I’ve just published an El-Quicko post … comparing the latest Colmar Brunton ratings (both Party Support and Preferred PM) with the same measures for previous incoming governments at the same (11 month) stage into their first terms.
Covers all 7 incoming governments since regular polling commenced in 1969.
Well done, a comprehensive analysis of which each part supports what the previous part tells us, confirming my impression that the govt+Greens are ok so far.
Swordfish, you are a genius with poll data. Am sure I’m speaking for many here when I say we really appreciate all the work you put into comparing, organising and analysis of the data.
Nice one Swordfish…it looks like the Key government was a freak and I guess the Nats are still basking in the glow of this (not that I understand it).
As Key memories slide into history people will realise that a government where Bridges refuses to tell Collins to delete a nasty erroneous tweet and Collins defies the leader and says it has not been discussed with Bridges is an unelectable shower.
Thanks swordfish, very interesting, and confirms the “Struggling not coping” meme is just that, a meme put out there to create a sense of failure.
With all the overseas turmoil, issues with Micoplasma bovis, pressures of pay rounds and underfunding being discovered by the current administration, you would think people’s confidence would have flagged more.
But by tackling housing and education and health issues head on, P.M. Ardern and team has shown she grasps the large threats, as do they, and remain undaunted.
There are so many fronts with doughty battles to be fought that some are feeling they are still on the bottom of the pile.
We have to present those issues, as it appears the coalition is listening, within the parameters of their ideologies. We need to present cases for the carers the sickness beneficiaries and the group suffering addictions.
Some of the current methods are clearly not assisting people, and are cash based thinking.
Love your work. A much needed credible voice of sanity in a world of fake news, manufactured outrage and general all round bullshit. So much appreciated.
Agreed Ed…that sly devious guy on Checkpoint last night was PR with knobs on for big Pharma…I missed his intro and waited to the end for it to be confirmed that he was representing Pharma interests.
Long Live Pharmac I say; if only more countries had the balls to set this up like the Clark government did.
It’s a bit rich hearing Seymour, Franks, Brash and all the other ACT far right extremists whinging on about their access to free speech.
The party of the 1% gets much more than 1% of the airwaves on RNZ and the corporate media.
Why our taxpayer money is used to support the party of the global elite is more of a question.
It is not about voter support, it is about the issue itself. All sorts of people get coverage depending on what they do, for instance Russell Norman and his kayak protest.
In any event event Don Brash has not just been the Leader of ACT when it was a 1% party. The reason for his relatively high profile is that he has been Reserve Bank Governor and Leader of the National Party. He was actually asked to speak about his time as Leader of the National Party.
Redline: “The education workers’ union at Auckland University just had the police called to shut down their information stall, because it was rightly critical of the vice chancellor. No fuss made about that from Seymour and his buddies.”
I expect nobody told them? Nobody informed the media – or they did but the media couldn’t see that it’s a freedom of speech issue?
So the union was allowed to operate a stall on campus, provided that they demonstrate subservience to the authorities and refrain from comment on relevant headline news?
The University of Auckland is platforming Don Brash?
if we don’t show any interest in the ‘brash’ among us then all the fest will be amonst the converted already and we dont meed to care abbout the spread of liberal idea being sent abouit how to rort the system and make money which is what Don Brash is advocating.
I’m going to go out on a limb here because a) I can and b) it should generate an animated discussion or two. I expect to be criticised, so feel free!
My reasons for doing so are that we are still living in what someone called ‘the perpetual present,’ as if life, with steady improvements perhaps, will go on forever just like it is now. Instead, we are sleepwalking to our doom. And there are still, by neglect, still climate change deniers: for example Soimon berating the Coalition government in parliament for stopping oil and gas exploration.
The whole, it seems, of the Northern Hemisphere is experiencing a heat wave. Certainly in Europe and Japan, though we don’t hear so much about North America, apart from the fires in California.
• So, expect severely poor harvests in the wheat growing areas, such as the Ukraine, in September.
• Expect the price of food to rise rather rapidly in the months up to Christmas, especially in the UK, which can only produce 60% of its own food.
• Perhaps expect food riots in the major European cities such as London, Paris and Berlin in the new year.
• We could see the imposition of martial law as early a January or February in areas of Europe, as authorities struggle to contain the situation.
• Certainly expect the flow of desperate climate refugees from North Africa and the Middle East into Europe to increase, and to see some rather draconian responses from the southern European countries.
• Expect ‘wet bulb’ conditions to spread through the tropical areas, with resulting poor harvests and increasing mortality rates.
• This will trigger increased migration towards the north – ie the USA, with more trouble on the Mexican border.
• Large areas of the Middle East will become unbearable during the day, and barely liveable at night. This is already the case – one city in the Middle East recorded an average 24 hour temperature of over 42C.
As a direct result of increasing sea levels and increased precipitation in some areas expect floods, and even severe floods with run off in the parched areas, as happened recently in California.
And what about our part of the world in the near future?
• Our winter has been warmer than usual, with less rainfall in the South Island and more in the North.
• Expect to see temperature records broken during the summer months, with a poor harvest generally in the autumn.
• Climate events will increase in frequency and severity and will result in deaths and large scale damage.
• The winter rains in Australia have failed, again, so expect to see large areas of the wheat belt turn into a dust bowl, with farmers being forced off their land, or requiring help from state and federal governments to get through.
• Expect the pressure on the northern areas of Australia from climate refugees to increase, with the predictable hard-line response from the Oz government.
I could go on, but finally, expect the Herald and/or Stuff to devote at least one headline to a kitten stuck up a tree!
Tony Veitch etc My reasons for doing so are that we are still living in what someone called ‘the perpetual present,’ as if life, with steady improvements perhaps, will go on forever just like it is now. Instead, we are sleepwalking to our doom.
I agree. As I have been saying similar for a week. It suddently has dumped on me and I am too anxious to look at all you have listed. But nobody I know is really exercised. They are all fully occupied chasing their own goals. Which may come to nothing or they will be financially ruined and have never learned to tough it out. Or ready to swoop on the old lady next door and take over her house and garden as an unarguable matter.
This is a piece about someone with a dog pointing out the importance of controls for dog owners and respect for each other. How can this modern generation brought up to elbow everyone else and go straight to their own target ever be able to settle into a civil and supportive lifestyle with strength in numbers and everyone doing something to aid the collective, the co-operative?
(https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/northland/106056338/no-actually-your-dog-isnt-friendly-and-should-be-on-a-leash
I think many NZs have been socialised out of civility, which has been replaced with the cult of independence; the hard working achieve and the others have to be carried or dropped. There are a lot like that. Ugly thought. And among the apparently nicer middle-class they are just as determined to rise on everyone’s input and claim it all, only not so brutal in their methods.
Hydroponic warehouses to grow food. Am at a bit of a loss why NZ isn’t doing this already considering the current circumstances.
Farmers could do the same to diversify, no drought worries, no flooding worries (depending on location). It could actually save the country loads of $$$ by not having to pay out so much to farmers during droughts etc etc.
But hey, how’s that kitten doing….and what is Kim Kardashian wearing? Their click bait priorities are more important than the demise of the planet and the human race.
On ‘Gardeners’ World’ I encountered lovable soft comfort sort Monty Don saying amid his golden Labradors , easy as poss, it was the warmest winter since records began. Major prob, that was in the mid 1600s in Britain. Off camera he must be pulling out his curly hobbit hair in morbid despair. Economics demands we, as him, carry on at gay a-pace til the cliff.
Another slightly hopeful piece from one of my favourite US political commentators Heather Digby Parton. This time she’s focussing on the impact of the triple negatives of Russia, immigration, and trade are impacting in Ohio:
The evidence she cites is really pretty weak, barely better than no evidence at all. And in the end, the only evidence that really matters will come on November 6. O’Connor (if we’re lucky) and Jones and Lamb are nice-to-haves, but they don’t make any practical difference yet. It needs a shit-load more of them, and a Dem lead of 7% for the House generic ballot still might not be enough to overcome the gerrymandered advantage the Republicans engineered for themselves from their 2010 success.
Ohio might be too much to ask.
But it’s been a season of boilovers, so I’m happy to await the results today.
I would also agree with your implied point that a Democrat takeover of either Senate or Congress needs more from the Democrats than anti-Trump sentiment.
We may end up with an interesting mini experiment for November in Kansas, testing the idea whether moderates or progressives work better for flipping a red district. That’s if the progressive Welder wins his primary today, the moderate Davis is unopposed for the Dem nomination in the neighbouring district.
” “I’m sure Trump is underwater there; we just don’t have district-level polling,” said Patrick Miller, a political science professor at the University of Kansas. Even so, Miller thinks that the moderate approach of Paul Davis is probably going to win over more voters than the progressivism of Welder. He thinks that, at least in Kansas, Democrats are going to need to appeal to independent voters to win. ”
The best part of the Brash Speech notes: Comments re the present government have yet to be proven and (iii) is highly contentious
On National
A hugely disappointing Government:
I. They pledged to reduce the gap between NZ incomes
and those in Australia, and utterly failed;
II. They pledged to make housing more afordable, and
utterly failed
III. They pledged to nalise Treaty settlements within six years of being elected and to scrap Maori electorates, and failed in both respects
In my own view, the present Government is likely to do a better job in making housing more afordable, but
probably a worse job in closing the income gap with Australia, and an equally poor job in moving New Zealand towards a society where every citizen, irrespective of ethnicity, has equal political rights.
Not too long ago Marcus, Australia changed and LOWERED penal rates.
Many Australians are now contracted workers with lesser conditions.
Many are now under employed. So they are coming down to meet us, $24???
Not sure of your point here Patricia. Are you saying that we should wait until Australia’s rates come “back” to ours without ours moving “up”. Pardon my ignorance but is $24 our aspirational rate or is Australia coming back to that. I presume you mean by “penal” rate that which is paid for over time – do we still have such a thing.
“They’re paying somebody’s mortgage and I see a lot of people who are low socio-economic and their bank statements literally will read, ‘KFC, McDonalds, the dairy, KFC, McDonalds, court fine’, trucks that they buy, goods that they can’t afford.
If the exact same proportion of income was spent on, ‘Uber Eats, Habit gym, Ponsonby restaurant, Uber Eats, Habit gym, craft beer bar’, is that a more reliable money manager?” asked chief executive Sue Chetwin.
Independent Property Managers Association (IPMA) president Karen Withers said it was becoming more prevalent. She said new immigrants often offered bank accounts without prompting, saying it was standard practice in other countries.
I think a lot of migrants offer bank accounts to show proof of funds to pay rent, as they don’t have a job or any references when they arrive but still need accomodation. Never heard of local tenants being asked to provide them, let alone bank statements that have the actual transactions and then be judged on them!
Personally feel that rental agents should have the same regulation as real estate sales agents. What is the difference? They both go into people’s houses, have keys and in position of trust. At present the landlord is liable for the rental agents behaviour and not the actual rental agent in the tenancy tribunal, the whole area needs a clean up with personal liability for behaviour put on the person who holds the keys and makes the day to day decisions.
We discovered that by taking housekeeping as a cash lump and managing on that by using “Real” money, our purchases were more private. Our payments for chemist, wine, golf petrol and food were our business…. just saying.
Does that mean we all get former tory MPs to advocate our point of view a la Katherine Rich of ‘Food and Grocery Council’, or Ken Shirley from the Road Transport Forum?
Chris T as if no one knows what he’s about.
He wasn’t silenced it was a safety issue
Issue.
Don Brash is a deliberately divisive person who attracts far right activists which attracts those who oppose.
He is the last colonist who refuses to accept the truth about the damage it did to Maori.
He is happy to have the support of neo Fascists and support their free speech.
Even though the Fascist goal is to Deny everyone else free speech.
Safety issue my arse!! The woman lied otherwise she would have informed the cops .
Can’t stand brashs politics but it’s a slippery slope banning him from speaking.
Thanks Jenny for that info, don’t think I’ve read/heard about that in the media since they’ve been running the ‘brash ban’ story. They should mention it, it’s relevant, especially in regards to the subject matter brash spins.
I have no love for Jones, but this is a very dangerous moment for us all, effectively now a few of the world biggest and most powerful social media corporations, have the power to censor free speech according to their own world view of what is real news/fake news or conspiracy theory and all that that implies.
So I don’t know about you, but having Zuckerberg monitoring what news feeds most people I meet see, doesn’t sound at all good to me.
Meh. Anyone wanting a good laugh or the kooks and cranks that take him seriously can go direct to his websites or listen to his radio rants. He’s still got more than enough platforms to spew his lawsuit-bait that I don’t see his free-speech rights are significantly infringed.
And if corporations are starting to think they have a responsibility to ensure their platforms are not used to cause harm, then that’s a good thing, even if the way they choose to do that is flawed.
Of course, the better way to ensure these massive monopolies don’t get control over our discourse is to simply not give them that control to begin with. Get your info closer to the source, rather than mediated through the massive intermediaries.
BTW, if anyone’s day isn’t yet sufficiently far down the rabbit-hole and needs 4 minutes of unhinged rant to top up the weird, you’ll find Jones’ response to being de-platformed here:
@Andre Alex Jones said in his divorce case that he is a ‘performance artist playing a character’, which is pretty funny, and is of course the guy is a fucking idiot and from what I have seen oozes all sorts of personal issues, but I if you think that this sort of censorship will stop with him, then I think you are wrong…
They’re getting stuck into this Free Speech crap everywhere aren’t they.
It’s not free speech they’re after:
It’s the freedom to spout crazy conspiracy theories… to spread fake news… to claim the actual news is fake news so that the population loses sight of the difference. It’s the freedom to destroy individuals they decide they don’t like and to create state enemies out of bona fida organisations and institutions set up to service the population. It’s the freedom to destroy international relationships and make enemies out of friends. It’s ultimately the freedom to start catastrophic wars.
It’s the new face of fascism – in the guise of Free Speech.
alex jones was utilising private companies free platforms (youtube, fb etc), in doing so he like anyone else was required to follow their rules/guidelines and he didn’t. As private companies they have every right to ban him and control content on their sites.
He still has his website and he still has his cable channel. If his website was taken down, I’d feel different about the situation.
