thing an expert on the media such as yourself should probably note is that the Guardian story is very, very careful not to make direct accusations (“the Guardian has been told …” etc.), so there are no “lies” in the piece at all. The Guardian’s legal team are no dummies.
True. But London is the most surveilled city in the world. CCTV everywhere. That embassy more watched more than most, too, I guess.
And as I noted, Manafort can easily prove where he was, and wasn’t, at the time of the alleged visit. It’s a little odd that he isn’t actively trying to disprove the claim.
However, it is just an unverified claim, and a bit vague about the details, so maybe he’s decided it’s just best ignored.
Uber driver pleads guilty to killing six people between rides Jason Dalton admitted that he shot eight people at three locations in and around Kalamazoo in 2016
A.P., Jan. 7, 2019
An Uber driver charged with killing six strangers in between picking up passengers pleaded guilty to murder in Michigan on Monday, just before attorneys were set to interview jurors for his trial.
Jason Dalton’s surprise move came more than three years after the shootings, which occurred over the course of a few hours in and around Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Dalton abruptly pleaded guilty to murder and attempted murder – over his attorney’s objections – triggering the prospect of a mandatory sentence of life in prison with no chance for parole .
“Yes, I’ve wanted this for quite a while,” Dalton replied when a judge asked if the pleas were voluntary.
The 48-year-old Dalton answered “yes” to a series of questions, admitting that he shot eight people at three locations. After his arrest, police quoted Dalton as saying a “devil figure” on Uber’s app was controlling him on the day of the shootings.
Four women were killed outside a Cracker Barrel restaurant. And a father and his 17-year-old son were fatally shot while looking at a pickup truck at a dealership.
A 14-year-old girl was shot in the head during the restaurant shooting and survived, while an eighth person was injured in a residential area.
Dalton had been deemed competent to stand trial and last week dropped an insanity defense. In court, he didn’t explain why he randomly shot eight people.
Dalton, the father of two children, had worked as an insurance adjuster and had no previous criminal record before the shootings.
Prosecutor Jeff Getting said the motive behind the shootings is a question that “haunts us.”
“Everybody wants to know,” he said during a news conference after the court hearing.
Defense attorney Eusebio Solis said he advised Dalton not to plead guilty. But he told the judge: “There are personal reasons for him. He does not want to put his family through that, or the victims’ families, through the trial. It’s his decision.”
Yep. But people’s words reveal some psycological stuff behind the comment.
I was hoping he would add more fairness to the tax system.
Sounds better. Harder to argue against. Implies something will be improved rather than destroyed.
It’s all good with ECO MAORI Aotearoa is a much better place to live and work this year than it was last year. We had a government that put down tangata whenua O Atoearoa and all minority culture. They did not like helping our Pacific cousin and ran the country like a business for wealth people and businesses first and formost. And that type of policy is what has caused all the problems on Papatuanukue. We have goals to be carbon neutral that will help preserve Tanemahuta and Tangaroa,s creatures that we all have a link to for the Mokopunas Hopefully 2019 will be the start of a big change to the way we treat all humans as equals. Ka kite ano
Kia ora Newshub it’s a puzzle why people do things like sending parcel to the embassy in Australia. I have been informed about the massive seed boom and the effects of pest numbers booming to and that phenomenon takes a big toll on our endangered wildlife. It’s shocking that those cricketers can play with Wahine like toys he deserves what he gets from the law hope the Wahine gets justice. I feel sorry for the lady who’s
4 years old son climb up on the roof of her car while driving. My 4 years old grandson could break out of all his car seats and loved climbing.?????? Its not easy looking after children. Ka kite ano
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Who likes being sneered at? Nobody. Worse yet, when the sneerer has their facts all wrong, and might well be an idiot.The sneer in question is The adults are in charge now, and it is a sneer offered in retort to criticism of this new Government, no matter how well ...
When in government, Labour pushed to extend the Parliamentary term to four years, to reduce accountability and our ability to vote out a bad government. And now, they're trying to do it through the member's ballot, with a Four-Year Parliamentary Term Legislation Bill. The bill at least requires a referendum ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill (Hūhana Lyndon) The bill would prevent the government from stealing Māori land in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It ...
Simeon Brown, alongside Wayne Brown, is favouring a political figleaf now in exchange for loading up tens of millions in extra interest costs on Auckland ratepayers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is pushing back hard at suggestions from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Buzz from the Beehive One headline-grabber from the Beehive yesterday was the OECD’s advice that the government must bring the Budget deficit under control or face higher interest rates. Another was the announcement of a $1.9 billion “investment” in Corrections over the next four years. In the best interests of ...
Chris Trotter writes – Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
The tikanga regulations will compel law students to be taught that a system which does not conform with the rule of law is nevertheless law which should be observed and applied…Gary Judd KC writes – I have made a complaint to Parliament’s Regulation ...
The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECD’s chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changes—introducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Asia Pacific Report Following an open letter by Auckland University academics speaking out in support of their students’ right to protest against the genocidal Israeli war on Gaza, a group of academics at Otago University have today also called on New Zealand academic institutions to “repair colonial violence” and end ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Linda J. Graham, Professor and Director of the Centre for Inclusive Education, Queensland University of Technology Ryan Tauss/ Unsplash, CC BY Two male students have been expelled from a Melbourne private school for their involvement in a list ranking female students. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The Reserve Bank is now assuming Australians will see no interest rate cuts this year – and quite possibly none before the next federal election, due next May. That’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Hayward, Emeritus Professor of Public Policy, RMIT University The Victorian budget offered more of the same on Tuesday, with the only change being how the budget papers were packaged. The usual shrink wrap was gone, hinting at savings in the pages ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Coalition is demanding extensive amendments to the government’s legislation targeting non-citizens who refuse to co-operate with their removal. In a dissenting report to the senate inquiry into the legislation, the Coalition says it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vanita Yadav, Senior Research Fellow, Urban Transformations Research Centre, Western Sydney University Brett Boardman/Belvoir The complex and grappling issue of violence against women takes centre stage in the soul-stirring solo dance drama Nayika: A Dancing Girl. During a dinner conversation ...
Disruption to patient care from a nationwide junior doctors strike is bordering on unsafe, a senior doctor claims, despite what health officials say. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Diepstraten, Senior Research Officer, Blood Cells and Blood Cancer Division, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute Ground Picture/Shutterstock The anti-cancer drug abemaciclib (also known as Vernezio) has this month been added to the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) to treat certain ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dominic McAfee, Postdoctoral researcher, marine ecology, University of Adelaide Robbie Porter, OzFish Unlimited Around Australia, hundreds of people are coming together to help a once-prized, but decimated and largely forgotten marine ecosystem. They’re busy restoring Australia’s native oyster and mussel reefs. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Webb, Lecturer, Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology Austin Human/Unsplash How does Earth stop meteors from hitting Earth and hurting people? –Asher, 6 years 11 months, New South Wales Alright, let’s embark on a meteor ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rory Mulcahy, Associate Professor of Marketing, University of the Sunshine Coast Professional sports organisations regularly promote and develop initiatives to support diversity, equity and inclusion. While sport has the power to change attitudes by sparking conversations about political issues and social ...
Comment: The weekly Monday post-Cabinet press conference is a useful forum for observing Christopher Luxon and how he is developing into the job of Prime Minister. He attempts to convey the impression of a man of action, speaking fast, delivering memorised National Party strategies in a connect-the-slogans kind of way, ...
Double votes, missing ballot boxes, tired tech and stressed staff: how tick-tallying went astray at last year’s election. Cast your mind back to November 2023, that bleary-eyed post-election period duringwhichwewaited, andwaited, for a coalition deal to be hammered out. A distraction from the hotel-hopping of our ...
