Plans for a post titled, “How to get there” and intended as a platform for TS readers and commenters to display their ideas and aspirations for improving the chances for each and every one of us (humanity that is) to “get there” have been floated over the past couple of weeks and today might be, by the grace of the TS authors and tech people, the moment for it to surface, glistening and quivering, into the light of day. Fingers crossed.
Hey Stunned. Which ever you choose (I grow a high bush variety), grow them as a group, in a “block” rather than line, as they fruit far more prolifically that way. If you place them all about the garden, they’ll do less well (it’s a pollination thing). The birds, blackbirds in particular) will take them all, unless you net.
Apparently, the rabbiteye varieties are good for Auckland. Can’t remember where I read it, but was looking into the same issue a few weeks back before going nursery shopping.
The ‘water article’ I’m working on looks like it might need to be split up a little. A lot to cover even skimming over it. That pun was wet. What a drip. I’d stop it if I had a bung.
The book is shaping up nicely and several chapters will make relevant materials for ‘how to get there’. I’m very happy to announce I finished the n-fixer data base last night, so nice playing with good data. Categorised ground covers, shrubs and trees, then by North and South Islands, then by water requirements, habitat type, light requirements… I’ll keep juggling it about to see if anything interesting emerges, while I figure how to present the bulk data in digestible chunks. Icons and a key will be key to it I think… Although we don’t have a lot of endemic n-fixers, we have some really interesting and beautiful specimens.
I’ll also be paraphrasing some of the PDC course for how to get there. Many great topics as they arise. And my project for the PDC will be the book – so as to not get overstretched – see how it all organically fits together…
Have also been practicing not feeding the trolls. 2 days no bites! Hehe.
Imagine driving over the Auckland Harbour Bridge or down the Southern Motorway at rush hour, and other than service and delivery vans and trucks, finding yourself virtually the only private car on it.
Meanwhile thousands of commuters are whizzing by you on the dedicated bus lanes not needed for cars anymore.
Mass Appeal
The tiny European nation of Luxembourg has landed itself in the international spotlight.
On Wednesday the country’s prime minister, Xavier Bettel, was sworn in for his second term. At that time, his governing coalition announced a plan that would set Luxembourg apart from every other country in the world: by summer 2019, all public transport in the nation will be completely free.
Traffic Woes
Luxembourg is smaller than Rhode Island, and more people live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, than within the nation’s borders. In other words, it’s a tiny country — but that doesn’t prevent it from having a big traffic problem.
Yes it seems that the head trucking lobby group (RTA) are always operated by retired National and Act party MP like today (RTA) Chief is Ken Shirley who was an Act Pary MP. https://www.rtanz.co.nz/
In 2000 Tony Friedlander was the (RTA) ‘Road Transport Association’ boss, – so they are powerful with the oil companies behind them as oil companies make far more money from truck freight than rail does for them so they fight to save the road freight and always fight to kill rail as they use five to eight times less oil fuel product to haul ‘each tonne every one km’ than trucks do.
If Auckland had the collective wealth of Luxembourg we could consider it.
We don’t and we never will.
We are concentrating on CAPEX not OPEX in transport mode shift.
For example, only two years ago the whole length of Dominion Road was just a slow carpark. Then Waterview Tunnel opened, and Dominion Road is livable again.
And it was only because of that Waterview job being completed and alleviating Dominion Road that light rail can even be contemplated.
People admire a man who protects a woman and in this case, the woman is the very, very popular and much loved Jacinda. The man protecting her, Trevor, will be quietly thanked and supported by New Zealanders throughout the country. Good man, that Trevor.
You’re a sick wee puppy there james but we already know that.
The Prime Minister is doing a fantastic job and it is no wonder rwnj’s like you poo your pants daily with the prospect of many many many years of this leadership.
James Jacinda Ardern is so able hard working and informed, she is not vulnerable to the petty jabs from trolls like you. Your suggestions are uncouth and graceless
Presumably not the 46% who support National. They would not expect the Speaker to protect her.
In any event from what I see, she doesn’t need it. She is the best of the Labour MP’s. Even when she doesn’t have much of an answer to a question in the house, she manages an adequate answer. Most of her colleagues can’t do that.
You’re right about one thing, Wayne; she’s good. Your poll figure’s pretty suspect though (we’ve all heard 41% but in any case, it’s to low to be of any use). And I think you’ve mucked up your second sentence, but it’s Sunday and kinda early still, for some. I was up at 6:30 and have coffeed.
Edit: you spotted it yourself! Well done, Wayne. Have a coffee.
Wayne knows the real number is 38%. He has to dispute it publicly of course. But hey let him and the Nat supporters believe its 46% and that Santa is on his way. Its largely irrelevant for the govt going into the new year which with some high performing MP’s emerging will only get stronger.
Cheers Wayne.. I think that is big of you to say that.
I find Ms Ardern extremely clear and articulate.
I think Simon was trying to score some points over the sroubec issue, which is what an opposition tries to do.
He was trying to hold her to account for what Winston said about the ex working on behalf of the National party. As ardern plays fair, this put her in a tricky situation………while the intent was to catch her out, Simon didn’t…….She focused on when she first heard of the ex’s connection to National, which was on the news. She of course couldn’t answer the questions about the police, immigration and the ex address “was that ok …left ex feeling vulnerable “, because that was an operational matter. I remember she did the same with the roast busters, but asked for a police review.
I particularly remember John key being shocking at answering questions. Turning the oppositions questions into jokes, the one that sticks in my mind most was that when Cunliffe was asking key about the housing CRISIS and key flipped it into a retort about Cunliffe living in Herne Bay…….this is my mind is a disgrace. So was the complete inability to do anything about the escalating crisis under the key government until they were shamed into it by a news hub item on homelessness. As National achieved very little in9 years, other than creating a surplus by hiding a chronic underfunding in health, housing education and policing numbers, in my view any criticism from them on this govt falls on deaf ears……..and no Ms ardern neither needs nor gets Trevor’s protection. She is miles ahead of all is national……
Wayne yellow press 46% with mates Nationals internal polling 42% with leaking about the drip simple soimon who continues his popularity drop down the gurglar!
Fireblade So cool was that clip was so impressive as David carter was one of the most arrogant speakers of this 21st century I have had to suffer through.
Thanks for that brilliant compendium of the often nastiness side of David Carter as John Key’s Government..
Carter did that just about every time parliament sat. Sometimes blatantly. His way around things was to say that ‘the minister had *addressed* the question. Usually this meant that the minister hadn’t *answered* the question but didn’t need to as it had been addressed. Worst speaker ever. Did he get a gong?
Trevor doesn’t like Simon Bridges’ whiney nonsense. And neither does most of the country. Just look at the popularity polls. Jacinda – 1trillion, Simon – 0.
National may poll at 46% but without Mates that will leave them short of a majority every single time.
And it would do you well to remember that really your party, its “leader” and his backstabbers should not insult any other parties, no matter how small or unimportant you might think they are, cause with 46% National is and will always be 5% short of a majority. And considering that the No mates Party still has no friends, its 46% are not enough.
And that is the only thing that matters. Your party does not have enough support to win even a charity baking event.
well that may be so, but not for the next two years, and somehow i doubt the Greens will fall away. They have been called dead many many times, and yet they always show up.
In the meantime, the No Mates Party has not even got mates it could kill off. It did the killing the support parties so well the last time around that on election night the penny finally dropped. No mates, no coalition, no glory, no nothing but Mr. No Bridges, Paula Benefit, and Judith “oravida’ Collins. Sad!
Popularity is everything when you want popular support and Trevor will have popular support for caring for Jacinda (and Neve). Unpopular Simon will not win any popularity by whining about the man who’s protecting the lovely Jacinda from the likes of unpopular Simon. And *shudders, Paula.
Two polls, UMR and National’s internal poll came out at the same time and one was 41% and I believe UMR was either 41% or 42%. That makes a liar out of the CB poll which has been biased towards National for years.
I believe they conduct their polls at the Remuera Shopping Centre – not far from where most of them live.
In National’s latest internal Curia poll National was at 41%; and at 37% in Labour’s internal UMR poll. Hence the Colmar Brunton is really the outlier at 46%.
I have also heard, but cannot verify, that Colmar Brunton has also been experimenting with different mixes of landline/mobile polling, and now also a proportion of online polling. This may well affect the results they are getting.
My comment re- Remuera Shopping Centre was tongue-in-cheek.
If CB is experimenting then it could explain the difference. Working people don’t have the same amount of time as the idle rich to go surfing online. I’m idle because I’m retired. 😉
As you probably well know Jimmy the 46% is highly debatable. Nationals own internal polling was 41% according to the leaker. Simons polling is heading to the negative. History in the making, what?
The speaker is not there to diss Simon. All good speakers cut a bit of slack to the main Leaders of each party. From what I can see Trevor doesn’t, but he needs to.
Simon’s pedantic, plodding speaking style would challenge the tolerance of any Speaker, I reckon. Trevor should ask him to make his questions a bit more interesting , perhaps pep them up a little with a bit of twinkle – anything but that prosecutor’s drone, or whatever it is Simon does!
Oh I don’t know @ Fireblade. Maggie Barry seems OK with it (i.e. commenting on appearances of the less fortunate possum), and I’m picking it was her that persuaded Paula to leave out the ugg boots (darling)
The speaker is not there to diss Simon. All good speakers cut a bit of slack to the main Leaders of each party. From what I can see Trevor doesn’t, but he needs to.
That is rubbish Wayne. If it appears that way, it is because Simon often traverses the line of what is acceptable conduct and what isn’t. Jacinda doesn’t. She always answers questions in a respectful way even when the question or questioner doesn’t deserve it. If she crossed that line she, too, would be pulled up by Speaker Mallard.
He’s trying to improve the standards even if he was once one of the transgressors. Everyone can change you know.
Carter wasn’t subtle. Wayne must know that. The nats complaining about Mallard is sickening after Carter’s performance during his four years or how ever long it was. His behaviour around Key’s “backing rapist” remarks and kicking the female MPs out of the House was disgraceful, but that wasn’t his worst. Carter was a disgrace to democracy over his whole time as Speaker. And now Bridges and his band of idiots feel hard done by. After what Carter did and got away with they can just fuck right off.
Some history – good article allowing some light through to illuminate.
When dates were being considered for the first Rā Maumahara commemorating the New Zealand Wars, one suggestion was December 3. That day doesn’t mark the anniversary of any particular battle or conflict. Instead, it’s the day in 1863 that Governor George Grey signed into law the New Zealand Settlements Act.
It’s an innocuous-sounding piece of legislation but it had devastating consequences for many Māori communities. The Settlements Act provided the primary legislative mechanism for raupatu — sweeping land confiscations that were supposedly intended to punish acts of “rebellion” while also recouping the costs of fighting the wars.
It declared that where “any Native Tribe or Section of a Tribe or any considerable number thereof” had committed acts of “rebellion against Her Majesty’s authority” since January 1, 1863, their lands could be declared subject to the Act and seized for the purposes of settlement.
It was part of a package of measures passed by the all-Pākehā parliament to crush Māori independence.
It was something I would have missed if you had not done so, and reading that and seeing the photo has left an indelible mark on me. Follow-up reading is now on my Summer Recess Watch and Read list.
It is a real pity that it does not seem to have been noticed much, but it was a busy day here yesterday. I am maintaining an open mind on the new regular post, and will be watching from the sidelines initially at least.
I did think about reposting your comment and link again today in the hopes others might at least read it and the link, but will leave you to decide whether to do so.
It did get an unintentional plug here, but without any response! Think he meant 5 not 4 …
Maybe go with the flow and stop trying to control stuff. It doesn’t matter really ed – life still happens, and out of control is actually the norm not an aberration.
Nicely put, Marty. Re trolls, it’s best, I reckon, to use the platform the’ve thoughtfully provided, to fold back their issue onto themselves and take a good-hearted swipe their gods and heroes at the same time – all for fun, mind, never unkindly 🙂
and if the distraction works then he has succeeded – fuck him ed he isn’t worth it – just a nobody gnat supporter who hides bad behaviour behind a facade of respectability – we know the type – they have to be real low riders to come and spend their days here – no mates just like simon. Laugh at them for they are weak examples of the species.
Hey Ed, don’t be distracted by that stuff, it’s just padding. If we only discuss pressing and critical matters, we’ll all be exhausted by day’s end. Fluff from trolls (troll fluff) gives us a chance to make them dance a little, lightening our moods and giving us a well deserved laugh. Taking them seriously, upbraiding them, only gives them substance; let’s hold them in their frothy state and bat them around the show for our own pleasure 🙂
It’s interesting, I count if someone genuine on here by whether they respond to challenging questions or just disappear. BM and James seem to disappear and James comments are often provocative eg after “good news” for National eg after the 46% polls result.
Wayne answers questions and also I think puts up with quite a lot. I think he might be generally interested in the debate and from the little I’ve seen of kiwiblog he ain’t going to get it there.
Punish, well he keeps it light hearted and is sometimes funny in his adoration of Judith, but it may become a little tedious like a friend who has a six month crush on someone.
Best response to James is “you comment is consistent with your purpose for commenting on this website”. I think if he always got this comment unless he made a decent contribution he might just get a little tired of us
Yes Ed but that is the way that the site operates, whether James provokes useful discussion that matches his negativity I don’t know – is it a net gain? You are worth having Ed so let’s keep hearing from you but with some slight adjustments as suggested.