I see it a little differently. These private companies are so large they control what people see on the net.
For some time now alternative media voices have been demonetized or taken down by these online gatekeepers. Jimmy Dore is one such victim and there are countless others. The aim isn’t to restrict hate speech or fascism, it is to control content.
Let’s say one person owns 99 out of the 100 stores in town, they ban all people they see as linked to hate speech from their stores. The definition of hate is poorly defined and some of the townsfolk feel aggrieved that they are included in that label.
The 1 store that accepts all comers attracts many of the townspeople that disagree with a lot of the views of the owner of the 99 stores. Those people end up maligned by the rest of the community… An interesting yet ghastly scenario…
In that due its size and reach youtube has become almost like a quasi-like government institution and therefore the normal rules of what a commercial business can and can’t do don’t apply
It’s an interesting concept – I’d go more with Google in particular becoming effectively a Standard Oil-style monopoly, which gives it more power than a regular supplier.
But that having been said, I suspect that Standard Oil would have limited what it carried in oil cars to “oil”, and not “shit”. Looks to me like there’s an opening for a 4chan/8chan-style nutbar video echochamber. “Super-8Chan”, maybe?
They had a programme here in Aus, re Facebook on its own internal monitoring, and showed policy parameters they used to decide to take things down or list them as disturbing.
An example item was a video which was still available showing a toddler being hit punched and slapped. He was screaming and sobbing.They listed it as “Disturbing”.
You heard the moderator explaining that this had been viewed a huge number of times but had a small % of complaints. They did take it down, but people had uploaded it and shared it putting it out there forever.
I now do not use Facebook where I can avoid it. For obvious reasons, I want no part of their “Blood money” made from those clicks!!
Adrian Jones is a nasty hate speech purveyor giving him a platform is akin to the resurrection of Hitler.
If he was a Muslim he would be in Guantanamo.
Do you come here to dribble inanities from your keyboard into my conscience?
Comparing anyone who doesn’t proclaim that the eradication of whole races is good of their race to hitler immediately makes anything you say around that comment sound downright retarded. And you, it makes you sound retarded.
If you look a bit closer, it’s not about free speech at all. Jones has crossed a line ever since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. From that point on he started to call for people to harass and attack real people, and it’s slowly been getting worse. He even attacked Joe Rogan who is supposed to be a friend of his and subtly suggested violence would bring Joe back into line. Here is a good piece from TYT that goes through the points.
Hmm. Throw youtube and the rest of them alongside that list of so-called fake news websites drawn up by the anonymous people at Snopes that a fair few people rely on as their radar.
Then there was the BBC having to back down over killing youtube independence channels that drew sweet all comment hereabouts, because…well, was it because too many people were busy elevating and platforming Southern and Molyneux?
Tommy Robinson – elevated and martyred off the back of the nazi pug nonsense (Where was the “left”?)
Folks across the left applauding the idea that fb play the role of censor.
Throw it in alongside the insistence for “correct” political thought/analysis that gets expressed by decrying any skeptical take on “official” news as being the markings of a Kremlin stooge or whatever…
Not sure where the hypocrisy is – just because you didn’t see the left complaining and fighting the things you mentioned doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. And I suppose some of the left oppose your views on russia and whatnot so you may not have taken much notice of them. But whatever…
I’ve been saying that the biggest concerns in the world ATM are the corporations and the people who run them as they now have control over us and our governments.
TV3 am show is becoming nastier and nastier as dunnycan garner and merkin richadson drop any pretence of civility and objectivity as they push their right wing agenda to dumb down and infantilise the whole of New Zealand
society.
Does free speech mean someone has the right to be rude, obnoxious, cruel, or twist facts about others who may not be in a position to respond because of their family, their job, or health, or who have no wish to become embroiled in a nasty slanging match?
What are the boundaries and responsibilities, or are there none?
Someone like Don Brash has a nationwide platform and an eager media to spout his views. Many people subjected to his views do not have that platform.
Yep the law written by people like him… and so the merry go round goes round.
There is a special type of bigot who use velvet tones and softened words to hide their malignant content – b.rash is one and there are a few others on this site eh puckwit. But the law is unbreached yay we are safe again!!!
Shut the debate up quick by using misogyny memes – typical of someone who accuses women of mental illness because they raise pedo activity. Why did you do that I continue to wonder.
It could be because you have zero mana just a shadow sock puppet for a real rightie I spose. Funny though your bully tactics and wankfest of Collins is a worry – objectify women seems your go to eh.
If you object to what someone is saying you can make a complaint to the human rights commission. There is also defamation law – so you can sue someone.
If your case is good enough you can generally rally your supporters to help with legal costs.
These legal frameworks are robust enough to deal with any issues of supposed ‘hate speech’.
The legal costs would be enough to put off many people pursuing a case so the “free speech” proponent can carry on with their jaundiced views, untouched.
The case of a young Maori woman working in a Nelson supermarket comes to mind. Out of the blue a customer had a nasty rant about her being Maori so would never get anywhere in life. I was pleased to see the young woman’s supervisor told the customer to leave and not come back.
It is just not on, in the name of free speech, that someone can verbally attack someone they don’t even know. And why should that young woman have to put up with such bile.
I agree with you Reality. Your example clearly crosses the line between free speech and hate speech.
Based on what you have said, the young Maori woman has a case to put in front of the human rights commission. I’d encourage her to do so. (This shouldn’t be costly).
It shouldn’t cost anything – our justice system should ensure that all such cases are heard without the complainant having to front up with the cash for lawyers.
When it doesn’t, as ours doesn’t, then the justice system is only for those who can afford it and justice is denied to those who need it.
“Does free speech mean someone has the right to be rude, obnoxious, cruel, or twist facts about others who may not be in a position to respond because of their family, their job, or health, or who have no wish to become embroiled in a nasty slanging match?”
Yep.
John Key exploited that right throughout his time as National Party leader.
Robert while he allowed Dirty Politics.
He did smack down Don Bash over his antiquated Maori Bashing saying in John Keys words “there is no place in NZ for these outdated antiquated ideas NZ has moved on.”
Evil, like racism, usually lies in the eye of the beholder. Late in 1999 the fourth largest newspaper in the US (NY Post) held a poll to see who their readers thought were the most evil people in history, and 19,184 of them voted. Hitler won.
Second came Bill Clinton. Stalin was third, then Pol Pot.
Fifth was the Nazi who conducted medical experiments on live jews, Dr Josef Mengele. Sixth was Hilary Clinton.
Saddam Hussein, Adolf Eichmann, Charles Manson and Idi Amin completed the top ten. Genghis Khan came in at 11th, then serial killer who ate his victims, Jeffrey Dahmer. Vlad the Impaler made it to #20, Jack the Ripper #25.
Ah, Trev. No, I guess the yanks were too busy getting high back then & didn’t notice. I wondered why he didn’t just tell the media at the time “Hey, our ancestors were convicts so breaking rules is in the genes, right? Get over it. Sportsmanship?? Are you kidding???”
I was intrigued when I read a biography of him to discover that he’d been a supporter of socialism as a young adult. It’s what he had in common with David Lange, plus they both refused knighthoods due to feeling strongly that the dross from empire ought to be discarded.
Same with William Pember Reeves: he was offered one twice, refused twice. He transformed Aotearoa with radical industrial relations policy an entire generation before Labour. Took me most of my life to get around to reading Land of the Long White Cloud but man, what a book!!
“Murdoch studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Worcester College, Oxford in England, where he supported the Labour Party, stood for Secretary of the Labour Club”. [from his wiki]
The MeToo# divas did not even mention the Palestinian Rosa Parks when they strutted at the Academy Awards.
“All Palestinians have courage. It’s different from one person to another. But I grew up in a family where I got used to seeing prisoners, the injured and martyrs.” – Ahed Tamimi
Hey everyone has missed the point I was trying to make. It was his comment re the last government that intrigued me the most. I have no time for Brash, particularly having recently read “The Hollow Men” but thought that his critique of the Key years was most apt. I agree with Jacinda though that banning him from the University was a gross over reaction. Importing “hate preachers” is one thing but Don Brash is a New Zealander and most followers of local politics know exactly where he stands.
Another important piece in today’ s Herald was Professor Peter Davis’ article entitled “Ageing “Ponzi” scheme needs to change fast”. The super situation and the long term effect of Muldoon’s blunder must be kept constantly on the public’s radar. Many of the SSS (Smug Self Satisfied) 45% that is the majority of National’s core support, will not be affected by the issue (they regard the fortnightly payment as pin money) but for the rest of us, especially our children and grandchildren the question is of the utmost importance.
How much of it is due to the increased powers of the unions especially considering the increase in strikes and threats of strikes as is happening right now
How much of it is due to a rollback of some 90 day employment laws and the worry if that will be increased or just dropped completely?
How much of it is due to the lack of warning and consultation over the oil and gas exploration halt?
How much of it is due to employers potentially paying out domestic abuse leave?
Possibly right.
When business leaders/owners lose confidence, democratically elected governments are in peril.
When anybody else (beneficiaries, bus-drivers, one-legged dog-walkers, you name it) loses confidence, governments aren’t in peril.
Strange that – looks like democracies can’t really work well when there is huge inequality of power amongst the population. Maybe time to do something about that then.
Strange that – looks like democracies can’t really work well when there is huge inequality of power amongst the population. Maybe time to do something about that then.
Yep – time to get rid of the capitalists. They’re a clear and present danger to our democracy.
The problem I have is the nats are talking confidence down . As we know it becomes self fulfilling among money once they believe it .
I rekons that the nats would happily see nz fail just to get in power.
Currently, the SJA is working to secure safe refuge for the trapped journalists in the southwest while putting pressure on the international community to secure their evacuation.
Nonetheless, Ibrahim’s fears grow with the passing of time.
“I worry that I could be arrested, that I could be killed or that I could disappear in prison like thousands of other Syrians,” Ibrahim tells Syria Direct. “I fear they could go after my family to pressure them to turn me in.”
“If we don’t get evacuated,” Ibrahim warns, “the ugliest of crimes will be committed against us.”
“Luckily, no-one was hurt this time, but this is a sinister development that indicates the growing confidence of the far right, who feel they can attack a bookshop in central London in broad daylight.
“Attacking a bookshop also exposes their claims to be defenders of free speech as hollow.”
Don’t support fascism. (It really shouldn’t have to be said)
If The Guardian penned the article its a pretty good bet that its just a continuation of the Corbyn bashing campaign thats been happening for some time apparently . Why would it be a surprise that there would be animosity towards jews recently when for no doubt a considerable number of people the sight of unarmed protesters in Gaza being gunned down by heavily armed cowards hiding behind a forty foot wall is probably still fresh in their minds ??
For Wellingtonians:
Apparently there’ll be a review of the bugger’s muddle that is now our public transport ‘network’.
Let’s hope it’s not driven by those that planned the new network and its ‘big bang’ implementation or the outcome will likely be that we’ll be lining up in one queue to get a number from a machine that gives us a place in another queue at the bus stop.
And if they’re really really clever, they’ll divide those queues into the registration number on the bus (for the purposes of efficiency and effectiveness).
Having once worked with Darran Ponter, I’m surprised at how he has so easily become captured by bullshit artists – no doubt fresh back from an overseas fact finding mission.
I was just about to do an update to a group of “concerned citizens” in my area who I am representing re changes etc to our bus services in discussions with Metlink etc, so would like to know more before doing so. Must say that I have had reasonably good productive discourse with Metlink on this but I am taking a facilitator rather than an aggressive approach. Our situation is one that is a little less urgent and requires a lot of diplomacy/nergotiations with other community citizens rather than the bus operators per se compared to some of the more urgent problems being faced by workers, students etc needing to get to work, classes etc. so need to take a cooperative and slower approach to reach a solution that meets most peoples’ needs etc.
Darran Ponter is actually on my list of people outside Metlink to approach so any more info about him etc also welcome.
Only as a former public servant in a government Ministry when he was in charge of a group of policy analysts.
RNZ news has reported that the GWRC has admitted there are problems.
Unfortunately it seems what they’re proposing will just amount to tinkering (changes to route 18 for example).
In some cases, people are having to catch 3 buses where they previously caught 1
If they wanted a quick solution, it’d probably be to simply revert to the old route system, then make gradual improvements – that won’t happen because it’s be an admission of compete failure.
I’m picking that unless something radical is done soon Darran won’t be back after the next election, and he won’t be wanting to put this farce on his CV when he goes job hunting. And in many ways, that’s a bit of a shame
What did that guy Molyneaux say to us about “Welcome to sharia law” or something?
So, Canada’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Chrystia Freeland said “Canada is gravely concerned about additional arrests of civil society and women’s activists in Saudi Arabia including Samar Badawi.” She urged the Saudi government to “immediately release them.”
Saudi Arabia then denounced the tweets as “blatant interference in the country’s domestic affairs,” as well as a “major, unacceptable affront to the kingdom’s laws and judicial process.” The Saudi government has said that it will cut scholarships for thousands of its students to study in Canada. They have also made the Saudia airline suspend flights to Toronto in five days.
Bahrain. the Arab Emirates, and others back the Saudi government.
Now, I don’t need to cite The Handmaid’s Tale to you all on what actual Sharia Law looks and feels like. If she didn’t have diplomatic immunity she would be in a Saudi prison.
Ambassador Freeland (great name by the way!) simply stands by what she has said. “We will always speak up for human rights and women’s rights.”
We would gain something of our moral centre back as a country if we started tying human rights to trade with a sharia law country like Saudi Arabia.
We don’t have to like the people giving us unpalatable messages, but Canada is pointing the way here. It took courage.
And here you have made a very important moral point. Our standard of living is dependent on trade, which depends on supporting evil behaviour by foreign governments. Is supporting evil behaviour a good idea? No.
By the way has anyone had trouble with pressreader. I went to it and my screen locked up as a message that I had to accept came up. I wanted out but no cross to clear it, and couldn’t close down site or move to another site. Had to turn off computer.l Pathetic program design.
If wanting to email the site what is the address. Nothing I have tried is recognised?
Or don’t you have it now – does it all have to be twitter and facebook ?
Oh dear even Tracey is scathing of crasher Collins.