International audiences are starting to discover what New Zealand already knew about After the Party.When After the Party aired in New Zealand last year, the response was fast and furious. In his preview for Rec Room, Duncan Greive said it was a “gritty, wrenching and highly confronting” series. By ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shahram Akbarzadeh, Convenor of the Middle East Studies Forum (MESF), and Acting Director the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University Iran’s leadership has been a direct beneficiary of the months-long war in Gaza. With every missile that Israel fires ...
Claire Mabey reviews the haunting and sexy debut novel from Sinéad Gleeson, who is about to touch down in Aotearoa for a string of live events.When Irish writer Sinéad Gleeson was in Aotearoa in 2018 with her spectacular collection of essays, Constellations, she told me she was working on ...
PNG Post-Courier Bougainville Affairs Minister Manasseh Makiba has described the Post-Courier’s front page story yesterday regarding a meeting between Bougainville and national government leaders as “sensationalised” and without substance. The Autonomous Bougainville Government (AGB) had warned it might use “other avenues to gain its independence” should the PNG government “continue ...
Where some saw the worst press conference given by the government to date, Anna Rawhiti-Connell recognised girl maths game.Nicola Willis, recently exasperated by comparisons to Ruth Richardson, said she was “a bit sick of being compared with every female finance minister that’s ever been out there.”Some think that’s ...
The March results are reported against forecasts based on the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update 2023 (HYEFU 2023), published on 20 December 2023 and the results for the same period for the previous year. ...
Jamie Arbuckle, the district councillor who became an MP but decided to keep getting paid for both roles, will instead donate one salary to charity. ...
Adding gender to the Human Rights Act would simply make the implicit explicit. So why is it so controversial? Paul Thistoll explain. At present, Aotearoa’s 1993 Human Rights Act (HRA) includes sex, marital status, religious belief, ethical belief (meaning a lack of religious belief), colour, race, ethnicity or national origin, ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, an 18-year-old who’s studying and working in hospo shares their approach to spending and saving. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Transmasc Age: 18 Ethnicity: Pākehā/Māori Role: Student, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jane Kelsey, Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Resources Minister Shane Jones has reportedly asked officials for advice on whether oil and gas companies could be offered “bonds” as compensation if drilling rights offered by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Gleeson, Associate Professor of Law, Macquarie University Shutterstock The Albanese government is weighing up the costs of delivering an election promise to protect religious people from discrimination in Commonwealth law. Such protections were relatively uncontroversial when included in state anti-discrimination ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yen Ying Lim, Associate Professor, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University Pexels/Andrea Piacquadio Dementia is often described as “the long goodbye”. Although the person is still alive, dementia slowly and irreversibly chips away at their memories and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Judy Bush, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, The University of Melbourne Adam Calaitzis/Shutterstock I met with a friend for a walk beside Merri Creek, in inner Melbourne. She had lived in the area for a few years, and as we walked ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Throsby, Distinguished Professor of Economics, Macquarie University Arts companies and individual artists in Australia are supported by government arts agencies, philanthropists, industry bodies, private donors and patrons. However, it is frequently overlooked that a major source of support for the arts ...
Harm Reduction Coalition Aotearoa, a new incorporated society dedicated to ending harmful drug policies, officially launched today, seeks a new fit-for-purpose drug law for Aotearoa New Zealand, rooted in science, experience and evidence. ...
The Corrections Minister admits he "muddied the water" after he and the Prime Minister repeatedly provided incorrect information about a $1.9 billion prison spend-up. ...
It took a post-post-cabinet statement to confirm that 810 new beds will be built at Waikeria, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Lili Tokaduadua was only 15 when she left her family in Fiji to pursue her netball dream in New Zealand. She’d been playing the sport for 10 years and was offered a netball scholarship at Auckland’s Howick College. Now, in her first year out of high school, the 19-year-old defender ...
The beloved local grocers lost a legal challenge to stop a new cycleway outside their store. Joel MacManus reports. In the annals of New Zealand legal history, there are a few brave people who have dared to stand up to the powers that be, no matter how bleak the odds ...
How what we produce and what we eat connects us to the world beyond our shores, visualised. Walking around a supermarket or vege shop, it might be obvious that everything on the shelves came from somewhere. But you might ...
Opinion: Last week, important recommendations for our criminal justice system were made by the international community. Every five years, each member of the United Nations has its human rights practices reviewed. This rolling event – the Universal Periodic Review – is the culmination of a government reporting on its human ...
Highly pathogenic avian influenza – H5N1, or bird flu – has been flying around the world since the late 1990s. New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Islands are so far free of it, but now it’s been discovered in mainland Antarctica and scientists say it’s only a matter of time ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 7 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
The following interview with auto electrician and former caver Stu Berendt, 68, of Charleston on the West Coast, came about because he was part of the caving team that found the rare and amazing fossil remains of the giant Haast eagle, the subject of one of the year’s best books, ...
A $1.8b funding boost for Pharmac still won’t enable it to buy more drugs, raising questions about the Government’s approach to the agency The post Can Pharmac do more with the same pot of money? appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Professor Jemma Geoghegan, of the University of Otago, Otakou Whakaihu Waka, co-leads a Te Niwha project aimed at understanding how and where avian influenza could affect Aotearoa New Zealand, as the highly infectious H5N1 virus spreads globally. The virus has now spread to all continents except Oceania and was recently ...
Thirty years on from Rwanda’s genocide, is guilt over the atrocities is blinding the world to the true nature of its current leadership? The post The repressive underside of Rwanda’s regime appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Eric Stokan, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Maryland, Baltimore County If you live in one of the most economically deprived neighborhoods in your city, you might think the government is directing a smaller share of public funds to your community. ...
Wansolwara The news media’s crucial role in climate change and environment journalism was the focus of The University of the South Pacific’s Journalism Programme 2024 World Press Freedom Day celebrations. The European Union Ambassador to the Pacific, Barbara Plinkert, and Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Henry Puna were the chief ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Adams, Professor of Corporate Law & Academic Director of UNE Sydney campus, University of New England Last August, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) launched legal proceedings against Qantas. The consumer watchdog accused the airline of selling thousands of tickets ...
This episode of A View From Afar was recorded LIVE on May 6, 2024 (NZST) which is Sunday evening, May 5, 2024 at 8:30pm (USEST). In an analytical essay titled ‘A moment of friction’ political scientist Dr Paul Buchanan wrote how we are living within a decisive moment ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alison Taylor, Assistant Professor, Bond University Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures At the crux of the critical response to Luca Guadagnino’s new movie Challengers is one word: “sexy”. The film charts a love triangle between three up-and-coming tennis players: Tashi (Zendaya), ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jenny Stewart, Professor of Public Policy, ADFA Canberra, UNSW Sydney For years, First Nations people have been telling governments they want to be listened to. In particular, they want more ownership of the programs and services that are supposed to help them. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Why do trees have bark? Julien, age 6, Melbourne. This is a great question, Julien. We are so familiar with bark on trees, that most of us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anthony Nasser, Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy, University of Technology Sydney PeopleImages.com – Yuri A/Shutterstock The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is an important ligament in the knee. It runs from the thigh bone (femur) to the shin bone (tibia) and helps stabilise ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne I covered the May 2 United Kingdom local government elections for The Poll Bludger. The Blackpool South parliamentary byelection was also held, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deanna Grant-Smith, Professor of Management, University of the Sunshine Coast The federal government has announced a “Commonwealth Prac Payment” to support selected groups of students doing mandatory work placements. Those who are studying to be a teacher, nurse, midwife or social ...
‘
The thousand year wall?
How long is the Trump wall supposed to stay up?
A thousand years?
Forever?
Is it the beginning of a world wide movement of building impenetrable walls and barriers between peoples and nations?
Is the border between the UK and the Republic of Ireland the site for next one?
