It starts with a small intro with some serious news. Before segueing to Washington DC, for an incredible case of interviewing your typewriter type commentary. Aided with some disjointed editing of a US senate hearing on Syria. Interrupted by clumsily cutting away to some “experts on terrorism”. And more on the streets (of Washington) commentary.
Adding to the whole air of unreality of this piece, is the body language of the front person, which seems to suggest that she is uncomfortable reading her ridiculous script.
What this video actually reveals, is that the Russian and American ‘Big Powers’ have been caught completely flat footed by the revolution in Syria.
What the senate hearing seems to be discussing, (though it is hard to tell due to the crap editing), is the ‘possibility’ of intervening.
The Russian Today announcer indignantly cries “America has already intervened”.
Russia Today claims that both Al Qaida and the US are currently working together in Syria.
“Large number of Al Qaida linked fighters are reportedly bolstering the opposition’s ranks and these groups are being supported by the US”, Russia Today.
(Despite being at each other’s throats everywhere else.) We are being asked to believe by Russia Today that America and Al Qaida are working together in Syria.
This is highly unlikely while the US is spending vast amounts of money and thousands of lives (including New Zealand lives) fighting Al Qaida in Afghanistan.
What is really happening here is that the outside Russian and American powers, inexplicably finding themselves on the sidelines, are both trying to talk up an Al Qaida presence as an excuse to intervene.
Make no mistake, an intervention in Syria, by either the Russians, or the US will be with the purpose of strangling this genuine people’s revolt.
I am annoyed at Colonial Viper because though he dresses it up in leftist rhetoric, his deeper message is misanthropic, continually negative, and deeply conservative, and most of all, defeatist.
There are a lot of us here who cross your barriers. Rather than doing pre-emptive strikes please respond to specifics when they happen, otherwise it looks dreadfully like that other equally obnoxious activity, stalking.
Same, your message is valid, but your intro having a dig at CV just detracts from that valid message,
You run the risk of making the issue one of egotistical camps, as in those who support you and those who support CV, thus losing all perspective and, more importantly blinding yourself to being able to work out the truth of what the conflict has become…
It is a fact that Bashar Assad like his father before him is a mass murderer.
It is a fact that Bashar Assad regime uses torture*.
It is a fact that Colonial Viper supports this regime.
I must be getting old. There used to be a time when those who supported torturers and mass murders were not welcome in polite society. (Especially Left polite society).
*A fact so well known that Syria is one of overseas territories used by the CIA for rendition, (the practice of exporting victims to be tortured to territories where torture is allowed.)
Inshallah the Americans won’t have this option for much longer.
Feel free to ignore the active destabilisation of a peaceful and culturally advanced country to get to this point, however.
As for a choice between Assad and the rebels…we know what we’re going to get with Assad. What are we going to get with the rebels? Sharia law and a roll back of womens rights to the norm of every other arab country?
In Aleppo in an interview with a rebel soldier, a government tank shell went off near New Zealand journalist Anita McNaught in the building next door.
Colonial Viper in an unprincipled attack on the integrity of McNaught, suggested that McNaught had rigged the shell to explode in the middle of the interview.
place a shell 200m away and when you need it, set it off with a small charge.
Colonial Viper in an unprincipled attack on the integrity of McNaught, suggested that McNaught had rigged the shell to explode in the middle of the interview.
Colonial Viper in an unprincipled attack on the integrity of McNaught, suggested that McNaught had rigged the shell to explode in the middle of the interview.
You’re a fucking unprincipled liar
Was that not the link to the thread where you made your comment, along with your other comments suggesting that Anita McNaught had sold out her journalistic integrity to her employers?
Are you suggesting that someone else placed this comment under your pseudonym?
If you can prove this, then I will apologise.
Maybe Lynn Prentice may want to come in here, he knows who posts what.
As far as I read the rather heated conversations, CV was arguing that it was common that civil wars against terrible regimes wound up with worse regime afterwards. Hard to disagree bearing in mind some of the examples from the history of the 20th.
He also commented that it was easy to fake stuff for journos. He didn’t say that was McNaught or Al jazerra which is what you are asserting. As I read it he was just offering alternates to it being the Syrian army dropping shells. It could have as easily been local insurrectionists with plastique. The only thing that is hard to fake with shells is the distinctive incoming noise which probably too high pitched for camera mikes.
Any history of insurrection or war is replete with examples of groups mugging it up for the journos. They have a vested interest in making news look good for them and most conflicts have at least a few examples of it.
I rather suspect that CV is mostly saying that skepticism is a good attribute to cultivate when viewing any conflict.
Feel free to talk about liberal naievete in matters of revolution as long as you remember how the likes of Marcos, the Shah of Iran, Saddam Hussein, Pinochet, etc. stayed in power so long.
In all of those cases the government was replaced by revolution supported by other governments (most notably, the US) and the result was far worse than what had been there before. Considering the lies that the US has promulgated about their actions in the ME over the last few decades it seems reasonable to be sceptical of their motives now and history shows us that we should question what the result will be with them meddling in the rebellion.
And questioning the rebels doesn’t imply support of the current regime. Effectively a position of Yes, the current regime needs to go but the result of the rebellion could actually be worse. With history being on the side of it being worse.
Let us not pull the house down on top of ourselves. A few twits are already doing that……
A small group of ABCs had a nihilist moment or three and briefed an impressionable jurno.
The target is Key and his gang. The motivation is the poorly paid hard workers, the children, the old and infirm, the many who need a strong and progressive Labour Party.
This is the chance for Shearer to show his mettle. It is timely, given the review and the forthcoming conference. Every cloud has a silver lining.
He is our leader, even if we are unhappy with the selection process. Helen, Mike Smith, Mike Williams and others could have proposed a new leadership process and didn’t. That is not Shearer’s fault.
I’ve no doubt that he is shocked and angry with the idiots who instigated and acted in this play with Garner and others. It was so crass, so stupid, it is almost unbelievable.
Shearer would never have wished for major bush-fire like this. With his background he knows the importance of putting out bush-fires quickly. Give him time.
Iranian elite commandos captured by Syrian rebels in Damascus? A Turkish general captured by Assad’s forces in Aleppo? True or false? It doesn’t actually matter all that much. Even if there were Iranian killers in Syria, the Assad regime is still an indigenous dictatorship. Even if there was a Turkish general in Aleppo, the Syrian democracy movement and its armed wing are still an indigenous uprising.
Your criticism is a little out of context here PB.
Morgan is talking about the accusations that because Al Qaida, or Turkish generals, or Russian advisers, or CIA agents are (possibly), all in Syria, then it can’t possibly be a genuine people’s revolt.
Morgan is saying that whether these accusations are true or not, it is still a popular revolt and we should support it.
I notice that Morgan does mention the possibility, that if this meddling continues or even erupts into open military intervention that, that this could change. Nothing is guaranteed in this life in any human endeavor.
And these foreign forces do have huge military power backed up by influential propaganda resources.
Yet for all this, we should support the people of Syria in their valiant effort to rid themselves of Tyranny. It’s the decent thing to do.