“Either Collins believed in the vast left wing conspiracy to normalise child rape – which is scary. Or she didn’t believe it but tweeted it anyway because she knew some of the people who read her tweets would have no problem believing it was true.”
Still slipping on, taking up water that will be in short supply and allocated on generous terms over … years encouraging farmers to over-extend themselves and cry poor.l
But Chris Pile, chief executive of the company driving the proposed $200 million scheme is determined it “must and will continue”.
(Unfortunate name. I smell money for a successful CEO.)
Unforeseen consequences? Grenade shaped table lighters, fake guns, just toys nothing to worry about – stop fussing. blah blah. Rubbish unworthy of spending export $ on and now bothersome rubbish that are scaring people and involving police bomb squads with a large increase in callouts.
This guy has been rescued before, and seems to have gone mountain climbing just about every year. So the rescue is just part of the exciting holiday risks ultimately borne by us. Let us have more money spent on our parents and children to help them get a good start in life if we care about people so much. It is a class matter really, the needy families are lower class and enterprising mountain climbers are far up the ladder. Sick.
One thing to do is to bill them for the cost of it all, plus honorarium for the volunteers and arrest and jail them if they come back and the bill is unpaid. her pay up quickly and fully or deport them, with refusal to enter again. Grow a pair government. People with student loans unpaid are treated harshly so why shouldn’t we put a stopper on these drifters who are too spiritual to worry about the trouble and cost their spending time out in nature, communing, puts other people to.
Good morning The Am Show Eco says it’s good that our Kiwi fire fighters can help America and Canada fight those massive fires ka pai people be careful.
Condolences to the people who have lost love ones and property.
Social issues poverty bulling racial issues its not hard to see that’s these issues will affect all Mokopunas mental health this health problem we have will affect wealthy and poor the same as different groups clash its good we are looking at fixing this big problem. Unlike the bench warmers who’s action’s just multiplied this big problem Eco seen this.
Duncan that young Asian boy was intelligent and well spoken on the issues of 16/17 year old forced marriage.
With cat’s they are a gift from Papatuanuku I don’t think they have to be eliminated
just controlled . Cat’s help people who are alone in our society they give there care’s some thing to love and care they give them a reason to get up in the morning pet;s are good for some people’s mental health in this age of individualism this individualism has to change we are all on Papatuanuku together.
Ka kite ano P.S I try to be fair I’m a Gary McCormick fan he come’s from te tai rawhiti so there is a bit of favoritism
Here you go I read body langue well and Eco Maori can see what motivates people actions one thing in this link below is this.
Ka kite ano
Tiaki-Turi joins the interview by phone. She acts as Zhou Black’s spiritual adviser or matakite – someone considered to possess a supernatural ability to see visions of the future.
Zhou Black is asked why an academic appears on her child-sex ring list.
“He’s a very wealthy man … He knew Awa through that time. I don’t know how long,” she says.
No victim had identified the academic.
“Got anything to add, sis?” Zhou Black asks Tiaki-Turi.
“Um, it’s just a connection that he has with a lot of the people associated to Awa,” Tiaki-Turi offers.
“He’s more a person of interest,” Zhou Black adds.
“He was my Facebook friend up until three days ago and then he has blocked me.”
To all you moaning neo liberal capitalist trolls New Zealand has spent more on AID to other country’s than they have spent on treaty claims now Eco knows that the poor tangata around the World need help and I back that AID but stop kicking ——in tangata whenua face please about te mone we got from treaty settlement’s enough said only bad—–will come from the word’s I want to say .
Ka kite ano
You know what the other big picture is New Zealand spent more putting tangata whenua in jail much more than the mone spent on treaty settlement no link but that’s a fact
One can not judge the Opinion of Atoearoa just by a poll that can be targeted by national trolls to minupulate the results it won’t take many people to change the polls results.
Good Kiwi understand that Maori were ripped of their whenua and its 10 x harder for Maori to get a better life than any other culture in Atoearoa the troll.s love those easy to minupulate polls on TV. Look at these bone head sandflys stuffing up my life and my offspring. It they had anything more that contracted lies they would put ECO MAORI in the hinaki. Ka kite ano discrimination at its best
You may be wondering how the phone poll can be hacked it’s easy if you got mone gone managed to raise $90k in 2 days to try and fight in court for his m8 from you no were so for the neo liberal capitalist mone is not a problem .
There is will well the NLcapitalist have no morels so cheating is like changing undies to these people so they have the will to cheat and manipulate the reality of good Kiwi’s using these poll’s .
How well you have 50 people with 10 sims each and there you go 500 votes for the NLcapitalist trolls cost about $600.00 if the poll does not have a limit of 1 call per number that cost will be just $6.00 . Eco Maori knows that any thing can be manipulated its just takes no morels to lie mone and effort . I know look at what the sandflys are doing to Eco Maori Ka kite ano P.S tryed to find out how this poll is conducted nothing on the net so its phone or Tx I can’t be stuffed with some poles because all data can be changed to suit the goals of the person with the most mone
Mana Wahine Ka pai American Wahine Eco Maori tautoko/supports all Ladies who are going to get into roles to lead us to a humane prosperous future .
I know that a lot of ladies are more intelligent than man definitely more humane the Papatuanuku is your Oyster as the old saying goes you need to make sure the mokopunas have a bright prosperous future and men can not be trusted to do this on there own . Ka kite ano P.S I still respect men as I am one but we need te Wahine to guide the men down the correct path link below men will still be part of leadership ladies will gide men to the correct path.
Good evening Newshub Eco Maori was upset today I have been trying to get my wahine mokopuna health issues sorted out for two weeks she spent 2 nites in Rotorua hospital so in all 4 hospital appointments waiting 5 to 6 hours for each visit 3 doctor’s appointments I got someone to take her to Ranolf medical center on Monday get a call today saying she had a urine infection to come and get antibiotics I was happy she has finally be diagnosed I am upset that the sandfly were hiding around the corner at the hosptial telling the doctors lies getting the doctors to ask my moko questions that had nothing to do with her ailment and getting them to pregnecy test my 11 year old mokopuna with out telling us instead of testing her sample for signs of a infection the doctor at lakes care said there were signs of a mild infection and sent us to the hosptial to get her scaned this did not happen. I pointed this out to the doctor at the hospital he just dismissed my inquire I have been nursing my mokopuna for 2 weeks she has been in pain for 3 1/2 weeks I am looking after her because everyone else is working so its understandable that I’m upset . The sandflys have told the doctors you are not liable .They cannot sue because of the New Zealand Laws the down side to Accident Compensation corporation a Kiwi can not sue the health department for miss conduct my moko could have lost a kidney and now I am waiting to get her kidneys scanned I thought Rotorua hosptial would do it today they gave her a weeks wait WTF.
I can not sue the health system but I am gathering everdince to sue others .???????????
Well I got that off my chest those fire tornadoes are mean those have not been seen much at all may be 2 times I have seen documents of this phenomenon That’s Human Caused Global warrming trump.
The bereavement leave for miss carage of a baby is backed by Eco one of my offspring went through that its Quite Papatuanuku shattering it took awhile for them to get over that.
Yes Eco always reads te animals cows are good Guard dogs lol well I read everything quite well just my spelling is bad.
It was a beautiful day to day Ingrid Ka kite ano
Good evening Newshub Eco Maori was upset today I have been trying to get my wahine mokopuna health issues sorted out for two weeks she spent 2 nites in Rotorua hospital so in all 4 hospital appointments waiting 5 to 6 hours for each visit 3 doctor’s appointments I got someone to take her to Ranolf medical center on Monday get a call today saying she had a urine infection to come and get antibiotics I was happy she has finally be diagnosed I am upset that the sandfly were hiding around the corner at the hosptial telling the doctors lies getting the doctors to ask my moko questions that had nothing to do with her ailment and getting them to pregnecy test my 11 year old mokopuna with out telling us instead of testing her sample for signs of a infection the doctor at lakes care said there were signs of a mild infection and sent us to the hosptial to get her scaned this did not happen. I pointed this out to the doctor at the hospital he just dismissed my inquire I have been nursing my mokopuna for 2 weeks she has been in pain for 3 1/2 weeks I am looking after her because everyone else is working so its understandable that I’m upset . The sandflys have told the doctors you are not liable .They cannot sue because of the New Zealand Laws the down side to Accident Compensation corporation a Kiwi can not sue the health department for miss conduct my moko could have lost a kidney and now I am waiting to get her kidneys scanned I thought Rotorua hosptial would do it today they gave her a weeks wait WTF.
I can not sue the health system but I am gathering everdince to sue others .???????????
Well I got that off my chest those fire tornadoes are mean those have not been seen much at all may be 2 times I have seen documents of this phenomenon That’s Human Caused Global warrming trump.
The bereavement leave for miss carage of a baby is backed by Eco one of my offspring went through that its Quite Papatuanuku shattering it took awhile for them to get over that.
Yes Eco always reads te animals cows are good Guard dogs lol well I read everything quite well just my spelling is bad.
It was a beautiful day to day Ingrid Ka kite ano
The Crowd Goes Wild Mulls and Makere I like to look after tangata that I connect with.
I had a sore face for half a hour last night . We all think our kids get there best traits from us but what I know the brain’s are genitally linked to Wahine so I tell my offspring that they get there intelligence from there mum I read that in some science mag.
Keep up the good work Mahi Drysdale you will be fine.
I see Posha Woodman got into the Papatuanuku Sports Wahine of the year with the Williams sisters Mana Wahine
All the best to Jacko in his shot put goals he is a good role model for the mokopunas never give up thats the attitude.
Ka kite ano
The sandflys are stuffing with my computa once again
Why didn’t shonky kick the rugby ball through the rugby goal post hitting a golf ball through rugby goal post is easy as cheating once again shonky
Some people don’t know when they other’s are using there emotion’s to play them they don’t expect it and trust others to much .
They don’t beleve Eco maori that being to radical is bad for there cause wake up you are a wahine maori leader Ka kite ano P.S or do you have the same advisor that coned another wahine maori leader to splash mud in her own face Eco thinks the possibility and coincident are quite high
To The Labour Party Do onto those as they do onto YOU there are 2 ways to see this Golden Rule the one Eco is high lighting is national are digging scraping around for any dirt on the ruling Labour Green New Zealand First Government and trowing it in your face so Eco would look for dirt on national and give it back to them this move will even up the score keep them busy fighting the fire it won’t be hard to find mud on them Eco say’s
Ka kite ano
The final Atlas Network playbook puzzle piece is here, and it slipped in to Aotearoa New Zealand with little fan fare or attention. The implications are stark.Today, writes Dr Bex, the submission for the Crimes (Countering Foreign Interference) Amendment Bill closes: 11:59pm January 16, 2025.As usual, the language of the ...
Excitement in the seaside village! Look what might be coming! 400 million dollars worth of investment! In the very beating heart of the village! Are we excited and eager to see this happen, what with every last bank branch gone and shops sitting forlornly quiet awaiting a customer?Yes please, apply ...
Much discussion has been held over the Regulatory Standards Bill (RSB), the latest in a series of rightwing attempts to enshrine into law pro-market precepts such as the primacy of private property ownership. Underneath the good governance and economic efficiency gobbledegook language of the Bill is an interest to strip ...
We are concerned that the Amendment Bill, as proposed, could impair the operations and legitimate interests of the NZ Trade Union movement. It is also likely to negatively impact the ability of other civil society actors to conduct their affairs without the threat of criminal sanctions. We ask that ...
I can't take itHow could I fake it?How could I fake it?And I can't take itHow could I fake it?How could I fake it?Song: The Lonely Biscuits.“A bit nippy”, I thought when I woke this morning, and then, soon after that, I wondered whether hell had frozen over. Dear friends, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Asheville, North Carolina, was once widely considered a climate haven thanks to its elevated, inland location and cooler temperatures than much of the Southeast. Then came the catastrophic floods of Hurricane Helene in September 2024. It was a stark reminder that nowhere is safe from ...
Early reports indicate that the temporary Israel/Hamas ceasefire deal (due to take effect on Sunday) will allow for the gradual release of groups of Israeli hostages, the release of an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails (likely only a fraction of the total incarcerated population), and the withdrawal ...
My daily news diet is not what it once was.It was the TV news that lost me first. Too infantilising, too breathless, too frustrating.The Herald was next. You could look past the reactionary framing while it was being a decent newspaper of record, but once Shayne Currie began unleashing all ...
Hit the road Jack and don't you come backNo more, no more, no more, no moreHit the road Jack and don't you come back no moreWhat you say?Songwriters: Percy MayfieldMorena,I keep many of my posts, like this one, paywall-free so that everyone can read them.However, please consider supporting me as ...
This might be the longest delay between reading (or in this case re-reading) a work, and actually writing a review of it I have ever managed. Indeed, when I last read these books in December 2022, I was not planning on writing anything about them… but as A Phuulish Fellow ...
Kia Ora,I try to keep most my posts without a paywall for public interest journalism purposes. However, if you can afford to, please consider supporting me as a paid subscriber and/or supporting over at Ko-Fi. That will help me to continue, and to keep spending time on the work. Embarrassingly, ...
There was a time when Google was the best thing in my world. I was an early adopter of their AdWords program and boy did I like what it did for my business. It put rocket fuel in it, is what it did. For every dollar I spent, those ads ...
A while back I was engaged in an unpleasant exchange with a leader of the most well-known NZ anti-vax group and several like-minded trolls. I had responded to a racist meme on social media in which a rightwing podcaster in the US interviewed one of the leaders of the Proud ...
Hi,If you’ve been reading Webworm for a while, you’ll be familiar with Anna Wilding. Between 2020 and 2021 I looked at how the New Zealander had managed to weasel her way into countless news stories over the years, often with very little proof any of it had actually happened. When ...
It's a long white cloud for you, baby; staying together alwaysSummertime in AotearoaWhere the sunshine kisses the water, we will find it alwaysSummertime in AotearoaYeah, it′s SummertimeIt's SummertimeWriters: Codi Wehi Ngatai, Moresby Kainuku, Pipiwharauroa Campbell, Taulutoa Michael Schuster, Rebekah Jane Brady, Te Naawe Jordan Muturangi Tupe, Thomas Edward Scrase.Many of ...