Trump literally does not give a shit about the millions of – to him – peasants who are being driven to dispair and abject poverty by his shutdown. That is because he is an aristocrat in all but name who lives entirely in a world where he can afford to purchase the services (and security) he needs. He doesn’t care that Yosemite is drowning in trash. The contractors still clear the trash from the golf course at Mar-El-Largo. He doesn’t care if the museums close, the guy is a pussy grabbing Philistine. He doesn’t care of the EPA, IRS and food inspectors all go home – it is all grist to the mill for a tax cheating, corrupt businessman like him.
He is so unfit for office in every possible way that I am beginning wonder when/if the military chiefs will take him aside and quietly point out his health might benefit from an early retirement…
You have correctly pointed out that POTUS is not in ‘charge’ …
Trump is a product of the system….a system which want’s him (or anyone) to be there…because it makes no meaningful difference … the road maps remain the same…
The military are also gatekeepers, and violent and aggressive as they inherently are designed to be, they are part of the wider system…
So who or what is really in control…Trump or POTUS is not the answer to that question….
Douglas Adams:
Seems to apply to Trump quite well…
Which is rather disturbing.
That is a strong quote, Draco…. Thanks….
Can only imagine what this world of ours could be like, if lies and deceit were not the long standing modus operandi….
It may be a strong quote, but It is from a work of fiction. While I agree that it does have some truth in it. It is not the full story.
Is Trump setting up his run in 2020? Cornering the democrats on the wall? I mean he could not get the Mexicans to pay for it, so why does everyone think his dithering means the Democrats will use taxpayers money to. Is that the point, that Trump will go back asking for re-election so he has a real mandate to build the wall?
Seem the wall however large won’t stop them coming..
He has filed for re-election campaigning the day he was sworn in. After all that grifter needs money, and campaigning allows him to fundraiser all that sweet sweet cash that washed up orange bullshitter needs to pay of his debtors.
yeah. wealth needs a psuedo billionaire in the Whitehouse to show how much big monies wealth runs a country. pandering to stupid walls… …oh, oh, and the genius of having a total fruit loop as vice president to keep them from chucking his fat…
Of course the wall “won’t stop them coming”. The reason; Most undocumented immigrants are in the US after overstaying their work visas. Only a very tiny minority crossed the border illegally. Most entered the US legally and then overstayed.
The US economy is reliant on this system of official and unofficial vulnerable migrant labour. And even on so called illegal overstaying. Because this workforce have no citizenship, they are vulnerable, they have few recognised legal rights and so can be exploited mercilessly, and deported at whim by their employers.
It’s a system of official, unofficial immigration.
And the wall will not stop it. Nor is it designed to. The purpose of the wall is to strike fear into people on both sides of it.
I thought it was more like crates of cash handed out to Muslims in the axis of evil to buy their consent… …just done in the lower western states instead…
No, wait. ..use those migrants to bake us sand into bricks (mobile solar ovens) for a wall… ..problem solved.
This is tragic.
https://www.sovereignman.com/trends/the-government-shutdown-is-far-worse-than-we-even-imagined-24399/
Spam.
Ah, an article by a libertarian about how evil government is.
Indeed this article almost argues for the shutdown to become permanent.
The world needs a new definition; Developed Countries, Undeveloped Countries, Un-developing Countries
““In 2020, Biden-style centrism will become a toxic and losing brand of politics in Democratic primaries,” said Waleed Shahid, a left-wing activist.” Partisan leftists don’t want to make common cause with moderates in order to get the numbers up to defeat the right. Being a noble loser is more important.
“Biden has indicated that he is leaning towards running and will most likely make a decision within the next two weeks, according to Democrats within and beyond his inner circle who have spoken to him recently.” https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/joe-biden-2020-presidential-election-beat-trump-democrat-candidates-decides-run-a8715191.html
Biden is 76, and a stale pale male, so you can see why he’s currently the front-runner in the polls. There’s evidence he would be likely to win the presidency by stealing part of the Republican support base of voters: “among the 200 Republicans sitting in the 116th Congress, 90 per cent will be white men. The number of female Republicans in the House has actually fallen, from 23 to 13 this year”.
Personally, if I was a US voter, I wouldn’t vote such an old person into that kind of office out of simple self-interest. The complications of probable bad health and the political issues of transfer if he wound up with death or bad health are very large.
Politically I’m mostly be looking at the who I’d be voting for as vice-president and who the likely Speaker of the house would be after the mid-terms.
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Presidential_line_of_succession
It displays all of the political fragility of the American elected monarchy.
The US is run by a gerontocracy due to their inability to handily change rules that were made for a pre-industrial rural society of slave owners with an average life expectancy of something under 40.
Chuck Grassley (chairman of the Senate’s judiciary committee, you know the guys who confirm supreme court judges) is 85.Donald Trump is 72, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell is 76, and the ranking Republican senator, Orrin Hatch, is 84. Nancy Pelosi is 78, while Dianne Feinstein, the ranking member on the Senate judiciary committee, is 85. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, are 77 and 69 respectively, which scarily makes Biden at 76 the middle of that pack of presidential contenders. Hillary Clinton was 69 when she lost, practically a callow youth in that company. The average age of the current congress is 59 (in NZ the average age of parliament is 49, but our PM is just 38 and the leader of the opposition is 42 so both are actually at a vigorous age).
The USA needs to introduce some retirement rules for congress, the senate and the supreme court.
Minor correction, Orrin Hatch is now retired and Chuck Grassley is now president pro tempore of the senate and chairman of the finance committee. Lindsey Graham (baby of the bunch at 63) is now chairman of the judiciary committee
If you have seen Vice, I would look very hard at the number 2 and his/her connections.
I am a US voter (in California, so my vote is irrelevant), and I would really struggle with voting for someone as old as Sanders or Biden. For the reasons you’ve mentioned, plus the idea that someone making the kind of decisions the prez makes should be likely to live the consequences for a substantial part of their life.
But just to clarify the line of succession thing, that list only comes into play if the prez and veep are taken out in the same event. Otherwise if the prez goes, veep becomes prez and gets to choose a new veep and the only restriction is the new veep must meet the eligibility requirements to be prez. After Agnew cut and ran, Ford became veep because Nixon chose him; Ford was House Minority Leader not Speaker. Similar after Ford became prez, he chose Rockefeller who governor of New York at the time.
Looking at our current situation, the only way Pelosi becomes prez is if the satsuma shitgibbon and Pence are impeached in the same proceeding. But even if Pence turns out to be even deeper in it than the mandarin manutang (very unlikely), you can be sure Turtle McConnell will find some way separate the proceedings in the Senate so that Pence can get sworn in, appoint a palatable new veep and confirm the successor before turfing Pence out.
Thanks for that wonderfully worded clarification, Andre.
I kept thinking there was something not quite right in some of the simplistic/wishful thinking being bandied about. I was also taken aback by Sanctuary’s stark presentation of the ages of the current US leaders. Made me feel quite young!
Actually leftists don’t want to make common cause with so-called “moderates” because:
a) they are not moderate at all – the radical centre they occupy is increasingly just an old fashioned conservative defense of the (neoliberal) status quo with a fair dollop of social liberal thrown in.
b) “Moderate centrism” as a viable political force is now dead. Hillary Clinton should have conclusively demonstrated this – she lost to Donald fucking Trump for Christ’s sake, how much more evidence that her status quo, “centrist” message was electorally toxic do you need? I don’t how long it will take the smug middle class defenders of centrism to get through their thick skulls that centrism is dead, but the sooner the better.
c) “Partisan leftists” are the ONLY ones with an ideological agenda capable of competing with right wing populism, because people want change and pearl clutching socially liberal conservatives calling themselves “moderates” are offering sweet fuck all.