I’m not sure it’s possible to ‘derail’ Open Mike. It’s intended to be fluid and nobody has to reply to anyone.
I’m also not sure that we get regular visited by RWNJ’s. Most of the commenters here who are from the other end of the political spectrum are rational and articulate and not outright trolls.
TS would be a dull place if we only had left wing opinions expressed here, so try thinking of our righty friends as the grit in the oyster of thought that helps produce the pearls of wisdom that make TS special.
With John Kelly departing the White House by the end of this year, it looks like the Mueller inquiry is leaving only core of family loyalists and trolls.
The 2020 White House after the trials is the Democrats’ to lose.
There are no trials before 2020. Look at Nixon and the work it took to get him out of the Presidency, and Trump is no Nixon. Heck Nixon is a choir boy compared to Trump.
As for Kelly leaving, good riddance. Don’t you get the warm and fuzzies knowing that Bolton is now the serious adult in the office, and that Kelly will be replaced with a spare part from Fox News? Maybe Tucker Carlson.
yep, i agree with you, but gosh i hope the Dems come up with someone younger then Biden. to fucking old, too white, too much baggage of assholery see Anita Hill.
Are the Democrats no longer allowed to have white male candidates for president, with the expectation that the Republicans only have white male candidates.
Surely in a democracy as diverse as the United States, or ours for that matter, ethnicity is not really an issue on whether a person can attain high office. For instance both National’s Leader and Deputy leader are Maori (though with other ethnicities as well). It goes almost completely unremarked.
Although the social and economic statistics still disadvantage Maori, there are probably hundreds of thousands of Maori who have suffered no particular disadvantage, and who are succeeding in a large number of fields. For instance forty years ago there were almost no Maori lawyers, with only two women Maori lawyers. Today there would be hundreds.
the democratic grass roots are people of colour. The democratic voters are people of colour.
If you care to have a look at the last exit polls posted on CNN that i have linked to at a previous thread you will see that the much vaunted white working class/middle class/upper class, all of them with economic anxiety – and men, voted for the Republicans.
so it would behoove the democratic party to choose leaders and even presidents that reflects their voting block, rather then chase the white evangelic male working class/middle class/upper class with economic anxiety voter who is not gonna vote democrats anywhich way and if it is only cause ‘abortions’ and such.
so yeah, Biden, too white – again if you could be bothered look at his past – Anita Hill and the Seating of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. He can whinge and whine all to his hearts content, fact is he behaved like an entitled ass then, and to some extend still has not understood just what an entitled ass he is today. Just in case you don’t know what i speak of https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=biden+anita+hill&oq=Biden+Antia+H&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l3.4897j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
And at 75 he is too fucking old. Full stop here. IF you don’t have to live the consequences of your actions you should not be allowed to run for President, imo.
The world needs someone at the helm of that country that actually has to loose something when and if he/she fucks up By voting geriatrics in its only the world that is gonna loose.
As Bush the younger once famously said when asked how history will judge him : I will be dead then. And that is precisely the mindset that gave us Iraq Invasion two.
So yeah, too old, too white, too much bagage.
IF you can’t find people under seventy to represent your country your country is fucked.
“The world needs someone at the helm of that country that actually has to loose something when and if he/she fucks up By voting geriatrics in its only the world that is gonna loose.”
The reality has always been that the elites dont lose irrespective of the result and that is not age/gender/race dependent…..take any issue you care to consider and the poor are invariably the hardest hit.
well i hope that the new crop of ‘the elite’ that was just voted in will consider your points.
the poor are always invariably the hardest hit as they generally have nothing to shelter them. That does not mean that we have to continue to nominate and vote for old, white, rich people. As i said, the last midterm got the house back to the dems, and those that got elected for the largest part were as far removed from your elite as they could possibly be. Be it that young women from NY, or the native Indian from Kansas, or that native indian New Mexico and so on and so on.
As for losing, we are all going to lose if we don’t finally get our heads out of our asses and realize that the change must come from us, not from any elected overlord. It is up to us to opt out of the system to the point where it collapses. No strong man is gonna do that, no cheap slogan about making shit great again – it never was for some and it never will be for many – can do that. People need to opt out of capitalism, over consumption, cheap shits from dollar shops to make up for empty hearts and minds, crap food cause its “convenient” , etc. No one forces us to participate, like smoking, we will have to quit.
Unless people understand that nothing is gonna change and the same people continue to whinge about how nothing is changing.
” i hope the Dems come up with someone younger then Biden. to fucking old, too white”.
Ouch. Well it is pretty clear that Sabine is not going to support Bernie Sanders for President.
He is even older than Biden, after all.
My point?
Too old. The country needs someone who is younger, preferably much younger in their fifties no older. That way they actually have a stake in the future as the future will affect them.
Too old. Dementia, Alzheimers, Standard old age issues. Reagan comes to mind.
Too old, could keel over at any moment due to any reasons old people keel over and thus leave the job ot someone like Mike Pence and his wife Mother – who in my mind would be even worse then Trump – and I stated that before the election of the orange shitstain.
Too old. Why would anyone vote for someone who does not understand the issues of young people, people of colour, people who are not heterosexual vanilla, has a studentloan, wants to marry and have children, does not own their own home, has not got a job nor a chance of getting a job etc etc etc etcetc.
I have reasons for wanting a younger person, someone who more looks like the electorate, someone who looks more like the people getting the vote out, raising the funds, doing the door knocking, the phone banking and any other of hte myriads of ways to get people to vote.
And then comes the baggage. Clinton, Sanders, Biden all have lived their life in white privilege. And literally know very little other then white privilege. Biden has his with Anita Hill, Sanders went to one demonstration for civil rights and then lived his whole life in the whitest state of the US – Vermont, where the last black female lawmaker resigned due to incessant bullying https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/26/us/politics/kiah-morris-vermont.html – , and Hillary Clinton……emails, bengazi, cooties, female, clinton, blowjob, emails, lock her up blahblahblahblah.
So i really hope that the Democratic Party will have a come to god moment as did the Labour Party in NZ and choose a leader that actually can inspire more then just a small segment fo their voters, and above all get these voters in such large numbers to the polls that they will outvote any gerrymandering, voter suppression tactics and what nots. And considering the mid term elections i think i am on to something here.
Shit, moz, I know you like to lay it on with a trowel, but that’s pretty darned close to calling all Germans stupid (at best). And not in an “Aussies are koala-shaggers” sort of way, either.
No, of course there are thoughtful and intelligent Germans. Our friend Sabine is normally one of them.
Germany produced Beethoven, Goethe, Einstein, and [insert your favourite German genius here] but it also produced Hitler, Goering, Goebbels, Hess and their terrible legacy. The baleful spectacle of the German legal system, academia, churches, and every other institution in the country being corrupted by that regime had a truly devastating effect on Germany’s intellectual and moral life—resulting in the distasteful phenomenon of moral imbeciles such as Uwe Becker.
Sabine’s contention that Hillary Clinton is not a suitable candidate for President because she is old and white is horribly wrong, and stupid—Beckerian, almost.
Morrissey
Hippo hit-the-fan stuff. All being included in your wide-ranging criticism, that is not on. Don’t be like this hippo –
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfnZMRRHrwI
After having the most qualified Presidential candidate in history it can only be a downgrade for the dems. They need to find a human skin coloured person who is not cis male, never run a Buisiness, never served in the military, vegan, uses the word comrade, solo parent in an open relationship, born in the US to illegal immigrants, a degree in social sciences, never had a real job, and White Ribbon ambassador.
“No impeachment since no Senate majority.”.
You don’t need anyone at all in the Senate for an impeachment to take place.
The Senate doesn’t actually impeach anyone. The Impeachment is the responsibility of the House of Representatives where the Democrats have a majority.
The Senate then try anyone who has been impeached. They certainly aren’t going to find him guilty of course. That requires a 2/3 majority of the Senators.
Thus both Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton were impeached but at their trial by the Senate they were not convicted.
Donald Trumps taxes as a corporate are continually assessed by the IRS. How the hell you come to the conclusion he is committing tax fraud is beyond me. If you think the most scrutinised person on the planet is knowingly committing tax fraud you have a clear case of TDS.
Trials for what?
Having Buisiness in foreign nations.
The meeting with the Russian women lying she had info on Clinton was not an offence.
The Moskow business deals have extensively been examined and there is no collusion.
I myself are looking forward to the prosecution of the desperate Mueller for extorting people into making false statements. He’s got form.
Why haven’t the people who did conspire with foreign nationals to interfere in the elections being prosecuted. Like Clinton and her golden shower political assassination. If rigging the debate is a test of Clintons willingness to cheat, it’s no supprised she deleted her emails and smashed her hard drives. She’s got form.
The sooner this TDS nonsense from the cry baby snowflake revenge filled Clinton supporters ends the better. Then the democrates can get on with writing a book with another 200 reasons why, that nobody can be bothered reading.
Why rush things anyway. It’s not like the democrates have any candidates that people actually like, or are genuinely Presidential.
Last time the Democrates had power Obama promised change. I was a supporter. I liked what he was saying and McCain would have made Bush Jr look like someone that deserved the peace prize. But when you become President the real world and rhetoric meet. Obama was a disappointment.
Trump is actually making change. He is confronting long standing issues that traditional politics has failed to address. Obama will be forgotten, Trump will leave a legacy of fighting and achieving for the people he represents. The citizens of the US.
For example Obama a socialist helped the car industry with a bailout. Obama fixed nothing and large job loses have just occurred. Trump attacked China on trade and China has conceded, agreeing to drop the 40% Tarif on US vehicles. The socialist (other people’s money) approach vs that’s bullshit, let’s do a deal, or else.
If a person with the drive and style of Trump was in charge of fixing Climate Change we would see a revolution on that subject. Sadly his position on that issue is his biggest fault. Don’t be supprised however if he pulls the rug out from under the Democrates election chances with a capitalist style solution out of “left” field. IE pro US worker.
It’s his personal tax returns that will get Trump into jail not his corporate ones.
The rule you need to familiarize yourself with is:
“The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.”
The offenses of whether he or his team were infected by the Russian state are now well documented by the evidence in US courts that multiple persons have already pleaded guilty to. You can now look them up yourself.
Trump is certainly making change, in the same way that gangrene makes change to a limb with an open wound.
If a person with the “drive and style of Trump was in charge of fixing climate change” we would probably have a plan for climate change. Instead we have Trump.
But what they won’t tell you is that the reason INZ, the Labour Inspectorate and the IAA has been such a fuckup is because for 9 years they were under-funded, under-resourced, politicised by way of ‘whispers’, and brought under a Ministry for everything that has a commercial and business focus. Same thing true of NZQA of course.
Some history and great symbolism. I really struggle with christianity – I like individuals but I have major difficulties with most other bits including the part christianity played in stealing the land.
On Saturday, though, in Tauranga, the serious work of putting things right entered a new, profound and personal dimension.
Because the church — our church, the Anglican Church in Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia — said sorry, publicly, for its part in dispossessing Tauranga Moana people of their birthright.
With heads hung low, two of the most senior bishops of the Anglican Church apologised for an 1866 decision by the Church Missionary Society to give the Crown most of 1333 acres of land which had been entrusted to them by two Tauranga Moana hapū — Ngāti Tapu and Ngāi Tamarāwaho.
True, the CMS had come under intolerable pressure from the Crown to sell out. But that land was not CMS’s to sell, nor to give away. But, once given, it was gone forever, and the hapū were thrown into poverty.
Yesterday’s apology was read, slowly, in te reo by Pīhopa Ngarahu Katene, and in English by Archbishop Philip Richardson.
Then the day reached its pivotal, unscripted, and most solemn moment — when Archbishop Philip sank to his knees in the grass.
He raised the General Synod-mandated apology above his head and, with eyes down, he offered the document, which is sealed with the Primate’s seal, to Ngāti Tapu kaumātua Puhirake Ihaka and Ngāi Tamarāwaho kaumātua Peri Kohu.
Agree totally with this article. Creativity, problem solving, communication, persistance and resilience will beat learning a narrow range of, soon to be, outdated, skills.
Old style metalwork, woodwork and cooking taught me those things. Not coding.
In German last week the biggest ‘right wing “Grand coalition” party have just elected who will be the next chancellor for Germany, – who is reported to be a hard right woman who resembles the character of Adolf Hitler we hear.
Experts believe there are a handful of possible replacements, ranging from Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the new general secretary of the CDU who shares a lot of Merkel’s practical approach to politics (earning her the nickname of “Merkel’s mini-me”)
“I think she’ll carry on for another 18 months to two years but her authority and popularity is lower now, so what will decide her future is not the state of the coalition but the state of her party — that’s where the revolt will come from.”
The CDU is nothing without the CSU, they are two pods of the same plant and the CDU needs it Coalition Partner. The CSU is literally only found in Bavaria, nowhere else in Germany – it is a single state Party and literally the only one in the country like that. Keep also in mind that Bavaria is a ‘free state’ within the federation of germany and thus has a status quite different from the other states within the federation.
Also Seehoefer is a too old white man and an ass who should go and retire already.
Also the poll referred to in this publication was by the “Handelsblatt” which is a very conservative commercial interest newspaper. So i can see why their respondents would be unhappy if Merkel is not gonna spend all that tax money surplus on some big business projects, cause they would be very unhappy were she to spend it on social welfare and the likes.
As for that comment that she hangs on for another 18 month or so? Hopefull wishing by someone who wants that tax surplus spend on big business projects.