Last year, 292 people died unnecessarily on our roads. That is the lowest result in over a decade and only the fourth time in the last 70 years we’ve seen fewer than 300 deaths in a calendar year. Yet, while it is 292 people too many, with each death being ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters and Bob HensonFlames from the Palisades Fire burn a building at Sunset Boulevard amid a powerful windstorm on January 8, 2025 in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The fast-moving wildfire had destroyed thousands of structures and ...
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.The Regulatory Standards Bill, as I understand it, seeks to bind parliament to a specific range of law-making.For example, it seems to ensure primacy of individual rights over that of community, environment, te Tiriti ...
Happy New Year!I had a lovely break, thanks very much for asking: friends, family, sunshine, books, podcasts, refreshing swims, barbecues, bike rides. So good to step away from the firehose for a while, to have less Trump and Seymour in your day. Who needs the Luxons in their risible PJs ...
Patrick Reynolds is deputy chair of the Auckland City Centre Advisory Panel and a director of Greater Auckland In 2003, after much argument, including the election of a Mayor in 2001 who ran on stopping it, Britomart train station in downtown Auckland opened. A mere 1km twin track terminating branch ...
For the first time in a decade, a New Zealand Prime Minister is heading to the Middle East. The trip is more than just a courtesy call. New Zealand PMs frequently change planes in Dubai en route to destinations elsewhere. But Christopher Luxon’s visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 5, 2025 thru Sat, January 11, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
The decade between 1952 and the early 1960s was the peak period for the style of music we now call doo wop, after which it got dissolved into soul music, girl groups, and within pop music in general. Basically, doo wop was a form of small group harmonising with a ...
The future teaches you to be aloneThe present to be afraid and coldSo if I can shoot rabbits, then I can shoot fascists…And if you tolerate thisThen your children will be nextSongwriters: James Dean Bradfield / Sean Anthony Moore / Nicholas Allen Jones.Do you remember at school, studying the rise ...
When National won the New Zealand election in 2023, one of the first to congratulate Luxon was tech-billionaire and entrepreneur extraordinaire Elon Musk.And last year, after Luxon posted a video about a trip to Malaysia, Musk came forward again to heap praise on Christopher:So it was perhaps par for the ...
Hi,Today’s Webworm features a new short film from documentary maker Giorgio Angelini. It’s about Luigi Mangione — but it’s also, really, about everything in America right now.Bear with me.Shortly after I sent out my last missive from the fires on Wednesday, one broke out a little too close to home ...
So soon just after you've goneMy senses sharpenBut it always takes so damn longBefore I feel how much my eyes have darkenedFear hangs in a plane of gun smokeDrifting in our roomSo easy to disturb, with a thought, with a whisperWith a careless memorySongwriters: Andy Taylor / John Taylor / ...
Can we trust the Trump cabinet to act in the public interest?Nine of Trump’s closest advisers are billionaires. Their total net worth is in excess of $US375b (providing there is not a share-market crash). In contrast, the total net worth of Trump’s first Cabinet was about $6b. (Joe Biden’s Cabinet ...
Welcome back to our weekly roundup. We hope you had a good break (if you had one). Here’s a few of the stories that caught our attention over the last few weeks. This holiday period on Greater Auckland Since our last roundup we’ve: Taken a look back at ...
Sometimes I feel like I don't have a partnerSometimes I feel like my only friendIs the city I live in, The City of AngelsLonely as I am together we crySong: Anthony Kiedis, Chad Smith, Flea, John Frusciante.A home is engulfed in flames during the Eaton fire in the Altadena area. ...
Open access notablesLarge emissions of CO2 and CH4 due to active-layer warming in Arctic tundra, Torn et al., Nature Communications:Climate warming may accelerate decomposition of Arctic soil carbon, but few controlled experiments have manipulated the entire active layer. To determine surface-atmosphere fluxes of carbon dioxide and ...
It's election year for Wellington City Council and for the Regional Council. What have the progressive councillors achieved over the last couple of years. What were the blocks and failures? What's with the targeting of the mayor and city council by the Post and by central government? Why does the ...
Over the holidays, there was a rising tide of calls for people to submit on National's repulsive, white supremacist Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill, along with a wave of advice and examples of what to say. And it looks like people rose to the occasion, with over 300,000 ...
The lie is my expenseThe scope of my desireThe Party blessed me with its futureAnd I protect it with fireI am the Nina The Pinta The Santa MariaThe noose and the rapistAnd the fields overseerThe agents of orangeThe priests of HiroshimaThe cost of my desire…Sleep now in the fireSongwriters: Brad ...
This is a re-post from the Climate BrinkGlobal surface temperatures have risen around 1.3C since the preindustrial (1850-1900) period as a result of human activity.1 However, this aggregate number masks a lot of underlying factors that contribute to global surface temperature changes over time.These include CO2, which is the primary ...
There are times when movement around us seems to slow down. And the faster things get, the slower it all appears.And so it is with the whirlwind of early year political activity.They are harbingers for what is to come:Video: Wayne Wright Jnr, funder of Sean Plunket, talk growing power and ...
Hi,Right now the power is out, so I’m just relying on the laptop battery and tethering to my phone’s 5G which is dropping in and out. We’ll see how we go.First up — I’m fine. I can’t see any flames out the window. I live in the greater Hollywood area ...
2024 was a tough year for working Kiwis. But together we’ve been able to fight back for a just and fair New Zealand and in 2025 we need to keep standing up for what’s right and having our voices heard. That starts with our Mood of the Workforce Survey. It’s your ...
Time is never time at allYou can never ever leaveWithout leaving a piece of youthAnd our lives are forever changedWe will never be the sameThe more you change, the less you feelSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan.Babinden - Baba’s DayToday, January 8th, 2025, is Babinden, “The Day of the baba” or “The ...
..I/We wish to make the following comments:I oppose the Treaty Principles Bill."5. Act binds the CrownThis Act binds the Crown."How does this Act "bind the Crown" when Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which the Act refers to, has been violated by the Crown on numerous occassions, resulting in massive loss of ...
Everything is good and brownI'm here againWith a sunshine smile upon my faceMy friends are close at handAnd all my inhibitions have disappeared without a traceI'm glad, oh, that I found oohSomebody who I can rely onSongwriter: Jay KayGood morning, all you lovely people. Today, I’ve got nothing except a ...
Welcome to 2025. After wrapping up 2024, here’s a look at some of the things we can expect to see this year along with a few predictions. Council and Elections Elections One of the biggest things this year will be local body elections in October. Will Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Canadians can take a while to get angry – but when they finally do, watch out. Canada has been falling out of love with Justin Trudeau for years, and his exit has to be the least surprising news event of the New Year. On recent polling, Trudeau’s Liberal party has ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Much like 2023, many climate and energy records were broken in 2024. It was Earth’s hottest year on record by a wide margin, breaking the previous record that was set just last year by an even larger margin. Human-caused climate-warming pollution and ...
Submissions on National's racist, white supremacist Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill are due tomorrow! So today, after a good long holiday from all that bullshit, I finally got my shit together to submit on it. As I noted here, people should write their own submissions in their own ...
Ooh, baby (ooh, baby)It's making me crazy (it's making me crazy)Every time I look around (look around)Every time I look around (every time I look around)Every time I look aroundIt's in my faceSongwriters: Alan Leo Jansson / Paul Lawrence L. Fuemana.Today, I’ll be talking about rich, middle-aged men who’ve made ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 29, 2024 thru Sat, January 4, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Hi,The thing that stood out at me while shopping for Christmas presents in New Zealand was how hard it was to avoid Zuru products. Toy manufacturer Zuru is a bit like Netflix, in that it has so much data on what people want they can flood the market with so ...
And when a child is born into this worldIt has no conceptOf the tone of skin it's living inAnd there's a million voicesAnd there's a million voicesTo tell you what you should be thinkingSong by Neneh Cherry and Youssou N'Dour.The moment you see that face, you can hear her voice; ...
While we may not always have quality political leadership, a couple of recently published autobiographies indicate sometimes we strike it lucky. When ranking our prime ministers, retired professor of history Erik Olssen commented that ‘neither Holland nor Nash was especially effective as prime minister – even his private secretary thought ...
Baby, be the class clownI'll be the beauty queen in tearsIt's a new art form, showin' people how little we care (yeah)We're so happy, even when we're smilin' out of fearLet's go down to the tennis court and talk it up like, yeah (yeah)Songwriters: Joel Little / Ella Yelich O ...
Open access notables Why Misinformation Must Not Be Ignored, Ecker et al., American Psychologist:Recent academic debate has seen the emergence of the claim that misinformation is not a significant societal problem. We argue that the arguments used to support this minimizing position are flawed, particularly if interpreted (e.g., by policymakers or the public) as suggesting ...
What I’ve Been Doing: I buried a close family member.What I’ve Been Watching: Andor, Jack Reacher, Xmas movies.What I’ve Been Reflecting On: The Usefulness of Writing and the Worthiness of Doing So — especially as things become more transparent on their own.I also hate competing on any day, and if ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by John Wihbey. A version of this article first appeared on Yale Climate Connections on Nov. 11, 2008. (Image credits: The White House, Jonathan Cutrer / CC BY 2.0; President Jimmy Carter, Trikosko/Library of Congress; Solar dedication, Bill Fitz-Patrick / Jimmy Carter Library; Solar ...
Morena folks,We’re having a good break, recharging the batteries. Hope you’re enjoying the holiday period. I’m not feeling terribly inspired by much at the moment, I’m afraid—not from a writing point of view, anyway.So, today, we’re travelling back in time. You’ll have to imagine the wavy lines and sci-fi sound ...
Completed reads for 2024: Oration on the Dignity of Man, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola A Platonic Discourse Upon Love, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola Of Being and Unity, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola The Life of Pico della Mirandola, by Giovanni Francesco Pico Three Letters Written by Pico ...
Welcome to 2025, Aotearoa. Well… what can one really say? 2024 was a story of a bad beginning, an infernal middle and an indescribably farcical end. But to chart a course for a real future, it does pay to know where we’ve been… so we know where we need ...
Welcome to the official half-way point of the 2020s. Anyway, as per my New Years tradition, here’s where A Phuulish Fellow’s blog traffic came from in 2024: United States United Kingdom New Zealand Canada Sweden Australia Germany Spain Brazil Finland The top four are the same as 2023, ...
Completed reads for December: Be A Wolf!, by Brian Strickland The Magic Flute [libretto], by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Emanuel Schikaneder The Invisible Eye, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Owl’s Ear, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Waters of Death, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Spider, by Hanns Heinz Ewers Who Knows?, by Guy de Maupassant ...
Well, it’s the last day of the year, so it’s time for a quick wrap-up of the most important things that happened in 2024 for urbanism and transport in our city. A huge thank you to everyone who has visited the blog and supported us in our mission to make ...
Leave your office, run past your funeralLeave your home, car, leave your pulpitJoin us in the streets where weJoin us in the streets where weDon't belong, don't belongHere under the starsThrowing light…Song: Jeffery BuckleyToday, I’ll discuss the standout politicians of the last 12 months. Each party will receive three awards, ...
Hi,A lot’s happened this year in the world of Webworm, and as 2024 comes to an end I thought I’d look back at a few of the things that popped. Maybe you missed them, or you might want to revisit some of these essay and podcast episodes over your break ...
Hi,I wanted to share this piece by film editor Dan Kircher about what cinema has been up to in 2024.Dan edited my documentary Mister Organ, as well as this year’s excellent crowd-pleasing Bookworm.Dan adores movies. He gets the language of cinema, he knows what he loves, and writes accordingly. And ...
Without delving into personal details but in order to give readers a sense of the year that was, I thought I would offer the study in contrasts that are Xmas 2023 and Xmas 2024: Xmas 2023 in Starship Children’s Hospital (after third of four surgeries). Even opening presents was an ...
Heavy disclaimer: Alpha/beta/omega dynamics is a popular trope that’s used in a wide range of stories and my thoughts on it do not apply to all cases. I’m most familiar with it through the lens of male-focused fanfic, typically m/m but sometimes also featuring m/f and that’s the situation I’m ...
Hi,Webworm has been pretty heavy this year — mainly because the world is pretty heavy. But as we sprint (or limp, you choose) through the final days of 2024, I wanted to keep Webworm a little lighter.So today I wanted to look at one of the biggest and weirdest elements ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 22, 2024 thru Sat, December 28, 2024. This week's roundup is the second one published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, ...
We’ll have a climate change ChristmasFrom now until foreverWarming our hearts and mindsAnd planet all togetherSpirits high and oceans higherChestnuts roast on wildfiresIf coal is on your wishlistMerry Climate Change ChristmasSong by Ian McConnellReindeer emissions are not something I’d thought about in terms of climate change. I guess some significant ...
KP continues to putt-putt along as a tiny niche blog that offers a NZ perspective on international affairs with a few observations about NZ domestic politics thrown in. In 2024 there was also some personal posts given that my son was in the last four months of a nine month ...
The Green Party has welcomed the provisional ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, and reiterated its call for New Zealand to push for an end to the unlawful occupation of Palestine. ...
The Green Party welcomes the extension of the deadline for Treaty Principles Bill submissions but continues to call on the Government to abandon the Bill. ...
Complaints about disruptive behaviour now handled in around 13 days (down from around 60 days a year ago) 553 Section 55A notices issued by Kāinga Ora since July 2024, up from 41 issued during the same period in the previous year. Of that 553, first notices made up around 83 ...
The time it takes to process building determinations has improved significantly over the last year which means fewer delays in homes being built, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “New Zealand has a persistent shortage of houses. Making it easier and quicker for new homes to be built will ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is pleased to announce the annual list of New Zealand’s most popular baby names for 2024. “For the second consecutive year, Noah has claimed the top spot for boys with 250 babies sharing the name, while Isla has returned to the most popular ...
Work is set to get underway on a new bus station at Westgate this week. A contract has been awarded to HEB Construction to start a package of enabling works to get the site ready in advance of main construction beginning in mid-2025, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“A new Westgate ...
Minister for Children and for Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour is encouraging people to use the resources available to them to get help, and to report instances of family and sexual violence amongst their friends, families, and loved ones who are in need. “The death of a ...