I sympathise somewhat. The idealist in me isn’t dead. Just retired, hurt (as in cricket) during the seventies, yielding to the pragmatist. Who, of course, inevitably must point out that moderate centrism is not in fact dead – as Biden’s front-runner status currently proves.
That’s because HC never had a monopoly on the brand. In fact, she was such a poor exemplar of the brand as to make better options (Sanders) look good in comparison.
Now if you cite Sanders’ brand-identification as socialist, history proves you correct. Both/and. Reading his political biography proves to the reader that he operated as a moderate centrist when in office. It’s the usual difference between what leftists say and what they do. Preaching and praxis. When they differ, they generate alternate identities.
I think you’ll find it’s practice franky. Praxis mayx perfix.
Yeah, word-play. I come to it from a technical perspective: belief combined with action (theory combined with application) produces praxis as lifestyle.
Baffle them with bullshix Dennix, worx every timex.
Hey now, I’ve explained how it works. Nobody has protested that it’s too hard for them to understand. Some have even commented in appreciation of the notion. I agree that evidence that humans have become a lot stupider since the Greeks invented it (several millennia back) abounds, but assuming commenters here reflect the current norm seems unfair.
If you’re centrist then you’re not pragmatic. Centrism goes against all practicality.
Well it’s worked for me. Since adopting the stance in ’71, no regrets. Maybe you interpret the label differently. I combine radical centrism as a praxis with pragmatism as a way of finding common ground in current reality…
Is it possible for there to be a more centrist, more pro-status-quo response than this?
It just fails to work at all.
I find this problem with all people who say that they’re pragmatic these days. They seem to think that pragmatism means doing what’s politically correct rather than what it does mean which is doing what’s practical and conforms with reality.
Due to this delusional belief they keep supporting things that aren’t practical or sustainable and thus proving that they are not pragmatic.
Well I’ve been non-pc since the sixties, when it seemed that all intelligent teenagers were choosing the nonconformist path – so much that it became fashionable to follow the trend. So your description doesn’t apply to me.
What’s more, applying your reasoning to the current reality provides the rational for the coalition to continue with neoliberalism. It works, so it must be practical. I’d rather ditch it in favour of the path to a sustainable society and economy. Too impractical for most politicians still. But, inasmuch as doing so requires pragmatic compromises along the way, making progress towards that goal synthesises idealism & pragmatism.
Really?
If you’re trying that logic after the failure of the last few decades of neo-liberalism then you’re definitely not capable of being pragmatic.
And it’s that delusion that has the Overton Window going ever further to the right.
When I say it works, I don’t mean works well, or even satisfactorily. I just mean it works sufficiently well that the people in western countries have kept voting to stay with it – in preference to choosing any other option.
And working so well that most political activists have consistently refrained from working together to present voters with a positive alternative. Just because I’ve spent so long trying to develop one doesn’t mean I can’t be pragmatic enough to accept that such an overwhelming consensus throughout all those countries is evidence that most people think neoliberalism works!
Try to explain what you think that delusion is. The one you mentioned. Is it why Bill got so impatient? Why he no longer contributes? I’m impatient by nature too, as I told him, and only considerable age has mellowed that. I’m just as keen to make progress, faster, as anyone else. But, as the coalition is proving to everyone, it can only proceed at the pace that consensus permits. Pragmatic acceptance of this limit is realistic: it is democracy.
Have they or is it that the politicians have kept it in place against the wishes if the populace?
Think about that for a sec.
It was, most definitely, put in place against the wishes of the NZ populace but Labour kept doing it any way. National said that they were going to undo it and got their 1990 landslide victory at which point they then went and entrenched it further.
I was at the Labour meeting in New Lynn a few years back when Andrew Little was leader. He started a sentence ‘We’re going ban foreign ownership…’
At that point he got cheered. When the room quieted again he went on ‘…of owning any more than 5 hectares.’
With that he got ringing silence. The entire room, except the sitting politicians, were disgusted with him.
At the same meeting David said that he couldn’t understand why there were people outside protesting the TPPA. He seemed to think that Labour’s position was clear. Labour, once in power, signed an unchanged TPPA while saying that it had been changed.
So, given this evidence when did the population ever vote for neo-liberalism?
The delusion that if you compromise with the right-wing that they’ll do it right back. They don’t – they just swing further right and demand that the Left compromise again on the new position taking us even further rightwards.
I’d love to know what the consensus is. Wonder what would happen if we had a referendum on many policies.
Wonder how much compromise there’d be with the RWNJs. I’m reasonably certain that it would be far less than what our representatives are doing.
Yeah, okay, that all makes sense. I agree that the politicians have been driven by an elite agenda. That’s why they get invited to the Bilderberger conferences. So the ongoing voter support for neoliberalism is the result.
Pragmatic acceptance of that reality doesn’t mean that those of us who don’t agree ought to stop trying to provide voters with a better option. Just means democracy (the system) is the problem, so politics (the game) has to be played more cleverly.
Which is why I came up with the notion of an alternative political movement. All political groups who organise to leverage the system operate at a higher level of influence than representative democracy. They function as opinion-leaders within the social ecosystem of politics. NGOs, PACs, institutes, unions, some of these lobby groups have been operating since the 19th century, mediating between govt & public. Fabian Society for Labour leverage, right?
As regards the compromise delusion, that happens as you described it, but only in the minds of those who are out-played. Tit for tat is a simple game that kids have learnt for yonks. Surprising when politicos get it wrong, eh? Psychology has to be used to explain why. It’s all about the nexus in which group psychodynamics plays out. The group belief system is effectively analogous to a monoculture in an ecosystem. Bad news. A clever player gets good at mediating the in-crowd/out-crowd interface. Stalin showed how that expertise produces a winner.
Anyway, as I’ve reported here a couple of times previously, the story of tit for tat was told by Robert Axelrod in The Evolution of Cooperation and I’ve mentioned how that became so influential amongst US foreign-policy makers in the eighties that it effectively brought about the end of the Cold War.
A wide ranging assessment that covers the multitude of factors and is well worth a read…..and something I suspect has been well canvassed by the RBNZ.
http://fortune.com/longform/economic-expansion-end-is-near/
It seems to me the growth model is over and in the absence of an alternative the preparations are being made to survive the initial fall-out…after that who knows.
DEATH BEFORE DISHONOUR!, or, “What does she have to fear?”
Kangaroo court is in session….
SQUEALER: For Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, this could be devastating. On a human level, I can emphasise with a person who has locked herself away from normal human contact for days. It’s bound to be depressing holing up in a couple of small rooms in a vain attempt to avoid justice. No wonder she couldn’t even look after her cat properly or, as is alleged, get around to washing herself. In the meantime, the world is sniggering at al-Qunun’s naivety.
STUNNED MULLET: She’s a cunt. “Cleaning out the cat box is a crime against humanity!”
JACKAL: OK this is one of those subjects that gets people going. I’m a lawyer, so let’s look at the allegations. The allegations are: she bleaches her hair, she is a hacker, she neglected an animal, she has poor personal hygiene. So any of these demonstrably proveable as being false? And why should she seek to suppress information provided by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?
BREEN: You think it’s amusing do you, Jackal?
JACKAL: No I don’t. I have always had doubts about Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun and her heroine status. But, as I said, let’s analyse this story. Is it true that she is trying to stop the media from printing stories about her that have been verified by the trustworthy and ethical Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?
BREEN: What doubts were those? And what does it matter if she’s a heroine or not? What evidence are you aware of that supports those ludicrous fantasy charges concocted by the KSA and its media vassals?
JACKAL: I have always had deep concerns about her role in the denigration of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I see nothing principled in her possible involvement in dishonorable conduct while in Thailand.
CapnInsan0: That turgid little worm Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun!
