"Like most of the world's government's, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's administration has neither condemned nor endorsed the US drone strike which killed Soleimani, only calling for a de-escalation of hostilities. Jon Stevenson, a New Zealand journalist who has spent years covering conflict and politics in the Middle East, felt that was not enough. "I am concerned that there has been a lack not just of political leadership but of moral leadership by Western politicians. They need to step up now and make it clear to the Trump administration that they're very concerned," he said." https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/406940/iran-s-embassy-calls-on-nz-to-promote-peace-and-security
I've been dismayed by the lack of western moral leadership since the Nixon era, so I agree with Jon. I also agree with the call from the Iranian embassy.
As regards neither condemning nor condoning the drone strike, I'm agnostic. If the general was indeed about to launch terrorist strikes, Trump was right to take him out. Trouble is, we only have Trump's word for that. Okay, he seems to have gotten Putin on board, which suggests that the intelligence shared was persuasive. Even so, unless Trump shares it with Ardern & Peters he can't complain if they stand on the sidelines watching.
Any helpful foreign policy initiative would have to direct Iran onto the path of peaceful coexistence – a fact that the Iranian embassy would do well to note. Provocation works both ways, and denuclearising has to be real, not fake…
Or, do you mean that Putin recognises that it is not in Russia's interests , or that of most of the world , to have an all out war in that region, and that de escalation is better than further insanity?
Less than a year ago Iran was declared to be compliant with the terms of the JCPOA treaty
What evidence are you aware of(I don't mean the unspecified claims of certain "intelligence" reports) that he was engaged in conspiracies to attack the US?
Was Suleimani's support of the Palestinians enough to declare him a terrorist?
I know who I think are the world's biggest terrorists.
Haven't had a chance to examine your links yet. It's a moot topic and I agree that Trump ought to disclose his evidence re the general's terrorist organising. At that top level of geopolitics the tradition is to do so only with other relevant leaders and intelligence chiefs. Sharing that info with the public is routinely avoided.
I read your OM comment and your source thoroughly.No mention of Suleiman in that BBC source
Are you assuming rather than stating that intelligence prior to the Suleiman killing was shared and discussed with Putin ?
I have come across no such report .
The tradition of secret intelligence reports has been widely used in the past for very dodgy purposes and I wouldnt put much store by it. Remember Key and his secret advice about imminent jihadist threats to justify further surveillance .Lying bastards, and we shouldn't fall for it every time.
It is not unusual for Russia and the US to share intelligence re terrorism
Famously Russia attempted to warn Obama about the Tsarnaev brothers in 2013
We read our own inferences into news reports. BBC tells us about the understanding developed between Trump & Putin in regard to intelligence sharing and looming terrorist attacks. BBC tells us they talked on the phone a few days before the assassination. Doesn't tell us why or what about. So we can deduce that from what promptly happened.
A possible scenario: "Hey Putin, I'm about to take out some Iranian general who is organising a terrorist attack. It'll make me look like a terrorist too, goddam it, but life ain't a bowl of peaches." "Bugger! He may be Shia, but he's been useful. Give me the details of what he was planning."
Do you see the BBC more or less of a master at directing opinion and sly suggestions or any less intent on 'crafting' "news" than all the other big media players?
It is possible that everyone, including the Iranian government, are actually pleased to see the end of Suleiman. He, as part of the Revolutionary Guards, essentially was operating a parallel Iranian foreign policy to that of the Iranian government, a much more aggressive policy than the government would really like. That was probably complicating things for all the relevant governments with influence in the region, including Russia.
If the Iranian response is as limited as at present, it would indicate that the Iranians are not going to do that much to "avenge" Suleiman. To me that shows they want to put his form of foreign policy behind them.
This is all sheer speculation on my part, but from what I read, a lot of Iranians in government would like to see the Revolutionary Guards influence, both within and without Iran, curtailed. They have generally made life for the government of Iran, in the conventional sense of governing, a lot more difficult than it otherwise would be.
Wheels within wheels. Wayne's point is a good one. Roman history informs us that the inconvenience of successful military leaders often had emperors rearranging the chess board. Younger folk would get the point from Game of Thrones too.
Had a history of Mossad on my bookshelf for a few years ("Every Spy a Prince", I think). The Israelis had the model of factions within revolutionary Iran all competing together, extremists and moderates, building that model from a couple of defectors and agents.
That basically directed their foreign policy to Iran for a couple of decades. Dunno about now.
Good one. To be honest, it's never occurred to me to go looking for a history of Mossad. But I did get an eye-opening glimpse into that recently, courtesy of a book from the New Plymouth library by an investigative journalist who had compiled all the evidence that Mossad organised 9/11 using Arab stooges. He even had quotes from retirees that documented the origin of the scenario back around '79.
I paid attention to the Iran situation in the early years of the revolution. I remember learning how the mullahs eliminated the leftists. I was somewhat sympathetic to them from a nationalist perspective (inasmuch as the CIA took out Mossadegh in '53) but their ruthlessness proved they were merely fundamentalists so I got bored & ignored them after that.
If they were smart, they'd liberalise by allowing the secular option to become available to Iranians. The racist regime in South Africa yielded to the future, as did the communists, but no, these turkeys still want to pretend that it's the 7th century AD.
Interesting commentary from the New Yorker, which suggests Suleimani was doing the bidding of the Iranian govt, rather than forming his own separate power base
I suspect that Wayne had the Stalin model in mind. No apparent independent power base via deliberate effort towards creating that, but a de facto one produced by results, mana, reputation.
Pragmatists use levers that are available. The cleverest learn from experience that operating in the middle between powers that be, serving both sides ad hoc, in accord with what the situation requires, catalyses necessary progress. Partisans render themselves impotent by painting themselves into their corner.
Assad is Alawite. "Alawite doctrine incorporates Islamic, Gnostic, neo-Platonic, Christian and other elements and has, therefore, been described as syncretic." [Wikipedia] So the Shia orthodoxy can only perform regional liaison via a competent independent player. A general in the revolutionary guard with a track record of military success has the mana to do such liaison. The dead one had fought the Taliban with success, so Putin & Assad valued his expertise.
People I've talked to who have family in Iran, say the biggest hand up the Revolutionary Guards got was the sanctions imposed by the US. In that it not only has it made them more powerful in a political sense, but in economic terms as well.
So if we really want to curtail the Revolutionary Guards, then sanctions need to be looked at.
Suleiman was a revered and enormously popular person and will be a martyr, at least in the eyes of his many followers. This may not sit well with the theocratic leadership (government) but it won’t necessarily stop his followers from trying to avenge him. There are too many factions and splinter groups and it is not the most cohesive of societies.
My hypothesis will be tested by the extent of the overall reaction by Iran in the coming weeks.
Icognitio makes the point that the various elements who were Suleiman's loyal supporters will undertake numerous terrorist type actions against US interests. That is possible. But if that gets out of hand, the Iranian government will try to curtail it.
As for the scale of support, even if only 10% of Iranians supported the Revolutionary Guards, that is still 10 million people. Many of the other 90% fear the Guards, who have for decades been a repressive and violent faction within Iran. They have killed literally tens of thousands of Iranians.
However, I think it is already clear that the Iranian government is trying to limit the scale of reaction. No doubt there is intense diplomacy going on, particularly with various European nations.
Actually, I did not specify the type(s) of revenge. It is quite telling that you made that assumption. Many seem to look down on this ‘enemy’ as if they are some backwards barbarians stuck in the 7th century AD. It might explain the level of flippancy in and of their comments.
Perhaps they proved they aren't barbarians by getting revenge in a non-violent manner? I know, too great a break with tradition to be feasible, but it seems to have happened in the rocket attack.
Then again, the Iranian regime is apparently telling its people that they killed 80 American terrorists. Do you believe them?
You think describing America as the Great Satan is a form of contemporary sophistication?? Focus on the Great Satan successfully distracts everyone's attention from all the little Satans. Seems rather discriminatory! 😉 But did you have another form of revenge in mind?
Not your usual insightful analysis but more flippancy.
Do I base my whole thinking on one rocket attack and an alleged 80 casualties?
You think, talk, and act as a Westerner without religion, myths, symbols, and heroes. Your only tool is your cool rationality. No wonder you are puzzled, but don’t worry, you are not alone.
We can certainly hope Iran will choose to turn away from escalation. But Iran has form for liking their revenge served cold with a side of plausible deniability.
Like Hezbollah, Iran has appeared to attack soft targets thousands of miles from its borders. In 2012 Khameini vowed to “punish the perpetrators” of a hit against an Iranian nuclear chemist, the fourth Iranian nuclear scientist Israel was believed to have assassinated over a two-year span. Amid fears of retaliation in Israel or on U.S. soil, attacks instead took place as far afield as Georgia, India, and Thailand—where a series of bomb blasts wounded nine Israeli diplomats—and in Bulgaria, where another explosion killed five Israeli tourists, the Wall Street Journal reports. Iran has denied that it perpetrated any of the bombings.
This is very long and not the easiest style but it's well worth reading and I think you have the stamina for it .It gives a different perspective on Suleimani , one that is valuable as a counterpoint to the "official " view
I've cited his analysis on other topics in the past here once or twice: he's always worth reading. This one is sufficiently deep that a second reading may be required, for more leisurely contemplation, and I admit to just scanning some paragraphs.
His problem as a communicator in this article is that of coming to a point. It's as if he knows there's one there somewhere but he can't quite crystallise it. Ain't enough to bemoan the banalities of US foreign policy, or the ham-fisted use of US military force. We learnt that when LBJ was president in the 1960s, and have had to be reminded by every president since for reasons that remain obscure!