Uia te pō, rangahaua te pō, whakamāramatia mai he aha tō tango, he aha tō kāwhaki? Whitirere ki te ao, tirotiro kau au, kei hea taku rātā whakamarumaru i te au o te pakanga mo te mana motuhake? Au te pō, ngū te pō, ue hā! E te kahurangi māreikura, ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says people with diabetes and other painful conditions will benefit from a significant new qualification to boost training in foot care. “It sounds simple, but quality and regular foot and nail care is vital in preventing potentially serious complications from diabetes, like blisters or sores, which can take a long time to heal ...
Associate Health Minister with responsibility for Pharmac David Seymour is pleased to see Pharmac continue to increase availability of medicines for Kiwis with the government’s largest ever investment in Pharmac. “Pharmac operates independently, but it must work within the budget constraints set by the government,” says Mr Seymour. “When this government assumed ...
Mā mua ka kite a muri, mā muri ka ora e mua - Those who lead give sight to those who follow, those who follow give life to those who lead. Māori recipients in the New Year 2025 Honours list show comprehensive dedication to improving communities across the motu that ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is wishing all New Zealanders a great holiday season as Kiwis prepare for gatherings with friends and families to see in the New Year. It is a great time of year to remind everyone to stay fire safe over the summer. “I know ...
From 1 January 2025, first-time tertiary learners will have access to a new Fees Free entitlement of up to $12,000 for their final year of provider-based study or final two years of work-based learning, Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds says. “Targeting funding to the final year of study ...
Summer reissue: The current coalition not lasting beyond this parliamentary term is an idea that’s been seized on by its opponents. History suggests it’s unlikely – but not impossible. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor in Port Vila More than 180,000 registered voters are expected to cast their votes today with polls now open in Vanuatu. It is remarkable the snap election is even able to happen with Friday marking one month since the 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck the ...
New Zealand needs to boost its productivity growth and become more attractive and accessible as a workplace in order to fix its labour market woes, a recruitment agency says.Commenting on new salary survey results from Robert Walters, Shay Peters, the company’s Australia and New Zealand chief executive, says the Government ...
Comment: When Newsroom’s editor Jonathan Milne invited me to write one of two special pieces for the summer break, I faced quite the conundrum. My options were to either review a work of non-fiction or write a column about hope and optimism for 2025.I initially misread Jonathan’s request to review ...
By Daniel Perese of Te Ao Māori News Māori politicians across the political spectrum in Aotearoa New Zealand have called for immediate aid to enter Gaza following a temporary ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel. The ceasefire, agreed yesterday, comes into effect on Sunday, January 19. Foreign Minister Winston Peters ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Sherlock, Lecturer, School of Fashion and Textiles, RMIT University Australian-owned brand UGG Since 1974 has announced it will change its name to “Since 74” for sales outside Australia and New Zealand. There has been a long-running battle over the rights ...
The committee has agreed to split into two sub-committees to increase the number of people it can hear from in the time available. Each sub-committee will meet for 30 hours total, together making up 60 of the 80 planned hours of hearings. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Parmeter, Research scholar, Middle East studies, Australian National University The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, to come into effect on Sunday, has understandably been welcomed by the overwhelming majority of Israelis and Palestinians. Israelis are relieved that a process for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christine Carson, Senior Research Fellow, School of Medicine, The University of Western Australia Over the past several days, the world has watched on in shock as wildfires have devastated large parts of Los Angeles. Beyond the obvious destruction – to landscapes, homes, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rose Cairns, Senior Lecturer in Pharmacy, NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow, University of Sydney AtlasStudio/Shutterstock TikTok and Instagram influencers have been peddling the “Barbie drug” to help you tan. But melanotan-II, as it’s called officially, is a solution that’s too good to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paula Jarzabkowski, Professor in Strategic Management, The University of Queensland A series of wildfires in Los Angeles County have caused widespread devastation in California, including at least 24 deaths and the destruction of more than 12,000 homes and structures. Thousands of residents ...
COMMENTARY:By Monika Singh The lack of women representation in parliaments across the world remains a vexed and contentious issue. In Fiji, this problem has again surfaced for debate in response to Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica’s call for a quota system to increase women’s representation in Parliament. Kamikamica was ...
What compels someone of significant status in society to break the law, repeatedly, might be the same reason I did as a poor teenager. Former Green MP Golriz Ghahraman, who left parliament a year ago today following revelations of shoplifting, is now at the centre of another shoplifting complaint. As ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kath Albury, Professor of Media and Communication and Associate Investigator, ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making + Society, Swinburne University of Technology natamrli/Shutterstock Last week, social media giant Meta announced major changes to its content moderation practices. This includes an ...
"Gisborne has suffered from housing underdevelopment and a lack of supply, coupled with damage from severe weather events," Minister Tama Potaka says. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marta Andhov, Associate Professor, Law School, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Iconic Bestiary/Shutterstock They say a picture is worth a thousand words. But in the world of legal contracts, pictures can be worth even more by making complicated concepts more ...
Asia Pacific Report The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on Egyptian, Palestinian and Israeli authorities to allow foreign journalists into Gaza in the wake of the three-phase ceasefire agreement set to to begin on Sunday. The New York-based global media watchdog urged the international community “to independently investigate ...
The agreement will ease Palestinians’ suffering, but international agencies will struggle to meet the massive need for humanitarian relief. This is an excerpt from The World Bulletin, our weekly global current affairs newsletter exclusively for Spinoff Members. Sign up here. We start the World Bulletin’s year with a rare piece of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marika Sosnowski, Postdoctoral research fellow, The University of Melbourne After 467 days of violence, a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel has been reached and will come into effect on Sunday, pending Israeli government approval. This agreement will not end the ...
We love to suffer through tramps to enjoy natural beauty… except when we don’t.It can feel a bit shitty to stay inside and wallow all day when it’s nice out. Hot sunlight hits your window and your mum’s voice rings around in your head: get outside and enjoy the ...
Requests for official information involving potentially damning correspondence are totally legitimate – but have been put in the ‘too hard basket' by officials refusing to properly follow the Local Government Official Information and Meetings ...
With the local body elections in October, a long-awaited upgrade of Courtenay Place, and big changes for water, housing and the economy, it’s set to be another dramatic year for the capital city. The Golden Mile Conservative city councillors made a last-minute attempt in November to scrap the Golden Mile ...
I’ve already broken most of my resolutions, and it’s only January. How do I salvage my clean slate? Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nz Dear Hera,It’s only 6 days into the new year, and I’m already ready for 2026. I made five resolutions and have already broken ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samuel Cornell, PhD Candidate, UNSW Beach Safety Research Group + School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney byvalet/Shutterstock Australia is considered a nation of beach lovers. But with all this water surrounding us, drownings remain tragically common. At least 55 people have ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Uri Gal, Professor in Business Information Systems, University of Sydney Sergii Gnatiuk/Shutterstock Over the past two years, generative artificial intelligence (AI) has captivated public attention. This year signals the beginning of a new phase: the rise of AI agents. AI ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dorina Pojani, Associate Professor in Urban Planning, The University of Queensland shisu_ka/Shutterstock A wide range of voices in the Australian media have been sounding the alarm about the phenomenon of “forever-renting”. This describes a situation in which individuals or families ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liz Giuffre, Senior Lecturer in Communication, University of Technology Sydney Originally known as 2JJ, or Double Jay, when it launched in Sydney at 11am on January 19 1975, Triple J has since become the national youth network. The station now encompasses broadcast ...
Currently, under 18s are legally allowed to buy Lotto tickets. That’s about to change, explains The Bulletin’s Stewart Sowman-Lund. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The anonymised database is crucial to the government's social investment approach to funding programmes - but was incapable of doing so without extra investment. ...
Opinion: As I reflect on the tumultuous year that has passed and look forward to the year ahead, I wonder what it will hold.For me I can’t look past the middle of February right now as that is when my dissertation must be submitted, hopefully completing my master’s degree. It ...
I’ve just published an El-Quicko post … comparing the latest Colmar Brunton ratings (both Party Support and Preferred PM) with the same measures for previous incoming governments at the same (11 month) stage into their first terms.
Covers all 7 incoming governments since regular polling commenced in 1969.
https://sub-zero-politics.blogspot.com/2018/08/winter-of-discontent_61.html
Well done, a comprehensive analysis of which each part supports what the previous part tells us, confirming my impression that the govt+Greens are ok so far.
Very interesting Swordfish. So the Bridges ranting is meaningless?
Swordfish, you are a genius with poll data. Am sure I’m speaking for many here when I say we really appreciate all the work you put into comparing, organising and analysis of the data.
Love your work, thanks again.
Add us into this; – Swordfish great work you do.10000%
Nice one Swordfish…it looks like the Key government was a freak and I guess the Nats are still basking in the glow of this (not that I understand it).
As Key memories slide into history people will realise that a government where Bridges refuses to tell Collins to delete a nasty erroneous tweet and Collins defies the leader and says it has not been discussed with Bridges is an unelectable shower.
Looking forward to the next election.
Thanks swordfish, very interesting, and confirms the “Struggling not coping” meme is just that, a meme put out there to create a sense of failure.
With all the overseas turmoil, issues with Micoplasma bovis, pressures of pay rounds and underfunding being discovered by the current administration, you would think people’s confidence would have flagged more.
But by tackling housing and education and health issues head on, P.M. Ardern and team has shown she grasps the large threats, as do they, and remain undaunted.
There are so many fronts with doughty battles to be fought that some are feeling they are still on the bottom of the pile.
We have to present those issues, as it appears the coalition is listening, within the parameters of their ideologies. We need to present cases for the carers the sickness beneficiaries and the group suffering addictions.
Some of the current methods are clearly not assisting people, and are cash based thinking.
Love your work. A much needed credible voice of sanity in a world of fake news, manufactured outrage and general all round bullshit. So much appreciated.
Big pharmacist being given a huge platform on the corporate media .
Agreed Ed…that sly devious guy on Checkpoint last night was PR with knobs on for big Pharma…I missed his intro and waited to the end for it to be confirmed that he was representing Pharma interests.
Long Live Pharmac I say; if only more countries had the balls to set this up like the Clark government did.
It’s a bit rich hearing Seymour, Franks, Brash and all the other ACT far right extremists whinging on about their access to free speech.
The party of the 1% gets much more than 1% of the airwaves on RNZ and the corporate media.
Why our taxpayer money is used to support the party of the global elite is more of a question.
Yes that’s right, politicians from right wing parties should not be paid for their work – ridiculous!
It is not about voter support, it is about the issue itself. All sorts of people get coverage depending on what they do, for instance Russell Norman and his kayak protest.
In any event event Don Brash has not just been the Leader of ACT when it was a 1% party. The reason for his relatively high profile is that he has been Reserve Bank Governor and Leader of the National Party. He was actually asked to speak about his time as Leader of the National Party.
And fucked up both pretty badly because of his failed ideology.
Redline: “The education workers’ union at Auckland University just had the police called to shut down their information stall, because it was rightly critical of the vice chancellor. No fuss made about that from Seymour and his buddies.”
I expect nobody told them? Nobody informed the media – or they did but the media couldn’t see that it’s a freedom of speech issue?
So the union was allowed to operate a stall on campus, provided that they demonstrate subservience to the authorities and refrain from comment on relevant headline news?
Didn’t brash, trotter et al TELL everyone this would be the outcome of banning S&M talking?
Sheesh, the criticism was loudest from those on here who support unions.
Let the unions recruit on campus. at least they’re modernising their approach for new members and should be free to pursue there strategy.
Last time I looked they weren’t banned from talking.
Don’t splutter on your Shrewsbury biscuit – it makes them soggy.
The University of Auckland is platforming Don Brash?
if we don’t show any interest in the ‘brash’ among us then all the fest will be amonst the converted already and we dont meed to care abbout the spread of liberal idea being sent abouit how to rort the system and make money which is what Don Brash is advocating.
Climate change in the near future:
I’m going to go out on a limb here because a) I can and b) it should generate an animated discussion or two. I expect to be criticised, so feel free!
My reasons for doing so are that we are still living in what someone called ‘the perpetual present,’ as if life, with steady improvements perhaps, will go on forever just like it is now. Instead, we are sleepwalking to our doom. And there are still, by neglect, still climate change deniers: for example Soimon berating the Coalition government in parliament for stopping oil and gas exploration.
The whole, it seems, of the Northern Hemisphere is experiencing a heat wave. Certainly in Europe and Japan, though we don’t hear so much about North America, apart from the fires in California.
• So, expect severely poor harvests in the wheat growing areas, such as the Ukraine, in September.
• Expect the price of food to rise rather rapidly in the months up to Christmas, especially in the UK, which can only produce 60% of its own food.
• Perhaps expect food riots in the major European cities such as London, Paris and Berlin in the new year.
• We could see the imposition of martial law as early a January or February in areas of Europe, as authorities struggle to contain the situation.
• Certainly expect the flow of desperate climate refugees from North Africa and the Middle East into Europe to increase, and to see some rather draconian responses from the southern European countries.
• Expect ‘wet bulb’ conditions to spread through the tropical areas, with resulting poor harvests and increasing mortality rates.
• This will trigger increased migration towards the north – ie the USA, with more trouble on the Mexican border.
• Large areas of the Middle East will become unbearable during the day, and barely liveable at night. This is already the case – one city in the Middle East recorded an average 24 hour temperature of over 42C.
As a direct result of increasing sea levels and increased precipitation in some areas expect floods, and even severe floods with run off in the parched areas, as happened recently in California.
And what about our part of the world in the near future?
• Our winter has been warmer than usual, with less rainfall in the South Island and more in the North.
• Expect to see temperature records broken during the summer months, with a poor harvest generally in the autumn.
• Climate events will increase in frequency and severity and will result in deaths and large scale damage.
• The winter rains in Australia have failed, again, so expect to see large areas of the wheat belt turn into a dust bowl, with farmers being forced off their land, or requiring help from state and federal governments to get through.
• Expect the pressure on the northern areas of Australia from climate refugees to increase, with the predictable hard-line response from the Oz government.
I could go on, but finally, expect the Herald and/or Stuff to devote at least one headline to a kitten stuck up a tree!