Richard: Shouldn’t she be demanding the release of all records regarding her pet care and personal grooming rather than demanding asylum?
francesca: The kitty litter and personal hygiene bullshit is clearly designed to humiliate and taunt her. You guys make me sick.
SQUEALER: I never knew al-Qunun was a smelly cat abuser until recently. It really matters. It really does. I’m being totally serious. I had no idea about her alleged personal hygiene issues until recently. I do vaguely recall the cat legal case, but I didn’t know she’d been found to have let the animal down. She’s isolated, alone, under pressure and now being laughed at. This cannot be good for her on a human level.
ROSS: If she has been wrongly accused of a vile crime, that would make the accused the victim, surely?
SQUEALER: I’ve served on juries. Did my civic duty to the best of my abilities.
BREEN: Has Jackal expressed his amusement at the plight of Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun yet? And if not, why not?
JACKAL: Because I don’t know who they are?
BREEN: You don’t know who SHE is. It’s one person, so you don’t use the pronoun “they”.
JACKAL: I did not know if the person was a he or she until I googled her name so I chose to use “they”.
SHEEP: “It’s one person, so you don’t use the pronoun ‘they’.” Do you really want to open that can of worms?
RAT: Finally….some sense about this little bitch…..rather then the brown nosing sycophants who think this Saudi weasel is a victim………she needs to stop hiding and be a man.
BREEN: A lot of unimaginative abuse there, mon ami—but nothing to indicate you have the slightest clue about this matter. Could you explain why she’s a “weasel” for wanting asylum?
DOPEY: Here’s the list of that little bitch’s misdemeanours, allegedly. Put your coffee down before reading it. If it’s a spoof, it’s a goody.
JACKAL: Wow …
SHEEP: Well there it is .. “It is false and defamatory to suggest that Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun bleaches her hair.”
ASSORTED ANIMALS: Ha ha ha ha ha!… Silly bitch!…. They wouldn’t be after her if she hadn’t done something!….
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/world/379646/saudi-woman-rahaf-mohammed-al-qunun-leaves-barricaded-hotel-room
Thank you for your fantastic intelligence and eloquence Morrissey, and your skill at demonstrating the utter utter bullshit.
Even though you’re not A PROGRAMMER (I assume)
You’re a delight!!
Thank you Brigid! No, I’m not a programmer—the headmaster has correctly bagged me as a “credulous dimwitted techno illiterate”.
I like to think of myself more as a de-programmer. There is some disturbingly cult-like behaviour manifesting on this normally sane website, and it’s distressing to me. I am encouraged, however, by the presence of people like you and francesca. Just as the occasional sight of, say, Ralph Nader or Daniel Ellsberg on American television shows that there ARE decent, thoughtful people in the U.S., having you here is a sign that civilized and thoughtful people will not be intimidated into staying away.
Please make sure you keep posting.
Julian Assange nominated for Nobel Peace prize by Mairead Maguire an Irish peace activist and all round good woman
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mairead_Maguire
https://worldbeyondwar.org/mairead-maguire-nominates-julian-assange-for-nobel-peace-prize/
She’s next in line for the treatment.
Jeez, I wonder if she dyes her hair?
Love your work above
Yeah, well….
Among lots of other people who were nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize we have had Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, Benito Mussolini, Richard Nixon, Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan.
I think he is in suitable company.
ie Totally unqualified.
Well when it comes from you Alwyn, I’m sold!
You’re aware that the Hitler nomination wasn’t serious?
The Obama one was possibly a joke as well—but he got it. It was in anticipation of all the wonderful things he was going to do. Hope and change, that sort of thing.
Idiot.
Well you’ve demonstrated one thing.
I needed 2 words when I classed Assange as “Totally unqualified”
You’ve managed to do it in just one.
“Idiot” seems to sum him up nicely.
Good one, walyn. Gee you’re sharp.
I see that Mr Shaw is devoting his time to trivia again.
Instead of devoting his time and effort to the only real responsibility he has, he is picking out the new cars for Ministers.
He should be devoting his efforts to getting a new Census held in 2021. The one last year was a total disaster but he sits around twiddling his thumbs and trying to pretend everything is fine and he doesn’t have to worry about the matter.
He, and the Department, have already wasted 10 months when they could have been arranging the new, proper, Census.
Get on with it!
Instead I see that James is looking at new cars to carry him, and his fellow Greens, around in luxury while pretending they are doing good things for the world. As this article says.
“Climate Change Minister James Shaw signalled in September he was looking into increasing the number of electric cars used by ministers as part of a wider policy push to get more people driving EVs.”
I expect to hear his views on the sustainability f various leather for the seats shortly.
Give it up James. Get on with the only really important thing you are responsible.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=12177038
Churlish, Alwyn. “In total, 29 per cent of all ministerial vehicles – including Crown and self-drive cars are electric vehicles (EVs). That’s up from 2 per cent this time last year.”
So why not give credit where it’s due? “Climate Change Minister James Shaw signalled in September he was looking into increasing the number of electric cars used by ministers as part of a wider policy push to get more people driving EVs.”
It’s called leading by example, Alwyn. Remember how many years National’s leaders kept on failing at that? And still no sign they’ve learnt from the consequences of their failure.
Firstly he isn’t actually responsible for the purchase of vehicles.
It comes under the overview of Chris Hipkins.
Shaw’s only real responsibility for anything significant as a Minister is Statistics and in particular the Census.
It was totally stuffed up under his watch and he has had his head in the sand ever since. He had 6 months in the job and he should have made damn sure that it was done properly. He didn’t and all his, and his Departments excuses, since and their blaming National are b*s.
What a load of bullshit, alwyn.
James Shaw became Minister of Statistics on 26 Oct 2018 – a total of only 132 days (4 1/2 months) before the 2018 Census was held on 6 March 2018.
By the time he became Minister in Oct 2018, all policies, processes, procedures had been well set in concrete with very little if any ability to change anything.
Planning for the 2018 Census began in 2013 after the last Census that year – when Maurice Willamson was still Minister of Statistics.
First policy decisions on the 2018 Census were made in Feb 2014 by the Cabinet Economic Growth and Infrastructure Committee (EGI).
In May 2014, Nicky Wagner (who took over as Minister of Statistics for five months May – Oct 2014) announced a new internet first model would transform how the 2018 census would be delivered and collected, and would increase the use of administrative data.
Budget 2014 provided an initial $13.1 million of new operating funding in 2014/15 and $547,000 of new capital funds from the Future Investment Fund towards a modernised census to be held in 2018.
In Oct 2014, Craig Foss became Minister of Statistics.
In May 2015, public input into the 2018 Census via an online discussion forum was called for; as well as formal submissions from 18 May to 30 June 2015.
In August 2015, Finance Minister Bill English and Statistics Minister Craig Foss announced a new New Zealand Data Futures Partnership, an independent group made up of members from the private, NGO, academic and public sectors, to champion the safe collection, use and sharing of government and business data. This included the 2018 Census. The members of this group were announced in Oct 2015, with Dame Diane Robertson (outgoing Auckland City Missioner) as Chair.
On 1 July 2016, Foss announced the date for the 2018 Census as Tuesday, 6 March 2018, 613 days (ie 1 year 8 months) away.
“For 2018, Statistics NZ is building new, responsive mobile versions of the census forms, along with tablet and desktop versions, to make it as easy as possible for all Kiwis to access and complete their forms.
“We’re aiming for 70 per cent of forms to be completed online. This is an ambitious goal, doubling the 34 per cent achieved in 2013.
“Collecting census data online means Statistics NZ can produce the census counts and other robust census-related information much, much faster.
Paper forms will still be available for those who prefer them.”
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/foss-welcomes-date-2018-census
On 1 Dec 2016, Mark Mitchell replaced Foss as Minister of Statistics, but for four months only.