Good questions, PB. Also, how do we separate the legitimate grassroots revolution/aries from all the other players trying to get in on the act in order to benefit their own interests.
I would love to see Assad’s regime removed and replaced with something more humane and democratic. But with the big powers all trying to get in on the act, isn’t there a risk of another US/Western puppet being installed – something that worked so well in places like Iraq in the past?
But with the big powers all trying to get in on the act, isn’t there a risk of another US/Western puppet being installed – something that worked so well in places like Iraq in the past?
PB, I like the term contextual elements. Seems to me when we try and straight-jacket issues into paradigms of democracy, decency, freedom, sovereignty etc etc we can easily miss out on context.
Syria is a classic for historic and geographic context. For better or worse they sit on one of the crossroads of the world: because of this their interests have for 000s of years often been at odds with those of others. We in NZ represent a little island state at the ends of the earth, our geo-political context is so very different. We don’t sit next to a country occupied by a superpower, or next to a rogue state supported by a superpower, nor in a region where an ex-superpower is testing the incumbent super powers over-reach. We don’t have oil or pipelines from oil fields. We don’t have any historic record as a battleground between the people and ideas of the east and west.
With regard to Syria and who is doing what to whom and why I could come up with a hundred versions, all at odds. Could be Jenny is right and wrong concurrently, and CV the same. Context please.
Give it 10 years and we will all likely learn that after 9/11 the CIA was finally let loose from it’s legislative chains,
Whereupon said organization took it’s ooodles of cash and organizational capabilities into the desert sands and viola we have the Arab Spring,
Time will obviously tell how close to the truth that little assertion is, but, i liken US foreign policy to a Mafia protection racket,
The US in order to protect it’s client States in the Gulf can either engage in messy expensive invasions after the fact of some abhorrent behavior inflicted upon the client by another State, or, the US can engage in fermenting internal revolution in such States in the region that are or could become a threat to the US clients…
Firstly. We need to confront and challenge the hysteria being created around Al Qaida involvement in Syria, which is being deliberately whipped up to shape public opinion into accepting Western foreign intervention in Syria.
Second. Anyone with the ear of any Green Party MP needs to let them know that any support for intervention by the US, the UN or any other outside powers will be counterproductive. To this end the Greens should be lobbied to withdraw any and all calls from them in support of foreign intervention.
Third. Prepare at the first sign of either Russion or US led UN armed intervention to rally outside the embassies of the invading countries.
Fourth. Prepare to help rally as many friends and colleagues as possible to join with others to protest outside the the electoral office of any MP whether National or Green who suggests that New Zealand should send a contingent to take part in any such military intervention.
And lastly habibi. Think for yourself, forget the propagandists, listen to the voice of the Arab and Syrian People. Learn about the Arab Spring.
So essentially you are saying that we, as a nation, should do nothing. As individuals, we should campaign against doing anything, and shout down anyone who points out that the rebels are being assisted by some pretty unsavoury types.
Even though many foreign fighters and jihadists are the ones doing the fighting and killing of Syrian citizens, and even though every surrounding country is trying to fuel and influence outcomes for themselves? Particularly US allied countries who see this as a way to weaken and isolate Iran further.
Alawites and Shia Syrian citizens all through Syria fear being targetted now by the rebels. Funny how foreign funded fighters can do that against local citizens and you still say that its a popular revolt.
Alawites and Shia Syrian citizens all through Syria fear being targetted now by the rebels. Funny how foreign funded fighters can do that against local citizens and you still say that its a popular revolt.
ABSOLUTELY TRUE! Seconded thirded and quoted for truth!
If the NATO / Saudi backed insurgents are successful there will be a massacre of Alawites, and every other religious minority in Syria. If they fail then the Sunni majority are in the firing line. This is now a stalemate. Neither side will yield for fear of the consequences. I certainly wouldn’t feel comfortable in the knowledge that these supposed “Free Syrian Army” guys were coming my way.
Is Shearer on the right track here? If so how does he work to counter these Auckland trends?
It certainly looks like provincial NZ is losing out to the cities, and nothing is being done by the present government to develop the positive sides of rural living.
Mr Shearer will speak in Nelson today where he is expected to accuse National of neglecting the well-being of provincial New Zealand and stripping regional road funding to pay for projects such as Auckland’s motorways, National’s “roads of significance”.
Labour will also issue a series of statements setting out a range of bad news stories for each province since National came into Government in 2008 – including companies where there were big job losses, dodgy roads and the numbers from each region who had gone to Australia.
But is the current dynamic growth of Auckland inevitable, sustainable, and, in the long-term good for the whole of NZ?
Certainly the Herald’s report on the Household Labour Force Survey’s findings is giving the city a young, sexy, innovative gloss: a city abundant in opportunities and good pay for those that want it.
Auckland’s working population is younger, more highly educated and better paid compared with the rest of the country, a review of employment in the city has found.
Or are these advantages really just minimal in a context that is not great for the majority of workers overall? The employment/unemployment/wages stats don’t exactly indicate boom-times for Kiwis in general.
Maybe it would be better for workers overall, if necessary and innovative business were spread more evenly around the country? This would take the pressure of the transport systems and available accommodation in cities like Auckland, and make sustainable living, close to the countryside a possibility for more Kiwis.
It certainly looks like provincial NZ is losing out to the cities, and nothing is being done by the present government to develop the positive sides of rural living.
Provincial NZ is not particularly interested in what Labour has to say; in general it doesn’t believe that Labour holds an understanding of or attitude helpful towards smaller towns and rural areas.
And, Dave Shearer going there and accentuating the negatives while not laying out a Labour Government blue-print to bring about the positives aint about to have them all waving red rosettes in the streets…
But is the current dynamic growth of Auckland inevitable, sustainable, and, in the long-term good for the whole of NZ?
No it’s not. What we need to be doing is looking at ways to encourage people to move out of Auckland into other areas so that we can downsize Auckland. This probably means an increase in government funded research and manufacture complexes around the country which encourages cooperative competition.
DTB 4.3
Sounds a good idea. Are you clever enough to persuade someone in power to do this?? Or will it be another one of those good ideas that get directed down a dark alley and coshed?
When the opportunity and the movement comes, you’ll recognise it. Just for the sake of irony, we’ll probably run our first conference in Auckland, in SkyCity.
Welcome to New Zild, the Hungarian Consul General Klara Szentirmay has come to the conclusion that we all reached long ago about Slippery the Prime Minister,
She called Slippery’s remarks about Hungarian troops serving in Afghanistan unhelpful and snide after our Prime Minister flushed like a common toilet and disrespected EVERY soldier that is or has ever served in Afghanistan by saying Hungarian soldiers don’t go out at night in Afghanistan but do so in the Hungarian Capital Budapest,
Slippery our Prime Minister cracking snide jokes after the deaths and injuries suffered by the Kiwi troops what a piece of s**t…
The highest-ranking Hungarian representative in New Zealand has described Prime Minister John Key’s remarks about the effectiveness of Hungarian troops in Afghanistan as “snide” and “unhelpful”….