+100
What ever will it take for our cloth headed politicians get their head around the issue legislate to take the urgent action required?
The new normal
“Mendocino Complex fire now largest in California history, capping destructive year”
Joseph Serna, James Queally, Alene Tchekmedyian – Los Angeles Times, August 6, 2018
Tony Veitch etc
My reasons for doing so are that we are still living in what someone called ‘the perpetual present,’ as if life, with steady improvements perhaps, will go on forever just like it is now. Instead, we are sleepwalking to our doom.
I agree. As I have been saying similar for a week. It suddently has dumped on me and I am too anxious to look at all you have listed. But nobody I know is really exercised. They are all fully occupied chasing their own goals. Which may come to nothing or they will be financially ruined and have never learned to tough it out. Or ready to swoop on the old lady next door and take over her house and garden as an unarguable matter.
This is a piece about someone with a dog pointing out the importance of controls for dog owners and respect for each other. How can this modern generation brought up to elbow everyone else and go straight to their own target ever be able to settle into a civil and supportive lifestyle with strength in numbers and everyone doing something to aid the collective, the co-operative?
(https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/northland/106056338/no-actually-your-dog-isnt-friendly-and-should-be-on-a-leash
I think many NZs have been socialised out of civility, which has been replaced with the cult of independence; the hard working achieve and the others have to be carried or dropped. There are a lot like that. Ugly thought. And among the apparently nicer middle-class they are just as determined to rise on everyone’s input and claim it all, only not so brutal in their methods.
Hydroponic warehouses to grow food. Am at a bit of a loss why NZ isn’t doing this already considering the current circumstances.
Farmers could do the same to diversify, no drought worries, no flooding worries (depending on location). It could actually save the country loads of $$$ by not having to pay out so much to farmers during droughts etc etc.
But hey, how’s that kitten doing….and what is Kim Kardashian wearing? Their click bait priorities are more important than the demise of the planet and the human race.
Does my head in too Tony.
I totally agree – with your last sentence. 😈
Well Tony it’s just got a lot worst for the State of NSW with the State Premier declaring the state is 100% in drought from today.
https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/climate-change/state-government-confirms-nsw-is-now-100-per-cent-in-drought/news-story/5c00dbdf8941dcf9c46dda6ebad68eaa
On ‘Gardeners’ World’ I encountered lovable soft comfort sort Monty Don saying amid his golden Labradors , easy as poss, it was the warmest winter since records began. Major prob, that was in the mid 1600s in Britain. Off camera he must be pulling out his curly hobbit hair in morbid despair. Economics demands we, as him, carry on at gay a-pace til the cliff.
Another slightly hopeful piece from one of my favourite US political commentators Heather Digby Parton. This time she’s focussing on the impact of the triple negatives of Russia, immigration, and trade are impacting in Ohio:
https://www.salon.com/2018/08/07/donald-trump-digs-himself-into-deeper-trouble-and-his-voters-are-finally-noticing/
The evidence she cites is really pretty weak, barely better than no evidence at all. And in the end, the only evidence that really matters will come on November 6. O’Connor (if we’re lucky) and Jones and Lamb are nice-to-haves, but they don’t make any practical difference yet. It needs a shit-load more of them, and a Dem lead of 7% for the House generic ballot still might not be enough to overcome the gerrymandered advantage the Republicans engineered for themselves from their 2010 success.
Ohio might be too much to ask.
But it’s been a season of boilovers, so I’m happy to await the results today.
I would also agree with your implied point that a Democrat takeover of either Senate or Congress needs more from the Democrats than anti-Trump sentiment.
We may end up with an interesting mini experiment for November in Kansas, testing the idea whether moderates or progressives work better for flipping a red district. That’s if the progressive Welder wins his primary today, the moderate Davis is unopposed for the Dem nomination in the neighbouring district.
” “I’m sure Trump is underwater there; we just don’t have district-level polling,” said Patrick Miller, a political science professor at the University of Kansas. Even so, Miller thinks that the moderate approach of Paul Davis is probably going to win over more voters than the progressivism of Welder. He thinks that, at least in Kansas, Democrats are going to need to appeal to independent voters to win. ”
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/8/7/17616612/kansas-republicans-democrats-primary-2018-midterms-brent-welder
52% to Democrat, 47.3% to Republican, with 50% counted.
Tighter than a very tight thing.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/08/07/us/elections/results-ohio-special-house-election-district-12.html
And now with 66% counted it’s just on the Republican side of the ledger.
155 votes in it now.
Ah well, another go at it in three months.
Worth a crack.
https://twitter.com/hashtag/OH12?src=hash
The best part of the Brash Speech notes: Comments re the present government have yet to be proven and (iii) is highly contentious
On National
A hugely disappointing Government:
I. They pledged to reduce the gap between NZ incomes
and those in Australia, and utterly failed;
II. They pledged to make housing more afordable, and
utterly failed
III. They pledged to nalise Treaty settlements within six years of being elected and to scrap Maori electorates, and failed in both respects
In my own view, the present Government is likely to do a better job in making housing more afordable, but
probably a worse job in closing the income gap with Australia, and an equally poor job in moving New Zealand towards a society where every citizen, irrespective of ethnicity, has equal political rights.
Not too long ago Marcus, Australia changed and LOWERED penal rates.
Many Australians are now contracted workers with lesser conditions.
Many are now under employed. So they are coming down to meet us, $24???
Not sure of your point here Patricia. Are you saying that we should wait until Australia’s rates come “back” to ours without ours moving “up”. Pardon my ignorance but is $24 our aspirational rate or is Australia coming back to that. I presume you mean by “penal” rate that which is paid for over time – do we still have such a thing.
In this mornings WTF? read landlords demand to see bank statements in KFC test.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12102786
“They’re paying somebody’s mortgage and I see a lot of people who are low socio-economic and their bank statements literally will read, ‘KFC, McDonalds, the dairy, KFC, McDonalds, court fine’, trucks that they buy, goods that they can’t afford.
If the exact same proportion of income was spent on, ‘Uber Eats, Habit gym, Ponsonby restaurant, Uber Eats, Habit gym, craft beer bar’, is that a more reliable money manager?” asked chief executive Sue Chetwin.
Independent Property Managers Association (IPMA) president Karen Withers said it was becoming more prevalent. She said new immigrants often offered bank accounts without prompting, saying it was standard practice in other countries.
Oh, well hey….if they do it in Asia…
Hey….., if they do it in North Korea….
I think a lot of migrants offer bank accounts to show proof of funds to pay rent, as they don’t have a job or any references when they arrive but still need accomodation. Never heard of local tenants being asked to provide them, let alone bank statements that have the actual transactions and then be judged on them!
Personally feel that rental agents should have the same regulation as real estate sales agents. What is the difference? They both go into people’s houses, have keys and in position of trust. At present the landlord is liable for the rental agents behaviour and not the actual rental agent in the tenancy tribunal, the whole area needs a clean up with personal liability for behaviour put on the person who holds the keys and makes the day to day decisions.
We discovered that by taking housekeeping as a cash lump and managing on that by using “Real” money, our purchases were more private. Our payments for chemist, wine, golf petrol and food were our business…. just saying.
It should be private anyway with no one having access to it without evidence of a crime being committed.
And she doesn’t see the problem of poor people being forced to pay somebody else’s mortgage.
@ Marcus above.
Heh… “…equal political rights…”
Does that mean we all get former tory MPs to advocate our point of view a la Katherine Rich of ‘Food and Grocery Council’, or Ken Shirley from the Road Transport Forum?
Awesome, I vote for that.
There is no way that vile racist, Don Brash, should have an unchallenged platform anywhere.
He wasn’t challenged
He was silenced
We keep hearing a lot of talking from this supposedly silenced person
Yes
It must annoy the shit out of you
Backfired a bit, didn’t it?
You assume.
You don’t understand concepts such as silence, but feel free to continue to feel victimised.
I don’t feel victimised
I have no time for Brash’s politics
So he’s not silenced after all lol
Yet brash has been all over the airways and will be speaking at Akld Uni.
I’d hardly call that silenced.
Chris T as if no one knows what he’s about.
He wasn’t silenced it was a safety issue
Issue.
Don Brash is a deliberately divisive person who attracts far right activists which attracts those who oppose.
He is the last colonist who refuses to accept the truth about the damage it did to Maori.
He is happy to have the support of neo Fascists and support their free speech.
Even though the Fascist goal is to Deny everyone else free speech.
Safety issue my arse!! The woman lied otherwise she would have informed the cops .
Can’t stand brashs politics but it’s a slippery slope banning him from speaking.
What was the safety issue exactly?
So all you have to do now to silence someone is threaten violence?
Or rather to not do anything about said threat.
Or not change ones mind once said threat is exposed and personally acknowledged that it wasn’t a personal threat of violence.
Brash is talking at Auckland University. But Auckland University banned Hone Harawira from speaking there, “because of threatened protests”.
(And no angry white crowd raised $50 thousand to take the University to court for banning Harawira).
Brash should not be allowed a sole platform to spout his racist lies unchallenged.
Let Hone Harawira speak on the same platform.
If the University don’t allow Harawira to speak, I for one will be protesting. Will they shut down Don Brash because of protesters?
Probably not.
But it will again prove Te Reo Putake correct, “There is no such thing as free speech”
https://thestandard.org.nz/theres-no-such-thing-as-free-speech/
Thanks Jenny for that info, don’t think I’ve read/heard about that in the media since they’ve been running the ‘brash ban’ story. They should mention it, it’s relevant, especially in regards to the subject matter brash spins.
More free speech news….
Alex Jones Banned or Censored By Facebook/Apple/Youtube/Spotify
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/alex-jones-purge-facebook-spineless-corporation-no-moral-leadership-2018-8?r=US&IR=T
https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio-web/apple-removes-most-of-us-conspiracy-theorist-alex-jones-podcasts-from-itunes-1.3587718
I have no love for Jones, but this is a very dangerous moment for us all, effectively now a few of the world biggest and most powerful social media corporations, have the power to censor free speech according to their own world view of what is real news/fake news or conspiracy theory and all that that implies.
So I don’t know about you, but having Zuckerberg monitoring what news feeds most people I meet see, doesn’t sound at all good to me.
Meh. Anyone wanting a good laugh or the kooks and cranks that take him seriously can go direct to his websites or listen to his radio rants. He’s still got more than enough platforms to spew his lawsuit-bait that I don’t see his free-speech rights are significantly infringed.
And if corporations are starting to think they have a responsibility to ensure their platforms are not used to cause harm, then that’s a good thing, even if the way they choose to do that is flawed.
Of course, the better way to ensure these massive monopolies don’t get control over our discourse is to simply not give them that control to begin with. Get your info closer to the source, rather than mediated through the massive intermediaries.
BTW, if anyone’s day isn’t yet sufficiently far down the rabbit-hole and needs 4 minutes of unhinged rant to top up the weird, you’ll find Jones’ response to being de-platformed here:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/alex-jones-donald-trump-media-matters_us_5b68bd4de4b0de86f4a43fd5
Classic and this one us good for an overview of this village idiot. I mean wtf how any person with a brain can rate him – he’s a pet rock.
https://youtu.be/kgUDbvKYbWk
@Andre Alex Jones said in his divorce case that he is a ‘performance artist playing a character’, which is pretty funny, and is of course the guy is a fucking idiot and from what I have seen oozes all sorts of personal issues, but I if you think that this sort of censorship will stop with him, then I think you are wrong…
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/infowars-alex-jones-performance-artist-playing-character-lawyer-conspiracy-theory-donald-trump-a7687571.html
btw if you want to see a pretty funny Alex Jones clip check out this one…
Andre @11.1.1
They’re getting stuck into this Free Speech crap everywhere aren’t they.
It’s not free speech they’re after:
It’s the freedom to spout crazy conspiracy theories… to spread fake news… to claim the actual news is fake news so that the population loses sight of the difference. It’s the freedom to destroy individuals they decide they don’t like and to create state enemies out of bona fida organisations and institutions set up to service the population. It’s the freedom to destroy international relationships and make enemies out of friends. It’s ultimately the freedom to start catastrophic wars.
It’s the new face of fascism – in the guise of Free Speech.
+ 1
Yep a trojan horse.
Anne @11.1.1.2
+1,000
I disagree Adrian
alex jones was utilising private companies free platforms (youtube, fb etc), in doing so he like anyone else was required to follow their rules/guidelines and he didn’t. As private companies they have every right to ban him and control content on their sites.
He still has his website and he still has his cable channel. If his website was taken down, I’d feel different about the situation.
I see it a little differently. These private companies are so large they control what people see on the net.
For some time now alternative media voices have been demonetized or taken down by these online gatekeepers. Jimmy Dore is one such victim and there are countless others. The aim isn’t to restrict hate speech or fascism, it is to control content.
But if one owns a site, would they not have the right to control the content that appears on their platform?
Let’s say one person owns 99 out of the 100 stores in town, they ban all people they see as linked to hate speech from their stores. The definition of hate is poorly defined and some of the townsfolk feel aggrieved that they are included in that label.
The 1 store that accepts all comers attracts many of the townspeople that disagree with a lot of the views of the owner of the 99 stores. Those people end up maligned by the rest of the community… An interesting yet ghastly scenario…
Interesting point, does something as ubiquitous as youtube suddenly have a greater responsibility for what it posts or allows to post
Greater than what?
In that due its size and reach youtube has become almost like a quasi-like government institution and therefore the normal rules of what a commercial business can and can’t do don’t apply
It’s an interesting concept – I’d go more with Google in particular becoming effectively a Standard Oil-style monopoly, which gives it more power than a regular supplier.
But that having been said, I suspect that Standard Oil would have limited what it carried in oil cars to “oil”, and not “shit”. Looks to me like there’s an opening for a 4chan/8chan-style nutbar video echochamber. “Super-8Chan”, maybe?
‘I’d go more with Google in particular becoming effectively a Standard Oil-style monopoly, which gives it more power than a regular supplier.’
Yeah thats probably a better analogy
Maybe not “shit” but plenty of lead.