On 24 April 2017, Scott Simpson replaced Mitchell as Minister of Statistics – for six months until 26 October 2017 when the new government was sworn in with James Shaw as Minister of Statistics.
So the vast majority of the decisions, planning and setting in place of the processes and procedures were set in place under National;
— over a period of over four years (2013 – 2017) – and
— under the oversight of five National Ministers of Statistics – Williamson, Wagner, Foss, Mitchell and Simpson;
compared to the four short months/132 days that Shaw was Minister of Statistics before the 2018 Census was held in March 2018.
FYI – the above is a short summary of the Executive Summary to a paper I did for other purposes but which is not a public paper. I have links etc for every one of the above dates etc, but will not post them. If you want to check all of the above, go do your own searches.
Thanks Veutovipor, thank you for a detailed explanation. I hope Alwyn does you the courtesy of reading it.
Well yes, I have read it. I won’t ask why it was done and who was trying to cover their butt.
However I would like to know answers to the following things.
You quote Foss as announcing
““We’re aiming for 70 per cent of forms to be completed online. This is an ambitious goal, doubling the 34 per cent achieved in 2013.
“Collecting census data online means Statistics NZ can produce the census counts and other robust census-related information much, much faster.
Paper forms will still be available for those who prefer them.”
Only 70% of the information was expected to be captured on-line. This was, I gather, exceeded. Thus when Foss at least released this things seemed to be on track.
The problem was that there were no plans or people put in place to gather the information from the 30% of people who were NOT expected to fill it in on-line.
It was surely possible to know, on the day after Census day, where no returns were provided and to have had people on the ground who would immediately start finding the people concerned.
Why was this not done?
When was the decision made not to have these backup people in place?
Who made that decision and who was told about it?
How many briefings were given to Shaw, and when did they take place?
Was he advised of the risk to the integrity of the Census from the lack of follow-up staff, for the missing returns?
What interest did he actually take in the Census. How much of his time did he spend on the only important thing he was responsible for?
Why did he show so little interest that he skived off overseas to tour the Pacific and was not around on the day? On Census day there was a news repot from Samoa.
“There’s been widespread criticism of the new digital collection system, with many people complaining they never received the code they need to fill in the online form. Mr Shaw spoke with our reporter Mei Heron in Samoa. He says he’s very confident everyone’s data will be collected.”
Why did he say after Census day how well it had gone and how they would be able to fill in the “missing” data.
Why have they not admitted, after another 10 months, that the Census was a shambles, that the data was largely useless and start planning to hold it again, and get back on the normal cycle with the Census being repeated in 2021?
Why are the people responsible not being held accountable?
Why has he not taken responsibility for the fiasco and why has he not resigned?
I think you’ll find that it comes under his responsibility as Minister for Climate Change.
Unlike RWNJs he can actually balance having multiple responsibilities.
BTW, it was still National that got the census wrong. It’s all their responsibility.
“It was totally stuffed up under his watch”
You lose sympathy and credibility when you make witless claims, Alwyn.
Are you suggesting that either:
1. He wasn’t the Minister on, and for about 5 months previously, the Minister?
or
2. It all ran beautifully and it wasn’t stuffed up?
I think that anyone with any sense at all would say it was stuffed up and it was on his watch AND no real attempt has been made to fix the problem and hold a proper Census in 2021.
ps. Sorry about the format of the comments, and in particular point 1.
Editing seems to have vanished.
Dunno, looks fine to me 😉
I’m not suggesting, I’m stating that when you make such poorly conceived political statements as the one I quoted, you reveal yourself as insincere and lacking credibility as a commenter. The cure is simple; stop doing that; present better, credible comments; we know you can.
Just to be clear: You argue that the incoming minister should have identified the extent of any problem, reorganised the entire census process, and hired all the additional personnel within five months, and that failure to do so means that a better organised supplementary census needs to be urgently arranged in the next couple of years?
Why aren’t you calling for it to be next month, or feb2020, if they’re so easy to sort out?
He simply needed to show some interest in the matter.
Getting people to do the follow-up work was what was needed and that doesn’t take years to organise.
So if it was such a debacle and the organisation so easy, why are you wanting to bring the next census forward only two years, instead of three or four? And why aren’t you blaming the ministers who failed to show an interest between Feb ’13 and Nov ’17?
There are none so blind as those who will not see.
Don’t trip over your white cane.
It’s a simple question. If the entire thing needs to be redone and can be completely reorganised in five months, why do you want to wait until 2021 for the next census? Shouldn’t you be complaining that we’re not having a proper census next month?
What a load of BS.
You’re still acting as a standard Authoritarian Follower and defending the complete ballsup that your leaders caused. And that, really, is all you’re doing.
All the evidence is that it fully rests upon National and so you’re making lots of noise, talking BS, to try and distract from that fact.
Absolute perfect example of the RWNJs and their propensity to avoid taking responsibility for their actions.
There are none so blind as those who will not see.
Don’t trip over your white cane.
Says the person trying to rewrite history so that it conforms to what he wants to believe while ignoring the truth.
National fucked up.
Deal with or fuck off.
Still flogging that dead horse, Alwyn.
Even National are aware they fucked up the last census.
There are none so blind as those who will not see.
Don’t trip over your white cane.
I get an error on some pages on The Standard where the page loads, but is completely blank. It’s always happened every now and then but is currently happening on the pages “Russell Brands New Year Revolutions”, “Julian Assange and the Barbara Streisand Effect” and “Drug Testing at Music Festivals” – and also ironically on the Contact page, hence I thought I’d post it here as I can’t find the appropriate email address.
I’m using an iPhone with the latest iOS, and it happens on both Safari and Chrome.
The fact that it’s always happened intermittently indicates that it’s something else wrong. It’s not the site.
I suggest searching for similar errors reported for your iphone model.
Sorry when I said “every now and then” I meant it doesn’t happen on every article on The Standard but just some of them. Some articles just come up as blank pages. In the past I’ve ignored it as it’s only been the odd article, but now there’s 3 in the last few days. This only happens on The Standard so I’m afraid it’s a site issue, not my phone.
For it to be a site issue it would be happening to everybody. It’s not. It’s only happening to you.
That makes it that the most probable issue is something on your phone interfering with your browsing of The Standard. Perhaps some sort of security software or maybe a virus or trojan.
A site issue doesn’t mean it happens to everybody – it would be pretty obvious if no one could access these posts.
I used to work in web design and maintenance. If it happens to one person chances are it happens to more who don’t report a problem because it’s not worth the effort.
I suggest the site admins log it as a bug to look into; I can confirm it happens with the above pages in mobile view from iOS 12.1.2. When I request desktop view these pages can be accessed as per normal.
I have the same problem Booker described. I’m using an Android Smartphone and Chrome.
Yes. I am having the same problem and same pages on my phone. Android with latest updates. But its OK on my laptop mac book air. Which I’m connecting via my phone hotspot.
Same for me, I get a blank screen on some pages too.
Like this?
No I get thestandard.org.nz showing in the address bar as fully loaded, but nothing at all in the browser window.
I had that happen and occasionally the page wouldn’t show as well. Sometimes the page would disappear altogether while I was reading it.
This issue appeared to be Firefox. It started happening after an update and stopped after another.
Good news, hopefully.
So far it looks like the Grauniad has not been instructed to attack her.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/08/rahaf-al-qunun-saudi-woman-under-un-protection-as-australia-urges-asylum-claim
Who issues these instructions to the Guardian? Is it Soros, the Illuminati or the Lizard People?
So pointing out the dishonesty and the ideological subservience of the Grauniad makes me a fruitcake, does it?
It’s interesting to see how you have no resort other than abuse here.
You think Tom Walker, AKA Jonathan Pie, is a fruitcake too, no doubt. After all, the Grauniad has him in its gunsights.