“Maybe there’s a gap there that needs to be addressed, but it’d be dealt with at that level and not by making snide remarks and inferring blame on Hungary for two New Zealanders’ deaths.
“It’s completely unhelpful because I’m sure there’s very good reasons why Hungary doesn’t [patrol at night].
“If New Zealand feels it is necessary to do that, then it is a discussion which should already have started.”
She added: “I felt quite offended by it. It’s … emotive, quite derogatory. That’s my personal opinion.
“It probably, if anything, just reflects more on John Key than on the actual relationship between New Zealand and Hungary.”
“Mr Key said: “As far as I’m aware, the Hungarians don’t go out at night. Not in Afghanistan anyway – they might in Budapest.””
John Key you dick. Trying to make an insult to the courage of another country’s soldiers sound like a throw-away joke: fail. You’re not talking about a rugby rivalry now idiot.
Here’s a hint JK, when discussing anything even remotely connected to people dying in warzones, just drop the jokey blokey jokes altogether. Because then you might look like less of an embarrasment to the country you pretend to represent. But don’t worry I understand Dear Banker, antisocials often just don’t realize that the things they say could offend others in even moderately complex emotional situations. It’s the inability to empathize thing, you see.
Watching the infighting within Labours parliamentary team is so very sad. That it is happening is an indictment on the Caucus for not resolving the leadership issue in a satisfactory manner to all parties.
I would suggest that the Guiding Principles of Labour http://www.labour.org.nz/about-us should be more than enough to set policy direction, and those too long in the tooth time servers who have not adhered to this for years in office need to go. There are some newer members in power positions who should probably sit down and read, and if they cannot commit begone (Parker, Shearer etc).
To Mallard, King, Goff, Street, Dyson and others (in the words of Cromwell) “You have been sat to long here for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of god, go!”
Not really shooting in the foot – especially not if you look at the poll results beside that article, on a news site where conservative opinions usually dominate in such polls.
And it’s not helpful all round to support any conservative opposition to marriage equality by using it as evidence that equality shouldn’t happen.
I think it’s actually positive to see such a debate in a lower socio-economic area where there is a significant amount of social conservatism. And Wall has responded well with some good arguments:
Ms Wall says a lot of opposition by Pacific churches is based on the misbelief that they will be compelled to conduct same-sex marriages.
“What I don’t like,” she says, “is ministers telling their congregation members that they’re going to have to accept same-sex marriages in those churches.
“That’s not true; and I don’t want mistruths interfering in what should be a really rational debate about what a diverse New Zealand looks like and how we should all have tolerance and accept each other for who we are.”
Ms Wall says her bill will allow same-sex couples to go to the state for a marriage licence and will not stop churches defining marriage as being between a man and a woman.
She says she expects the bill to be sent to a select committee at its first reading, and Pacific communities should make submissions at that stage.
and from the Herald article:
Many Pacific Islanders also live in Wall’s electorate but she says she is not getting any resistance from voters.
However, she had written to all religious leaders, not only Pacific leaders, in her electorate explaining what the bill was about and stressing they would not be forced to perform any gay marriages.
“What I am really worried about is misinformation and propaganda.”
Wall said she “completely disagreed” her bill could cost Labour the next election.
“Labour will come out strongly in terms of fighting for the rights of all people. This fundamentally is about human rights and the dignity every New Zealand citizen has to access what is an institution that the state moderates, only the state can give out marriage licenses.”
Who dis Su’a Sio? Don’t often hear a squeak out of him and then he pops up with this “warning” on the Wall Bill. I kind of agree with him though about what is a priority (as reported on RNZ) when we are looking down the barrel of a three term tory turd administration.
Identity politics is fraught with booby traps as the Māori Party has comprehensively demonstrated.
If not now, when? is the battle cry of all manner of worthy social and personal justice reform supporters. My instincts on the Wall Bill are charge on regardless of pasifika or any other god botherers, but what is the veracity of Sio’s claims? Are trad labour voters (who did not turn out in sufficient numbers in Mangere last time anyway) really going to dig their sandals in on this one policy?
That’s pretty culturally insulting don’t you think, Mangere is 58% Pacific Island as a demographic, culturally,(whatever we think of it), that huge chunk of Pacific Island vote is very church based, i doubt S’ua Sio will lose His seat should the churches in His electorate become vocal opponents of the Wall bill,
But,
Should those churches do so Labour may loose a sizable chunk of it’s vote in the electorate…
This whole ‘we should be working on the economy’ thing is pure BS. First, gay marriage is good for the economy. More weddings, more tourists from non-gay marriage countries coming here to wed. Second, if taken to its extreme, you should do nothing but work on the economy. Can anyone say that’s all they do? Of course not.
No but the bloody churches will still take the money from their members. The Pacific people will still be robbed by their pastors and what they don’t take the Nat’s who they will inadvertly help to victory will take the rest,
I just cannot believe that this Labour MP would danger the chances of Labour at the next election because of religion, If he carries this out he should be expelled from the party , Religion should never influence policy.
No but the bloody churches will still take the money from their members. The Pacific people will still be robbed by their pastors and what they don’t take the Nat’s who they will inadvertly help to victory will take the rest,
I just cannot believe that this Labour MP would danger the chances of Labour at the next election because of religion, If he carries this out he should be expelled from the party , Religion should never influence policy.
So if S’ua Sio acting on behalf of the people that voted Him into the Parliament as a Labour MP votes against a piece of Legislation that is being carried through the Parliament as a ‘conscience vote’ He should be sacked,
That appears to be the gist of what you are saying, I would have thought He deserves a promotion for actually acting on the wishes of those who voted him into the office in the first place…
He is saying that the bill should be withdrawn or labour will lose.
He can vote how he wants, it’s a conscience vote. But he is going further than that.
And his argument is weak in any case,
He claims 30K voters left after the CU bill. Labour won the election after that. Apparently though, either those voters came back to Lbabour and will leave again, or there are another 30K who will leave.
That doesn’t actually make much sense when you think about it. More importantly though, he says that labour should be focussing on other things that are more important to these voters. Good oh, get fucking to it, it’s what we pay him for afterall.
If Labour’s hold on these voters is so tenuous that marriage equality will send them packing, and there are other issues that will make them stay, then don’t blame the marriage equality. Get busy on the other stuff too.
So if S’ua Sio acting on behalf of the people that voted Him into the Parliament
I’ll believe he’s doing that when I see the referendum of his electorate. As I/S at NoRightTurn says though, polling indicates that the Pacific Islanders are actually more in favour of marriage equality than Pakeha.
For a start I believe that there should not be a concience for MPs. If they are not happy voting with their party just obstain.
Also if a member or MP has an issue then the conference is the place to discuss. Any MP or member who puts his party in danger should either shut up or resign.
As an old time member of the LP I have often disagreed with some policies.The traitorious bastards Preeble /Douglas are an example but us true LP members just worked in the background to bring the party in line.
One does not fight in public thus putting the LP in opposition for years.
what will the churches do? Say ‘vote for National’? Key’s for the bill.