"It may, perhaps, be a bit of a stretch to suggest that he wanted peace with the Americans, but there is strong evidence in support of his actively working towards mutually-beneficial co-operation with his latter-day fatal adversary where appropriate and where this could actually be in some measure attained."
If so, then we must draw the conclusion that he wasn't serious enough to make it obvious to US leaders and other relevant world leaders. Perhaps because his own leaders prevented him doing so! Religious nutters tend to be useless at geopolitics.
We've all become inured to this kind of thing. It's always "too expensive" or "we're working on it" or "it's very difficult", but the result is the same and the longer it goes on the more entrenched as nornal and acceptable it becomes. Even discussion about the cause of the problem is limited to whether the correct "need score" was applied.
The Cambridge Analytica scandal grows, with whistleblower Brittany Kaiser releasing further internal documents from Cambridge Analytica.
Very good interviews on on Democracy Now! yesterday. "“The Great Hack”: Big Data Firms Helped Sway the 2016 Election. Could It Happen Again in 2020?" and a must watch for anyone concerned about 'meddling in elections'
This is the big story – forget Russia, Comey, Hillary, DNC. All bit players, CA would have to be the big one.
Labour’s KiwiBuild programme will build 100,000 high quality, affordable homes over 10 years, with 50% of them in Auckland. Standalone houses in Auckland will cost $500,000 to $600,000, with apartments and townhouses under $500,000. Outside Auckland, houses will range from $300,000 to $500,000.
We will be dropping the target of 100,000 houses over ten years. Instead of the target, we will focus on building as many homes as we can, as fast as we can, in the right places.
A fresh attack has been launched at Baghdad, with rockets falling near the US embassy in Iraq.
Iraqi military officials have confirmed to AAP that two rockets have fallen inside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses government buildings and foreign missions.
The Gulag was one of the darkest chapters in Russia’s past. The Russian government is airbrushing it away.
We set out to find as many living survivors as we could. They told us their stories, some for the first time. They are Generation Gulag.https://t.co/aCfuFd79Y1
Stalin, who sent millions to Gulag camps, has never been more popular in Russia. 70% of Russians say they approve of his legacy.
This is the result of a Kremlin campaign, spearheaded by Vladimir Putin, to rewrite Soviet history.
The Generation Gulag project started with a conversation between Coda journalists @antelava & @katia_patin. They wanted to hear from the eyewitnesses of Soviet authoritarianism about what it’s like to see their past being rewritten.
In Russia, authorities have imprisoned prominent Gulag historians and forced Gulag museums to register as “foreign agents.” Last year in southern Russia, police officers dressed up in KGB uniforms — in celebration of the Soviet “heroes” who rounded up millions of Russians.
Almost half of young Russians say they have never heard of the Stalin-era purges, known as the Great Terror.
Olga Shirokaya’s father was arrested and executed at the height of the purge in 1938. In a second wave of mass arrests, Olga was sent to a camp in 1950:
Olga’s Shirokaya was a child when Stalin’s purges reached a fever-pitch. It was 1938. Her father was arrested and executed. Twelve years later, Olga, now a young woman, was sent to the camps herself. The KGB accused her of “self-indoctrination.”
As an infant, ballet dancer Azari Plesetsky was sent to a special Gulag camp for the wives and children of Stalin’s “enemies of the people.”
“The most unpleasant and shameful part is that many people today try to forget about these wounds and not reopen them. But we must reopen them,” Azari Plesetsky told our journalist @oksanabaulina
Russian authorities aren’t invested in coming to terms with the horror of the Gulag. Instead, “they want it to become part of the tapestry of the past that has no special significance, no special meaning and no special lessons,” said author @anneapplebaum
Distorting the past is serving regimes around the world. As part of our disinformation coverage, we’re tracking how governments do it.
Here, @isocockerell looks at how China tried to re-engineer the history of Muslims in the country.
In the next few weeks, we will share the stories and the messages Gulag survivors have for us about our era.
But we don’t want to stop here. Share your own family’s story from the Gulag using the hashtag #GenerationGulag
To #stayonthestory of rewriting history, matters of disinformation, and more, subscribe to our newsletter now: eepurl.com/c7_NSz
"But it got crazier still. Enter J K Rowling, the author, who expressed support for Forstater on Twitter. At this point the Twitterati decided Rowling was a far juicier target than Forstater, and turned on her like a swarm of angry wasps."
"The Forstater-Rowling story encapsulated two of last year's dominant themes: the neo-Marxist Left's intolerance of dissent, and the crucial role of the ironically misnamed "social" media in howling down anyone who dares to question approved ideology."
"It also highlighted the sheer aggressiveness of minority-group activists in attacking anyone who challenges them. The standard tactic is to demand that the dissenter be sacked, regardless of whether their personal views have any bearing on their ability to do their job."
Stuff's cultural analyst wonders if the left learnt anything in 2019. Dunno why. People learn by themselves most of the time. They only do it collectively at school or university. Not all leftists are pc drones, so he's generalising – putting up a straw man to wave at Stuff readers under the false assumption that they will be impressed.
"The so-called "bathroom battles" are evolving into a key issue in the American culture wars." It could be resolved by creating a third category, neither male nor female. Public toilets with the third option wearing the sign Whatever…
Whats funny to me is that JK Rowling was the wokest of woke celebrities, remaining in Europe check, bring in the refugees double check, declaring Dumbledore to be gay (after the books were sold of course) triple check, announcing that Hermione was never specified as white (ignoring all the official illustrations, being described as going very brown in the sun and turning white) quadruple check
Yet supporting a (oops nealy forgot to add it) cis-gendered woman and suddenly its all over in the blink of eye
Why these celebrities continue to pander to nutbars on twitter is beyond me
Why these celebrities continue to pander to nutbars on twitter is beyond me
Mr du Fresne muttered something about “freedom of expression” but apparently the Left has been taken over and is dominated by a fringe of “nutbars” whose “aim is to intimidate people into silence” (regardless of whether they are Left or Right).
Mr du Fresne’s tacit concern is that it will lose the Left votes; he reminds me of a commenter here
I'm not interested in votes as much as the idea that celebrities (especially extremely wealthy ones) pander to groups that just seem to be waiting for them to stumble so they can tear them down
Maybe subconscious feelings of guilt over just how much money they have so they feel a need to be punished for it…
"The report sets out the details of Ross’s allegations about the Inner Mongolia Rider Horse Society (NZ) Ltd. Government members are concerned about the circumstances surrounding the involvement of a which is “owned by a China-based entity and controlled by a Chinese foreign national. “ We also note that Inner Mongolia Rider Horse Industry (NZ) Ltd carries out the business of exporting horses to China from New Zealand,” the report says."
“Government members believe it is noteworthy that a former Minister (alleged to be Todd McClay) less than a year before the donation was received, met with the founder of Inner Mongolia Rider Horse Industry (NZ) Ltd, Mr Lang Lin, in China in July 2016. The former Minister has been quoted in the media as saying the local electorate meeting was where Mr Lang indicated “that Inner Mongolia Rider Horse Industry (NZ) Ltd would like to support the National Party”.”
Since the invasion is by inner Mongolians, not outer, we can expect a more civilised outcome. So is it all about racing, or pet food? If the former, Winston may have perceived the threat. Although one of the Mongol companies wants to back the Nats, the other may be in talks with Winnie, in the hope of supporting the govt. Capitalists usually fund both sides to create a win/win outcome no matter what happens. The Mongols may be demonstrating that they know how to play the game.
…and you hoover up government subsidies in the process
The Herald reported on Wednesday that the 21-year-old fourth year student from China who is pursuing a double degree had her enrolment terminated for not telling the university about the change in her mental condition.
She was allegedly raped at an Auckland mental health unit in late October and tried to take her own life a month later.
"F**k what an utter lack of compassion and decency," one said on Facebook.
Another said: "The University of Auckland all you needed to do was let the girl have a damn break cos LORD KNOWS the pressure of university can mess with your mental health.
"Expulsion seems pretty extreme. Could've given her some time to get better and once she felt fit, return to her studies. From my understanding, this girl's family have spent upward of $100k sending their daughter to your school so WASSUP?"
A simple matter of key performance indicators. The previous government imposed KPIs on universities relating to student completion rates, the current government hasn't removed them, so the managerialists running the universities have a very strong incentive to assess whether an individual student is an asset or a liability from a KPI perspective, and act accordingly. This student had fallen into the "liability" category, hence the expulsion. People work to the KPIs they're given, with consequences that are often unintended by the people imposing the KPIs.
Another NZ university demonstrating its committment to "pastoral care". Been a bit of that over the last year or so.
PM is right – completion rates are a KPI. Brought in because when universities became mass education, they were a relatively safe haven from WINZ harrassment about perennial unemployment because uni funding was "bums on seats", period. So the same student would take the same paper many, many times because there was no such thing as "academic requirements". If you failed, it didn't affect your ability to enrol again next year.
" Kiwis should make a New Year’s resolution to move their bank accounts to Kiwibank, or one of the other wholly owned New Zealand banks, said Social Credit Leader Chris Leitch "
The big four Aussie owned banks dragged over $6 billion in profit out of the back pockets of Kiwis last year – four times more profit than the 10 largest companies on the NZ Stock Exchange.
Fair enough…I take it that you feel this way because the big 4 banks are making a profit operating in NZ. If customers move to Kiwbank, do you want Kiwibank make a profit out of the back pockets of their customers?
"Had even a quarter of that massive profit gone instead to Kiwibank, through Kiwis having moved their accounts last year, dividends to the Government would have provided over $1.5 billion dollars extra for health care and education"
Who would disagree with more money for the essential services kiwis want too see supported instead of the profits used too benefit the Australian economy.