The CSU is never gonna be anything but a Bavarian Party, has never been anything else. Augsburg, a city my family hails from, one of the three cities in Germany created by the Romans is notoriously conservative even if it were to kill them. And in the times fo my coming of age the 80.s, this city was a dead fish in the water until the Bavarian government finally started to spend some money on it, lest they completely go over to Die Gruenen and SPD. Due to its ‘free state’ status Bavaria is one of the highest income, highest business density and highest cost of living places in Germany. And guess what, that is what is ailing Bavaria. The workers so badly
needed can’t afford to live there. Sounds like something we know something of?
So i put my money on Merkel for now. She wants to make people happy? She will loosen the string of the purse a bit, and go ‘social’ and ‘green’.
As for the migrant problem? Worldwide, and this includes us here, we will have to make a decision. Cause with global warming, raising sea levels, increasing droughts, fires etc we will have migrants. Millions of migrants everywhere, anywhere, at all times. Add in a bit of war for water, land and food, and voila, time to realise that we will never resolve the migrant problem unless we are happy to watch them die in their boats, in locked up shipping containers, or shoot them on sight. Cause they will keep on coming, as that is all they can do to stay alive. And why? Because we will never change, not give up our nice life without a fight and someone somewhere will whinge that is Dad pulled his boat three hundred kilometers to some lake somewhere and then back, and gosh darn it, it is my right and i too shall do that cause its my right! And the same is true for Germany, the US, Italy, France, England, OZ and NZ and anywhere else.
Thanks for the link, Moz. Like you, I totally trust everything the Daily Mail promotes, particularly their sensible support for that Austrian chap, Herr Hitler. Hurrah for the Blackshirts!
I certainly did watch it. How does the fact that the coverage of this Clinton failure was from the Wail invalidate it?
Hell, even Noam Chomsky, who with Ed Herman definitively analysed the propaganda function of the New York Times, says that most of the stuff it prints is good, solid, reliable journalism.
Same goes for the Wail and the Grauniad, surely. In spite of employing such second- and third-rate talents as Cathy Newman, James Ball and Luke Harding, most of what is printed in those propaganda sheets is unexceptionable.
Or, to bring it back to a Kiwi example: it’s like Mike Hosking, or Leighton Smith: probably 90 per cent of what they say is fine; it’s that last ten per cent where the trouble starts….
In an interview with the Observer, Cohn-Bendit, now a friend and adviser to President Emmanuel Macron, said: “This movement is very different to May 68. Back then, we wanted to get rid of a general (Charles de Gaulle); today these people want to put a general in power,” he said, referring to calls by certain gilets jaunes for the former chief of defence staff General Pierre de Villiers, who resigned after falling out with Macron in July 2017, to be made prime minister.
“And nobody in 68 made death threats against those who want to talk. This is the power of force. All those on the left thinking this is a leftwing revolution are wrong: it’s veering to the right. To hear that gilets jaunes who want to negotiate are receiving death threats is evidence of this authoritarian right.
“I hear people from la France Insoumise (hard left), talking about this being a great people’s revolt and how the people are speaking, but these are the same ordinary people who pushed Trump into power.
“We saw in Germany in 1933 what ‘ordinary’ people did. Not all ordinary people are good … it’s not an accident that this movement has proposed General de Villiers as an alternative leader.”
i believe for both to be active atm. The movement that is popular, i.e. people put on their gilet jaune and protest – a day, a week, a few hours, and agent provocateurs.
I still have family and friends in france – i lived there for quite a few years before moving to NZ with my kiwi husband – and the movement is based on the issue mentioned, i.e. Gasoline to expensive, cuts to all services, increase in living costs, essentially the same malaise that we have here in NZ. To some extend the movement is supported by Police, Fire fighters, Ambulance drivers etc, so not really those that would cause a ruckus.
i have heard nothing about installing a General, but one of the most often named points is to go to a system as in Switzerland where laws are voted for in popular referendums.
I have heard of he abolition of any retirement payments to ex politicos that are still of working age, or have income.
I have heard of the demand to fire Macron and send him packing.
But this is the first time i hear about the general. I will ask my friends to see what this is about.
Google translation of a statement from what appears to be a broad cross section of French people.
The yellow vests movement puts the entire social policy of the government in public debate. More broadly, the neoliberal policies implemented by successive governments for decades are at stake. More and more difficult months of the month, increased precariousness of work, tax injustice, expensive housing, deteriorating living conditions, such is the situation faced by the majority of the population. This particularly affects women, very many to mobilize in this movement. At the same time, tax evasion has never been so important and the richest have been offered multiple tax breaks: the elimination of the ISF, flat tax of 30% for capital income that is not more subject to progressive tax, lower corporate tax … In these circumstances, the increase in fuel taxes appeared as “the last straw that broke the camel’s back.”
Despite an attempt by the far right to take control of the movement, it is characterized by its horizontal self-organization and the demand for real democracy against an authoritarian and contemptuous presidency. At a time when COP 24 is taking place in Poland and where the fight against global warming is urgent, this movement also highlights the link between the social issue and ecological imperatives: the biggest polluters are exempt from any effort, the main causes of global warming are not dealt with, the breakdown of public services and local shops and urban sprawl continue, alternatives to public transport are not developed. The model of social housing in France is endangered by its commodification for the benefit of large private groups. In these circumstances, it is certainly not up to the middle and lower classes to pay for the ecological transition.
Government policy does not respond to social anger or ecological imperatives. The government is letting the multinationals and the productivist lobbies do their best by always favoring their own interests and those of their shareholders to the detriment of the greatest number and the future of the planet. For days, the government stuck on an uncompromising stance, refusing any action and claiming that it was staying the course, despite the fact that a huge majority of the population supported this movement. This attitude has led to increasing exasperation that has led to acts of violence that the government could hope to take advantage of. This was not the case and the support of the population remained massive.
The government has announced, among other things, the freeze and subsequent cancellation of the fuel tax increase. This is a first step backwards but it is too little, too late, because it is the whole social policy and its economic and ecological consequences that must be discussed. Even though youth has decided to set out to challenge the educational choices of power, it is a change of course that must be imposed. To begin, we must respond to union demands by increasing the minimum wage and returning to the cap of the increase in pensions to 0.3%, restore the ISF and tax multinationals, including Total, Gafa and banks that finance fossil fuels to invest heavily in thermal insulation of buildings and renewable energies.
This is why the undersigned, trade unionists, associative and political leaders, researchers, academics, artists, etc., support the demands of fiscal and social justice brought by the movement of yellow vests. They call on the population to mobilize to impose a policy that allows better living, and to demonstrate peacefully in the street massively December 8, international mobilization day for climate justice, in convergence with the fourth day of mobilization of yellow vests.
as for now, this is going to be a European wide movement. As the gilet jaune signifies, this is an accident and we are securing the site to keep people safe. That is why you have to have one of these jackets in the car, by law, and that is why they wear them.
I hope that the Bannon Brigade will very quickly overstay their welcome.
It is a text that should never have existed. When they arrived at the headquarters of the CFDT to discuss the social news on Thursday morning, two days before the fourth act of the yellow vests, the secretaries general of major trade unions had not planned to take the pen. However, coming out of this informal meeting which, explains one of them, “should not have been public”, the CFDT, the CGT, FO, the CFE-CGC, the CFTC, the Unsa, and the FSU have adopted a joint statement. “Writing this text has become obvious,” says François Hommeril of the GSC, the union of executives, who welcomes “this strong signal to the government.”
“Out
ground”
In this statement of about fifteen lines, the signatories are worried about the “very degraded climate” and point the responsibility of the executive, remained deaf for “months” to their call for more “social justice”. Taking note, however, of a change of tone with, on Tuesday, the promise of the Prime Minister to launch a dialogue, the power plants undertake to participate in this dialogue, “each with [their] own demands and proposals, in common whenever it will be possible. But no matter how.
Cooled by nineteen months of complex relations with a president who pretended to listen to them without paying much attention to their opinions, the unions demand something else: “real” negotiations, both “broad, open and transparent” on the purchasing power, wages, housing, transportation and utilities. But they do not give more indications on the calendar and the method wanted for this eventual Grenelle version 2018. Nor do they make strong proposals or calls to act in concert. “Everyone has their culture. We focused on the essential, what we could say together today, “says Luc Bérille, Unsa. Not very much, retorts Eric Beynel, spokesperson for Solidaires, present at the meeting but did not want to initial the text, considered “off the ground”. Signatory, however, the appeal initiated by Attac and the Copernicus Foundation for a convergence of mobilizations of yellow vests and the march for the climate (read above), it annoys: “Our responsibility of trade unionists n ‘ is not to write an incantatory text, but to call to be present in the street. ”
The common statement is, on the contrary, very cautious towards yellow vests. While their mobilization is described as “legitimate anger,” the signatories also denounce “all forms of violence in the expression of claims.” A sentence that follows the request to “launch a call for calm” that had sent them, the day before, the executive. Not a word on the other hand on police management, sometimes violent, mobilizations. What ended to convince Solidaires not to sign. And led the CGT, which calls for a day of action on December 14, to draft a statement denouncing an “inadmissible repression”, including youth: “The CGT can not accept that the power strikes and tape our children. ”
“Grand
gap ”
The power station of Philippe Martinez, also a signatory of the appeal launched by Attac, also calls for “the immediate opening of negotiations on the social emergency”. In passing, the CGT also announces that it will not participate in the meeting proposed by the Minister of Labor, this Friday, to launch the project of the consultation. What to disconcert his co-signatories of the joint statement. “This shows the big internal gap that the CGT is doing,” notes a secretary general.
Transis, the others wait for clarifications of the executive. “We will see if what is proposed is acceptable. It would be simpler if we could move together in this framework, “says one at the CFDT. But caution remains in place. “When we hear some people in the government say that we have to stay the course, there is enough to doubt,” says François Hommeril of the GSC. The following ? “Every day is enough for him,” he breathes. After the excesses of Saturday, the eyes are on the day 8. “We do day to day, notes the head of Unsa. On the razor wire.”
Amandine Cailhol
National and Simon counting all the money that Labour is spending on gathering information, consulting, etc. Labour is not considered to be doing anything, just being told by others what to do. Hahahahahah – just what National knows most about! Labour’s bad is first reference on the news. https://www.radionz.co.nz/programmes/news-bulletin/story/2018674795/radio-new-zealand-news
The figures are contested @ geywarshark, but in light of my comments above that relate to immigration, and others the other day, it does show that they’re increasingly desperate to find something to hang their credentials (such as they) on.
Sroubek is not going to work
MPI is not going to work
NZTA is not going to work
DHB’s circumstance is not going to work
HCNZ is not going to work,
And we’ve not even started on Krekshuns or Soshul ‘Development’ (going forward) despite the claims of best practice in each/all of the above.
and all that is GIVEN the under-resourcing and under-funding in all the above, AND allowing for complete and utter muppetry and senior levels in each of those enetities.
(and they supposedly advocated for performance pay ffs).
It’s actually amusing to watch in a black humour sort of way
The Waiwera Pools are a local asset that should be owned by a local Trust as with so many of our resources! Are Waiwera Properties Ltd local? It seems that at present it is a pocket-plaything for overseas bastards.
arbitration between the former managers and the property owners will take place in February.
That will mean no waterslides or swims at Waiwera until at least then.
Local businesses that rely on tourists who visit the pools have also told RNZ that Waiwera is a key part of their summer trade.
Waiwera Thermal Resort Limited has owned the lease to use the resort since 2010.
It is owned by California-based diamond tycoon Leon Fingerhut, who earlier this month bought the shares of his business partner, the Russian billionaire Mikhail Khimich.
The property owners, Waiwera Properties Limited, previously said they had expressions of interest by potential new managers for the pools.
Tauranga DHB unable and unwilling to provide modern services to the big city people flocking to the area. They have refused to provide surgical abortion services.
To deny humanity of an unborn child is appalling. That’s the opinion of pro-life advocates who are applauding the Bay of Plenty District Health Board for not providing a surgical abortion service in Tauranga.
The conversation comes after The Weekend Sun published a story on November 23 discussing whether there is a need for surgical abortion services in Tauranga.
Right to Life spokesman Ken Orr says pregnancy is not a disease, and abortions should not be used as a form of health care for women.
“We take no pleasure in seeing women inconvenienced,” says Ken. “However, because we see abortion as a violation of the human rights of the child, we support the DHB refusing to provide a killing service.”
He says nobody has the right to kill another human being because their continued living is an inconvenience.
“The unborn child is a patient that should be respected and protected,” he says. “Women who are faced with an unplanned pregnancy, that is imposing a burden on the mother, deserve all the help and support from the community they need to choose life for their child.”
Too true Janice. One who is bound by rectitude and safe from the dangers of falling into the slippery puddle of unwanted motherhood, can feel so superior and noble and didactic. That also applies to some women who get their jollies in life finding fault with other, lesser, women.
Why would a farming group be doing responsible, positive things to prepare for a sustainable farming future and clean, efficient farming practices? National thinks they must have been weakened by Labour’s bad influence into doing the right thing. And brings up that dirty, polluting word ‘tax’, as a scare taxtic!
National’s agriculture spokesperson Nathan Guy said Landcorp must have been told to submit as it was advocating for a water tax, nitrogen fertiliser tax and was not opposed to a capital gains tax in its submission.
“They’ve obviously been leaned on. This government wants to bring in environmental taxes. They want to tax the hell out of hardworking farmers in New Zealand.”