Say ‘vote conservative’? If they are prespared to do that, they probably already have done. Say ‘vote for the Density political arm’? That would change things how?
True, ShonKey has notched up a few appearances at the Auckland “Big Gay Out” to toady favour possibly with tory gay voters in Auckland Central for Nikki Kaye, figuring it won’t do him any harm.
It will be interesting if the long rumoured MP aspirations of Michael Jones happen if he tires of flogging insurance and stands for the Nats, what is the ex all black going to say to the faithfull about his dear leaders stance.
But really Sio should take a more sophisticated position.
Brownlee this morning gave me the pip. Going on about the Greens being the masters of meaningless talk – talk then about the big pot calling the kettle black. And having a go below the belt about Greens not wanting another war memorial, which they say they do but not now. And that seems reasonable – someone said similar way back. “Oh, Master, make me chaste and celibate – but not yet!” … Augustine was born in Tagaste, Numidia, now Souk Aghras, Algeria, in 354AD.
Then later there was a news piece about moas managing to survive climate change but being beaten by being eaten by man. I bet it was an ancestor of Brownlees. Now that’s meaningless talk on my part! I’ll admit it but the man mountain drives me around the (mountain) bend.
I’m getting used to the NZ Herald editorials being bent towards Nationals rightwing policy direction… In fact they’ve been completely devoid of objectivity and journalistic integrity lately…
We’re a prison town with local businesses dependant on the Kaitoke gold mine and the $30 million plus in wages corrections pay every year. Wilsons release will up the taxpayer contribution to us.
Councillor Jacks reaction is somewhat puzzling though.
Jackal 11
Heartbreaking item from you with quotes from The Herald. Heralding what tho? And reminds me of a summary of the Exon oil spill debacle in an old textbook. There were rules, they were not adhered to, the authorities conspired to hide stuff, the precautionary gear that needed to be available and maintained over the years when there was no spill was not present or ready to go, etc.
I came away from that couple of pages of condensed disaster info feeling certain that we can’t trust companies or government to be careful enough to prevent damage occurring from technologically challenging environmental projects. And indeed that was borne out by the fact that risk assessment was done by the company that led to a forecast that there would be a likely environmental breach within 25 years. So that was in their thinking when they started their oil transport project. In other words it is inevitable and the line of possibility goes up probably exponentially on the graph after so many years and keeps rising.
Prism / Jackal, I too am appalled by the legislation and the cavalier attitude toward risk to the environment. Remember the Rena, a few thousand tons of bunker oil, a spill of very minor proportions compared to what an oil well might deliver. But of course to Key and his buddies what we have is a cost to risk equation, nothing more or less.
I wonder if there’s an I-predict book on if and when one of the new cure-all charter schools pulls something like this.
One Louisiana school is dealing with the state’s high rates of teen pregnancy by taking an “out of sight, out of mind” approach. No pregnant students are welcome at Delhi Charter School in Delhi, Louisiana — a policy that the institution enforces by requiring students who are “suspected” of being pregnant to submit to a mandatory pregnancy test.
If students are pregnant, they are no longer allowed to attend classes on the school’s campus and will be forced to either switch to another school or begin a home school program. If a student refuses to take the test, she is “treated as a pregnant student” and also kicked out of Delhi Charter School, according to the student handbook:
If an administrator or teacher suspects a student is pregnant, a parent conference will be held. The school reserves the right to require any female student to take a pregnancy test to confirm whether or not the suspected student is in fact pregnant. The school further reserves the right to refer the suspected student to a physician of its choice. If the test indicates that the student is pregnant, the student will not be permitted to attend classes on the campus of Delhi Charter School.
If a student is determined to be pregnant and wishes to continue to attend Delhi Charter School, the student will be required to pursue a course of home study that will be provided by the school…Any student who is suspected of being pregnant and who refuses to submit to a pregnancy test shall be treated as a pregnant student and will be offered home study opportunities. If home study opportunities are not acceptable, the student will be counseled to seek other educational opportunities.
Ah but Joe there are so many different models for Charter Schools, didnt you know? And some are very successful so we are told, by what criteria who knows but……anyway it is true because lovely blondie Catherine Isaacs said so. So there!
Set theory, particularly the stuff about infinity, has a bit of that wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey flavor to it. It doesn’t make sense on the level of “common sense”. It’s dealing with things that aren’t standard, simple numbers. It makes links between nice, factual math and floppy, subjective philosophy. If you’re raised in Christian fundamentalist culture, all of that—every last bit—absolutely reeks of modernism. It’s easy to see how somebody at A Beka would look at set theory and conclude that it’s really just modernist propaganda. To them, set theory is just a step on the road to godless atheism.
Heh, to my kiwi ears, Noelle was a one trick pony with her tortured syllable adding ennunciation. She often sounded like she was dining at the same time as being on radio.
Bomber Bradbury however seems not to have an accent to the liking of the tory toffs at RNZ.
Bomber is only extreme in comparison to the brainless and gutless twits that continue to perpetuate ignorance through their blogs…have you had anything readable in the past year of so Meat George?…yawn
The worst excuse yet for not voting for the marriage equality bill. Damien O’Connor
said “he did not believe the discrimination and injustice was so great that it warranted a change in the legislation”.
“In short, I have taken into account all of the facts and I believe that there are far more injustices that need to be addressed. For example, people who are disabled through accidents receive full support, while those disabled from birth do not. These injustices are the issues that need to be addressed.”
It’s being debated in the house regardless of how important he thinks it is. Is he going to be too busy working on injustices to vote?
I thought he was supposed to be a straight talker.
Well, I’m kind of on Pete’s side here, felix. O’Connor was quite happy not that long ago to whinge about Labour being invaded by a “gaggle of gays” in order to suck up to the assumedly-redneck West Coast-Tasman crowd, and now he’s too chickenshit to actually say “I’m going to vote against this because I disagree with it”?
Seriously, he’s said “Even though I am being given the opportunity to help with a minor oppression which I admit exists, and even though it will take no more effort on my part to support this than to oppose it, I’m going to oppose it because it’s not a big deal.” How does that even fucking work?
Like, “Even though you have given me a free icecream I’m going to refuse to eat any of it because I only want a little bit of icecream, not a whole icecream.”
Not a good time to be a Muslim in Burma. Escaping to Bangladesh is not something people would do unless desperate and in fear for their lives. So far 80,000 people have recently decided to do this. And they’re not welcome.
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Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
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“Flipping” the revolution.
Supplied anonymously by someone who aptly calls themselves Colonial Viper.
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-06082012/comment-page-1/#comment-503380
Struggling to keep a straight face Gayane Chichakyan for ‘Russia Today’ Portentiously intones “Al Qaida (pause) has infiltrated”
Everyone has to see this ridiculous effort from ‘Russia Today’ to believe it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GhF9ib8bIY&feature=g-u-u
It starts with a small intro with some serious news. Before segueing to Washington DC, for an incredible case of interviewing your typewriter type commentary. Aided with some disjointed editing of a US senate hearing on Syria. Interrupted by clumsily cutting away to some “experts on terrorism”. And more on the streets (of Washington) commentary.