"On Tuesday, Esper had said that the "exquisite intelligence" on the threat posed by Soleimani that drove the US military to target him in a drone strike would be shared only with the Gang of Eight — a group of eight lawmakers made up of congressional leaders from both parties as well as the Intelligence Committee chairs — saying "most Members (of Congress) will not have access to that.""
So those two guys were part of the eight? If so, the disclosure seems to have failed to impress them as adequate. Is this just a grey area of the constitution? President thinks he can assassinate as long as he doesn't declare war (because only congress can)?
No, neither of them are on the "gang of eight" for intelligence. Those are McTurtle and Schumer (party leaders in the Senate), McCarthy and Pelosi (party leaders in the House), Burr and Warner (Repug chair on Dem vice-chair on Senate intelligence committee), Schiff and Nunes (Dem chair and Repug ranking member on the House intelligence committee).
In general terms, I think there's very little patience for the "we have the intelligence but we can't tell it to you, just trust us" line. The Iraq WMD debacle probably removed trust for that kind of line for any president, let alone the current administration that lies much more frequently than it says anything resembling truth.
Speaking of waves of the future, Boris Johnson’s resounding victory in Britain’s general election earlier this month marks another significant change I’ve been waiting to see. The change in question isn’t the Conservative victory—the Tories won the last four British elections, after all—but the strategy Johnson used to deal out a savage defeat to Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party, which was exactly the same strategy Donald Trump used to win his come-from-behind victory in 2016. Like Trump, Johnson realized that his nation’s leftward party had abandoned its working class voters in order to pander to the comfortable classes. He went to the working class voters Labour had abandoned and spoke to them about the issues that concerned them—above all, an end to the open borders and free trade agreements that drove down working class wages in order to boost middle class salaries and investment class profits—and found them more than willing to listen.
To judge from his comments at the time, Trump stumbled onto that strategy by accident, and it took him a while to figure out what was happening and how to keep doing it. Johnson, with three years of hindsight to figure that out, didn’t have to rely on trial and error. His campaign was admirably precise; it focused on the issues that mattered to working class Britons—above all, on drawing a line under the delaying tactics of the Remainer minority and giving Britain the Brexit it voted for. When the other parties protested “But what about the issues that matter to the comfortable classes?” he rolled his eyes and kept on talking about Brexit.
Now he’s sitting comfortably in No. 10 with a bigger majority than Margaret Thatcher had, and he’s doubling down on the same strategy; discarding the austerity policies (austerity for the poor, that is, and kleptocracy for the rich) that came in with Thatcher, and gearing up to reorient Britain’s social welfare policies toward providing benefits directly to the poor and away from providing well-paying government jobs to the middle class. While plenty of pundits and media personalities are still busy duplicating the mistake of the Democrats over here, and doing their level best not to learn the obvious lessons of their loss, a significant number of writers and thinkers—some of them within the Labour fold—have grasped the implications of the election and begun to talk about it."
It does seem to be something afflicting english speaking left wing parties. In NZ Labour does appear to be more interested in the middle class leaving the working class wide open to be scooped up (will Bridges step up to take them or will the Greens be able to do it) but it does ask the question as to why its happening, why are left wing parties more interested in the middle class and academics than the working class
Speaking of who was the last Labour MP not to be university educated or from the middle class?
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One of the most effective, and successful, graphics developed by Skeptical Science is the escalator. The escalator shows how global surface temperature anomalies vary with time, and illustrates how "contrarians" tend to cherry-pick short time intervals so as to argue that there has been no recent warming, while "realists" recognise ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: Here’s a quick roundup of the news today for paying subscribers on a slightly frantic, very wet, and then very warm day. In Aotearoa’s political economy today Read more ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: Here’s a quick roundup of the news today for paying subscribers on a slightly frantic, very wet, and then very warm day. In Aotearoa’s political economy today Read more ...
Tomorrow we have a funeral, and thank you all of you for your very kind words and thoughts — flowers, even.Our friend Michèle messaged: we never get to feel one thing at a time, us grownups, and oh boy is that ever the truth. Tomorrow we have the funeral, and ...
Lynn and I have just returned from a news conference where Hipkins, fresh from visiting a relief centre in Mangere, was repeatedly challenged to justify the extension of subsidies to create more climate emissions when the effects of climate change had just proved so disastrous. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The ...
Lynn and I have just returned from a news conference where Hipkins, fresh from visiting a relief centre in Mangere, was repeatedly challenged to justify the extension of subsidies to create more climate emissions when the effects of climate change had just proved so disastrous. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The ...
A new Prime Minister, a revitalised Cabinet, and possibly revised priorities – but is the political and, importantly, economic landscape much different? Certainly some within the news media were excited by the changes which Chris Hipkins announced yesterday or – before the announcement – by the prospect of changes in ...
Currently the government's strategy for reducing transport emissions hinges on boosting vehicle fuel-efficiency, via the clean car standard and clean car discount, and some improvements to public transport. The former has been hugely successful, and has clearly set us on the right path, but its also not enough, and will ...
Buzz from the Beehive Before he announced his Cabinet yesterday, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced he would be flying to Australia next week to meet that country’s Prime Minister. And before Kieran McAnulty had time to say “Three Waters” after his promotion to the Local Government portfolio, he was dishing ...
The quarterly labour market statistics were released this morning, showing that unemployment has risen slightly to 3.4%. There are now 99,000 people unemployed - 24,000 fewer than when Labour took office. So, I guess the Reserve Bank's plan to throw people out of work to stop wage rises "inflation", and ...
Another night of heavy rain, flooding, damage to homes, and people worried about where the hell all this water is going to go as we enter day twenty two of rain this year.Honestly if the government can’t sell Three Waters on the back of what has happened with storm water ...
* Dr Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Chris Hipkins continues to be the new broom in Government, re-setting his Government away from its problem areas in his Cabinet reshuffle yesterday, and trying to convince voters that Labour is focused on “bread and butter” issues. The ministers responsible for unpopular ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins continues to be the new broom in Government, re-setting his Government away from its problem areas in his Cabinet reshuffle yesterday, and trying to convince voters that Labour is focused on “bread and butter” issues. The ministers responsible for unpopular reforms in water and DHB centralisation ...
Hi,It’s weird to me that in 2023 we still have people falling for multi-level marketing schemes (MLMs for short). There are Netflix documentaries about them, countless articles, and last year we did an Armchaired and Dangerous episode on them.Then you check a ticketing website like EventBrite and see this shit ...
Nanaia Mahuta fell the furthest in the Cabinet reshuffle. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: PM Chris Hipkins unveiled a Cabinet this afternoon he hopes will show wavering voters that a refreshed Labour Government is focused on ‘bread and butter cost of living’ issues, rather than the unpopular, unwieldy and massively centralising ...
Nanaia Mahuta fell the furthest in the Cabinet reshuffle. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: PM Chris Hipkins unveiled a Cabinet this afternoon he hopes will show wavering voters that a refreshed Labour Government is focused on ‘bread and butter cost of living’ issues, rather than the unpopular, unwieldy and massively centralising ...
Shortly, the absolute state of Wayne Brown. But before that, something I wrote four years ago for the council’s own media machine. It was a day-in-the-life profile of their many and varied and quite possibly unnoticed vital services. We went all over Auckland in 48 hours for the story, the ...
Completed reads for January Lilith, by George MacDonald The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (poem), by Samuel Taylor Coleridge Christabel (poem), by Samuel Taylor Coleridge The Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok, by Anonymous The Lay of Kraka (poem), by Anonymous 1066 and All That, by W.C. Sellar and R.J. ...
Pity the poor Brits. They just can’t catch a break. After years of reporting of lying Boris Johnson, a change to a less colourful PM in Rishi Sunak has resulted in a smooth media pivot to an end-of-empire narrative. The New York Times, no less, amplifies suggestions that Blighty ...
On that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth.Genesis 6:11-12THE TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS that dumped a record-breaking amount of rain on Auckland this anniversary weekend will reoccur with ever-increasing frequency. The planet’s atmosphere is ...
Buzz from the Beehive There has been plenty to keep the relevant Ministers busy in flood-stricken Auckland over the past day or two. But New Zealand, last time we looked, extends north of Auckland into Northland and south of the Bombay Hills all the way to the bottom of the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters When early settlers came to the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers before the California Gold Rush, Indigenous people warned them that the Sacramento Valley could become an inland sea when great winter rains came. The storytellers described water filling the ...
Wayne Brown managed a smile when meeting with Remuera residents, but he was grumpy about having to deal with “media drongos”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: In my pick of the news links found in my rounds since 4am for paying subscribers below the paywall:Wayne Brown moans about the media and ...
Wayne Brown managed a smile when meeting with Remuera residents, but he was grumpy about having to deal with “media drongos”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: In my pick of the news links found in my rounds since 4am for paying subscribers below the paywall:Wayne Brown moans about the media and ...
Dr Bryce Edwards writes – Last night’s opinion polls answered the big question of whether a switch of prime minister would really be a gamechanger for election year. The 1News and Newshub polls released at 6pm gave the same response: the shift from Jacinda Ardern to Chris Hipkins ...
Hipkins’ aim this year will be to present a ‘low target’ for those seeking to attack Labour’s policies and spending. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: Anyone dealing with Government departments and councils who wants some sort of big or long-term decision out of officials or politicians this year should brace for ...
Hipkins’ aim this year will be to present a ‘low target’ for those seeking to attack Labour’s policies and spending. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: Anyone dealing with Government departments and councils who wants some sort of big or long-term decision out of officials or politicians this year should brace for ...