But a spokesperson for Mr Jones rejected that, saying he was not even aware a submission had been made until it was reported by media on 28 November.
Pratchett wrote one of his Discworld books centred on Australia called The Last Continent or the Lost can’t remember. I’ve yet to read it,; getting round to it.
Thanks, Sabine and Grey for your response. I will get that book to read. Also thanks for the other sites you have listed to visit I have read several Discworld novels, One of the best bits was the BIG BANG Theory. in “Mort” I think
The problem I have is, There are so many good books I want to read and now beginning to run out of years to read them in, so I have to be selective and cannot waste time on ones that may not be good. I know it is a matter of choice but have selected some duds lately though I did enjoy Iggulden’s novels on the War of the Roses and the Genghis Khan Dynasty.
Thank you all and compliments of the season
Compliments too halfcrown and fellow reader
Love that bit of getting more books for tight timing to read. Let’s say while you can read you will stay on top of the brain fade and so you will never leave us. Perhaps it could be said ‘Old readers never die they just can’t turn the page’.
James is paid $10 for every bite that he can muster on The Standard. The National Party do pay for this from their own funds.
Today he has earned over $300 and is sniggering all the way to his favourite shop.
Remember this as each time you respond to his bait he gets richer.
A Moscow court on Wednesday sentenced a 77-year-old rights activist to 25 days in jail for calling for protests against a growing crackdown on young people.
Lev Ponomaryov, one of Russia’s most respected activists, told AFP that the powerful FSB security service was behind his detention.
“They are taking revenge against me because I am waging a war against the FSB,” the head of the For Human Rights movement told AFP by phone as he was being driven to a detention centre.
“The country is gradually inching towards mass political repressions,” he said, referring to the peak of Stalin-era purges.
Kia ora the Am Show Chris its is cool that we have a lot more people giving help to the poor people who need it.
simon what about all the money shonky took from the poor and gave to the rich that will equate into millions a day into the rich hip pocket I will not raise gst.
land line polls are not a accurate take on the views of all kiwis run a poll on your religious views based on landline users and you will get a totally different result.
Rodger the buff kangaroo condolences to all the people whom cared for him.
Andrew we all no the trickle down effect is non existent as some wealthy people use any move they can to keep all the lollies to them selves .
duncan you would not see any of the improvement of poor peoples lives with your head high up in that ——– you never see the poor people Trust me I can see the common poor people with smile’s on there faces that tells a big story there Te tangata whenua culture and tangata and minority cultures are receiving the respect we deserve .
Aotearoa is one of the safes places on Papatuanuku to live and the greatest risk is strangers. This is the capitalist society have the people feel unsafe to worried to see the big picture that is our democracy is being undermined from the wealthy.
Ka kite ano P.S I see
Eco Maori is about leavening behind our grandchildren a healthy prosperous future
hence my post educating the tangata about our worlds reality’s and trumps reality .
The Republican Congress absolutely tried to shield the president,” he said. “The new Congress will not try to shield the president. It will try to get to the bottom of this in order to serve the American people and stop this massive fraud on the American people.”New court filings show Donald Trump was “at the center of a massive fraud” against the American people, the incoming chair of the House judiciary committee said on Sunday.
Mob mentality: how Mueller is working to turn Trump’s troops
Read more
Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat set to take over the panel in January, said Trump would have committed impeachable offenses if it is proven that he ordered his lawyer to make illegal payments to women to keep quiet about alleged sexual encounters.
“What these indictments and filings show is that the president was at the center of a massive fraud – several massive frauds against the American people,” Nadler said on CNN’s “State of the Union There’s a very real prospect that on the day Donald Trump leaves office, the justice department may indict him – that he may be the first president in quite some time to face the very real prospect of jail time,” Schiff said on CBS’s Face the Nation.
The California Democrat said the “powerful case” prosecutors made for Cohen to serve a prison sentence would apply “equally” to the man identified in filings as “Individual 1”: the president.
“To have the justice department basically say that the president of the United States not only coordinated but directed an illegal campaign scheme that may have had an election-altering impact is pretty breathtaking,” he said. Ana to kai links below.
Lets not let the worlds media turn one tragedy into a double whammy that will damage Aotearoa reputation as a safe place to come for a holiday there are citys the size of Aotearoa in America that have 500 murders a year .
Positive we have a Lady prime minister we have turned the corner to Equality our lady sports stars are getting more good publicity and some are getting payed for there great effords Maori and Pacific cultures people are getting more respect than we did in the past we have a government that is committed to fight Climate Change and inequality there are many more positive phenomenons happening in Aotearoa now than in the past .Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland: New Zealand’s bizarre landscape that’s ‘hell on earth ka kite ano link below .
Get back, stay back, at work and you unions don’t start that neo lib nonsense that has brought so much despair to a mass of ordinary people when used by business and consultative government (with useful business cronies). There has been crookedness in government, so don’t let us have it occurring in unions too that show no community with the other workers in the nation. If that happens, then we are completely encircled by grasping people with dollars for eyeballs, unworthy of respect and support.
There should be no strikes held at times that upset people’s lives and time for getting together with family or children; the important times that we all live and breathe for. There is no excuse for this holiday threat, by the airline and other sector engineers who are not on the bones of their bums. But now seem to care nothing about others, some of whom are on the edge, and union behaviour like this shows they are prepared to put the nation’s economic functions under stress at their whim.
Unions that want fairer wages and conditions, must respect the meaning of fairness themselves, and when they put stress on the word and meaning of ‘fair’ they must follow and respect that understanding.
Its good that a lot of business can see past the veil of deceit money and lies to see that if we don’t dump carbon our Descendants Papatuanuku will turn into a nightmare on epic proportions.
The group of 414 institutional investors with $31 trillion under management say governments must take serious steps to cut emissions The largest ever group of institutional investors has called on governments around the world to urgently increase their efforts to meet the Paris climate change agreement goals.
The 414 global investors – which represent US$31 trillion of assets-under-management – say they are deeply concerned about the “ambition gap” that exists between governments’ commitments and what is needed to limit the global temperature increase to well below 2C above pre-industrial levels.
They say that gap is increasing the physical risks from climate change and hampering investors’ ability to properly allocate trillions of dollars needed to support the much-needed transition to a low carbon economy.
They have signed a “Global Investor Statement” to be handed to world leaders this week at the COP24 – the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Poland.
Sign up to the Green Light email to get the planet’s most important stories
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The signatories include some of the world’s largest pension funds, asset managers and insurance companies, including Australian investors BT Financial Group, Australian Super, Cbus, HESTA, IFM Investors, Local Government Super, and VicSuper.
I could see that putin was playing the popular card on climate change this oil baron don’t give a ——– about our descendants future all he wants to do is turn back time to were Russia was a super power as for Saudi Arabia they are in the same waka they were playing the popular card to till the last minute and showing there true colors a power hungry regime who will let there descendants burn for that power
US and Russia ally with Saudi Arabia to water down climate pledge
The US and Russia have thrown climate talks into disarray by allying with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to water down approval of a landmark report on the need to keep global warming below 1.5C.
After a heated two-and-a-half-hour debate on Saturday night, the backwards step by the four major oil producers shocked delegates at the UN climate conference in Katowice as ministers flew in for the final week of high-level discussions.
It has also raised fears among scientists that the US president, Donald Trump, is going from passively withdrawing from climate talks to actively undermining them alongside a coalition of climate deniers.
‘We live in a lobstocracy’: Maine town is feeling the effects of climate change
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Two months ago, representatives from the world’s governments hugged after agreeing on the 1.5C report by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), commissioned to spell out the dire consequences should that level of warming be exceeded and how it can be avoided. Links below ka kite ano .P.S the rest of the world need to be strong and the will of the people will prevail he tangata he tangat he tangata that count in 2018.
Kia ora Newshub Ka pai to our Prime minister for apologizing for the murder of that young lady holidaying in Aotearoa.
I totally agree with Lizzy men needs respect Wahine I will give a story on this later.
simon this show me that national is use to having the police dance to there tune with shonky tack ticks.
Yes most of the movie we watch promote alcohol way to much for my liking .
The NZ Transport agency CEO has stepped down I still say six monthly WOF should not have been scrapped for modem vehicles.
There you go if it smells like one look’s like one & behaves like one than he’s a cheating bulling lair .
Mike that’s working outside the square box in advertising to OUR Guest what they are doing wrong in NZ is being a respectful responsible host country Ka pai.
Here we go another man disrespecting Wahine jarod hanes .
shonky & bills poverty tsunami effect is still rolling in the trickle down effect is a big con job being played out on a world scale buy capitalist.
Ken is a good kiwi bloke and Kati Kati is a beautiful little place.
Ka kite ano
Kia ora James & Mulls from the Crows Goes Wild our cricketers all have a sore face ka pai
Our winter sports stars are having a great time at world events .
Our Allblacks 7 team don’t have to worry about that minor hickup in South Africa .
She is amazing that young Asian girl singing there national anthem James
Steven is a good coach all the best to the Warriors.
Looks like some one is damaging the brand of America.
Ka kite ano
Kia ora the Am Show may brexit is doom to fail now everyone knows who created it to distract Europe on climate change and Equality for all foreigners interfering in Europe.
I say that all boards should have maori & Wahine representation on them I see some people were making fun of our ancient story’s and culture the big picture is our culture respects the ancestors and the decedents and Papatuanuku unlike some who live for the now and only respect themselves with that grain of thought they are stuffing up OUR future.
That’s the Chrismas spirit Jacinda you have achieved a enormous feat against the tide of neo capitalist money that distorts reality to conform with there elitist greedy short sighted view’s .
I say our government is thinking long term at least we have started changing the law so people who need medical weed will be able to use it legally.
The whole world needs to show the Wahine more respect .
There you go duncan automatically giving a tohu to a man over wahine if he had the best brain why is he leaving A. because his party made a big mess of Aotearoa with his votes chris finlayson .
All the best to Marina on her new Journey in life.
Ka kite ano
To scotty morrison you will need a big box of tissues after the Australian elections next year carbon pro fool running around after another fool trump scotty cannot even see some thing if it was right under his nose
Australia has reaffirmed its commitment to coal – and its unwavering support for the United States – by appearing at a US government-run event promoting the use of fossil fuels at the United Nations climate talks in Poland.
Australia was the only country apart from the host represented at the event, entitled “US innovative technologies spur economic dynamism”, designed to “showcase ways to use fossil fuels as cleanly and efficiently as possible, as well as the use of emission-free nuclear energy”.
Its panel discussion was disrupted for several minutes by dozens of protesters who stood up suddenly during speeches, unfurling a banner reading “Keep it in the ground” while singing and chanting “Shame on you”.
How America’s clean coal dream unravelled
Read more
Patrick Suckling, Australia’s ambassador for the environment, and the head of the country’s negotiating delegation at the climate talks, spoke on the panel. His nameplate bore a US flag. Ka kite ano link below P.S the sandfly have been stuffing with my computer again muppets
The big picture is the kocoal brothers have trump on a string like a puppet and he is dancing to there tune.
US undermining ‘last chance’ climate talks, experts charge
The American delegation came to promote coal.
And the kids laughed in their faces.
That was the bizarre and symbolic scene that unfolded Monday at the UN COP24 climate talks at a spaceship-shaped conference center in Polish coal country.
Here you go our truth seeking scientist have been intimidated & suppressed by some state agency’s and big business groups they have been warning us about our wai and awa becoming to toxic to swim in we need to look after our wai .There are very strong disincentives for speaking out,” Death said.
“For those of us who do speak out, our funding is clearly impacted, and we don’t get as much funding as we would get [if we didn’t] speak out about various industry bodies in New Zealand.
“We do have to speak out, and we are allowed to speak out, but we speak out at our peril and our cost.”
In his address, Death said New Zealand’s water quality was not “something to be overly proud about,” citing its rate of endangered native freshwater species – which was the highest in the world – and its rate of waterborne disease, which was among the highest in the western world.
He also cited deaths related to contaminated drinking water, as seen in the Havelock North disaster in 2016, in which an outbreak New Zealand’s freshwater scientists had done valuable, at times world-leading research, Death said, but scientists – as well as the Society itself, for which he had been a member for 30 years – needed to stand up and push aggressively for their science to be practically applied.
“I think we really do need to do better,” Death said. “We are the expert body of freshwater science in New Zealand, and we are the people that can have an effect.
“I like to think we could be a little more supportive of those of us who speak out. I think Mike Joy in particular has been vilified for speaking out – a lot of us congratulate him for doing it because we’re scared to do it ourselves. ka kite ano links below
Kia ora Newshub yes we need everyone to give our wahine more respect I have a story about the police’s response to one complainant.
There you go this is just a start to the cannabis reforms its a pity we did not get it passed to limit Helen Kellys pain ????? .
seenothing the regions have been farmed and starved of money from the goverment you supported for the last nine years they poured the money into bill south island M8 to the tune of hundreds on millions .
Yes a warming tangaroa is bad for our fishes we have seen big changes in fisheries over seas red algae blooms killing of fishes to and still we have climate change deniers .
Samantha yes trumps smocking gun well its is affecting America quite negatively the last time a go oil party president got the wheel he caused a world financial crises this one is doing more damage in a quarter of the time.
That is great news to stop company’s bottling our water and exporting it with little financial gain for Aotearoa.