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/dec/13/tv-review-jonathan-pie-american-pie
You got the idea from Te Reo, right?
https://thestandard.org.nz/julian-assange-and-the-streisand-effect/#comment-1569355
or maybe LPrent who tore you a capacious new asshole today.
you’ll do better when you wind the tone back a whole bunch.
every editor is telling you the same thing so use your ears and listen hard.
Mr Prent doesn’t need a ridiculous goody two-shoes like you to interpret for him.
Now, maybe you can do what Psycho Milt evidently cannot: explain why pointing out the dishonesty and political subservience of the Grauniad makes me a believer in “Soros, the Illuminati or the Lizard People.”
Feel free to post your exposition under this. There’s a good fellow.
I worry for the gullibility of some of the liberati.
Perhaps you could answer PM’s first question, “Who issues these instructions to the Guardian?” Go ahead, astound me by actually answering the question instead of finding some way to wriggle out of it. Better yet, leave me absolutely gobsmacked with an answer that actually makes sense, ie doesn’t rely on some bizarre conspiracy.
You have no credibility. That’s why you are “Dopey” in this little playlet….
http://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2019/01/death-before-dishonour-or-what-does-she.html
As you don’t appear to have many research skills, I have helped you out.
https://ianjsinclair.wordpress.com/2015/03/03/truly-independent-the-guardian-and-advertising/comment-page-1/
Morrissey is correct to point out the biases shown by the Guardian.
Andre, Joe90, pm and others resort to abuse regularly.
This will offend the liberati.
So pointing out the dishonesty and the ideological subservience of the Grauniad makes me a fruitcake, does it?
I have no opinion on that.
Your comment made the claim that the Guardian follows instructions about what editorial approaches to take in its coverage. That prompted the fairly obvious, not to mention simple, question: “Who issues the instructions?” I note that you haven’t answered that question.
https://www.theblaze.com/news/2017/05/25/study-physically-weak-men-more-likely-to-be-socialist-strong-men-more-likely-to-be-capitalist?utm_content=buffer175aa&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=theblaze
Must be true its on the internet 🙂
Unscientific: only 171 in the sample. Political polls use a thousand or thereabouts here to get the standard margin of error, so in the UK with a population fifteen times bigger the sample required is around 15000.
“Our results demonstrate that physically weak males are more reluctant than physically strong males to assert their self-interest”. I suspect their next study will discover that if you drop something, it falls down.
“so in the UK with a population fifteen times bigger the sample required is around 15000”.
Sorry Dennis but because you have a population 15 times as large doesn’t mean that the sample has to be larger to retain the same accuracy.
If you think that 1,000 is enough in New Zealand it will be just as good in the UK.
“The mathematics of probability prove that the size of the population is irrelevant unless the size of the sample exceeds a few percent of the total population you are examining. This means that a sample of 500 people is equally useful in examining the opinions of a state of 15,000,000 as it would a city of 100,000.”
https://www.surveysystem.com/sscalc.htm
In neither case is your sample other than tiny compared to the population
Well, I was applying the logic of proportionality. My vague recollection from 1969 suggests you are correct and if polling practice, as defined by accepted convention, is to use around a thousand in the UK, then I take your point. In any case, as you imply, the sample they used was way too small.
I did pass the stats exam at Auckland University that year, but not by much. Mumbo jumbo was my verdict on statistics…
George Galloway providing his usual perceptive insight.
This time into the yellow vest protests in France,
As ever he nails it.
https://t.co/8BwCQ8KZ9G?amp=1
Thank you Ed, and here Galloway really does nail it. A wonderful orator.
Solution 4 to prevent catastrophic climate change.
Start in March.
Tax meat heavily.
I am posting every day on climate change with suggested radical actions for government to save our species.
Why?
Because we have 12 years.
And to remind us all this was in the news today.
‘2018 climate continues ‘alarming trend’ – NIWA
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/379692/2018-climate-continues-alarming-trend-niwa
Classic Python humour that challenges the nonsense of modern day identity politics.
The brilliant Rachel Stewart has faced the wrath of the Stans of this world.
That reminds me, are you still cool with Rachel’s racist abuse?
I went cold on Rachel Stewart when she demanded that I pledge allegiance to the “gender critical feminist” movement – I am supportive but not gonna join a tribe. I declined and thus she called me a coward. So yeah I can believe racist abuse. She has an anger problem
Yep. I’m not going to get over it in a hurry. First time I’ve copped anything like that since I lived in Oz and that was more generalized kiwi bashing. The odd thing here is that whenever Ed is challenged on an ethical issue involving a hero of his, he runs a mile. I’m not calling him a chicken, but I hope he doesn’t live too close to a Tegel factory 😉
Well, The Life of Brian challenges the nonsense of modern day idiotic revolutionaries even more so. When you watch it do you mostly laugh at yourself?
“I’d like to think that part of an editor’s job is to guide their contributors gently towards the light, not run full-tilt together holding hands, into the dark.” – Rachel Stewart (Nov. 2017: Media gorging on racist, sexist views)
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11948791
The Caped Crusader and ‘Boy’ Wonder strike again – Holy Venezuela, TRP!
AIEEE!
AIIEEE!
ARRGH!
AWK!
AWKKKKKK!
BAM!
BANG!
BANG-ETH!
BIFF!
BLOOP!
BLURP!
BOFF!
BONK!
CLANK!
CLANK-EST!
CLASH!
CLUNK!
CLUNK-ETH!
CRRAACK!
CRASH!
CRRAACK!
CRUNCH!
CRUNCH-ETH!
EEE-YOW!
FLRBBBBB!
GLIPP!
GLURPP!
KAPOW!
KAYO!
KER-SPLOOSH!
KERPLOP!
KLONK!
KLUNK!
KRUNCH!
OOOFF!
OOOOFF!
OUCH!
OUCH-ETH!
OWWW!
OW-ETH
PAM!
PLOP!
POW!
POWIE!
QUNCKKK!
RAKKK!
RIP!
SLOSH!
SOCK!
SPLATS!
SPLATT!
SPLOOSH!
SWAAP!
SWISH!
SWOOSH!
THUNK!
THWACK!
THWACKE!
THWAPE!
THWAPP!
UGGH!
URKKK!
VRONK!
WHACK!
WHACK-ETH!
WHAM-ETH!
WHAMM!
WHAMMM!
WHAP!
Z-ZWAP!
ZAM!
ZAMM!
ZAMMM!
ZAP!
ZAP-ETH
ZGRUPPP!
ZLONK!
ZLOPP!
ZLOTT!
ZOK!
ZOWIE!
ZWAPP!
ZZWAP!
ZZZZWAP!
ZZZZZWAP!
Have you been taking lessons in stenography from Morrissey DM ?
If so it looks like the student is soon to surpass the teacher.
FLRBBBBB!
Indeed, mullet. Well done, Mr. Kram!
You’ll also notice an entirely coincidental preference for over-emphasised text ..
A cut-and-paste ‘effort’ – twas the Dynamic Duo’s preference.
Ed does not need your snarky contributions.
He made a snarky contribution and got one back. Perhaps he could amaze us all and actually watch The Life of Brian while doing some self reflection. I wouldn’t ask you to as i know you only watch trailers for movies.
Right-hand batsman, Right-arm medium pace bowler, and Right-wing media commentator, Simon Doull, has pretty much excused himself from having any commentary role in the upcoming Bangladesh cricket tour.
Simon Doull dismisses climate change as ‘rubbish’ in ODI cricket commentary
Kevin Norquay – January 8, 2019
The Unfolding Tragedy of Climate Change in Bangladesh
Robert Glennon – Scientific American, April 21, 2017
Cobblers, he should just stick to commentating on the cricket.
I do miss Iain Galloway’s commentary.
The standard of sports commentary has slipped over the past 15 to 20 years.
It hasn’t merely slipped, it’s beyond terrible.