Last night’s opinion polls answered the big question of whether a switch of prime minister would really be a gamechanger for election year. The 1News and Newshub polls released at 6pm gave the same response: the shift from Jacinda Ardern to Chris Hipkins has changed everything, and Labour is back ...
Over the last few years, it’s seemed like city after city around the world has become subject to extreme flooding events that have been made worse by impacts from climate change. We’ve highlighted many of them in our Weekly Roundup series. Sadly, over the last few days it’s been Auckland’s ...
And so the first month of the year draws to a close. It rained in Auckland on 21 out of the 31 days in January. Feels like summer never really happened this year. It’s actually hard to believe there were 10 days that it didn’t rain. Was it any better where ...
A ‘small target’ strategy is not going to cut it anymore if National want to win the upcoming election. The game has changed and the game plan needs to change as well. Jacinda Ardern’s abrupt departure from the 9th floor has the potential to derail what looked to be an ...
When Grant Robertson talks about how the economy might change post-covid, one of the things he talks about is what he calls an unsung but interesting white paper on science. “It’s really important,” he says. The Minister in charge of the White Paper — Te Ara Paerangi, Future Pathways ...
The clean up has begun but more rain is on the way. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: Auckland’s floods over the last three days are turning into a macroeconomic event, with losses from Aotearoa’s biggest-ever climate event estimated at around $500 million and Auckland’s schools all closed for a week until ...
The clean up has begun but more rain is on the way. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: Auckland’s floods over the last three days are turning into a macroeconomic event, with losses from Aotearoa’s biggest-ever climate event estimated at around $500 million and Auckland’s schools all closed for a week until ...
The news media were at one ceremony by the looks of things. The Governor-General, the Prime Minister and his deputy were at another. The news media were at a swearing-in ceremony. The country’s leaders were at an appointment ceremony. The New Zealand Gazette record of what transpired says: Appointment of ...
I n some alternative universe, Auckland mayor Efeso Collins readily grasped the scale of Friday’s deluge, and quickly made the emergency declaration that enabled central government to immediately throw its resources behind the rescue and remediation effort. As Friday evening became night, Mayor Collins seemed to be everywhere: talking with ...
They called it an “atmospheric river”, the weather bombardment which hit NZ’s northern region at the weekend. It exacted a terrible toll on metropolitan Auckland and the rest of the region. Few living there may have noted a statement from electricity generator Mercury Energy labelled “WET, WET, WET!” This was ...
I know, that is a pretty corny title but given the circumstances here in the Auckland region, I just had to say it. The more oblique reference embedded in the title is to the leadership failures exhibited by Mayor Wayne Brown and his so-called leadership team when confronted by the ...
How much confidence should the public have in authorities managing natural disasters? Not much, judging by the farcical way in which the civil defence emergence in Auckland has played out. The way authorities dealt with Auckland’s extreme weather on Friday illustrated how hit-and-miss our civil defence emergency system is. In ...
TLDR: Here’s the key news links and useful longer reads I’ve spotted since 4 am this morning, including:calls for a more ‘spongey’ urban infrastructure after Auckland’s floods;demands for an inquiry into Auckland Council’s communications failure;the latest on Chris Hipkins’ plans for Three Waters; inside the PR trainwreck that is Wayne ...
TLDR: Here’s the key news links and useful longer reads I’ve spotted since 4 am this morning, including:calls for a more ‘spongey’ urban infrastructure after Auckland’s floods;demands for an inquiry into Auckland Council’s communications failure;the latest on Chris Hipkins’ plans for Three Waters; inside the PR trainwreck that is Wayne ...
Mayor Wayne Brown, under fire for his communication failures, quietly visited the scene of the fatal Remuera slip on Sunday, with his staff taking photos for social media updates. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: The cleanup and the post-mortem have begun, even though the rain just keeps falling in Auckland after ...
Mayor Wayne Brown, under fire for his communication failures, quietly visited the scene of the fatal Remuera slip on Sunday, with his staff taking photos for social media updates. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: The cleanup and the post-mortem have begun, even though the rain just keeps falling in Auckland after ...
Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.The recent leadership change in the governing Labour party resulted in a very strange response from National’s (current) leader, Christopher Luxon. Mr Luxon berated Labour for it’s change of leader, citing no actual change.As ...
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 22, 2023 thru Sat, Jan 28, 2023. Story of the Week New Study Reveals Arctic Ice, Tracked Both Above and Below, Is Freezing LaterClimate change is affecting the timing of both ...
We’ve just announced a massive infrastructure investment to kick-start new housing developments across New Zealand. Through our Infrastructure Acceleration Fund, we’re making sure that critical infrastructure - like pipes, roads and wastewater connections - is in place, so thousands more homes can be built. ...
The Green Party is joining more than 20 community organisations to call for an immediate rent freeze in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, after reports of landlords intending to hike rents after flooding. ...
When Chris Hipkins took on the job of Prime Minister, he said bread and butter issues like the cost of living would be the Government’s top priority – and this week, we’ve set out extra support for families and businesses. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to provide direct support to low-income households and to stop subsidising fossil fuels during a climate crisis. ...
The tools exist to help families with surging costs – and as costs continue to rise it is more urgent than ever that we use them, the Green Party says. ...
Over $10 million infrastructure funding to unlock housing in Whangārei The purchase of a 3.279 hectare site in Kerikeri to enable 56 new homes Northland becomes eligible for $100 million scheme for affordable rentals Multiple Northland communities will benefit from multiple Government housing investments, delivering thousands of new homes for ...
A memorial event at a key battle site in the New Zealand land wars is an important event to mark the progress in relations between Māori and the Crown as we head towards Waitangi Day, Minister for Te Arawhiti Kelvin Davis said. The Battle of Ohaeawai in June 1845 saw ...
More Police officers are being deployed to the frontline with the graduation of 54 new constables from the Royal New Zealand Police College today. The graduation ceremony for Recruit Wing 362 at Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua was the first official event for Stuart Nash since his reappointment as Police ...
The Government is unlocking an additional $700,000 in support for regions that have been badly hit by the recent flooding and storm damage in the upper North Island. “We’re supporting the response and recovery of Auckland, Waikato, Coromandel, Northland, and Bay of Plenty regions, through activating Enhanced Taskforce Green to ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has welcomed the announcement that Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, will visit New Zealand this month. “Princess Anne is travelling to Aotearoa at the request of the NZ Army’s Royal New Zealand Corps of Signals, of which she is Colonel in Chief, to ...
A new Government and industry strategy launched today has its sights on growing the value of New Zealand’s horticultural production to $12 billion by 2035, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said. “Our food and fibre exports are vital to New Zealand’s economic security. We’re focussed on long-term strategies that build on ...
25 cents per litre petrol excise duty cut extended to 30 June 2023 – reducing an average 60 litre tank of petrol by $17.25 Road User Charge discount will be re-introduced and continue through until 30 June Half price public transport fares extended to the end of June 2023 saving ...
The strong economy has attracted more people into the workforce, with a record number of New Zealanders in paid work and wages rising to help with cost of living pressures. “The Government’s economic plan is delivering on more better-paid jobs, growing wages and creating more opportunities for more New Zealanders,” ...
The Government is providing a further $1 million to the Mayoral Relief Fund to help communities in Auckland following flooding, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced today. “Cabinet today agreed that, given the severity of the event, a further $1 million contribution be made. Cabinet wishes to be proactive ...
The new Cabinet will be focused on core bread and butter issues like the cost of living, education, health, housing and keeping communities and businesses safe, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has announced. “We need a greater focus on what’s in front of New Zealanders right now. The new Cabinet line ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins will travel to Canberra next week for an in person meeting with Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. “The trans-Tasman relationship is New Zealand’s closest and most important, and it was crucial to me that my first overseas trip as Prime Minister was to Australia,” Chris Hipkins ...
The Government is providing establishment funding of $100,000 to the Mayoral Relief Fund to help communities in Auckland following flooding, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced. “We moved quickly to make available this funding to support Aucklanders while the full extent of the damage is being assessed,” Kieran McAnulty ...
As the Mayor of Auckland has announced a state of emergency, the Government, through NEMA, is able to step up support for those affected by flooding in Auckland. “I’d urge people to follow the advice of authorities and check Auckland Emergency Management for the latest information. As always, the Government ...
Ka papā te whatitiri, Hikohiko ana te uira, wāhi rua mai ana rā runga mai o Huruiki maunga Kua hinga te māreikura o te Nota, a Titewhai Harawira Nā reira, e te kahurangi, takoto, e moe Ka mōwai koa a Whakapara, kua uhia te Tai Tokerau e te kapua pōuri ...
Carmel Sepuloni, Minister for Social Development and Employment, has activated Enhanced Taskforce Green (ETFG) in response to flooding and damaged caused by Cyclone Hale in the Tairāwhiti region. Up to $500,000 will be made available to employ job seekers to support the clean-up. We are still investigating whether other parts ...
The 2023 General Election will be held on Saturday 14 October 2023, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. “Announcing the election date early in the year provides New Zealanders with certainty and has become the practice of this Government and the previous one, and I believe is best practice,” Jacinda ...
Jacinda Ardern has announced she will step down as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party. Her resignation will take effect on the appointment of a new Prime Minister. A caucus vote to elect a new Party Leader will occur in 3 days’ time on Sunday the 22nd of ...
The Government is maintaining its strong trade focus in 2023 with Trade and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor visiting Europe this week to discuss the role of agricultural trade in climate change and food security, WTO reform and New Zealand agricultural innovation. Damien O’Connor will travel tomorrow to Switzerland to attend the ...