Its good to see that the IPCA is doing its job finding that the first police investigation of that 13 year old girl and a teacher from Gisborne was differently not on you see what it tell me that the law is dish out unfairly its who you know Ka kite ano
Kia ora James & Mulls good waiata with Marina James it sounds like our tennis stars need more Tau toko.
That was a awesome try that won the Wahine 7 gold medal at the games guy Ka pai.
I see Hartley has Porse backing him for there E racing team he said there was a lot of politics in Formal 1 racing ECO Maori could see that he has a quick lap times. Electric cars are the future I see some big car companies did not jump on the bandwagon of Ecar why because they make more profits off enternal combustion car parts than they make off there cars.
Storm the snoop sports reporter the net ball Wahine stars will shine bright.
Steven Adams is cool showing the aroha to the children on a good day I can hear a Haka from some of his biggest fans.
Ka kite ano P.S I have to switch device you know why
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After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
The beloved local grocers lost a legal challenge to stop a new cycleway outside their store. Joel MacManus reports. In the annals of New Zealand legal history, there are a few brave people who have dared to stand up to the powers that be, no matter how bleak the odds ...
How what we produce and what we eat connects us to the world beyond our shores, visualised. Walking around a supermarket or vege shop, it might be obvious that everything on the shelves came from somewhere. But you might ...
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The following interview with auto electrician and former caver Stu Berendt, 68, of Charleston on the West Coast, came about because he was part of the caving team that found the rare and amazing fossil remains of the giant Haast eagle, the subject of one of the year’s best books, ...
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Professor Jemma Geoghegan, of the University of Otago, Otakou Whakaihu Waka, co-leads a Te Niwha project aimed at understanding how and where avian influenza could affect Aotearoa New Zealand, as the highly infectious H5N1 virus spreads globally. The virus has now spread to all continents except Oceania and was recently ...
Thirty years on from Rwanda’s genocide, is guilt over the atrocities is blinding the world to the true nature of its current leadership? The post The repressive underside of Rwanda’s regime appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Opinion: Last week, important recommendations for our criminal justice system were made by the international community. Every five years, each member of the United Nations has its human rights practices reviewed. This rolling event – the Universal Periodic Review – is the culmination of a government reporting on its human ...
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This episode of A View From Afar was recorded LIVE on May 6, 2024 (NZST) which is Sunday evening, May 5, 2024 at 8:30pm (USEST). In an analytical essay titled ‘A moment of friction’ political scientist Dr Paul Buchanan wrote how we are living within a decisive moment ...
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We round up everything coming to streaming services this week, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, ThreeNow, Neon and TVNZ+. If you love a dark comedy: Bodkin (Netflix, May 9)An English podcaster, an Irish podcaster and American podcaster walk into a pub and…make a TV show? ...
By Eleisha Foon, RNZ Pacific senior journalist A Pacific regionalism academic has called out New Zealand’s Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS and says the security deal “raises serious questions for the Pacific region”. Auckland University of Technology academic Dr Marco de Jong ...
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Asia Pacific Report A group of 65 Auckland University academics have written an open letter to vice-chancellor Dawn Freshwater criticising the institution’s stance over students protesting in solidarity with Palestine. They have called on her administration to “support” the students who were denied permission to establish an “overnight encampment” by ...
The Student Volunteer Army is on the march, generating approximately 1.6 million hours of volunteering from roughly 35,000 secondary school students in just five years. For Rebekah Brown, the pathway to volunteering started with her singing coach. With a passion for the arts, the suggestion to volunteer at Acting Antics, ...
Keeping up with online communication can be exhausting, so Fran Barclay enlisted the help of Meta’s new ‘intelligent assistant’ to respond to all her messages. Could her mates tell the difference? For centuries, technology has ruled the ways in which we communicate. From the dawn of written language, to the ...
Jamie Arbuckle, a councillor who has become an member of parliament, says he has settled into having two roles so comfortably he's going to keep both pay cheques. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luis Gómez Romero, Senior Lecturer in Human Rights, Constitutional Law and Legal Theory, University of Wollongong Fifty years ago, Australian feminist Anne Summers denounced “the ideology of sexism” governing over so many women’s lives. Unfortunately, sexism is as lethal today as it ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marina Deller, Casual Academic, Creative Writing and English Literature, Flinders University NetflixComedy is opening up spaces for silences to be broken and trauma stories to be told. In 2018, Hannah Gadsby started a revolution with Nanette, asking audiences to rethink ...
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Even if some students are now just texting on their laptops. Stewart Sowman-Lund writes in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Councils from Horowhenua, Kāpiti, Wairarapa, the Hutt Valley, Porirua and Wellington City will meet this Friday to work together on a plan for a Greater Wellington region water deal. ...
Renowned musician, advocate, and proud born and raised daughter of Tauranga, Ria Hall, is announcing her candidacy for Mayor of Tauranga and Pāpāmoa Ward for the upcoming election on July 20th. ...
The new Aotearoa histories curriculum is rich with potential. There’s still work to be done, but the education minister’s criticisms about ‘balance’ miss the mark, argues primary school teacher Jessie Moss. In 2015, Ōtorohanga College students presented to parliament a petition signed by more than 10,000 people calling for a ...
For too long our so-called national bird has maintained its stranglehold on the economy of regional New Zealand. Thanks to the fast track legislation, we will have our revenge. Theories abound on what ails New Zealand’s economy. National leader Chris Luxon has posited that we’re negative, wet, whiny, and inward-looking; ...
Late one afternoon in March 1860 a man in a thin green velveteen jacket and a wide-awake hat arrived on foot at a sheep station named Glenmark, about 65 kilometres north of Christchurch. The man was in his mid-fifties but he looked older. Several people who met him that day ...
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For the past 12 years, Georgia-Rose Brown has balanced on the brink of making an Olympic Games – but always landed gracefully on the wrong side. Reaching the Olympics is a dream the gymnast has harboured since she was a six-year-old; a dream that would dwindle every four years, yet ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra A new Commonwealth Prac Payment will provide students with $319.50 a week when they are on clinical and professional placements. The payment will be means tested and start from July 1 next year, which ...
Asia Pacific Report About 500 people honoured Palestinian journalists in the heart of the New Zealand city of Auckland today for their brave coverage of Israel’s War on Gaza, now in its seventh month with almost 35,000 people killed, mostly women and children. Marking the annual May 3 World Press ...
The Government Communications Security Bureau denies hosting a foreign spying capability flagged by the watchdog, differentiating it from the system recently criticised. ...
RNZ News A group of academic staff at New Zealand’s largest university have expressed concern at the administration’s move to block a protest encampment that was planned to take place on campus calling for support for the rights of Palestinians. This week, the University of Auckland warned that while it ...
Plans for a post titled, “How to get there” and intended as a platform for TS readers and commenters to display their ideas and aspirations for improving the chances for each and every one of us (humanity that is) to “get there” have been floated over the past couple of weeks and today might be, by the grace of the TS authors and tech people, the moment for it to surface, glistening and quivering, into the light of day. Fingers crossed.
Blueberry recommendations Robert?
I’m wanting to put in around 15 up Auckland way and wanted any advice on best variety.
Hey Stunned. Which ever you choose (I grow a high bush variety), grow them as a group, in a “block” rather than line, as they fruit far more prolifically that way. If you place them all about the garden, they’ll do less well (it’s a pollination thing). The birds, blackbirds in particular) will take them all, unless you net.
Apparently, the rabbiteye varieties are good for Auckland. Can’t remember where I read it, but was looking into the same issue a few weeks back before going nursery shopping.
The ‘water article’ I’m working on looks like it might need to be split up a little. A lot to cover even skimming over it. That pun was wet. What a drip. I’d stop it if I had a bung.
The book is shaping up nicely and several chapters will make relevant materials for ‘how to get there’. I’m very happy to announce I finished the n-fixer data base last night, so nice playing with good data. Categorised ground covers, shrubs and trees, then by North and South Islands, then by water requirements, habitat type, light requirements… I’ll keep juggling it about to see if anything interesting emerges, while I figure how to present the bulk data in digestible chunks. Icons and a key will be key to it I think… Although we don’t have a lot of endemic n-fixers, we have some really interesting and beautiful specimens.
I’ll also be paraphrasing some of the PDC course for how to get there. Many great topics as they arise. And my project for the PDC will be the book – so as to not get overstretched – see how it all organically fits together…
Have also been practicing not feeding the trolls. 2 days no bites! Hehe.
It’s time to bring out the jazz hands
Cool (keeping to the water theme).
If you are good at leaks….
Here at TS we absorb leaks like dry sponges 😉
Goodbye Gridlock
Imagine driving over the Auckland Harbour Bridge or down the Southern Motorway at rush hour, and other than service and delivery vans and trucks, finding yourself virtually the only private car on it.
Meanwhile thousands of commuters are whizzing by you on the dedicated bus lanes not needed for cars anymore.
Why?
Because everyone loves something if it is free!
Luxembourg Just Made Public Transportation Free for Everyone
Kristin Houser – Futurism, December 6, 2018
Hi Jenny,
Yes it seems that the head trucking lobby group (RTA) are always operated by retired National and Act party MP like today (RTA) Chief is Ken Shirley who was an Act Pary MP. https://www.rtanz.co.nz/
In 2000 Tony Friedlander was the (RTA) ‘Road Transport Association’ boss, – so they are powerful with the oil companies behind them as oil companies make far more money from truck freight than rail does for them so they fight to save the road freight and always fight to kill rail as they use five to eight times less oil fuel product to haul ‘each tonne every one km’ than trucks do.
If Auckland had the collective wealth of Luxembourg we could consider it.
We don’t and we never will.
We are concentrating on CAPEX not OPEX in transport mode shift.
For example, only two years ago the whole length of Dominion Road was just a slow carpark. Then Waterview Tunnel opened, and Dominion Road is livable again.
And it was only because of that Waterview job being completed and alleviating Dominion Road that light rail can even be contemplated.
HDPA on Trev the protector:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12172869
He needs to raise his game.
No he doesn’t. National does.
Do you believe everything Duplicity-Allan writes?
People admire a man who protects a woman and in this case, the woman is the very, very popular and much loved Jacinda. The man protecting her, Trevor, will be quietly thanked and supported by New Zealanders throughout the country. Good man, that Trevor.
Nice you agree that he’s protecting her?
Why is it so you think she needs protection?
Not up to the job?
Or perhaps Trev is sweet on her?
You’re a sick wee puppy there james but we already know that.
The Prime Minister is doing a fantastic job and it is no wonder rwnj’s like you poo your pants daily with the prospect of many many many years of this leadership.
I don’t know, given the quality of the Soyman’s questions it would seem more reasonable to argue that the Speaker was protecting him.
+ 100 solkta…….I like it!
me too Solkta; – 100%
James Jacinda Ardern is so able hard working and informed, she is not vulnerable to the petty jabs from trolls like you. Your suggestions are uncouth and graceless
Presumably not the 46% who support National. They would not expect the Speaker to protect her.
In any event from what I see, she doesn’t need it. She is the best of the Labour MP’s. Even when she doesn’t have much of an answer to a question in the house, she manages an adequate answer. Most of her colleagues can’t do that.
You’re right about one thing, Wayne; she’s good. Your poll figure’s pretty suspect though (we’ve all heard 41% but in any case, it’s to low to be of any use). And I think you’ve mucked up your second sentence, but it’s Sunday and kinda early still, for some. I was up at 6:30 and have coffeed.
Edit: you spotted it yourself! Well done, Wayne. Have a coffee.
Wayne knows the real number is 38%. He has to dispute it publicly of course. But hey let him and the Nat supporters believe its 46% and that Santa is on his way. Its largely irrelevant for the govt going into the new year which with some high performing MP’s emerging will only get stronger.
Cheers Wayne.. I think that is big of you to say that.
I find Ms Ardern extremely clear and articulate.
I think Simon was trying to score some points over the sroubec issue, which is what an opposition tries to do.
He was trying to hold her to account for what Winston said about the ex working on behalf of the National party. As ardern plays fair, this put her in a tricky situation………while the intent was to catch her out, Simon didn’t…….She focused on when she first heard of the ex’s connection to National, which was on the news. She of course couldn’t answer the questions about the police, immigration and the ex address “was that ok …left ex feeling vulnerable “, because that was an operational matter. I remember she did the same with the roast busters, but asked for a police review.
I particularly remember John key being shocking at answering questions. Turning the oppositions questions into jokes, the one that sticks in my mind most was that when Cunliffe was asking key about the housing CRISIS and key flipped it into a retort about Cunliffe living in Herne Bay…….this is my mind is a disgrace. So was the complete inability to do anything about the escalating crisis under the key government until they were shamed into it by a news hub item on homelessness. As National achieved very little in9 years, other than creating a surplus by hiding a chronic underfunding in health, housing education and policing numbers, in my view any criticism from them on this govt falls on deaf ears……..and no Ms ardern neither needs nor gets Trevor’s protection. She is miles ahead of all is national……
Wayne yellow press 46% with mates Nationals internal polling 42% with leaking about the drip simple soimon who continues his popularity drop down the gurglar!
Are you trying to protect the National brand, Wayne? You have your job cut out for you 😉
“…Here comes the protection” is the one thing Bridges can’t say of anyone behind him.
true that.
He might check his back every night for needles and other sharp objects that might be sticking out.
Ad lol++++++ that’s hilarious.
David Carter protecting John Key.
Fireblade So cool was that clip was so impressive as David carter was one of the most arrogant speakers of this 21st century I have had to suffer through.