Adding to the whole air of unreality of this piece, is the body language of the front person, which seems to suggest that she is uncomfortable reading her ridiculous script.
What this video actually reveals, is that the Russian and American ‘Big Powers’ have been caught completely flat footed by the revolution in Syria.
What the senate hearing seems to be discussing, (though it is hard to tell due to the crap editing), is the ‘possibility’ of intervening.
The Russian Today announcer indignantly cries “America has already intervened”.
Russia Today claims that both Al Qaida and the US are currently working together in Syria.
“Large number of Al Qaida linked fighters are reportedly bolstering the opposition’s ranks and these groups are being supported by the US”, Russia Today.
(Despite being at each other’s throats everywhere else.) We are being asked to believe by Russia Today that America and Al Qaida are working together in Syria.
This is highly unlikely while the US is spending vast amounts of money and thousands of lives (including New Zealand lives) fighting Al Qaida in Afghanistan.
What is really happening here is that the outside Russian and American powers, inexplicably finding themselves on the sidelines, are both trying to talk up an Al Qaida presence as an excuse to intervene.
Make no mistake, an intervention in Syria, by either the Russians, or the US will be with the purpose of strangling this genuine people’s revolt.
FFS Jenny, having another dig at CV. Give it a miss, it detracts from what is a valid message, Im bored by the personalised bitching..
I am glad that you agree I have a valid message.
I am annoyed at Colonial Viper because though he dresses it up in leftist rhetoric, his deeper message is misanthropic, continually negative, and deeply conservative, and most of all, defeatist.
There are a lot of us here who cross your barriers. Rather than doing pre-emptive strikes please respond to specifics when they happen, otherwise it looks dreadfully like that other equally obnoxious activity, stalking.
Same, your message is valid, but your intro having a dig at CV just detracts from that valid message,
You run the risk of making the issue one of egotistical camps, as in those who support you and those who support CV, thus losing all perspective and, more importantly blinding yourself to being able to work out the truth of what the conflict has become…
I’m actually at the point where I now read more of PG’s comments than Jenny’s.
Larffs, geez that’s gotta be painful…
It is a fact that Bashar Assad like his father before him is a mass murderer.
It is a fact that Bashar Assad regime uses torture*.
It is a fact that Colonial Viper supports this regime.
I must be getting old. There used to be a time when those who supported torturers and mass murders were not welcome in polite society. (Especially Left polite society).
*A fact so well known that Syria is one of overseas territories used by the CIA for rendition, (the practice of exporting victims to be tortured to territories where torture is allowed.)
Inshallah the Americans won’t have this option for much longer.
That’s not a fact – just your supposition. It is possible to neither support the present Syrian dictatorship nor the rebels.
What do you make of this then?
In Aleppo in an interview with a rebel soldier, a government tank shell went off near New Zealand journalist Anita McNaught in the building next door.
http://kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/2012/07/30/as-battle-for-aleppo-rages-rebels-seize-the-countryside/
Colonial Viper in an unprincipled attack on the integrity of McNaught, suggested that McNaught had rigged the shell to explode in the middle of the interview.
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-06082012/comment-page-1/#c
You’re a fucking unprincipled liar
Was that not the link to the thread where you made your comment, along with your other comments suggesting that Anita McNaught had sold out her journalistic integrity to her employers?
Are you suggesting that someone else placed this comment under your pseudonym?
If you can prove this, then I will apologise.
Maybe Lynn Prentice may want to come in here, he knows who posts what.
As far as I read the rather heated conversations, CV was arguing that it was common that civil wars against terrible regimes wound up with worse regime afterwards. Hard to disagree bearing in mind some of the examples from the history of the 20th.
He also commented that it was easy to fake stuff for journos. He didn’t say that was McNaught or Al jazerra which is what you are asserting. As I read it he was just offering alternates to it being the Syrian army dropping shells. It could have as easily been local insurrectionists with plastique. The only thing that is hard to fake with shells is the distinctive incoming noise which probably too high pitched for camera mikes.
Any history of insurrection or war is replete with examples of groups mugging it up for the journos. They have a vested interest in making news look good for them and most conflicts have at least a few examples of it.
I rather suspect that CV is mostly saying that skepticism is a good attribute to cultivate when viewing any conflict.
Oh noes, he’s questioning the motives of the rebels, Oh woe is us!!!1
/sarc
As he pointed out further down:
In all of those cases the government was replaced by revolution supported by other governments (most notably, the US) and the result was far worse than what had been there before. Considering the lies that the US has promulgated about their actions in the ME over the last few decades it seems reasonable to be sceptical of their motives now and history shows us that we should question what the result will be with them meddling in the rebellion.
And questioning the rebels doesn’t imply support of the current regime. Effectively a position of Yes, the current regime needs to go but the result of the rebellion could actually be worse. With history being on the side of it being worse.
thanks DTB.
Link us all to that bit won’t you, where the CIA was sending people to Syria to be tortured…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraordinary_rendition#Maher_Arar_case
A deep breath.
Let us not pull the house down on top of ourselves. A few twits are already doing that……
A small group of ABCs had a nihilist moment or three and briefed an impressionable jurno.
The target is Key and his gang. The motivation is the poorly paid hard workers, the children, the old and infirm, the many who need a strong and progressive Labour Party.
This is the chance for Shearer to show his mettle. It is timely, given the review and the forthcoming conference. Every cloud has a silver lining.
“Every cloud has a silver lining. ”
Only if the opportunity to show his mettle is taken, and there is significant and visible change as a result.
Actually it’s up to Labour supporters to decide what the measure of success is Pete, your opinion on this counts for exactly zero.
Let you fuckwits pick the leader last time and look how that turned out.
No, it’s voters who will ultimately dictate success or failure.
167 🙄
Not what I said, retard, your opinion of Labour means zero and your advice is not required.
Now fuck off back to figuring out how your boss is going to hold onto his sinecure in a National/ACT/Conservative/MaoriParty/NZFirst/Dunne govt.
And your opinion means what? Are you Labour’s spokesperson here now? Or just another welcoming voice wondering where the support has fled?
🙄
🙄
🙄
🙄
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🙄 except for 🙄 it’s best ignored people…
Gives me a chance to pretend I’m cool 😎
Doesn’t that just show PG how many people are reading his comments?
Gee I sure hope the voters don’t ‘dictate failure’.
Are you perhaps confusing mettle for jelly?
Meow!
He is our leader, even if we are unhappy with the selection process. Helen, Mike Smith, Mike Williams and others could have proposed a new leadership process and didn’t. That is not Shearer’s fault.
I’ve no doubt that he is shocked and angry with the idiots who instigated and acted in this play with Garner and others. It was so crass, so stupid, it is almost unbelievable.