The Government has extended its medium-scale classification of Cyclone Hale to the Wairarapa after assessing storm damage to the eastern coastline of the region. “We’re making up to $80,000 available to the East Coast Rural Support Trust to help farmers and growers recover from the significant damage in the region,” ...
After four years, executive director Max Tweedie has stepped down from Auckland Pride. He tells Sam Brooks about shepherding the festival through a tumultuous few years, and where he’s going from here.This year’s Auckland Pride Festival is set to be the biggest one yet. Over the course of more ...
A flailing mayor was only the public face of a multifaceted flooding communications failure. Duncan Greive examines the mess, and asks what can be done to improve it.It’s a chilling timeline. Stuff’s Kelly Dennett catalogued, beat-by-beat, the 12 hours in which Auckland was pummelled by a catastrophic deluge, interspersing ...
The Dunedin branch of the Green Party has selected Francisco Hernandez as its candidate for the Dunedin electorate in this year’s general election. Francisco Hernandez was the Otago University Students Association President in 2013. He has held a number ...
Waitangi organisers are trying to push political leaders to the side at Sunday's pōwhiri, but Labour's deputy leader says it's not for them to decide who speaks. Te Tai Tokerau MP and Labour’s deputy leader, Kelvin Davis, says the Prime Minister will speak at Sunday’s pōwhiri at Waitangi, in defiance of local ...
Every weekday, The Detail makes sense of the big news stories. This week, we spoke to an aid worker who had made the trip to the war zone in Ukraine, looked at why Carmel Sepuloni was picked to be the new deputy prime minister, visited the flood-torn streets of Titirangi in West ...
Schools play an integral but often unrecognised and unacknowledged role in helping communities respond to and recover from disastersOpinion: Schools in Auckland and other flood-affected areas are about to re-open after a delayed start to the new school year. Students will return to school having experienced wide-ranging impacts. While some ...
A very short story for Waitangi weekend The pā is a lonely place nowadays. Gorse has marched on it like the British troops of old, consuming the hills and leaving the marae looking a bald patch on the head of the earth mother herself. Even the roads have worn thin, ...
This is The Detail's Long Read - one in-depth story read by us every weekend. This week, it's The School Away From School written by Bill Morris and published in NZ Geographic's January/February 2023 issue. You can find the entire article, with photos from Lottie Hedley, on the NZ Geographic website. One hundred years since its ...
COMMENTARY:By Kayt Davies in Perth I wasn’t good at French in my final year of high school. My classmates had five years of language studies behind them. I had three. As a result of my woeful grip on the language, I wrote a terribly bad essay in my final ...
RNZ Pacific Journalist Victor Mambor, who is the chief editor of the West Papuan newspaper and websiteJubi, has received the Oktovianus Pogau Award from the Indonesian-based Pantau Foundation for courage in journalism. The foundation’s Andreas Harsono said Mambor’s decision to return to his father’s homeland and defend the rights ...
RNZ News Green Party MP Chlöe Swarbrick is brushing off concerns a temporary rent freeze in flood-hit Auckland would just see landlords hike rents even more when the controls were lifted — arguing they should stay permanently. More than 20 organisations have signed a letter urging Minister for Auckland Michael ...
Iwi leaders have accused National and ACT of "fanning the flames of racism", urging the prime minister to be brave and not walk away from partnership on three waters. ...
About this time last week it had become apparent that Auckland was in for a bit more than just a wet Friday. While the state of emergency remains in place for another seven days, it appears the worst should now be behind us. Last night, Niwa shared a fascinating thread ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra ShutterstockIndigenous Australians are respectfully advised that the following includes the names and images of some people who are now deceased. The Reserve Bank of Australia ...
The government has confirmed the money will be spent in Northland, including unlocking greenfields land and transport upgrades like a new bridge in Kamo. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gabrielle Appleby, Professor, UNSW Law School, UNSW Sydney Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed that sometime between August and November this year, the Australian people will go to a referendum for the first time since 1999. We’ll be asked whether we support ...
Viewers across the United States were today shown a slice of New Zealand, with a reporter for Good Morning America broadcasting live from Rotorua. Robin Roberts, a co-anchor for the popular morning TV show, has been touring the country this week. During her visit to Rotorua’s Te Puia centre, she ...
They can be environmentally unsound and are a symbol used to shame millennials, but everyone still loves an avo. I love avocados, always have, always will. The buttery golden-green flesh from a perfectly ripe avocado is a culinary blessing. Today I’d love to simply wax poetic about twisting open a ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin (Penguin Press, $50) The beautiful ...
A new poem by Robin Peace. To the kahikatea I see from my bed Thinking inside the square, the ellipse, the round of what life is, I only see the trees. Not only as if that were the only thing I see, but only as if the tree matters more. ...
A week ago, Elton John’s first Auckland show was called off at the last minute. What was it like getting there, being there, and trying to return home afterwards?Elton John has long been a blessing for our ears, but in recent years his Auckland shows have been cursed. His ...
For Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown, sorry seems to be the hardest word to say The mayoral chains must have been heavy this week for Auckland’s Wayne Brown, as his response to last week’s flood garnered its own veritable torrent of scandals and media scrutiny. Almost exactly one week on from ...
For Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown, sorry seems to be the hardest word to say The mayoral chains must have been heavy this week for Auckland’s Wayne Brown, as his response to last week’s flood garnered its own veritable torrent of scandals and media scrutiny. Almost exactly one week on from ...
Ours Not Mines is cautiously excited about reporting that the Government is drafting legislation to ban new mines on conservation land. The anti-mining group's spokesperson, Morgan Donoghue says: "The Government has been promising us some action for ...
People who enjoy the outdoors for recreation, fishing and hunting will lose rights under the Natural and Built Environments Bill. Fish & Game New Zealand chief executive Corina Jordan says the proposed replacement for the Resource Management ...
Auckland mayor Wayne Brown has conceded he “dropped the ball” during last Friday’s major flooding event. The state of emergency in the super city has today been extended for a further seven days, though Brown said he expects it will be lifted early. After a week of defensiveness over his ...
As the reality TV juggernaut returns for a new season, Tara Ward steps into the minds of the show’s relationship experts to assess the compatibility of this year’s brides and grooms. Married at First Sight: Australia returns on Monday night, and by season ten, you’d think the show’s relationship experts ...
Auckland’s state of emergency is expected to be extended for another seven days, according to the Herald. It was due to expire overnight after being declared a week ago, the day of the worst flooding in the super city. While weather conditions have improved, the city is continuing to experience ...
Proposed pay equity claim settlements for school librarians and science technicians have been reached between the Ministry of Education and NZEI Te Riu Roa, Secretary for Education, Iona Holsted and NZEI Te Riu Roa president, Mark Potter, announced ...
Members of NZEI Te Riu Roa negotiating on behalf of school librarians, library assistants and science technicians are excited to announce that proposed pay equity settlements are ready to be voted on by their colleagues. They include pay increases of up to ...
The Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) is calling for Michael Wood, the Minister of Transport, and now Auckland, to cancel the light rail project immediately. Auckland Light Rail was never going to happen, as our group has repeatedly said dozens of ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has been asked to intervene following confirmation today that the Government plans to implement a ban on all extractive sector activities on the conservation estate. Wayne Scott, CEO of the Aggregate and Quarry Association, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato Getty Images The heated (and often confused) debate about “co-governance” in Aotearoa New Zealand inevitably leads back to its source, Te Tiriti o Waitangi. But, as its long-contested meanings demonstrate, very little ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Hunter, Lecturer in Art and Performance, Deakin University Jodie Hutchinson/Red StitchReview: Wittenoom, directed by Susie Dee, Red Stitch Deep in the remote Pilbara region of Western Australia, the town of Wittenoom lies empty, desolate … and contaminated. Wittenoom ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Oliver Bown, Postdoctoral fellow, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock The past few years have seen an explosion in applications of artificial intelligence to creative fields. A new generation of image and text generators is delivering impressiveresults. Now AI has also found ...
New Zealand’s egg shortage is hitting cruise ships too – forcing the crew of one vessel to hatch a poaching plan. This story was first published on Stuff. On the hunt for eggs, a crew from a luxury cruise ship got cracking and hatched a cunning plan. Earlier this week, Stuff ...
Now demolished, the First Church of Christ Scientist was a masterclass of architectural imagination. Kate Linzey visits the site on which it once stood, to learn more. The object is delicate and small. Small enough to sit in the palm of my hand and weighing less than 300 grams. It ...
When your food parcel arrives before the emergency alert, you know something’s not working properly.This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. I’ve spent the last week desperately and at times fruitlessly attempting to drain and then sweep my whānau home of knee-deep water, pull up ...
Drongo-gate continues for another day with the Herald reporting that Auckland’s mayor has been caught out using the slang term for a second time. It comes this time from a former minor mayoral candidate, Mike Kampkes, who said he received a message from Brown in response to a media release ...
How does Aotearoa stop relying so heavily on agriculture to prop up our economy? Online tax and accounting service Hnry just raised $35m to grow its software on-demand service across the globe. Bernard Hickey talks with AirTree partner Jackie Vullinghs about how venture capitalists are funding Aotearoa’s fastest growing, least-polluting ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Guastella, Professor and Clinical Psychologist, Michael Crouch Chair in Child and Youth Mental Health, University of Sydney Shutterstock With childcare and schools starting the new year, parents might be anxiously wondering how their child will adapt in a new ...
I am delighted to announce the appointment of John Price ONZM as the new Director Civil Defence Emergency Management and Deputy Chief Executive Emergency Management for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). John has been a member of the ...