Thanks for that brilliant compendium of the often nastiness side of David Carter as John Key’s Government..
Carter did that just about every time parliament sat. Sometimes blatantly. His way around things was to say that ‘the minister had *addressed* the question. Usually this meant that the minister hadn’t *answered* the question but didn’t need to as it had been addressed. Worst speaker ever. Did he get a gong?
Trevor doesn’t like Simon Bridges’ whiney nonsense. And neither does most of the country. Just look at the popularity polls. Jacinda – 1trillion, Simon – 0.
Even you know Robert that the popularity numbers mean nothing.
National are polling at 46% – higher than labour.
That’s the number that matters.
Nzf are under 5% and the loopy greens are only 1% away from falling under as well.
National may poll at 46% but without Mates that will leave them short of a majority every single time.
And it would do you well to remember that really your party, its “leader” and his backstabbers should not insult any other parties, no matter how small or unimportant you might think they are, cause with 46% National is and will always be 5% short of a majority. And considering that the No mates Party still has no friends, its 46% are not enough.
And that is the only thing that matters. Your party does not have enough support to win even a charity baking event.
You forget that (under current polling) should the greens drop 1% then labour has no mates either.
And labour poll behind national.
well that may be so, but not for the next two years, and somehow i doubt the Greens will fall away. They have been called dead many many times, and yet they always show up.
In the meantime, the No Mates Party has not even got mates it could kill off. It did the killing the support parties so well the last time around that on election night the penny finally dropped. No mates, no coalition, no glory, no nothing but Mr. No Bridges, Paula Benefit, and Judith “oravida’ Collins. Sad!
Popularity is everything when you want popular support and Trevor will have popular support for caring for Jacinda (and Neve). Unpopular Simon will not win any popularity by whining about the man who’s protecting the lovely Jacinda from the likes of unpopular Simon. And *shudders, Paula.
James,
Watch the next poll; – and you will see a swing away from your beloved National ‘sell all’ party.
Folks are now awake to see “a kinder gentler Labour coalition Government who will stop the ‘selloff’ your mob have been doing to NZ for nine years.
NZ has stopped the ‘John key”NZ Inc’ selloff.’
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch-earthquake-2011/7637382/The-business-of-NZ-Inc
“Watch the next poll”. – lefties have been saying that for 10 years.
Still not happened.
Except they’re not polling at 46%. 🙂
Two polls, UMR and National’s internal poll came out at the same time and one was 41% and I believe UMR was either 41% or 42%. That makes a liar out of the CB poll which has been biased towards National for years.
I believe they conduct their polls at the Remuera Shopping Centre – not far from where most of them live.
In National’s latest internal Curia poll National was at 41%; and at 37% in Labour’s internal UMR poll. Hence the Colmar Brunton is really the outlier at 46%.
I have also heard, but cannot verify, that Colmar Brunton has also been experimenting with different mixes of landline/mobile polling, and now also a proportion of online polling. This may well affect the results they are getting.
My comment re- Remuera Shopping Centre was tongue-in-cheek.
If CB is experimenting then it could explain the difference. Working people don’t have the same amount of time as the idle rich to go surfing online. I’m idle because I’m retired. 😉
Realised that re the Remuera Shopping Centre, LOZ: but wanted to point out that the UMR was down at 37%.
I am also retired but don’t feel idle!
I think Colmar Brunton is protecting the National Party, as always.
Despite all their protestations to the contrary, I also suspect there’s an element of pro-National bias in their processes.
As you probably well know Jimmy the 46% is highly debatable. Nationals own internal polling was 41% according to the leaker. Simons polling is heading to the negative. History in the making, what?
The speaker is not there to diss Simon. All good speakers cut a bit of slack to the main Leaders of each party. From what I can see Trevor doesn’t, but he needs to.
Simon’s pedantic, plodding speaking style would challenge the tolerance of any Speaker, I reckon. Trevor should ask him to make his questions a bit more interesting , perhaps pep them up a little with a bit of twinkle – anything but that prosecutor’s drone, or whatever it is Simon does!
That’s what Bennets there for. Providing the entertainment with her facial gymnastics. Well worth watching. I’m expecting a full on haka soon.
I know it’s not really appropriate to comment on someone’s appearance, but Ms Bennett looks very Parliamentary in her leopard print trouser suit.
https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSZ0lIAkNVngWliigkvi3mxxzsqyFFM80pTZbqGEPs9Vf782UVHvp-j3urY
Oh I don’t know @ Fireblade. Maggie Barry seems OK with it (i.e. commenting on appearances of the less fortunate possum), and I’m picking it was her that persuaded Paula to leave out the ugg boots (darling)
Ms Bennett looks as if she has just eaten.
Look in the Eye of the Tiger.
Westies rock. A tight westie pal will back you to the hilt.
The leopard won’t be quick to knife Simon. She might step over his corpse but Westies treat loyalty to the living with the utmost respect.
“I’m expecting a full on haka soon”
Classic!
But shouldn’t leaders be setting a good example and showing the greatest respect for Parliament?
Give examples Wayne, if you are going to say speaker not there to diss Simon…..that implies he does withou backing your statement up.
@ Wayne
You do bullshit yourself. He’s let the Simon get away with murder since he became leader.
The speaker is not there to diss Simon. All good speakers cut a bit of slack to the main Leaders of each party. From what I can see Trevor doesn’t, but he needs to.
That is rubbish Wayne. If it appears that way, it is because Simon often traverses the line of what is acceptable conduct and what isn’t. Jacinda doesn’t. She always answers questions in a respectful way even when the question or questioner doesn’t deserve it. If she crossed that line she, too, would be pulled up by Speaker Mallard.
He’s trying to improve the standards even if he was once one of the transgressors. Everyone can change you know.
How do you rate John Carter? In your book was he straight down the middle fair to both sides?
Speakers are the referees that run onto the field wearing the jumper of the home team.
A subtle bias comes with the role.
It’s a formula that favours getting things done, moving forward. Most of us are cool with that.
To the victor the spoils.
Carter wasn’t subtle. Wayne must know that. The nats complaining about Mallard is sickening after Carter’s performance during his four years or how ever long it was. His behaviour around Key’s “backing rapist” remarks and kicking the female MPs out of the House was disgraceful, but that wasn’t his worst. Carter was a disgrace to democracy over his whole time as Speaker. And now Bridges and his band of idiots feel hard done by. After what Carter did and got away with they can just fuck right off.
Some history – good article allowing some light through to illuminate.
https://e-tangata.co.nz/history/a-dark-tale-of-dispossession-and-greed/
Thank you so much for posting this, marty mars.
It was something I would have missed if you had not done so, and reading that and seeing the photo has left an indelible mark on me. Follow-up reading is now on my Summer Recess Watch and Read list.
It is a real pity that it does not seem to have been noticed much, but it was a busy day here yesterday. I am maintaining an open mind on the new regular post, and will be watching from the sidelines initially at least.
I did think about reposting your comment and link again today in the hopes others might at least read it and the link, but will leave you to decide whether to do so.
It did get an unintentional plug here, but without any response! Think he meant 5 not 4 …
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-09-12-2018/#comment-1560313
We can choose to allow rwnjs to derail this thread or we can ignore them.
Seriously?
Maybe go with the flow and stop trying to control stuff. It doesn’t matter really ed – life still happens, and out of control is actually the norm not an aberration.
Nicely put, Marty. Re trolls, it’s best, I reckon, to use the platform the’ve thoughtfully provided, to fold back their issue onto themselves and take a good-hearted swipe their gods and heroes at the same time – all for fun, mind, never unkindly 🙂
Your fun is another’s unkind robert and vice versa 🙂
I just find the distraction that James creates prevents discussion of the important issues.
and if the distraction works then he has succeeded – fuck him ed he isn’t worth it – just a nobody gnat supporter who hides bad behaviour behind a facade of respectability – we know the type – they have to be real low riders to come and spend their days here – no mates just like simon. Laugh at them for they are weak examples of the species.
Hey Ed, don’t be distracted by that stuff, it’s just padding. If we only discuss pressing and critical matters, we’ll all be exhausted by day’s end. Fluff from trolls (troll fluff) gives us a chance to make them dance a little, lightening our moods and giving us a well deserved laugh. Taking them seriously, upbraiding them, only gives them substance; let’s hold them in their frothy state and bat them around the show for our own pleasure 🙂
good grief, let it be.
Please, post a video or something. But let it be.
Let people be.
I tired but I just couldn’t resist the obvious…
Yes, but you find anyone discussing anything other than your three issues an intolerable distraction.
I agree about James.
It’s interesting, I count if someone genuine on here by whether they respond to challenging questions or just disappear. BM and James seem to disappear and James comments are often provocative eg after “good news” for National eg after the 46% polls result.
Wayne answers questions and also I think puts up with quite a lot. I think he might be generally interested in the debate and from the little I’ve seen of kiwiblog he ain’t going to get it there.
Punish, well he keeps it light hearted and is sometimes funny in his adoration of Judith, but it may become a little tedious like a friend who has a six month crush on someone.
Best response to James is “you comment is consistent with your purpose for commenting on this website”. I think if he always got this comment unless he made a decent contribution he might just get a little tired of us
“adoration of Judith”
Is it that obvious, I thought I was being subtle 😉
Ha ha PR. No I have to say your not too subtle when it comes to your adoration of Judith.
I enjoy your presence on this website even if we likely disagree on ……..well everything
“I enjoy your presence on this website even if we likely disagree on ……..well everything”
Challenge excepted 🙂
From where I sit Ed, there seems to be more aggro and ‘playing the man not the ball’s from folk who would identity as ‘lefties’.
I agree with the idea of letting them be or ignoring them.
Yes Ed but that is the way that the site operates, whether James provokes useful discussion that matches his negativity I don’t know – is it a net gain? You are worth having Ed so let’s keep hearing from you but with some slight adjustments as suggested.
I’m not sure it’s possible to ‘derail’ Open Mike. It’s intended to be fluid and nobody has to reply to anyone.
I’m also not sure that we get regular visited by RWNJ’s. Most of the commenters here who are from the other end of the political spectrum are rational and articulate and not outright trolls.
TS would be a dull place if we only had left wing opinions expressed here, so try thinking of our righty friends as the grit in the oyster of thought that helps produce the pearls of wisdom that make TS special.
Damn straight! 🙂
Ed, thank you. I have missed you.
With John Kelly departing the White House by the end of this year, it looks like the Mueller inquiry is leaving only core of family loyalists and trolls.
The 2020 White House after the trials is the Democrats’ to lose.
There are no trials before 2020. Look at Nixon and the work it took to get him out of the Presidency, and Trump is no Nixon. Heck Nixon is a choir boy compared to Trump.
As for Kelly leaving, good riddance. Don’t you get the warm and fuzzies knowing that Bolton is now the serious adult in the office, and that Kelly will be replaced with a spare part from Fox News? Maybe Tucker Carlson.
so yeah, the republican party is not done yet.
The trials will be for Manafort, Cohen, Kushner, and Trump jr.
Looking forward to it.
No impeachment since no Senate majority.
D TRump will stay in there and ensure Biden has a pretty easy path in.
Once President Trump goes however, the IRS will take him down on tax fraud.
yep, i agree with you, but gosh i hope the Dems come up with someone younger then Biden. to fucking old, too white, too much baggage of assholery see Anita Hill.
Trials for Trump jr is a bit premature.
“Too white”, what does that mean?
Are the Democrats no longer allowed to have white male candidates for president, with the expectation that the Republicans only have white male candidates.
Surely in a democracy as diverse as the United States, or ours for that matter, ethnicity is not really an issue on whether a person can attain high office. For instance both National’s Leader and Deputy leader are Maori (though with other ethnicities as well). It goes almost completely unremarked.
Although the social and economic statistics still disadvantage Maori, there are probably hundreds of thousands of Maori who have suffered no particular disadvantage, and who are succeeding in a large number of fields. For instance forty years ago there were almost no Maori lawyers, with only two women Maori lawyers. Today there would be hundreds.
two white means too white.
the democratic grass roots are people of colour. The democratic voters are people of colour.
If you care to have a look at the last exit polls posted on CNN that i have linked to at a previous thread you will see that the much vaunted white working class/middle class/upper class, all of them with economic anxiety – and men, voted for the Republicans.
so it would behoove the democratic party to choose leaders and even presidents that reflects their voting block, rather then chase the white evangelic male working class/middle class/upper class with economic anxiety voter who is not gonna vote democrats anywhich way and if it is only cause ‘abortions’ and such.
so yeah, Biden, too white – again if you could be bothered look at his past – Anita Hill and the Seating of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. He can whinge and whine all to his hearts content, fact is he behaved like an entitled ass then, and to some extend still has not understood just what an entitled ass he is today. Just in case you don’t know what i speak of https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=biden+anita+hill&oq=Biden+Antia+H&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l3.4897j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
And at 75 he is too fucking old. Full stop here. IF you don’t have to live the consequences of your actions you should not be allowed to run for President, imo.
The world needs someone at the helm of that country that actually has to loose something when and if he/she fucks up By voting geriatrics in its only the world that is gonna loose.
As Bush the younger once famously said when asked how history will judge him : I will be dead then. And that is precisely the mindset that gave us Iraq Invasion two.
So yeah, too old, too white, too much bagage.
IF you can’t find people under seventy to represent your country your country is fucked.
“The world needs someone at the helm of that country that actually has to loose something when and if he/she fucks up By voting geriatrics in its only the world that is gonna loose.”