You been following the Archdruid on that chan stuff? Not my scene but fascinating in-depth account of how folks are using magic to influence the political process (some top Nazis did that too).
https://www.ecosophia.net/the-kek-wars-part-three-triumph-of-the-frog-god/
not familiar with Archdruid.
Maui, thanks for explaining, much appreciated. Can see where you are coming from.
They had a programme here in Aus, re Facebook on its own internal monitoring, and showed policy parameters they used to decide to take things down or list them as disturbing.
An example item was a video which was still available showing a toddler being hit punched and slapped. He was screaming and sobbing.They listed it as “Disturbing”.
You heard the moderator explaining that this had been viewed a huge number of times but had a small % of complaints. They did take it down, but people had uploaded it and shared it putting it out there forever.
I now do not use Facebook where I can avoid it. For obvious reasons, I want no part of their “Blood money” made from those clicks!!
@mauī +1Exactly right,
Which they’re entitled to do, on their own platform.
But no one’s stopping you getting you daily fill of AJ’s, or Dore’s fuckwittery.
See, easy.
/
https://www.jimmydorecomedy.com/
https://www.infowars.com/
Adrian Jones is a nasty hate speech purveyor giving him a platform is akin to the resurrection of Hitler.
If he was a Muslim he would be in Guantanamo.
Do you come here to dribble inanities from your keyboard into my conscience?
Comparing anyone who doesn’t proclaim that the eradication of whole races is good of their race to hitler immediately makes anything you say around that comment sound downright retarded. And you, it makes you sound retarded.
If you look a bit closer, it’s not about free speech at all. Jones has crossed a line ever since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. From that point on he started to call for people to harass and attack real people, and it’s slowly been getting worse. He even attacked Joe Rogan who is supposed to be a friend of his and subtly suggested violence would bring Joe back into line. Here is a good piece from TYT that goes through the points.
Hmm. Throw youtube and the rest of them alongside that list of so-called fake news websites drawn up by the anonymous people at Snopes that a fair few people rely on as their radar.
Then there was the BBC having to back down over killing youtube independence channels that drew sweet all comment hereabouts, because…well, was it because too many people were busy elevating and platforming Southern and Molyneux?
Tommy Robinson – elevated and martyred off the back of the nazi pug nonsense (Where was the “left”?)
Folks across the left applauding the idea that fb play the role of censor.
Throw it in alongside the insistence for “correct” political thought/analysis that gets expressed by decrying any skeptical take on “official” news as being the markings of a Kremlin stooge or whatever…
And the rallying cry is about opposing fascism?!
Some of the conundrums seem to be doing your head in there bill.
No conundrums.
What I see is continuity and similarity in the basic stuff mentioned, but it being approached with oodles of hypocrisy by some.
Not sure where the hypocrisy is – just because you didn’t see the left complaining and fighting the things you mentioned doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. And I suppose some of the left oppose your views on russia and whatnot so you may not have taken much notice of them. But whatever…
I’ve been saying that the biggest concerns in the world ATM are the corporations and the people who run them as they now have control over us and our governments.
We cannot afford the rich.
TV3 am show is becoming nastier and nastier as dunnycan garner and merkin richadson drop any pretence of civility and objectivity as they push their right wing agenda to dumb down and infantilise the whole of New Zealand
society.
Which bit?
Does free speech mean someone has the right to be rude, obnoxious, cruel, or twist facts about others who may not be in a position to respond because of their family, their job, or health, or who have no wish to become embroiled in a nasty slanging match?
What are the boundaries and responsibilities, or are there none?
Someone like Don Brash has a nationwide platform and an eager media to spout his views. Many people subjected to his views do not have that platform.
Yes, as long as what he’s saying doesn’t break any of NZs laws.
Yep the law written by people like him… and so the merry go round goes round.
There is a special type of bigot who use velvet tones and softened words to hide their malignant content – b.rash is one and there are a few others on this site eh puckwit. But the law is unbreached yay we are safe again!!!
Yes dear
Shut the debate up quick by using misogyny memes – typical of someone who accuses women of mental illness because they raise pedo activity. Why did you do that I continue to wonder.
Thats nice dear
It could be because you have zero mana just a shadow sock puppet for a real rightie I spose. Funny though your bully tactics and wankfest of Collins is a worry – objectify women seems your go to eh.
Yes dear
Lol thanks for the conceded point – scuttle off and pretend to work again Nigel.
Thats nice dear
“Nice’ means something good to eat. Get it right PR.
You don’t have a right not to be offended or your feelings hurt
If you object to what someone is saying you can make a complaint to the human rights commission. There is also defamation law – so you can sue someone.
If your case is good enough you can generally rally your supporters to help with legal costs.
These legal frameworks are robust enough to deal with any issues of supposed ‘hate speech’.
The legal costs would be enough to put off many people pursuing a case so the “free speech” proponent can carry on with their jaundiced views, untouched.
The case of a young Maori woman working in a Nelson supermarket comes to mind. Out of the blue a customer had a nasty rant about her being Maori so would never get anywhere in life. I was pleased to see the young woman’s supervisor told the customer to leave and not come back.
It is just not on, in the name of free speech, that someone can verbally attack someone they don’t even know. And why should that young woman have to put up with such bile.
I agree with you Reality. Your example clearly crosses the line between free speech and hate speech.
Based on what you have said, the young Maori woman has a case to put in front of the human rights commission. I’d encourage her to do so. (This shouldn’t be costly).
It shouldn’t cost anything – our justice system should ensure that all such cases are heard without the complainant having to front up with the cash for lawyers.
When it doesn’t, as ours doesn’t, then the justice system is only for those who can afford it and justice is denied to those who need it.
“Does free speech mean someone has the right to be rude, obnoxious, cruel, or twist facts about others who may not be in a position to respond because of their family, their job, or health, or who have no wish to become embroiled in a nasty slanging match?”
Yep.
John Key exploited that right throughout his time as National Party leader.
Robert while he allowed Dirty Politics.
He did smack down Don Bash over his antiquated Maori Bashing saying in John Keys words “there is no place in NZ for these outdated antiquated ideas NZ has moved on.”
Evil, like racism, usually lies in the eye of the beholder. Late in 1999 the fourth largest newspaper in the US (NY Post) held a poll to see who their readers thought were the most evil people in history, and 19,184 of them voted. Hitler won.
Second came Bill Clinton. Stalin was third, then Pol Pot.
Fifth was the Nazi who conducted medical experiments on live jews, Dr Josef Mengele. Sixth was Hilary Clinton.
Saddam Hussein, Adolf Eichmann, Charles Manson and Idi Amin completed the top ten. Genghis Khan came in at 11th, then serial killer who ate his victims, Jeffrey Dahmer. Vlad the Impaler made it to #20, Jack the Ripper #25.
Trevor Chappell was nowhere in this list?
Ah, Trev. No, I guess the yanks were too busy getting high back then & didn’t notice. I wondered why he didn’t just tell the media at the time “Hey, our ancestors were convicts so breaking rules is in the genes, right? Get over it. Sportsmanship?? Are you kidding???”
😀😀😀
Dennis Frank no doubt its a Murdoch publication so Goebels would have attained sainthood.
I was intrigued when I read a biography of him to discover that he’d been a supporter of socialism as a young adult. It’s what he had in common with David Lange, plus they both refused knighthoods due to feeling strongly that the dross from empire ought to be discarded.
Same with William Pember Reeves: he was offered one twice, refused twice. He transformed Aotearoa with radical industrial relations policy an entire generation before Labour. Took me most of my life to get around to reading Land of the Long White Cloud but man, what a book!!
“Murdoch studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Worcester College, Oxford in England, where he supported the Labour Party, stood for Secretary of the Labour Club”. [from his wiki]
The MeToo# divas did not even mention the Palestinian Rosa Parks when they strutted at the Academy Awards.
“All Palestinians have courage. It’s different from one person to another. But I grew up in a family where I got used to seeing prisoners, the injured and martyrs.” – Ahed Tamimi
https://www.democracynow.org/2018/8/6/meet_ahed_tamimi_17_year_old
Hey everyone has missed the point I was trying to make. It was his comment re the last government that intrigued me the most. I have no time for Brash, particularly having recently read “The Hollow Men” but thought that his critique of the Key years was most apt. I agree with Jacinda though that banning him from the University was a gross over reaction. Importing “hate preachers” is one thing but Don Brash is a New Zealander and most followers of local politics know exactly where he stands.
Another important piece in today’ s Herald was Professor Peter Davis’ article entitled “Ageing “Ponzi” scheme needs to change fast”. The super situation and the long term effect of Muldoon’s blunder must be kept constantly on the public’s radar. Many of the SSS (Smug Self Satisfied) 45% that is the majority of National’s core support, will not be affected by the issue (they regard the fortnightly payment as pin money) but for the rest of us, especially our children and grandchildren the question is of the utmost importance.
Chris Bishop sends a letter to the VC
https://www.facebook.com/ChrisBishopMP/posts/1839978992715644
He’s pretty good
Yes Bishop is pretty good – at being tedious.
Maybe he should have sent a letter when Hone Harawira was banned for similar reasons
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12103182
How much of nz businesses lack of confidence is just petulance at not having their lapdog nats in government?
How much of it is due to the increased powers of the unions especially considering the increase in strikes and threats of strikes as is happening right now
How much of it is due to a rollback of some 90 day employment laws and the worry if that will be increased or just dropped completely?
How much of it is due to the lack of warning and consultation over the oil and gas exploration halt?
How much of it is due to employers potentially paying out domestic abuse leave?
Petulance: Delicate petals which get easily bruised by strong winds,
“How much of nz businesses lack of confidence is just petulance at not having their lapdog nats in government?”
I see the looney Greens are focused on the important issues.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/08/green-co-leader-marama-davidson-says-new-zealand-must-reclaim-the-c-word.html
Regardless of what caused it you ignore it at your peril.
Possibly right.
When business leaders/owners lose confidence, democratically elected governments are in peril.
When anybody else (beneficiaries, bus-drivers, one-legged dog-walkers, you name it) loses confidence, governments aren’t in peril.
Strange that – looks like democracies can’t really work well when there is huge inequality of power amongst the population. Maybe time to do something about that then.
Yep – time to get rid of the capitalists. They’re a clear and present danger to our democracy.
The problem I have is the nats are talking confidence down . As we know it becomes self fulfilling among money once they believe it .
I rekons that the nats would happily see nz fail just to get in power.
All the talk of allowing free speech for fascists…..
When one of the primary aims of fascists is suppression of free speech. (For everyone, but themselves.)
dozens of stranded journalists fear for their fates
Ammar Homou – Syria Direct, August 7, 2018
Neonazis attack London left-wing bookshop
Peter Lazenby – Dear Kitty, August 5, 2018
Don’t support fascism. (It really shouldn’t have to be said)
Sounds pre- Kristallnacht 9-10 November 1938. A year before WW2 broke out – 1 September 1939. (WH Auden)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristallnacht
And FO any Godwins law yappers. The thing is to remember history, see the patterns, not repeat it.
There certainly are some issues in London
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/feb/01/antisemitic-incidents-in-uk-at-all-time-high
If The Guardian penned the article its a pretty good bet that its just a continuation of the Corbyn bashing campaign thats been happening for some time apparently . Why would it be a surprise that there would be animosity towards jews recently when for no doubt a considerable number of people the sight of unarmed protesters in Gaza being gunned down by heavily armed cowards hiding behind a forty foot wall is probably still fresh in their minds ??
For Wellingtonians:
Apparently there’ll be a review of the bugger’s muddle that is now our public transport ‘network’.
Let’s hope it’s not driven by those that planned the new network and its ‘big bang’ implementation or the outcome will likely be that we’ll be lining up in one queue to get a number from a machine that gives us a place in another queue at the bus stop.
And if they’re really really clever, they’ll divide those queues into the registration number on the bus (for the purposes of efficiency and effectiveness).
Having once worked with Darran Ponter, I’m surprised at how he has so easily become captured by bullshit artists – no doubt fresh back from an overseas fact finding mission.
Still, the higher you rise, the harder you fall
I’m a little fire engine, Flick is my name
They won’t let me put out fires
But I do it just the same…..
Ooooh ahhhh oooooh aaaaaaah
there’s a fire in the stationhouse! etc. etc. (Another fine mess you’ve gotten me into Ollie!)
(/Surprise surprise)
/fuckwittery at its most grand
Any links etc for this info OWT?
I was just about to do an update to a group of “concerned citizens” in my area who I am representing re changes etc to our bus services in discussions with Metlink etc, so would like to know more before doing so. Must say that I have had reasonably good productive discourse with Metlink on this but I am taking a facilitator rather than an aggressive approach. Our situation is one that is a little less urgent and requires a lot of diplomacy/nergotiations with other community citizens rather than the bus operators per se compared to some of the more urgent problems being faced by workers, students etc needing to get to work, classes etc. so need to take a cooperative and slower approach to reach a solution that meets most peoples’ needs etc.
Darran Ponter is actually on my list of people outside Metlink to approach so any more info about him etc also welcome.
Only as a former public servant in a government Ministry when he was in charge of a group of policy analysts.
RNZ news has reported that the GWRC has admitted there are problems.
Unfortunately it seems what they’re proposing will just amount to tinkering (changes to route 18 for example).
In some cases, people are having to catch 3 buses where they previously caught 1
If they wanted a quick solution, it’d probably be to simply revert to the old route system, then make gradual improvements – that won’t happen because it’s be an admission of compete failure.
I’m picking that unless something radical is done soon Darran won’t be back after the next election, and he won’t be wanting to put this farce on his CV when he goes job hunting. And in many ways, that’s a bit of a shame
What did that guy Molyneaux say to us about “Welcome to sharia law” or something?
So, Canada’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Chrystia Freeland said “Canada is gravely concerned about additional arrests of civil society and women’s activists in Saudi Arabia including Samar Badawi.” She urged the Saudi government to “immediately release them.”
Saudi Arabia then denounced the tweets as “blatant interference in the country’s domestic affairs,” as well as a “major, unacceptable affront to the kingdom’s laws and judicial process.” The Saudi government has said that it will cut scholarships for thousands of its students to study in Canada. They have also made the Saudia airline suspend flights to Toronto in five days.
Bahrain. the Arab Emirates, and others back the Saudi government.