Coromandel Watchdog of Hauraki are calling on the new Prime Minister and new Minister of Conservation Willow Jean Prime to immediately implement the 2017 promise to ban new mining activity on conservation lands. “ The mining industry group Straterra ...
How does Aotearoa stop relying so heavily on agriculture to prop up our economy? Online tax and accounting service Hnry just raised $35m to grow its software on-demand service across the globe. In the latest episode of When the Facts Change, Bernard Hickey talks with AirTree partner Jackie Vullinghs about how ...
There’s a fear that highlighting menopause will undermine women, especially at work. But what have centuries of secrecy achieved for us? Are you sick of hearing about menopause? Kim Hill is. The living legend of Aotearoa broadcasting told actor Robyn Malcolm (also a legend) on her Saturday Morning show on RNZ ...
Dunedin city council has reached an agreement to save Foulden Maar from commercial mining. The maar is the site of a crater lake from 23 million years ago with the diatomite of the lake preserving fossils and a climate record covering 100,000 years from that period. It is fantastic news for Otago University ...
Some are speculating whether the Auckland Mayor's leadership is circling the drain. James Elliott hopes they're right. There’s never been a week quite like it. It was the week when the rains came. All of them. Even the rain from Spain that was supposed to fall mainly on the plain, came. ...
The Bus and Coach Association supports the Government’s decision to continue half-price fares on public transport services. The fare reduction was set to expire on 31 March 2023, but will now continue to 30 June 2023. “Half-price fares have cost ten-times ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards. Political Roundup: Hipkins’ bread and butter reshufflePolitical scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins continues to be the new broom in Government, re-setting his Government away from its problem areas in his Cabinet reshuffle yesterday, and trying to convince voters that Labour is focused ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards. Political Roundup: Chris Hipkins hires a lobbyist to run the BeehiveNew Zealand Prime Minister, Chris Hipkins, speaking when Minister of Education, at NZEI Te Riu Roa strike rally on the steps of the New Zealand Parliament, 15th August 2018. Image; Wiki Commons. New Zealand is ...
New Zealand Politics Daily is a collation of the most prominent issues being discussed in New Zealand. It is edited by Dr Bryce Edwards of The Democracy Project. Items of interest and importance todayCO-GOVERNANCE, WAITANGI, THREE WATERS Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): Blowing Off The Froth: Why Chris Hipkins Must Ditch ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brian Tweed, Senior lecturer, Massey University Shutterstock/Renata Apanaviciene As we approach another Waitangi Day, we should be thinking again about what Te Tiriti o Waitangi means. As the late Moana Jackson commented, the meaning of Te Tiriti will be ...
Even prime ministers get caught in bad weather. It’s a week on from the devastating flooding that hit Auckland and Northland and Chris Hipkins has been forced to drive north for the start of Waitangi weekend commemorations after his plan was turned away from Kerikeri airport (twice). Today will see ...
Less than a year ago, co-governance had a future, at least as potentially accepted terminology. Now some iwi leaders want the label removed and replaced, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
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"Like most of the world's government's, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's administration has neither condemned nor endorsed the US drone strike which killed Soleimani, only calling for a de-escalation of hostilities. Jon Stevenson, a New Zealand journalist who has spent years covering conflict and politics in the Middle East, felt that was not enough. "I am concerned that there has been a lack not just of political leadership but of moral leadership by Western politicians. They need to step up now and make it clear to the Trump administration that they're very concerned," he said." https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/406940/iran-s-embassy-calls-on-nz-to-promote-peace-and-security
I've been dismayed by the lack of western moral leadership since the Nixon era, so I agree with Jon. I also agree with the call from the Iranian embassy.
As regards neither condemning nor condoning the drone strike, I'm agnostic. If the general was indeed about to launch terrorist strikes, Trump was right to take him out. Trouble is, we only have Trump's word for that. Okay, he seems to have gotten Putin on board, which suggests that the intelligence shared was persuasive. Even so, unless Trump shares it with Ardern & Peters he can't complain if they stand on the sidelines watching.
Any helpful foreign policy initiative would have to direct Iran onto the path of peaceful coexistence – a fact that the Iranian embassy would do well to note. Provocation works both ways, and denuclearising has to be real, not fake…
Hi Dennis
What information do you have that Putin is "on board" with the killing of Suleiman?
It was Suleiman , on a trip to Moscow, who persuaded Russia to enter the fray in Syria
Russia is a long time ally with Iran , and has decried the assassination of Suleiman
https://www.nationalreview.com/news/qasem-soleimani-killing-russia-warns-united-states-of-grave-consequences/
Or, do you mean that Putin recognises that it is not in Russia's interests , or that of most of the world , to have an all out war in that region, and that de escalation is better than further insanity?
Less than a year ago Iran was declared to be compliant with the terms of the JCPOA treaty
https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2019-04/news/iaea-says-iran-abiding-nuclear-deal
The US withdrew from this treaty a month later .For what reason, if not provocation?
Suleiman worked with the US against the Taliban, and was hugely successful in defeating ISIS
When assassinated, he was on a diplomatic mission seeking to ease hostilities between Saudi, Iran and Iraq
https://thegrayzone.com/2020/01/06/soleimani-peace-mission-assassinated-trump-lie-imminent-attacks/
What evidence are you aware of(I don't mean the unspecified claims of certain "intelligence" reports) that he was engaged in conspiracies to attack the US?
Was Suleimani's support of the Palestinians enough to declare him a terrorist?
I know who I think are the world's biggest terrorists.
Our 5 Eyes partner
Too difficult to edit what with all that nbsp carry on to delete
Correction: Iran was still complying with the IPCOA treaty a year after Trump withdrew
Here's a very recent article about Iran's compliance
https://newrepublic.com/article/156140/iran-not-abandoned-nuclear-deal
Hi Francesca, it was yesterday OM#8 I discussed that, but here's the source again: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50941754
Haven't had a chance to examine your links yet. It's a moot topic and I agree that Trump ought to disclose his evidence re the general's terrorist organising. At that top level of geopolitics the tradition is to do so only with other relevant leaders and intelligence chiefs. Sharing that info with the public is routinely avoided.
I read your OM comment and your source thoroughly.No mention of Suleiman in that BBC source
Are you assuming rather than stating that intelligence prior to the Suleiman killing was shared and discussed with Putin ?
I have come across no such report .
The tradition of secret intelligence reports has been widely used in the past for very dodgy purposes and I wouldnt put much store by it. Remember Key and his secret advice about imminent jihadist threats to justify further surveillance .Lying bastards, and we shouldn't fall for it every time.
It is not unusual for Russia and the US to share intelligence re terrorism
Famously Russia attempted to warn Obama about the Tsarnaev brothers in 2013
(Boston Bombers)
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-explosions-boston-congress/russia-warned-u-s-about-boston-marathon-bomb-suspect-tsarnaev-report-idUSBREA2P02Q20140326
But it seems only Israel was informed about Suleiman prior to his assassination
We read our own inferences into news reports. BBC tells us about the understanding developed between Trump & Putin in regard to intelligence sharing and looming terrorist attacks. BBC tells us they talked on the phone a few days before the assassination. Doesn't tell us why or what about. So we can deduce that from what promptly happened.
A possible scenario: "Hey Putin, I'm about to take out some Iranian general who is organising a terrorist attack. It'll make me look like a terrorist too, goddam it, but life ain't a bowl of peaches." "Bugger! He may be Shia, but he's been useful. Give me the details of what he was planning."
Iran is a long term ally to Russia , the US is a long time adversary
Russia stands by its allies
I would very much doubt the US would tip Putin off on a strike on Russia's long time ally and not expect Putin to pass that news on
The BBC is a master at directing opinion and sly suggestions, I'd be very careful of deducing anything from their crafted "news"
Do you see the BBC more or less of a master at directing opinion and sly suggestions or any less intent on 'crafting' "news" than all the other big media players?
Dennis used the BBC as a stand up source.
I'm wary of all major media
It is possible that everyone, including the Iranian government, are actually pleased to see the end of Suleiman. He, as part of the Revolutionary Guards, essentially was operating a parallel Iranian foreign policy to that of the Iranian government, a much more aggressive policy than the government would really like. That was probably complicating things for all the relevant governments with influence in the region, including Russia.
If the Iranian response is as limited as at present, it would indicate that the Iranians are not going to do that much to "avenge" Suleiman. To me that shows they want to put his form of foreign policy behind them.
This is all sheer speculation on my part, but from what I read, a lot of Iranians in government would like to see the Revolutionary Guards influence, both within and without Iran, curtailed. They have generally made life for the government of Iran, in the conventional sense of governing, a lot more difficult than it otherwise would be.
So the US officials who proposed this course of action may have been doing their Iranian counterparts a favour? Generous.
Wheels within wheels. Wayne's point is a good one. Roman history informs us that the inconvenience of successful military leaders often had emperors rearranging the chess board. Younger folk would get the point from Game of Thrones too.
Had a history of Mossad on my bookshelf for a few years ("Every Spy a Prince", I think). The Israelis had the model of factions within revolutionary Iran all competing together, extremists and moderates, building that model from a couple of defectors and agents.
That basically directed their foreign policy to Iran for a couple of decades. Dunno about now.
Good one. To be honest, it's never occurred to me to go looking for a history of Mossad. But I did get an eye-opening glimpse into that recently, courtesy of a book from the New Plymouth library by an investigative journalist who had compiled all the evidence that Mossad organised 9/11 using Arab stooges. He even had quotes from retirees that documented the origin of the scenario back around '79.
I paid attention to the Iran situation in the early years of the revolution. I remember learning how the mullahs eliminated the leftists. I was somewhat sympathetic to them from a nationalist perspective (inasmuch as the CIA took out Mossadegh in '53) but their ruthlessness proved they were merely fundamentalists so I got bored & ignored them after that.