The reality has always been that the elites dont lose irrespective of the result and that is not age/gender/race dependent…..take any issue you care to consider and the poor are invariably the hardest hit.
well i hope that the new crop of ‘the elite’ that was just voted in will consider your points.
the poor are always invariably the hardest hit as they generally have nothing to shelter them. That does not mean that we have to continue to nominate and vote for old, white, rich people. As i said, the last midterm got the house back to the dems, and those that got elected for the largest part were as far removed from your elite as they could possibly be. Be it that young women from NY, or the native Indian from Kansas, or that native indian New Mexico and so on and so on.
As for losing, we are all going to lose if we don’t finally get our heads out of our asses and realize that the change must come from us, not from any elected overlord. It is up to us to opt out of the system to the point where it collapses. No strong man is gonna do that, no cheap slogan about making shit great again – it never was for some and it never will be for many – can do that. People need to opt out of capitalism, over consumption, cheap shits from dollar shops to make up for empty hearts and minds, crap food cause its “convenient” , etc. No one forces us to participate, like smoking, we will have to quit.
Unless people understand that nothing is gonna change and the same people continue to whinge about how nothing is changing.
Barak Obama
” i hope the Dems come up with someone younger then Biden. to fucking old, too white”.
Ouch. Well it is pretty clear that Sabine is not going to support Bernie Sanders for President.
He is even older than Biden, after all.
I don’t.
I also don’t support Clinton for that same matter.
Too white, too old. Too much baggage. What was your point? OH, you don’t have one.
Too white, too old.
That’s an utterly invalid and inane reason to reject Clinton. She is a terrible person, but it has nothing to do with her ethnicity or her age.
My point?
You are rejecting someone for completely irrelevant reasons.
What are your sensible reasons? Oh, you don’t have any.
My point?
Too old. The country needs someone who is younger, preferably much younger in their fifties no older. That way they actually have a stake in the future as the future will affect them.
Too old. Dementia, Alzheimers, Standard old age issues. Reagan comes to mind.
Too old, could keel over at any moment due to any reasons old people keel over and thus leave the job ot someone like Mike Pence and his wife Mother – who in my mind would be even worse then Trump – and I stated that before the election of the orange shitstain.
Too old. Why would anyone vote for someone who does not understand the issues of young people, people of colour, people who are not heterosexual vanilla, has a studentloan, wants to marry and have children, does not own their own home, has not got a job nor a chance of getting a job etc etc etc etcetc.
I have reasons for wanting a younger person, someone who more looks like the electorate, someone who looks more like the people getting the vote out, raising the funds, doing the door knocking, the phone banking and any other of hte myriads of ways to get people to vote.
And then comes the baggage. Clinton, Sanders, Biden all have lived their life in white privilege. And literally know very little other then white privilege. Biden has his with Anita Hill, Sanders went to one demonstration for civil rights and then lived his whole life in the whitest state of the US – Vermont, where the last black female lawmaker resigned due to incessant bullying https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/26/us/politics/kiah-morris-vermont.html – , and Hillary Clinton……emails, bengazi, cooties, female, clinton, blowjob, emails, lock her up blahblahblahblah.
So i really hope that the Democratic Party will have a come to god moment as did the Labour Party in NZ and choose a leader that actually can inspire more then just a small segment fo their voters, and above all get these voters in such large numbers to the polls that they will outvote any gerrymandering, voter suppression tactics and what nots. And considering the mid term elections i think i am on to something here.
She comes from Germany, alwyn. That’s Ground Zero for Stupid.
Even the Greens in Germany are moral reprobates.
Shit, moz, I know you like to lay it on with a trowel, but that’s pretty darned close to calling all Germans stupid (at best). And not in an “Aussies are koala-shaggers” sort of way, either.
No, of course there are thoughtful and intelligent Germans. Our friend Sabine is normally one of them.
Germany produced Beethoven, Goethe, Einstein, and [insert your favourite German genius here] but it also produced Hitler, Goering, Goebbels, Hess and their terrible legacy. The baleful spectacle of the German legal system, academia, churches, and every other institution in the country being corrupted by that regime had a truly devastating effect on Germany’s intellectual and moral life—resulting in the distasteful phenomenon of moral imbeciles such as Uwe Becker.
https://jewishjournal.com/analysis/243133/mayor-frankfurt-leads-german-pro-israel-activism/
Sabine’s contention that Hillary Clinton is not a suitable candidate for President because she is old and white is horribly wrong, and stupid—Beckerian, almost.
Oh, so some of them are good people. How very dolt-45 of you.
Bless you dear.
Morrissey
Hippo hit-the-fan stuff. All being included in your wide-ranging criticism, that is not on. Don’t be like this hippo –
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfnZMRRHrwI
After having the most qualified Presidential candidate in history it can only be a downgrade for the dems. They need to find a human skin coloured person who is not cis male, never run a Buisiness, never served in the military, vegan, uses the word comrade, solo parent in an open relationship, born in the US to illegal immigrants, a degree in social sciences, never had a real job, and White Ribbon ambassador.
JA only just misses out. Damn.
“No impeachment since no Senate majority.”.
You don’t need anyone at all in the Senate for an impeachment to take place.
The Senate doesn’t actually impeach anyone. The Impeachment is the responsibility of the House of Representatives where the Democrats have a majority.
The Senate then try anyone who has been impeached. They certainly aren’t going to find him guilty of course. That requires a 2/3 majority of the Senators.
Thus both Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton were impeached but at their trial by the Senate they were not convicted.
Apologies for the shorthand – I went for the trial bit.
That’s a complete load of rubbish.
Donald Trumps taxes as a corporate are continually assessed by the IRS. How the hell you come to the conclusion he is committing tax fraud is beyond me. If you think the most scrutinised person on the planet is knowingly committing tax fraud you have a clear case of TDS.
Trials for what?
Having Buisiness in foreign nations.
The meeting with the Russian women lying she had info on Clinton was not an offence.
The Moskow business deals have extensively been examined and there is no collusion.
I myself are looking forward to the prosecution of the desperate Mueller for extorting people into making false statements. He’s got form.
Why haven’t the people who did conspire with foreign nationals to interfere in the elections being prosecuted. Like Clinton and her golden shower political assassination. If rigging the debate is a test of Clintons willingness to cheat, it’s no supprised she deleted her emails and smashed her hard drives. She’s got form.
The sooner this TDS nonsense from the cry baby snowflake revenge filled Clinton supporters ends the better. Then the democrates can get on with writing a book with another 200 reasons why, that nobody can be bothered reading.
Why rush things anyway. It’s not like the democrates have any candidates that people actually like, or are genuinely Presidential.
Last time the Democrates had power Obama promised change. I was a supporter. I liked what he was saying and McCain would have made Bush Jr look like someone that deserved the peace prize. But when you become President the real world and rhetoric meet. Obama was a disappointment.
Trump is actually making change. He is confronting long standing issues that traditional politics has failed to address. Obama will be forgotten, Trump will leave a legacy of fighting and achieving for the people he represents. The citizens of the US.
For example Obama a socialist helped the car industry with a bailout. Obama fixed nothing and large job loses have just occurred. Trump attacked China on trade and China has conceded, agreeing to drop the 40% Tarif on US vehicles. The socialist (other people’s money) approach vs that’s bullshit, let’s do a deal, or else.
If a person with the drive and style of Trump was in charge of fixing Climate Change we would see a revolution on that subject. Sadly his position on that issue is his biggest fault. Don’t be supprised however if he pulls the rug out from under the Democrates election chances with a capitalist style solution out of “left” field. IE pro US worker.
It’s his personal tax returns that will get Trump into jail not his corporate ones.
The rule you need to familiarize yourself with is:
“The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.”
The offenses of whether he or his team were infected by the Russian state are now well documented by the evidence in US courts that multiple persons have already pleaded guilty to. You can now look them up yourself.
Trump is certainly making change, in the same way that gangrene makes change to a limb with an open wound.
If a person with the “drive and style of Trump was in charge of fixing climate change” we would probably have a plan for climate change. Instead we have Trump.
It was only a matter of time…………..
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-09/labor-government-would-dump-plan-to-outsource-visa-processing/10597606
Watch for the gNats here try and do something similar if we’re ever unlucky enough to see them back in government.
And they’ll do so on the basis that the private sector can’t do any worse than INZ has done, and because of the likes of this:
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2018/09/company-director-who-underpaid-staff-is-approved-as-an-immigration-adviser.html
But what they won’t tell you is that the reason INZ, the Labour Inspectorate and the IAA has been such a fuckup is because for 9 years they were under-funded, under-resourced, politicised by way of ‘whispers’, and brought under a Ministry for everything that has a commercial and business focus. Same thing true of NZQA of course.
Some history and great symbolism. I really struggle with christianity – I like individuals but I have major difficulties with most other bits including the part christianity played in stealing the land.
https://e-tangata.co.nz/history/with-heads-hung-low/
And then handed over their property portfolio?
No?
Well I never.
https://slate.com/human-interest/2018/12/against-teaching-kids-to-code-creativity-problem-solving.html?utm_source=pocket&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pockethits
Agree totally with this article. Creativity, problem solving, communication, persistance and resilience will beat learning a narrow range of, soon to be, outdated, skills.
Old style metalwork, woodwork and cooking taught me those things. Not coding.
In German last week the biggest ‘right wing “Grand coalition” party have just elected who will be the next chancellor for Germany, – who is reported to be a hard right woman who resembles the character of Adolf Hitler we hear.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/12/angela-merkels-power-is-weakening-who-could-be-germanys-next-leader.html
Experts believe there are a handful of possible replacements, ranging from Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the new general secretary of the CDU who shares a lot of Merkel’s practical approach to politics (earning her the nickname of “Merkel’s mini-me”)
“I think she’ll carry on for another 18 months to two years but her authority and popularity is lower now, so what will decide her future is not the state of the coalition but the state of her party — that’s where the revolt will come from.”
The CDU is nothing without the CSU, they are two pods of the same plant and the CDU needs it Coalition Partner. The CSU is literally only found in Bavaria, nowhere else in Germany – it is a single state Party and literally the only one in the country like that. Keep also in mind that Bavaria is a ‘free state’ within the federation of germany and thus has a status quite different from the other states within the federation.
Also Seehoefer is a too old white man and an ass who should go and retire already.
Also the poll referred to in this publication was by the “Handelsblatt” which is a very conservative commercial interest newspaper. So i can see why their respondents would be unhappy if Merkel is not gonna spend all that tax money surplus on some big business projects, cause they would be very unhappy were she to spend it on social welfare and the likes.
As for that comment that she hangs on for another 18 month or so? Hopefull wishing by someone who wants that tax surplus spend on big business projects.
The CSU is never gonna be anything but a Bavarian Party, has never been anything else. Augsburg, a city my family hails from, one of the three cities in Germany created by the Romans is notoriously conservative even if it were to kill them. And in the times fo my coming of age the 80.s, this city was a dead fish in the water until the Bavarian government finally started to spend some money on it, lest they completely go over to Die Gruenen and SPD. Due to its ‘free state’ status Bavaria is one of the highest income, highest business density and highest cost of living places in Germany. And guess what, that is what is ailing Bavaria. The workers so badly
needed can’t afford to live there. Sounds like something we know something of?
So i put my money on Merkel for now. She wants to make people happy? She will loosen the string of the purse a bit, and go ‘social’ and ‘green’.
As for the migrant problem? Worldwide, and this includes us here, we will have to make a decision. Cause with global warming, raising sea levels, increasing droughts, fires etc we will have migrants. Millions of migrants everywhere, anywhere, at all times. Add in a bit of war for water, land and food, and voila, time to realise that we will never resolve the migrant problem unless we are happy to watch them die in their boats, in locked up shipping containers, or shoot them on sight. Cause they will keep on coming, as that is all they can do to stay alive. And why? Because we will never change, not give up our nice life without a fight and someone somewhere will whinge that is Dad pulled his boat three hundred kilometers to some lake somewhere and then back, and gosh darn it, it is my right and i too shall do that cause its my right! And the same is true for Germany, the US, Italy, France, England, OZ and NZ and anywhere else.
17,000 empty seats in a 20,000 seat arena.
“Could the Clintons be bigger assholes?”
“They can’t fill a stadium but they sure can fill a graveyard.”
Thanks for the link, Moz. Like you, I totally trust everything the Daily Mail promotes, particularly their sensible support for that Austrian chap, Herr Hitler. Hurrah for the Blackshirts!
The Daily Mail? This was Jimmy Dore—a far more intelligent commentator than anyone at the Wail or the Grauniad.
Do you think there were 20,000 people there? Dressed as empty seats, maybe?
I take it you didn’t even watch the video. Sad!
I certainly did watch it. How does the fact that the coverage of this Clinton failure was from the Wail invalidate it?
Hell, even Noam Chomsky, who with Ed Herman definitively analysed the propaganda function of the New York Times, says that most of the stuff it prints is good, solid, reliable journalism.
Same goes for the Wail and the Grauniad, surely. In spite of employing such second- and third-rate talents as Cathy Newman, James Ball and Luke Harding, most of what is printed in those propaganda sheets is unexceptionable.
Or, to bring it back to a Kiwi example: it’s like Mike Hosking, or Leighton Smith: probably 90 per cent of what they say is fine; it’s that last ten per cent where the trouble starts….
Only on RT. Haven’t seen Ad do a post on how successful Macron has been lately..