Shearer would never have wished for major bush-fire like this. With his background he knows the importance of putting out bush-fires quickly. Give him time.
http://www.facebook.com/l/aAQGQ8Hz8AQGWk1qg-cnaC_5vV8NLJGoO7mIZzGkcSXUVbQ/kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/2012/08/07/syria-an-indigenous-uprising-shakes-an-indigenous-dictator/
“True or false? It doesn’t actually matter all that much”
Says it all really. That’s some news outfit.
Your criticism is a little out of context here PB.
Morgan is talking about the accusations that because Al Qaida, or Turkish generals, or Russian advisers, or CIA agents are (possibly), all in Syria, then it can’t possibly be a genuine people’s revolt.
Morgan is saying that whether these accusations are true or not, it is still a popular revolt and we should support it.
I notice that Morgan does mention the possibility, that if this meddling continues or even erupts into open military intervention that, that this could change. Nothing is guaranteed in this life in any human endeavor.
And these foreign forces do have huge military power backed up by influential propaganda resources.
Yet for all this, we should support the people of Syria in their valiant effort to rid themselves of Tyranny. It’s the decent thing to do.
Not at all Jenny.
The truth is always important. That’s how you actually build a context.
People who say that the truth doesn’t really matter, are eliminating contextual elements.
And what exactly do you mean by support the people of Syria in their effort. Mouth pablum on the internet? Start flame wars? How does this help?
What actual things are you suggesting be done?
Be careful or you’ll start another vendetta…
Good questions, PB. Also, how do we separate the legitimate grassroots revolution/aries from all the other players trying to get in on the act in order to benefit their own interests.
I would love to see Assad’s regime removed and replaced with something more humane and democratic. But with the big powers all trying to get in on the act, isn’t there a risk of another US/Western puppet being installed – something that worked so well in places like Iraq in the past?
That is 100% likely, sadly. 🙁
PB, I like the term contextual elements. Seems to me when we try and straight-jacket issues into paradigms of democracy, decency, freedom, sovereignty etc etc we can easily miss out on context.
Syria is a classic for historic and geographic context. For better or worse they sit on one of the crossroads of the world: because of this their interests have for 000s of years often been at odds with those of others. We in NZ represent a little island state at the ends of the earth, our geo-political context is so very different. We don’t sit next to a country occupied by a superpower, or next to a rogue state supported by a superpower, nor in a region where an ex-superpower is testing the incumbent super powers over-reach. We don’t have oil or pipelines from oil fields. We don’t have any historic record as a battleground between the people and ideas of the east and west.
With regard to Syria and who is doing what to whom and why I could come up with a hundred versions, all at odds. Could be Jenny is right and wrong concurrently, and CV the same. Context please.
Give it 10 years and we will all likely learn that after 9/11 the CIA was finally let loose from it’s legislative chains,
Whereupon said organization took it’s ooodles of cash and organizational capabilities into the desert sands and viola we have the Arab Spring,
Time will obviously tell how close to the truth that little assertion is, but, i liken US foreign policy to a Mafia protection racket,
The US in order to protect it’s client States in the Gulf can either engage in messy expensive invasions after the fact of some abhorrent behavior inflicted upon the client by another State, or, the US can engage in fermenting internal revolution in such States in the region that are or could become a threat to the US clients…
Things to be done.
Firstly. We need to confront and challenge the hysteria being created around Al Qaida involvement in Syria, which is being deliberately whipped up to shape public opinion into accepting Western foreign intervention in Syria.
Second. Anyone with the ear of any Green Party MP needs to let them know that any support for intervention by the US, the UN or any other outside powers will be counterproductive. To this end the Greens should be lobbied to withdraw any and all calls from them in support of foreign intervention.
Third. Prepare at the first sign of either Russion or US led UN armed intervention to rally outside the embassies of the invading countries.
Fourth. Prepare to help rally as many friends and colleagues as possible to join with others to protest outside the the electoral office of any MP whether National or Green who suggests that New Zealand should send a contingent to take part in any such military intervention.
And lastly habibi. Think for yourself, forget the propagandists, listen to the voice of the Arab and Syrian People. Learn about the Arab Spring.
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the Syrian people and their country are being crushed under a wave of foreign fighters and foreign funded geo-political interests.
So essentially you are saying that we, as a nation, should do nothing. As individuals, we should campaign against doing anything, and shout down anyone who points out that the rebels are being assisted by some pretty unsavoury types.
It’s still a popular revolt?
Even though many foreign fighters and jihadists are the ones doing the fighting and killing of Syrian citizens, and even though every surrounding country is trying to fuel and influence outcomes for themselves? Particularly US allied countries who see this as a way to weaken and isolate Iran further.
Alawites and Shia Syrian citizens all through Syria fear being targetted now by the rebels. Funny how foreign funded fighters can do that against local citizens and you still say that its a popular revolt.
ABSOLUTELY TRUE! Seconded thirded and quoted for truth!
I’ll forth that proposition.
If the NATO / Saudi backed insurgents are successful there will be a massacre of Alawites, and every other religious minority in Syria. If they fail then the Sunni majority are in the firing line. This is now a stalemate. Neither side will yield for fear of the consequences. I certainly wouldn’t feel comfortable in the knowledge that these supposed “Free Syrian Army” guys were coming my way.
Opposite sides of the same coin?
Is Shearer on the right track here? If so how does he work to counter these Auckland trends?
It certainly looks like provincial NZ is losing out to the cities, and nothing is being done by the present government to develop the positive sides of rural living.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10825364
But is the current dynamic growth of Auckland inevitable, sustainable, and, in the long-term good for the whole of NZ?
Certainly the Herald’s report on the Household Labour Force Survey’s findings is giving the city a young, sexy, innovative gloss: a city abundant in opportunities and good pay for those that want it.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10825358
Or are these advantages really just minimal in a context that is not great for the majority of workers overall? The employment/unemployment/wages stats don’t exactly indicate boom-times for Kiwis in general.
Maybe it would be better for workers overall, if necessary and innovative business were spread more evenly around the country? This would take the pressure of the transport systems and available accommodation in cities like Auckland, and make sustainable living, close to the countryside a possibility for more Kiwis.
yeah Aucklanders are like 10% better paid facing 60% higher housing and transport costs, can someone get the Herald to grow a brain please.
Provincial NZ is not particularly interested in what Labour has to say; in general it doesn’t believe that Labour holds an understanding of or attitude helpful towards smaller towns and rural areas.
And, Dave Shearer going there and accentuating the negatives while not laying out a Labour Government blue-print to bring about the positives aint about to have them all waving red rosettes in the streets…
No it’s not. What we need to be doing is looking at ways to encourage people to move out of Auckland into other areas so that we can downsize Auckland. This probably means an increase in government funded research and manufacture complexes around the country which encourages cooperative competition.
DTB 4.3
Sounds a good idea. Are you clever enough to persuade someone in power to do this?? Or will it be another one of those good ideas that get directed down a dark alley and coshed?
Possibly. I’m still getting my head around the idea.