Now, I don’t need to cite The Handmaid’s Tale to you all on what actual Sharia Law looks and feels like. If she didn’t have diplomatic immunity she would be in a Saudi prison.
Ambassador Freeland (great name by the way!) simply stands by what she has said. “We will always speak up for human rights and women’s rights.”
We would gain something of our moral centre back as a country if we started tying human rights to trade with a sharia law country like Saudi Arabia.
We don’t have to like the people giving us unpalatable messages, but Canada is pointing the way here. It took courage.
Why focus only ob Sharia Law?
Oh, wait…
If we actually focussed on human rights we’d soon stop trading with our top export nations.
We’d certainly have fewer of them.
And there you have the reason why we don’t restrict trade to nations that only fully support human rights.
Profit is more important to government.
And here you have made a very important moral point. Our standard of living is dependent on trade, which depends on supporting evil behaviour by foreign governments. Is supporting evil behaviour a good idea? No.
Qanon is beyond very strange. Money mabey?
Here’s a primer….
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/ywex8v/what-is-qanon-conspiracy-theory
…but it could well be a pisstake…
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanhatesthis/its-looking-extremely-likely-that-qanon-is-probably-a
…but whatever TF it is, the true believers are barking.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/watch-qanon-followers-try-to-explain-their-absolutely-bonkers-pro-trump-conspiracy-theory?source=twitter&via=desktop
I ran across one when commenting on youtube – your right they are completely barking.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018657123/new-disability-support-rules-baffle-lawyer
New Zealand health
42 minutes ago 8 Aug 2018
Ministry’s new disability guidelines baffle family lawyer
A lawyer fighting on behalf of families over the disabled support services says the Ministry of Health policy in the area borders on cruel.
(Rosemary has been saying this for a while)
By the way has anyone had trouble with pressreader. I went to it and my screen locked up as a message that I had to accept came up. I wanted out but no cross to clear it, and couldn’t close down site or move to another site. Had to turn off computer.l Pathetic program design.
If wanting to email the site what is the address. Nothing I have tried is recognised?
Or don’t you have it now – does it all have to be twitter and facebook ?
https://thestandard.org.nz/contact-us/
Chris T
Thanks for that.
Oh dear even Tracey is scathing of crasher Collins.
“Either Collins believed in the vast left wing conspiracy to normalise child rape – which is scary. Or she didn’t believe it but tweeted it anyway because she knew some of the people who read her tweets would have no problem believing it was true.”
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/106100009/how-far-down-this-slippery-slope-will-judith-collins-lead-national
Greasy irrigation!
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/106098339/hurunui-irrigation-company-bullish-but-farmers-fall-short-on-the-money
Still slipping on, taking up water that will be in short supply and allocated on generous terms over … years encouraging farmers to over-extend themselves and cry poor.l
But Chris Pile, chief executive of the company driving the proposed $200 million scheme is determined it “must and will continue”.
(Unfortunate name. I smell money for a successful CEO.)
Unforeseen consequences? Grenade shaped table lighters, fake guns, just toys nothing to worry about – stop fussing. blah blah. Rubbish unworthy of spending export $ on and now bothersome rubbish that are scaring people and involving police bomb squads with a large increase in callouts.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/106078499/inactive-grenades-used-as-paperweights-contribute-to-nzdf-bomb-squad-callouts-jump
Mountain rescue cost six figures and hundreds of volunteer hours
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/106050614/mountain-rescue-cost-six-figures-and-hundreds-of-volunteer-hours
This guy has been rescued before, and seems to have gone mountain climbing just about every year. So the rescue is just part of the exciting holiday risks ultimately borne by us. Let us have more money spent on our parents and children to help them get a good start in life if we care about people so much. It is a class matter really, the needy families are lower class and enterprising mountain climbers are far up the ladder. Sick.
One thing to do is to bill them for the cost of it all, plus honorarium for the volunteers and arrest and jail them if they come back and the bill is unpaid. her pay up quickly and fully or deport them, with refusal to enter again. Grow a pair government. People with student loans unpaid are treated harshly so why shouldn’t we put a stopper on these drifters who are too spiritual to worry about the trouble and cost their spending time out in nature, communing, puts other people to.
+111
This is a rather informative, but short, video on why we can’t make old stuff from the original designs:
Daily review isn’t loading for.me
Working now
If this was a scene in the movie ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ it would have ended up on the cutting room floor for being to far fetched.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hail-zoo-colorado_us_5b69a10ae4b0de86f4a552d3
Good morning The Am Show Eco says it’s good that our Kiwi fire fighters can help America and Canada fight those massive fires ka pai people be careful.
Condolences to the people who have lost love ones and property.
Social issues poverty bulling racial issues its not hard to see that’s these issues will affect all Mokopunas mental health this health problem we have will affect wealthy and poor the same as different groups clash its good we are looking at fixing this big problem. Unlike the bench warmers who’s action’s just multiplied this big problem Eco seen this.
Duncan that young Asian boy was intelligent and well spoken on the issues of 16/17 year old forced marriage.
With cat’s they are a gift from Papatuanuku I don’t think they have to be eliminated
just controlled . Cat’s help people who are alone in our society they give there care’s some thing to love and care they give them a reason to get up in the morning pet;s are good for some people’s mental health in this age of individualism this individualism has to change we are all on Papatuanuku together.
Ka kite ano P.S I try to be fair I’m a Gary McCormick fan he come’s from te tai rawhiti so there is a bit of favoritism
Here you go I read body langue well and Eco Maori can see what motivates people actions one thing in this link below is this.
Ka kite ano
Tiaki-Turi joins the interview by phone. She acts as Zhou Black’s spiritual adviser or matakite – someone considered to possess a supernatural ability to see visions of the future.
Zhou Black is asked why an academic appears on her child-sex ring list.
“He’s a very wealthy man … He knew Awa through that time. I don’t know how long,” she says.
No victim had identified the academic.
“Got anything to add, sis?” Zhou Black asks Tiaki-Turi.
“Um, it’s just a connection that he has with a lot of the people associated to Awa,” Tiaki-Turi offers.
“He’s more a person of interest,” Zhou Black adds.
“He was my Facebook friend up until three days ago and then he has blocked me.”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/106039693/estranged-wifes-explosive-childsex-claims-against-awanui-black-and-friends-questioned P.S I stand by my word’s these women are being played I don’t know enough about the treaty claims of Tauranga to make comment on that issue . But I do know that people are trying to undo my Mahi.
The Cafe the Roy Orbison look alike is a awesome singer Eco enjoys Roy’s music
Ka kite ano
To all you moaning neo liberal capitalist trolls New Zealand has spent more on AID to other country’s than they have spent on treaty claims now Eco knows that the poor tangata around the World need help and I back that AID but stop kicking ——in tangata whenua face please about te mone we got from treaty settlement’s enough said only bad—–will come from the word’s I want to say .
Ka kite ano
https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/aid-and-development/our-approach-to-aid/where-our-funding-goes/
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/106097912/chinas-pacific-aid-dominance-is-overstated–but-winston-peters-disagrees P.S Stop kicking —– in China face to
You know what the other big picture is New Zealand spent more putting tangata whenua in jail much more than the mone spent on treaty settlement no link but that’s a fact
One can not judge the Opinion of Atoearoa just by a poll that can be targeted by national trolls to minupulate the results it won’t take many people to change the polls results.
Good Kiwi understand that Maori were ripped of their whenua and its 10 x harder for Maori to get a better life than any other culture in Atoearoa the troll.s love those easy to minupulate polls on TV. Look at these bone head sandflys stuffing up my life and my offspring. It they had anything more that contracted lies they would put ECO MAORI in the hinaki. Ka kite ano discrimination at its best
You may be wondering how the phone poll can be hacked it’s easy if you got mone gone managed to raise $90k in 2 days to try and fight in court for his m8 from you no were so for the neo liberal capitalist mone is not a problem .
There is will well the NLcapitalist have no morels so cheating is like changing undies to these people so they have the will to cheat and manipulate the reality of good Kiwi’s using these poll’s .
How well you have 50 people with 10 sims each and there you go 500 votes for the NLcapitalist trolls cost about $600.00 if the poll does not have a limit of 1 call per number that cost will be just $6.00 . Eco Maori knows that any thing can be manipulated its just takes no morels to lie mone and effort . I know look at what the sandflys are doing to Eco Maori Ka kite ano P.S tryed to find out how this poll is conducted nothing on the net so its phone or Tx I can’t be stuffed with some poles because all data can be changed to suit the goals of the person with the most mone
gone=don brash
Mana Wahine Ka pai American Wahine Eco Maori tautoko/supports all Ladies who are going to get into roles to lead us to a humane prosperous future .
I know that a lot of ladies are more intelligent than man definitely more humane the Papatuanuku is your Oyster as the old saying goes you need to make sure the mokopunas have a bright prosperous future and men can not be trusted to do this on there own . Ka kite ano P.S I still respect men as I am one but we need te Wahine to guide the men down the correct path link below men will still be part of leadership ladies will gide men to the correct path.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-45109836
Good evening Newshub Eco Maori was upset today I have been trying to get my wahine mokopuna health issues sorted out for two weeks she spent 2 nites in Rotorua hospital so in all 4 hospital appointments waiting 5 to 6 hours for each visit 3 doctor’s appointments I got someone to take her to Ranolf medical center on Monday get a call today saying she had a urine infection to come and get antibiotics I was happy she has finally be diagnosed I am upset that the sandfly were hiding around the corner at the hosptial telling the doctors lies getting the doctors to ask my moko questions that had nothing to do with her ailment and getting them to pregnecy test my 11 year old mokopuna with out telling us instead of testing her sample for signs of a infection the doctor at lakes care said there were signs of a mild infection and sent us to the hosptial to get her scaned this did not happen. I pointed this out to the doctor at the hospital he just dismissed my inquire I have been nursing my mokopuna for 2 weeks she has been in pain for 3 1/2 weeks I am looking after her because everyone else is working so its understandable that I’m upset . The sandflys have told the doctors you are not liable .They cannot sue because of the New Zealand Laws the down side to Accident Compensation corporation a Kiwi can not sue the health department for miss conduct my moko could have lost a kidney and now I am waiting to get her kidneys scanned I thought Rotorua hosptial would do it today they gave her a weeks wait WTF.
I can not sue the health system but I am gathering everdince to sue others .???????????
Well I got that off my chest those fire tornadoes are mean those have not been seen much at all may be 2 times I have seen documents of this phenomenon That’s Human Caused Global warrming trump.
The bereavement leave for miss carage of a baby is backed by Eco one of my offspring went through that its Quite Papatuanuku shattering it took awhile for them to get over that.
Yes Eco always reads te animals cows are good Guard dogs lol well I read everything quite well just my spelling is bad.
It was a beautiful day to day Ingrid Ka kite ano
Good evening Newshub Eco Maori was upset today I have been trying to get my wahine mokopuna health issues sorted out for two weeks she spent 2 nites in Rotorua hospital so in all 4 hospital appointments waiting 5 to 6 hours for each visit 3 doctor’s appointments I got someone to take her to Ranolf medical center on Monday get a call today saying she had a urine infection to come and get antibiotics I was happy she has finally be diagnosed I am upset that the sandfly were hiding around the corner at the hosptial telling the doctors lies getting the doctors to ask my moko questions that had nothing to do with her ailment and getting them to pregnecy test my 11 year old mokopuna with out telling us instead of testing her sample for signs of a infection the doctor at lakes care said there were signs of a mild infection and sent us to the hosptial to get her scaned this did not happen. I pointed this out to the doctor at the hospital he just dismissed my inquire I have been nursing my mokopuna for 2 weeks she has been in pain for 3 1/2 weeks I am looking after her because everyone else is working so its understandable that I’m upset . The sandflys have told the doctors you are not liable .They cannot sue because of the New Zealand Laws the down side to Accident Compensation corporation a Kiwi can not sue the health department for miss conduct my moko could have lost a kidney and now I am waiting to get her kidneys scanned I thought Rotorua hosptial would do it today they gave her a weeks wait WTF.
I can not sue the health system but I am gathering everdince to sue others .???????????
Well I got that off my chest those fire tornadoes are mean those have not been seen much at all may be 2 times I have seen documents of this phenomenon That’s Human Caused Global warrming trump.
The bereavement leave for miss carage of a baby is backed by Eco one of my offspring went through that its Quite Papatuanuku shattering it took awhile for them to get over that.
Yes Eco always reads te animals cows are good Guard dogs lol well I read everything quite well just my spelling is bad.
It was a beautiful day to day Ingrid Ka kite ano
The Crowd Goes Wild Mulls and Makere I like to look after tangata that I connect with.
I had a sore face for half a hour last night . We all think our kids get there best traits from us but what I know the brain’s are genitally linked to Wahine so I tell my offspring that they get there intelligence from there mum I read that in some science mag.
Keep up the good work Mahi Drysdale you will be fine.
I see Posha Woodman got into the Papatuanuku Sports Wahine of the year with the Williams sisters Mana Wahine
All the best to Jacko in his shot put goals he is a good role model for the mokopunas never give up thats the attitude.
Ka kite ano
The sandflys are stuffing with my computa once again
Why didn’t shonky kick the rugby ball through the rugby goal post hitting a golf ball through rugby goal post is easy as cheating once again shonky
Some people don’t know when they other’s are using there emotion’s to play them they don’t expect it and trust others to much .
They don’t beleve Eco maori that being to radical is bad for there cause wake up you are a wahine maori leader Ka kite ano P.S or do you have the same advisor that coned another wahine maori leader to splash mud in her own face Eco thinks the possibility and coincident are quite high
To The Labour Party Do onto those as they do onto YOU there are 2 ways to see this Golden Rule the one Eco is high lighting is national are digging scraping around for any dirt on the ruling Labour Green New Zealand First Government and trowing it in your face so Eco would look for dirt on national and give it back to them this move will even up the score keep them busy fighting the fire it won’t be hard to find mud on them Eco say’s
Ka kite ano
He used his free speech to try to obliterate Māori out of New Zealand society. If you don’t believe me, read the speech for yourself. ka kite ano
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/106108505/when-a-person-with-extreme-views-defends-free-speech-someone-gets-hurt