Thank Radio Sport and Bill Francis for that.
As barmy as Doull is, he’s Iain Galloway, Alan Richards, Richie Benaud and John Arlott compared to Ian “Smithy” Smith, who is without doubt the stupidest person in sports.
I did interview Doull once. He was judge on a pub sponsored ‘worst student flat’ competition. Gave first prize to some morons who smeared excrement all over the house they lived in.
Thanks for that, Te Reo. It goes straight into his file.
A tad non-pc to use cobblers as a term of abuse, perhaps? I suspect some here would view them as respectable tradesmen. Although I suppose that, being self-employed, they were considered impossible to unionise, and thus middle-class.
Fairly thin on the ground nowadays. However there was one still on Broadway, Newmarket, when I last cruised through a year or two back. And I noticed another in one of the regional towns more recently…
If you fancy a bit of non PC cop this…
Simon Doull should stick to his knitting.
Simon Doull not the smartest boy on the block, he should just stick to cricket IMHO ?
“Right-hand batsman, Right-arm medium pace bowler, and Right-wing media commentator, Simon Doull, has pretty much excused himself from having any commentary role in the upcoming Bangladesh cricket tour.”
LMAO…now thats funny (unless you live in a low lying area of course)
Never go toe to toe with a foot fetishist.
A foot fetishist discredited a Reddit post that falsely claimed to show a nude image of New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Vice reported.
[…]
“I’m a contributor to wikifeet and even I have never seen a second toe like that!” Reddit user jokes_on_you commented on the image. The comment also included a link to an image showing the Congresswoman wearing sandals.
https://www.newsweek.com/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-fake-nude-debunked-foot-fetishists-1282672
“Bugger – the grammar police are out.”
—L. Prent, 6:05 pm, 8 January 2016
Julian Assange and the Streisand Effect.
The best Brexit negotiating position would be with Labour via a support base mandate for a out of bounds agenda along with being pro to continuing with the EU.
What would the EU do?
Concessions, that would lead to more positive reform (& thus sustainability) on it’s own part, or internal heightened dis-integration relating to the high profile fall out in handling the British democracy demands.
One reason (not that one needs any more … ) why I won’t be visiting the US of A again any time soon.
How they might treat you if they think your documentation is iffy .
Emma Brockes, who wrote that piece, was discredited fourteen years ago after she wrote a particularly foolish and ill-advised attack on, of all people, Noam Chomsky.
It’s interesting that she’s still “working” for the Grauniad; it looks like this time at least she’s written something truthful. Still, the fact that she’s still “working” in journalism tells you a lot about the integrity and ethics of the British media.
Another of her colleagues is the notorious Luke Harding, who has neither apologized for his lies against Julian Assange, nor suffered any consequences, as far as we know.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2005/nov/17/theguardian.pressandpublishing
Akcherly, old chum, there is little or no evidence either way on the Manafort story.
Manafort denies it, of course. However, he hasn’t gone out of his way to disprove it, either. Which I would have thought would be a piece of piss (phone GPS, flights, hotels, taxi receipts etc.). If he simply wasn’t in London at the time, again, easy to prove. Of course, he may have been legitimately in the UK at the time, which might cloud the issue. I hear Salisbury is lovely that time of year.
The other thing an expert on the media such as yourself should probably note is that the Guardian story is very, very careful not to make direct accusations (“the Guardian has been told …” etc.), so there are no “lies” in the piece at all. The Guardian’s legal team are no dummies.
Rather difficult to prove a negative don’t you think?
True. But London is the most surveilled city in the world. CCTV everywhere. That embassy more watched more than most, too, I guess.
And as I noted, Manafort can easily prove where he was, and wasn’t, at the time of the alleged visit. It’s a little odd that he isn’t actively trying to disprove the claim.
However, it is just an unverified claim, and a bit vague about the details, so maybe he’s decided it’s just best ignored.
Uber driver pleads guilty to killing six people between rides
Jason Dalton admitted that he shot eight people at three locations in and around Kalamazoo in 2016
A.P., Jan. 7, 2019
An Uber driver charged with killing six strangers in between picking up passengers pleaded guilty to murder in Michigan on Monday, just before attorneys were set to interview jurors for his trial.
Jason Dalton’s surprise move came more than three years after the shootings, which occurred over the course of a few hours in and around Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Dalton abruptly pleaded guilty to murder and attempted murder – over his attorney’s objections – triggering the prospect of a mandatory sentence of life in prison with no chance for parole .
“Yes, I’ve wanted this for quite a while,” Dalton replied when a judge asked if the pleas were voluntary.
The 48-year-old Dalton answered “yes” to a series of questions, admitting that he shot eight people at three locations. After his arrest, police quoted Dalton as saying a “devil figure” on Uber’s app was controlling him on the day of the shootings.
Four women were killed outside a Cracker Barrel restaurant. And a father and his 17-year-old son were fatally shot while looking at a pickup truck at a dealership.
A 14-year-old girl was shot in the head during the restaurant shooting and survived, while an eighth person was injured in a residential area.
Dalton had been deemed competent to stand trial and last week dropped an insanity defense. In court, he didn’t explain why he randomly shot eight people.
Dalton, the father of two children, had worked as an insurance adjuster and had no previous criminal record before the shootings.
Prosecutor Jeff Getting said the motive behind the shootings is a question that “haunts us.”
“Everybody wants to know,” he said during a news conference after the court hearing.
Defense attorney Eusebio Solis said he advised Dalton not to plead guilty. But he told the judge: “There are personal reasons for him. He does not want to put his family through that, or the victims’ families, through the trial. It’s his decision.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/07/uber-driver-michigan-kills-six-guilty-plea
Amazing. What is Uber’s vetting process? Do they even have a vetting process?
Yeah pretty disturbing, but how do you vet for this kind of stuff? This guy probably seemed ok until he suddenly wasn’t.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmond_post_office_shooting
The real problem is the access to guns which allows disturbed or maladjusted people a quick and easy way of doing maximum damage.
That certainly doesn’t help but we need to ask what about the society he lives in caused this guy to suddenly go off the rails like this?
Could have just as easily been a taxi driver or a bus driver. I don’t think Uber is the problem here
He said a “devil figure” on Uber’s app was controlling him on the day of the shootings.
I for one believe him.🙀
Economic anxiety…
https://twitter.com/KevinReuning/status/1082446862681022464
I think a person who wants to hurt people needs some help.
I pretty sure that she doesn’t mean going round hitting people. Just putting the old taxes back in place.
Yep. But people’s words reveal some psycological stuff behind the comment.
I was hoping he would add more fairness to the tax system.
Sounds better. Harder to argue against. Implies something will be improved rather than destroyed.
Some Eco Maori Music for the minute.
It’s all good with ECO MAORI Aotearoa is a much better place to live and work this year than it was last year. We had a government that put down tangata whenua O Atoearoa and all minority culture. They did not like helping our Pacific cousin and ran the country like a business for wealth people and businesses first and formost. And that type of policy is what has caused all the problems on Papatuanukue. We have goals to be carbon neutral that will help preserve Tanemahuta and Tangaroa,s creatures that we all have a link to for the Mokopunas Hopefully 2019 will be the start of a big change to the way we treat all humans as equals. Ka kite ano
Kia ora Newshub it’s a puzzle why people do things like sending parcel to the embassy in Australia. I have been informed about the massive seed boom and the effects of pest numbers booming to and that phenomenon takes a big toll on our endangered wildlife. It’s shocking that those cricketers can play with Wahine like toys he deserves what he gets from the law hope the Wahine gets justice. I feel sorry for the lady who’s
4 years old son climb up on the roof of her car while driving. My 4 years old grandson could break out of all his car seats and loved climbing.?????? Its not easy looking after children. Ka kite ano