When the opportunity and the movement comes, you’ll recognise it. Just for the sake of irony, we’ll probably run our first conference in Auckland, in SkyCity.
not enough votes in that idea.
nact canned regional development after it created a lot of jobs
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7435955/Dump-gay-marriage-bill-Labour-MP
I’ll say it again…teamwork people, it’ll get you into power or it’ll keep you out of power
Welcome to New Zild, the Hungarian Consul General Klara Szentirmay has come to the conclusion that we all reached long ago about Slippery the Prime Minister,
She called Slippery’s remarks about Hungarian troops serving in Afghanistan unhelpful and snide after our Prime Minister flushed like a common toilet and disrespected EVERY soldier that is or has ever served in Afghanistan by saying Hungarian soldiers don’t go out at night in Afghanistan but do so in the Hungarian Capital Budapest,
Slippery our Prime Minister cracking snide jokes after the deaths and injuries suffered by the Kiwi troops what a piece of s**t…
Got a link or source for either comments?
Herald on line today, that good enough…
Well, not really, because the article has now slipped off the Herald’s main page and is hard to find.
But here it is, courtesy of a google.news search:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10825366
I bow befor your superior computer skills…
Cross another country off Nationals To Offend list.
Smart woman.
Can Key be anymore embarrassing?
“Mr Key said: “As far as I’m aware, the Hungarians don’t go out at night. Not in Afghanistan anyway – they might in Budapest.””
John Key you dick. Trying to make an insult to the courage of another country’s soldiers sound like a throw-away joke: fail. You’re not talking about a rugby rivalry now idiot.
Here’s a hint JK, when discussing anything even remotely connected to people dying in warzones, just drop the jokey blokey jokes altogether. Because then you might look like less of an embarrasment to the country you pretend to represent. But don’t worry I understand Dear Banker, antisocials often just don’t realize that the things they say could offend others in even moderately complex emotional situations. It’s the inability to empathize thing, you see.
Btw I think I’ve found John Key’s ‘How to bullshit the public when you’re slippery sociopath’ bible:
http://loveforlife.com.au/content/08/02/09/25-ways-suppress-truth-rules-dis-information-michael-sweeny
Watching the infighting within Labours parliamentary team is so very sad. That it is happening is an indictment on the Caucus for not resolving the leadership issue in a satisfactory manner to all parties.
I would suggest that the Guiding Principles of Labour http://www.labour.org.nz/about-us should be more than enough to set policy direction, and those too long in the tooth time servers who have not adhered to this for years in office need to go. There are some newer members in power positions who should probably sit down and read, and if they cannot commit begone (Parker, Shearer etc).
To Mallard, King, Goff, Street, Dyson and others (in the words of Cromwell) “You have been sat to long here for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of god, go!”
Right on cue: the best thing about shooting yourself in the foot is that there’s one foot left.
On the scale of meaningless polls that one rates fairly high.
It’s about evenly split between the three options of vagueness.
^ 🙄 ^
167 🙄
That would be:
🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄
🙂
A meaningless poll indeed 🙂
meaningless vague poodle petey’s policy platform.
Not really shooting in the foot – especially not if you look at the poll results beside that article, on a news site where conservative opinions usually dominate in such polls.
And it’s not helpful all round to support any conservative opposition to marriage equality by using it as evidence that equality shouldn’t happen.
I think it’s actually positive to see such a debate in a lower socio-economic area where there is a significant amount of social conservatism. And Wall has responded well with some good arguments:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/112663/labour-mp-wants-same-sex-marriage-bill-withdrawn
and from the Herald article:
Sure, Louisa Wall is doing a very good job. Su’a Sio not so much. He talks about priorities as though Labour had no other bills on the ballot.
Who dis Su’a Sio? Don’t often hear a squeak out of him and then he pops up with this “warning” on the Wall Bill. I kind of agree with him though about what is a priority (as reported on RNZ) when we are looking down the barrel of a three term tory turd administration.
Identity politics is fraught with booby traps as the Māori Party has comprehensively demonstrated.
If not now, when? is the battle cry of all manner of worthy social and personal justice reform supporters. My instincts on the Wall Bill are charge on regardless of pasifika or any other god botherers, but what is the veracity of Sio’s claims? Are trad labour voters (who did not turn out in sufficient numbers in Mangere last time anyway) really going to dig their sandals in on this one policy?
That’s pretty culturally insulting don’t you think, Mangere is 58% Pacific Island as a demographic, culturally,(whatever we think of it), that huge chunk of Pacific Island vote is very church based, i doubt S’ua Sio will lose His seat should the churches in His electorate become vocal opponents of the Wall bill,
But,
Should those churches do so Labour may loose a sizable chunk of it’s vote in the electorate…
This whole ‘we should be working on the economy’ thing is pure BS. First, gay marriage is good for the economy. More weddings, more tourists from non-gay marriage countries coming here to wed. Second, if taken to its extreme, you should do nothing but work on the economy. Can anyone say that’s all they do? Of course not.
Funny! 😀 😀 😀
Prostitution reform is also “good” for the South Auckland economy. Not a Labour vote winner though
bad12
No but the bloody churches will still take the money from their members. The Pacific people will still be robbed by their pastors and what they don’t take the Nat’s who they will inadvertly help to victory will take the rest,
I just cannot believe that this Labour MP would danger the chances of Labour at the next election because of religion, If he carries this out he should be expelled from the party , Religion should never influence policy.
bad12
No but the bloody churches will still take the money from their members. The Pacific people will still be robbed by their pastors and what they don’t take the Nat’s who they will inadvertly help to victory will take the rest,
I just cannot believe that this Labour MP would danger the chances of Labour at the next election because of religion, If he carries this out he should be expelled from the party , Religion should never influence policy.
So if S’ua Sio acting on behalf of the people that voted Him into the Parliament as a Labour MP votes against a piece of Legislation that is being carried through the Parliament as a ‘conscience vote’ He should be sacked,
That appears to be the gist of what you are saying, I would have thought He deserves a promotion for actually acting on the wishes of those who voted him into the office in the first place…
That’s not what he’s arguing at all B12.
He is saying that the bill should be withdrawn or labour will lose.
He can vote how he wants, it’s a conscience vote. But he is going further than that.
And his argument is weak in any case,
He claims 30K voters left after the CU bill. Labour won the election after that. Apparently though, either those voters came back to Lbabour and will leave again, or there are another 30K who will leave.
That doesn’t actually make much sense when you think about it. More importantly though, he says that labour should be focussing on other things that are more important to these voters. Good oh, get fucking to it, it’s what we pay him for afterall.
If Labour’s hold on these voters is so tenuous that marriage equality will send them packing, and there are other issues that will make them stay, then don’t blame the marriage equality. Get busy on the other stuff too.
I’ll believe he’s doing that when I see the referendum of his electorate. As I/S at NoRightTurn says though, polling indicates that the Pacific Islanders are actually more in favour of marriage equality than Pakeha.
B12.
For a start I believe that there should not be a concience for MPs. If they are not happy voting with their party just obstain.
Also if a member or MP has an issue then the conference is the place to discuss. Any MP or member who puts his party in danger should either shut up or resign.
As an old time member of the LP I have often disagreed with some policies.The traitorious bastards Preeble /Douglas are an example but us true LP members just worked in the background to bring the party in line.