If they were smart, they'd liberalise by allowing the secular option to become available to Iranians. The racist regime in South Africa yielded to the future, as did the communists, but no, these turkeys still want to pretend that it's the 7th century AD.
Iran's a fascinating country – liberal in many ways, but ruled by a paranoid and totalitarian theocracy.
Basically, I suspect the main reason the regime gained and maintains power is the USA – the shared external aggressor.
As for mossad doing 911 – yeah, nah. The penalty for failure would be insane, and their boy was in the WH anyway.
@McFlock
This guy makes the same point, and that the assassination of Suleiman has reinforced the regime's position.
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/iran-price-riots-collective-effervescence-200108090421877.html
on the other hand…
Interesting commentary from the New Yorker, which suggests Suleimani was doing the bidding of the Iranian govt, rather than forming his own separate power base
https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/the-meaning-of-qassem-suleimanis-death-in-the-middle-east
I suspect that Wayne had the Stalin model in mind. No apparent independent power base via deliberate effort towards creating that, but a de facto one produced by results, mana, reputation.
Pragmatists use levers that are available. The cleverest learn from experience that operating in the middle between powers that be, serving both sides ad hoc, in accord with what the situation requires, catalyses necessary progress. Partisans render themselves impotent by painting themselves into their corner.
Assad is Alawite. "Alawite doctrine incorporates Islamic, Gnostic, neo-Platonic, Christian and other elements and has, therefore, been described as syncretic." [Wikipedia] So the Shia orthodoxy can only perform regional liaison via a competent independent player. A general in the revolutionary guard with a track record of military success has the mana to do such liaison. The dead one had fought the Taliban with success, so Putin & Assad valued his expertise.
People I've talked to who have family in Iran, say the biggest hand up the Revolutionary Guards got was the sanctions imposed by the US. In that it not only has it made them more powerful in a political sense, but in economic terms as well.
So if we really want to curtail the Revolutionary Guards, then sanctions need to be looked at.
Interesting comment, thanks.
Suleiman was a revered and enormously popular person and will be a martyr, at least in the eyes of his many followers. This may not sit well with the theocratic leadership (government) but it won’t necessarily stop his followers from trying to avenge him. There are too many factions and splinter groups and it is not the most cohesive of societies.
The killing has probably united the Iraqi people and the Iranians more than Suleimani could have dreamed of .
However, they still have to take into account the sentiments of their people
I do not think the mass outcry of the general populace was faked
And which arm of the govt are you referring to ?
The Supreme Leader Khameini or some of the many different elements that make up the political system there
Are you saying that Suleiman's defeat of ISIS in Syria and Iraq was a policy that the Iranian govt would not be in favour of ?
My hypothesis will be tested by the extent of the overall reaction by Iran in the coming weeks.
Icognitio makes the point that the various elements who were Suleiman's loyal supporters will undertake numerous terrorist type actions against US interests. That is possible. But if that gets out of hand, the Iranian government will try to curtail it.
As for the scale of support, even if only 10% of Iranians supported the Revolutionary Guards, that is still 10 million people. Many of the other 90% fear the Guards, who have for decades been a repressive and violent faction within Iran. They have killed literally tens of thousands of Iranians.
However, I think it is already clear that the Iranian government is trying to limit the scale of reaction. No doubt there is intense diplomacy going on, particularly with various European nations.
Actually, I did not specify the type(s) of revenge. It is quite telling that you made that assumption. Many seem to look down on this ‘enemy’ as if they are some backwards barbarians stuck in the 7th century AD. It might explain the level of flippancy in and of their comments.
Perhaps they proved they aren't barbarians by getting revenge in a non-violent manner? I know, too great a break with tradition to be feasible, but it seems to have happened in the rocket attack.
Then again, the Iranian regime is apparently telling its people that they killed 80 American terrorists. Do you believe them?
You think describing America as the Great Satan is a form of contemporary sophistication?? Focus on the Great Satan successfully distracts everyone's attention from all the little Satans. Seems rather discriminatory! 😉 But did you have another form of revenge in mind?
Not your usual insightful analysis but more flippancy.
Do I base my whole thinking on one rocket attack and an alleged 80 casualties?
You think, talk, and act as a Westerner without religion, myths, symbols, and heroes. Your only tool is your cool rationality. No wonder you are puzzled, but don’t worry, you are not alone.
We can certainly hope Iran will choose to turn away from escalation. But Iran has form for liking their revenge served cold with a side of plausible deniability.
burn
https://twitter.com/dvglasgow/status/1214520422122885121
Dennis
This is very long and not the easiest style but it's well worth reading and I think you have the stamina for it .It gives a different perspective on Suleimani , one that is valuable as a counterpoint to the "official " view
From our very own Curwen Ares Rolinson
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2020/01/08/death-is-as-nothing-compared-to-vindication-on-soleimani-and-the-soleimani-doctrine-in-2018-and-the-present/
I've cited his analysis on other topics in the past here once or twice: he's always worth reading. This one is sufficiently deep that a second reading may be required, for more leisurely contemplation, and I admit to just scanning some paragraphs.
His problem as a communicator in this article is that of coming to a point. It's as if he knows there's one there somewhere but he can't quite crystallise it. Ain't enough to bemoan the banalities of US foreign policy, or the ham-fisted use of US military force. We learnt that when LBJ was president in the 1960s, and have had to be reminded by every president since for reasons that remain obscure!
"It may, perhaps, be a bit of a stretch to suggest that he wanted peace with the Americans, but there is strong evidence in support of his actively working towards mutually-beneficial co-operation with his latter-day fatal adversary where appropriate and where this could actually be in some measure attained."
If so, then we must draw the conclusion that he wasn't serious enough to make it obvious to US leaders and other relevant world leaders. Perhaps because his own leaders prevented him doing so! Religious nutters tend to be useless at geopolitics.
Well thanks for doing me the courtesy of reading that article
We've all become inured to this kind of thing. It's always "too expensive" or "we're working on it" or "it's very difficult", but the result is the same and the longer it goes on the more entrenched as nornal and acceptable it becomes. Even discussion about the cause of the problem is limited to whether the correct "need score" was applied.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/118655632/73yearold-faces-long-wait-for-social-housing-in-christchurch
The Cambridge Analytica scandal grows, with whistleblower Brittany Kaiser releasing further internal documents from Cambridge Analytica.
Very good interviews on on Democracy Now! yesterday. "“The Great Hack”: Big Data Firms Helped Sway the 2016 Election. Could It Happen Again in 2020?" and a must watch for anyone concerned about 'meddling in elections'
This is the big story – forget Russia, Comey, Hillary, DNC. All bit players, CA would have to be the big one.
At least 65 countries.
https://twitter.com/HindsightFiles
So is kiwibuild still a thing?
https://www.labour.org.nz/housing
Build 100,000 affordable homes across the country
Labour’s KiwiBuild programme will build 100,000 high quality, affordable homes over 10 years, with 50% of them in Auckland. Standalone houses in Auckland will cost $500,000 to $600,000, with apartments and townhouses under $500,000. Outside Auckland, houses will range from $300,000 to $500,000.
Yup
https://www.labour.org.nz/housing_reset
This is apparently not uncommon???
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12299087
Of course Poots and co are trying to stuff this down the memory hole.
Stalin, who sent millions to Gulag camps, has never been more popular in Russia. 70% of Russians say they approve of his legacy.
This is the result of a Kremlin campaign, spearheaded by Vladimir Putin, to rewrite Soviet history.
The Generation Gulag project started with a conversation between Coda journalists @antelava & @katia_patin. They wanted to hear from the eyewitnesses of Soviet authoritarianism about what it’s like to see their past being rewritten.
In Russia, authorities have imprisoned prominent Gulag historians and forced Gulag museums to register as “foreign agents.” Last year in southern Russia, police officers dressed up in KGB uniforms — in celebration of the Soviet “heroes” who rounded up millions of Russians.
Almost half of young Russians say they have never heard of the Stalin-era purges, known as the Great Terror.
Olga Shirokaya’s father was arrested and executed at the height of the purge in 1938. In a second wave of mass arrests, Olga was sent to a camp in 1950:
Olga’s Shirokaya was a child when Stalin’s purges reached a fever-pitch. It was 1938. Her father was arrested and executed. Twelve years later, Olga, now a young woman, was sent to the camps herself. The KGB accused her of “self-indoctrination.”
As an infant, ballet dancer Azari Plesetsky was sent to a special Gulag camp for the wives and children of Stalin’s “enemies of the people.”
“The most unpleasant and shameful part is that many people today try to forget about these wounds and not reopen them. But we must reopen them,” Azari Plesetsky told our journalist @oksanabaulina
Russian authorities aren’t invested in coming to terms with the horror of the Gulag. Instead, “they want it to become part of the tapestry of the past that has no special significance, no special meaning and no special lessons,” said author @anneapplebaum
Distorting the past is serving regimes around the world. As part of our disinformation coverage, we’re tracking how governments do it.
Here, @isocockerell looks at how China tried to re-engineer the history of Muslims in the country.
In the next few weeks, we will share the stories and the messages Gulag survivors have for us about our era.
But we don’t want to stop here. Share your own family’s story from the Gulag using the hashtag #GenerationGulag
To #stayonthestory of rewriting history, matters of disinformation, and more, subscribe to our newsletter now:
eepurl.com/c7_NSz
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1214944184089661454.html
https://codastory.com/series/generation-gulag/
[Held up in Moderation because it exceeded the link limit]
"But it got crazier still. Enter J K Rowling, the author, who expressed support for Forstater on Twitter. At this point the Twitterati decided Rowling was a far juicier target than Forstater, and turned on her like a swarm of angry wasps."