One does not fight in public thus putting the LP in opposition for years.
what will the churches do? Say ‘vote for National’? Key’s for the bill.
Say ‘vote conservative’? If they are prespared to do that, they probably already have done. Say ‘vote for the Density political arm’? That would change things how?
True, ShonKey has notched up a few appearances at the Auckland “Big Gay Out” to toady favour possibly with tory gay voters in Auckland Central for Nikki Kaye, figuring it won’t do him any harm.
It will be interesting if the long rumoured MP aspirations of Michael Jones happen if he tires of flogging insurance and stands for the Nats, what is the ex all black going to say to the faithfull about his dear leaders stance.
But really Sio should take a more sophisticated position.
They’ll say don’t vote, and Labour will have a turnout like 2011.
Actually, fair point.
But then that’s as good as telling them to vote National.
KTH
That was very witty and true.
Brownlee this morning gave me the pip. Going on about the Greens being the masters of meaningless talk – talk then about the big pot calling the kettle black. And having a go below the belt about Greens not wanting another war memorial, which they say they do but not now. And that seems reasonable – someone said similar way back. “Oh, Master, make me chaste and celibate – but not yet!” … Augustine was born in Tagaste, Numidia, now Souk Aghras, Algeria, in 354AD.
Then later there was a news piece about moas managing to survive climate change but being beaten by being eaten by man. I bet it was an ancestor of Brownlees. Now that’s meaningless talk on my part! I’ll admit it but the man mountain drives me around the (mountain) bend.
Herald editor backs up shonkey legislation
I’m getting used to the NZ Herald editorials being bent towards Nationals rightwing policy direction… In fact they’ve been completely devoid of objectivity and journalistic integrity lately…
What’s Wanganui done to deserve this.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10825431
That’s beastly for them (as much as I hate the labels the media seem to think they have to apply to criminals).
This is a very difficult dilemma, adhering to our laws but protecting society from someone like that. A genuine case for NIMBY.
We’re a prison town with local businesses dependant on the Kaitoke gold mine and the $30 million plus in wages corrections pay every year. Wilsons release will up the taxpayer contribution to us.
Councillor Jacks reaction is somewhat puzzling though.
It’s cases like that that show that we need some law that prevents obvious re-offenders from being released back into the community.
3 strikes ?
Well HS, it all started with an “H”….
Jackal 11
Heartbreaking item from you with quotes from The Herald. Heralding what tho? And reminds me of a summary of the Exon oil spill debacle in an old textbook. There were rules, they were not adhered to, the authorities conspired to hide stuff, the precautionary gear that needed to be available and maintained over the years when there was no spill was not present or ready to go, etc.
I came away from that couple of pages of condensed disaster info feeling certain that we can’t trust companies or government to be careful enough to prevent damage occurring from technologically challenging environmental projects. And indeed that was borne out by the fact that risk assessment was done by the company that led to a forecast that there would be a likely environmental breach within 25 years. So that was in their thinking when they started their oil transport project. In other words it is inevitable and the line of possibility goes up probably exponentially on the graph after so many years and keeps rising.
Prism / Jackal, I too am appalled by the legislation and the cavalier attitude toward risk to the environment. Remember the Rena, a few thousand tons of bunker oil, a spill of very minor proportions compared to what an oil well might deliver. But of course to Key and his buddies what we have is a cost to risk equation, nothing more or less.
I wonder if there’s an I-predict book on if and when one of the new cure-all charter schools pulls something like this.
Ah but Joe there are so many different models for Charter Schools, didnt you know? And some are very successful so we are told, by what criteria who knows but……anyway it is true because lovely blondie Catherine Isaacs said so. So there!
Then this’ll please Brian the bish.
http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2012/07/photos-evangelical-curricula-louisiana-tax-dollars
Cool link Joe, the best fun I have had all day. Can I be a teacher?
BoingBoing: What Do Christian Fundamentalists Have Against Set Theory?
Set theory, particularly the stuff about infinity, has a bit of that wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey flavor to it. It doesn’t make sense on the level of “common sense”. It’s dealing with things that aren’t standard, simple numbers. It makes links between nice, factual math and floppy, subjective philosophy. If you’re raised in Christian fundamentalist culture, all of that—every last bit—absolutely reeks of modernism. It’s easy to see how somebody at A Beka would look at set theory and conclude that it’s really just modernist propaganda. To them, set theory is just a step on the road to godless atheism.
Best way to get rid of a troublesome female pupil is to get her knocked up.
joe90 14
Replace the word pregnant with the word ‘leper’ and see what perspective that gives.
National has let unfettered testosterone course through their decision making processes. Do we really want National’s collective testicles leading the governance of the country?
http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/08/yin-and-yang-applied-to-governance.html
Because the bosses like her accent? Really? REALLY?
That’s what it takes to get a job at RNZ these days? Not being a good journalist, host or critical analyst?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10825503
Heh, to my kiwi ears, Noelle was a one trick pony with her tortured syllable adding ennunciation. She often sounded like she was dining at the same time as being on radio.
Bomber Bradbury however seems not to have an accent to the liking of the tory toffs at RNZ.
Do you mean his accent on extreme rhetoric?
Bomber is only extreme in comparison to the brainless and gutless twits that continue to perpetuate ignorance through their blogs…have you had anything readable in the past year of so Meat George?…yawn
Seconded! As a matter of taste, I loathed her accent!
http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/frost-over-new-zealand-the-leaders-1973
Big Norm spoke quite well didn’t he but on a random note was one of the topics Frost was going to cover about “the fat society”?
And here I was thinking this was something that had happened only in the last decade…
The worst excuse yet for not voting for the marriage equality bill. Damien O’Connor
said “he did not believe the discrimination and injustice was so great that it warranted a change in the legislation”.
It’s being debated in the house regardless of how important he thinks it is. Is he going to be too busy working on injustices to vote?
I thought he was supposed to be a straight talker.
Lame. Now let’s see you do one about most of the National MPs and their lame reasons for not voting for marriage equality.
Well, I’m kind of on Pete’s side here, felix. O’Connor was quite happy not that long ago to whinge about Labour being invaded by a “gaggle of gays” in order to suck up to the assumedly-redneck West Coast-Tasman crowd, and now he’s too chickenshit to actually say “I’m going to vote against this because I disagree with it”?
Seriously, he’s said “Even though I am being given the opportunity to help with a minor oppression which I admit exists, and even though it will take no more effort on my part to support this than to oppose it, I’m going to oppose it because it’s not a big deal.” How does that even fucking work?
Like, “Even though you have given me a free icecream I’m going to refuse to eat any of it because I only want a little bit of icecream, not a whole icecream.”
Yep it’s lame and I said so.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/7439618/Dire-euro-straits-bring-Kiwis-home
Did someone in Labour seriously piss off someone in the media just recently?
Not a good time to be a Muslim in Burma. Escaping to Bangladesh is not something people would do unless desperate and in fear for their lives. So far 80,000 people have recently decided to do this. And they’re not welcome.