"She was attacked as transphobic – 2019's most tiresome buzzword – and condemned as a terf, or trans-exclusionary radical feminist. The author's leftist credentials (Rowling campaigned against Brexit and once donated £1 million to the British Labour Party) were no protection." https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/118556579/has-the-left-learned-anything-from-the-lessons-of-2019
"The Forstater-Rowling story encapsulated two of last year's dominant themes: the neo-Marxist Left's intolerance of dissent, and the crucial role of the ironically misnamed "social" media in howling down anyone who dares to question approved ideology."
"It also highlighted the sheer aggressiveness of minority-group activists in attacking anyone who challenges them. The standard tactic is to demand that the dissenter be sacked, regardless of whether their personal views have any bearing on their ability to do their job."
Stuff's cultural analyst wonders if the left learnt anything in 2019. Dunno why. People learn by themselves most of the time. They only do it collectively at school or university. Not all leftists are pc drones, so he's generalising – putting up a straw man to wave at Stuff readers under the false assumption that they will be impressed.
"The so-called "bathroom battles" are evolving into a key issue in the American culture wars." It could be resolved by creating a third category, neither male nor female. Public toilets with the third option wearing the sign Whatever…
I read that this morning and I can’t be bothered unpacking this piece by Karl du Fresne.
In case you wonder, he wasn’t “wondering”; it was entirely rhetorical (and a highly manipulative rant IMO).
He's a sour dickhead, is as far as I can be bothered going.
Whats funny to me is that JK Rowling was the wokest of woke celebrities, remaining in Europe check, bring in the refugees double check, declaring Dumbledore to be gay (after the books were sold of course) triple check, announcing that Hermione was never specified as white (ignoring all the official illustrations, being described as going very brown in the sun and turning white) quadruple check
Yet supporting a (oops nealy forgot to add it) cis-gendered woman and suddenly its all over in the blink of eye
Why these celebrities continue to pander to nutbars on twitter is beyond me
Mr du Fresne muttered something about “freedom of expression” but apparently the Left has been taken over and is dominated by a fringe of “nutbars” whose “aim is to intimidate people into silence” (regardless of whether they are Left or Right).
Mr du Fresne’s tacit concern is that it will lose the Left votes; he reminds me of a commenter here
I'm not interested in votes as much as the idea that celebrities (especially extremely wealthy ones) pander to groups that just seem to be waiting for them to stumble so they can tear them down
Maybe subconscious feelings of guilt over just how much money they have so they feel a need to be punished for it…
Once again he gets it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aoHa0cwvxA
So the Mongols have invaded Aotearoa. Not kidding, I can cite evidence provided by Richard Harman. I did a check to see if he had a take on Iran, and was surprised to not encounter his paywall. https://www.politik.co.nz/2019/12/11/the-politics-of-electoral-law-reform/
"The report sets out the details of Ross’s allegations about the Inner Mongolia Rider Horse Society (NZ) Ltd. Government members are concerned about the circumstances surrounding the involvement of a which is “owned by a China-based entity and controlled by a Chinese foreign national. “ We also note that Inner Mongolia Rider Horse Industry (NZ) Ltd carries out the business of exporting horses to China from New Zealand,” the report says."
“Government members believe it is noteworthy that a former Minister (alleged to be Todd McClay) less than a year before the donation was received, met with the founder of Inner Mongolia Rider Horse Industry (NZ) Ltd, Mr Lang Lin, in China in July 2016. The former Minister has been quoted in the media as saying the local electorate meeting was where Mr Lang indicated “that Inner Mongolia Rider Horse Industry (NZ) Ltd would like to support the National Party”.”
Since the invasion is by inner Mongolians, not outer, we can expect a more civilised outcome. So is it all about racing, or pet food? If the former, Winston may have perceived the threat. Although one of the Mongol companies wants to back the Nats, the other may be in talks with Winnie, in the hope of supporting the govt. Capitalists usually fund both sides to create a win/win outcome no matter what happens. The Mongols may be demonstrating that they know how to play the game.
Auckland University, you suck
…and you hoover up government subsidies in the process
A simple matter of key performance indicators. The previous government imposed KPIs on universities relating to student completion rates, the current government hasn't removed them, so the managerialists running the universities have a very strong incentive to assess whether an individual student is an asset or a liability from a KPI perspective, and act accordingly. This student had fallen into the "liability" category, hence the expulsion. People work to the KPIs they're given, with consequences that are often unintended by the people imposing the KPIs.
Another NZ university demonstrating its committment to "pastoral care". Been a bit of that over the last year or so.
PM is right – completion rates are a KPI. Brought in because when universities became mass education, they were a relatively safe haven from WINZ harrassment about perennial unemployment because uni funding was "bums on seats", period. So the same student would take the same paper many, many times because there was no such thing as "academic requirements". If you failed, it didn't affect your ability to enrol again next year.
" Kiwis should make a New Year’s resolution to move their bank accounts to Kiwibank, or one of the other wholly owned New Zealand banks, said Social Credit Leader Chris Leitch "
The big four Aussie owned banks dragged over $6 billion in profit out of the back pockets of Kiwis last year – four times more profit than the 10 largest companies on the NZ Stock Exchange.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2020/01/08/kiwis-should-move-their-accounts-to-a-nz-owned-bank-social-credit
Fair enough…I take it that you feel this way because the big 4 banks are making a profit operating in NZ. If customers move to Kiwbank, do you want Kiwibank make a profit out of the back pockets of their customers?
"Had even a quarter of that massive profit gone instead to Kiwibank, through Kiwis having moved their accounts last year, dividends to the Government would have provided over $1.5 billion dollars extra for health care and education"
Who would disagree with more money for the essential services kiwis want too see supported instead of the profits used too benefit the Australian economy.
Interesting. Mike Lee and Rand Paul a wee bit tetchy about getting bullshitted in a classified briefing about the reasons to assassinate Soleimani.
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/08/politics/iran-briefing-senators/index.html
"On Tuesday, Esper had said that the "exquisite intelligence" on the threat posed by Soleimani that drove the US military to target him in a drone strike would be shared only with the Gang of Eight — a group of eight lawmakers made up of congressional leaders from both parties as well as the Intelligence Committee chairs — saying "most Members (of Congress) will not have access to that.""
So those two guys were part of the eight? If so, the disclosure seems to have failed to impress them as adequate. Is this just a grey area of the constitution? President thinks he can assassinate as long as he doesn't declare war (because only congress can)?
No, neither of them are on the "gang of eight" for intelligence. Those are McTurtle and Schumer (party leaders in the Senate), McCarthy and Pelosi (party leaders in the House), Burr and Warner (Repug chair on Dem vice-chair on Senate intelligence committee), Schiff and Nunes (Dem chair and Repug ranking member on the House intelligence committee).
In general terms, I think there's very little patience for the "we have the intelligence but we can't tell it to you, just trust us" line. The Iraq WMD debacle probably removed trust for that kind of line for any president, let alone the current administration that lies much more frequently than it says anything resembling truth.
So – https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/407004/national-party-says-nz-should-ignore-iran-s-advice-and-not-pick-a-side-in-tensions-with-the-us. Given that this fucker made his fortune being a mercenary and possible war criminal in Iraq, who needs his advice. Respect the sovereignty of Iraq and bring the troops home!!!!
"
Speaking of waves of the future, Boris Johnson’s resounding victory in Britain’s general election earlier this month marks another significant change I’ve been waiting to see. The change in question isn’t the Conservative victory—the Tories won the last four British elections, after all—but the strategy Johnson used to deal out a savage defeat to Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party, which was exactly the same strategy Donald Trump used to win his come-from-behind victory in 2016. Like Trump, Johnson realized that his nation’s leftward party had abandoned its working class voters in order to pander to the comfortable classes. He went to the working class voters Labour had abandoned and spoke to them about the issues that concerned them—above all, an end to the open borders and free trade agreements that drove down working class wages in order to boost middle class salaries and investment class profits—and found them more than willing to listen.
To judge from his comments at the time, Trump stumbled onto that strategy by accident, and it took him a while to figure out what was happening and how to keep doing it. Johnson, with three years of hindsight to figure that out, didn’t have to rely on trial and error. His campaign was admirably precise; it focused on the issues that mattered to working class Britons—above all, on drawing a line under the delaying tactics of the Remainer minority and giving Britain the Brexit it voted for. When the other parties protested “But what about the issues that matter to the comfortable classes?” he rolled his eyes and kept on talking about Brexit.
Now he’s sitting comfortably in No. 10 with a bigger majority than Margaret Thatcher had, and he’s doubling down on the same strategy; discarding the austerity policies (austerity for the poor, that is, and kleptocracy for the rich) that came in with Thatcher, and gearing up to reorient Britain’s social welfare policies toward providing benefits directly to the poor and away from providing well-paying government jobs to the middle class. While plenty of pundits and media personalities are still busy duplicating the mistake of the Democrats over here, and doing their level best not to learn the obvious lessons of their loss, a significant number of writers and thinkers—some of them within the Labour fold—have grasped the implications of the election and begun to talk about it."
https://www.ecosophia.net/to-the-shores-of-a-surging-ocean/
It does seem to be something afflicting english speaking left wing parties. In NZ Labour does appear to be more interested in the middle class leaving the working class wide open to be scooped up (will Bridges step up to take them or will the Greens be able to do it) but it does ask the question as to why its happening, why are left wing parties more interested in the middle class and academics than the working class
Speaking of who was the last Labour MP not to be university educated or from the middle class?