Well, only if the Chekist thug’s personal propaganda outlet is your only source.
/
Seems some of the more balanced coverage comes from the thug. What other propaganda factory was live streaming the protests?
A 90 second video clip isn’t a live stream.
Where does the source footage in the video clip come from Joe28?
and on
https://www.politico.eu/article/paris-yellow-jackets-fuel-tax-police-arrest-hundreds-as-yellow-jackets-protest-again/
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/12/08/europe/france-protests-paris-intl/index.html
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/paris-braces-new-riots-yellow-jacket-protests-sweep-france-n945561
BBC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aw-9o0GXrns
our own TVNZ
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/world/violent-protest-engulfs-central-paris-worst-riot-in-decade
brussels
https://www.politico.eu/article/brussels-braces-for-yellow-jacket-protest/
https://www.apnews.com/3bd372ee667d4605a6cf22f10f39e792
https://www.independent.ie/world-news/belgian-police-and-yellow-jacket-protesters-clash-in-brussels-37581828.html
Bannon’s and big data’s stickies are all over this.
In an interview with the Observer, Cohn-Bendit, now a friend and adviser to President Emmanuel Macron, said: “This movement is very different to May 68. Back then, we wanted to get rid of a general (Charles de Gaulle); today these people want to put a general in power,” he said, referring to calls by certain gilets jaunes for the former chief of defence staff General Pierre de Villiers, who resigned after falling out with Macron in July 2017, to be made prime minister.
“And nobody in 68 made death threats against those who want to talk. This is the power of force. All those on the left thinking this is a leftwing revolution are wrong: it’s veering to the right. To hear that gilets jaunes who want to negotiate are receiving death threats is evidence of this authoritarian right.
“I hear people from la France Insoumise (hard left), talking about this being a great people’s revolt and how the people are speaking, but these are the same ordinary people who pushed Trump into power.
“We saw in Germany in 1933 what ‘ordinary’ people did. Not all ordinary people are good … it’s not an accident that this movement has proposed General de Villiers as an alternative leader.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/08/daniel-cohn-bendit-gilets-jaunes-macron-may-68-paris-student-protest
i believe for both to be active atm. The movement that is popular, i.e. people put on their gilet jaune and protest – a day, a week, a few hours, and agent provocateurs.
I still have family and friends in france – i lived there for quite a few years before moving to NZ with my kiwi husband – and the movement is based on the issue mentioned, i.e. Gasoline to expensive, cuts to all services, increase in living costs, essentially the same malaise that we have here in NZ. To some extend the movement is supported by Police, Fire fighters, Ambulance drivers etc, so not really those that would cause a ruckus.
i have heard nothing about installing a General, but one of the most often named points is to go to a system as in Switzerland where laws are voted for in popular referendums.
I have heard of he abolition of any retirement payments to ex politicos that are still of working age, or have income.
I have heard of the demand to fire Macron and send him packing.
But this is the first time i hear about the general. I will ask my friends to see what this is about.
Google translation of a statement from what appears to be a broad cross section of French people.
The yellow vests movement puts the entire social policy of the government in public debate. More broadly, the neoliberal policies implemented by successive governments for decades are at stake. More and more difficult months of the month, increased precariousness of work, tax injustice, expensive housing, deteriorating living conditions, such is the situation faced by the majority of the population. This particularly affects women, very many to mobilize in this movement. At the same time, tax evasion has never been so important and the richest have been offered multiple tax breaks: the elimination of the ISF, flat tax of 30% for capital income that is not more subject to progressive tax, lower corporate tax … In these circumstances, the increase in fuel taxes appeared as “the last straw that broke the camel’s back.”
Despite an attempt by the far right to take control of the movement, it is characterized by its horizontal self-organization and the demand for real democracy against an authoritarian and contemptuous presidency. At a time when COP 24 is taking place in Poland and where the fight against global warming is urgent, this movement also highlights the link between the social issue and ecological imperatives: the biggest polluters are exempt from any effort, the main causes of global warming are not dealt with, the breakdown of public services and local shops and urban sprawl continue, alternatives to public transport are not developed. The model of social housing in France is endangered by its commodification for the benefit of large private groups. In these circumstances, it is certainly not up to the middle and lower classes to pay for the ecological transition.
Government policy does not respond to social anger or ecological imperatives. The government is letting the multinationals and the productivist lobbies do their best by always favoring their own interests and those of their shareholders to the detriment of the greatest number and the future of the planet. For days, the government stuck on an uncompromising stance, refusing any action and claiming that it was staying the course, despite the fact that a huge majority of the population supported this movement. This attitude has led to increasing exasperation that has led to acts of violence that the government could hope to take advantage of. This was not the case and the support of the population remained massive.
The government has announced, among other things, the freeze and subsequent cancellation of the fuel tax increase. This is a first step backwards but it is too little, too late, because it is the whole social policy and its economic and ecological consequences that must be discussed. Even though youth has decided to set out to challenge the educational choices of power, it is a change of course that must be imposed. To begin, we must respond to union demands by increasing the minimum wage and returning to the cap of the increase in pensions to 0.3%, restore the ISF and tax multinationals, including Total, Gafa and banks that finance fossil fuels to invest heavily in thermal insulation of buildings and renewable energies.
This is why the undersigned, trade unionists, associative and political leaders, researchers, academics, artists, etc., support the demands of fiscal and social justice brought by the movement of yellow vests. They call on the population to mobilize to impose a policy that allows better living, and to demonstrate peacefully in the street massively December 8, international mobilization day for climate justice, in convergence with the fourth day of mobilization of yellow vests.
The petitioners
https://www.liberation.fr/debats/2018/12/06/justice-sociale-justice-climatique-c-est-un-changement-de-cap-qu-il-faut-imposer_1696384
Yes, this is more what my friends talk about.
As i said, that thing with Le General….thats new.
as for now, this is going to be a European wide movement. As the gilet jaune signifies, this is an accident and we are securing the site to keep people safe. That is why you have to have one of these jackets in the car, by law, and that is why they wear them.
I hope that the Bannon Brigade will very quickly overstay their welcome.
Joint trade union statement translation.
It is a text that should never have existed. When they arrived at the headquarters of the CFDT to discuss the social news on Thursday morning, two days before the fourth act of the yellow vests, the secretaries general of major trade unions had not planned to take the pen. However, coming out of this informal meeting which, explains one of them, “should not have been public”, the CFDT, the CGT, FO, the CFE-CGC, the CFTC, the Unsa, and the FSU have adopted a joint statement. “Writing this text has become obvious,” says François Hommeril of the GSC, the union of executives, who welcomes “this strong signal to the government.”
“Out
ground”
In this statement of about fifteen lines, the signatories are worried about the “very degraded climate” and point the responsibility of the executive, remained deaf for “months” to their call for more “social justice”. Taking note, however, of a change of tone with, on Tuesday, the promise of the Prime Minister to launch a dialogue, the power plants undertake to participate in this dialogue, “each with [their] own demands and proposals, in common whenever it will be possible. But no matter how.
Cooled by nineteen months of complex relations with a president who pretended to listen to them without paying much attention to their opinions, the unions demand something else: “real” negotiations, both “broad, open and transparent” on the purchasing power, wages, housing, transportation and utilities. But they do not give more indications on the calendar and the method wanted for this eventual Grenelle version 2018. Nor do they make strong proposals or calls to act in concert. “Everyone has their culture. We focused on the essential, what we could say together today, “says Luc Bérille, Unsa. Not very much, retorts Eric Beynel, spokesperson for Solidaires, present at the meeting but did not want to initial the text, considered “off the ground”. Signatory, however, the appeal initiated by Attac and the Copernicus Foundation for a convergence of mobilizations of yellow vests and the march for the climate (read above), it annoys: “Our responsibility of trade unionists n ‘ is not to write an incantatory text, but to call to be present in the street. ”
The common statement is, on the contrary, very cautious towards yellow vests. While their mobilization is described as “legitimate anger,” the signatories also denounce “all forms of violence in the expression of claims.” A sentence that follows the request to “launch a call for calm” that had sent them, the day before, the executive. Not a word on the other hand on police management, sometimes violent, mobilizations. What ended to convince Solidaires not to sign. And led the CGT, which calls for a day of action on December 14, to draft a statement denouncing an “inadmissible repression”, including youth: “The CGT can not accept that the power strikes and tape our children. ”
“Grand
gap ”
The power station of Philippe Martinez, also a signatory of the appeal launched by Attac, also calls for “the immediate opening of negotiations on the social emergency”. In passing, the CGT also announces that it will not participate in the meeting proposed by the Minister of Labor, this Friday, to launch the project of the consultation. What to disconcert his co-signatories of the joint statement. “This shows the big internal gap that the CGT is doing,” notes a secretary general.
Transis, the others wait for clarifications of the executive. “We will see if what is proposed is acceptable. It would be simpler if we could move together in this framework, “says one at the CFDT. But caution remains in place. “When we hear some people in the government say that we have to stay the course, there is enough to doubt,” says François Hommeril of the GSC. The following ? “Every day is enough for him,” he breathes. After the excesses of Saturday, the eyes are on the day 8. “We do day to day, notes the head of Unsa. On the razor wire.”
Amandine Cailhol
https://www.liberation.fr/france/2018/12/06/gilets-jaunes-les-syndicats-a-mots-prudents_1696465
They – le gilet jaune – did raise a guillotine in Paris. Just in case they – the nobles and rich – forgot 🙂
National and Simon counting all the money that Labour is spending on gathering information, consulting, etc. Labour is not considered to be doing anything, just being told by others what to do. Hahahahahah – just what National knows most about! Labour’s bad is first reference on the news.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/programmes/news-bulletin/story/2018674795/radio-new-zealand-news
The figures are contested @ geywarshark, but in light of my comments above that relate to immigration, and others the other day, it does show that they’re increasingly desperate to find something to hang their credentials (such as they) on.
Sroubek is not going to work
MPI is not going to work
NZTA is not going to work
DHB’s circumstance is not going to work
HCNZ is not going to work,
And we’ve not even started on Krekshuns or Soshul ‘Development’ (going forward) despite the claims of best practice in each/all of the above.
and all that is GIVEN the under-resourcing and under-funding in all the above, AND allowing for complete and utter muppetry and senior levels in each of those enetities.
(and they supposedly advocated for performance pay ffs).
It’s actually amusing to watch in a black humour sort of way
NZ business going gangbusters. Or? Perhaps we need to bust the ‘business gangs’ actually?
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/country/377726/farmer-launches-petition-to-save-tip-top-ice-cream
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/377817/waiwera-pools-to-stay-closed-for-most-of-summer
The Waiwera Pools are a local asset that should be owned by a local Trust as with so many of our resources! Are Waiwera Properties Ltd local? It seems that at present it is a pocket-plaything for overseas bastards.
arbitration between the former managers and the property owners will take place in February.
That will mean no waterslides or swims at Waiwera until at least then.
Local businesses that rely on tourists who visit the pools have also told RNZ that Waiwera is a key part of their summer trade.
Waiwera Thermal Resort Limited has owned the lease to use the resort since 2010.
It is owned by California-based diamond tycoon Leon Fingerhut, who earlier this month bought the shares of his business partner, the Russian billionaire Mikhail Khimich.
The property owners, Waiwera Properties Limited, previously said they had expressions of interest by potential new managers for the pools.
Tauranga DHB unable and unwilling to provide modern services to the big city people flocking to the area. They have refused to provide surgical abortion services.
https://www.theweekendsun.co.nz/news/5403-abortion-topic-sparks-prolife-response.html
To deny humanity of an unborn child is appalling. That’s the opinion of pro-life advocates who are applauding the Bay of Plenty District Health Board for not providing a surgical abortion service in Tauranga.
The conversation comes after The Weekend Sun published a story on November 23 discussing whether there is a need for surgical abortion services in Tauranga.
Right to Life spokesman Ken Orr says pregnancy is not a disease, and abortions should not be used as a form of health care for women.
“We take no pleasure in seeing women inconvenienced,” says Ken. “However, because we see abortion as a violation of the human rights of the child, we support the DHB refusing to provide a killing service.”
He says nobody has the right to kill another human being because their continued living is an inconvenience.
“The unborn child is a patient that should be respected and protected,” he says. “Women who are faced with an unplanned pregnancy, that is imposing a burden on the mother, deserve all the help and support from the community they need to choose life for their child.”
Why am I surprised that is yet another man (who will never need abortion services) spouting this crap?
Too true Janice. One who is bound by rectitude and safe from the dangers of falling into the slippery puddle of unwanted motherhood, can feel so superior and noble and didactic. That also applies to some women who get their jollies in life finding fault with other, lesser, women.
Why would a farming group be doing responsible, positive things to prepare for a sustainable farming future and clean, efficient farming practices? National thinks they must have been weakened by Labour’s bad influence into doing the right thing. And brings up that dirty, polluting word ‘tax’, as a scare taxtic!
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/377590/landcorp-apologises-for-not-telling-minister-of-tax-submission
The Tax Working Group accepted Landcorp’s submission anyway, which talks of the agriculture sector needing to take a strong lead on reducing New Zealand’s environmental footprint.
National’s agriculture spokesperson Nathan Guy said Landcorp must have been told to submit as it was advocating for a water tax, nitrogen fertiliser tax and was not opposed to a capital gains tax in its submission.
“They’ve obviously been leaned on. This government wants to bring in environmental taxes. They want to tax the hell out of hardworking farmers in New Zealand.”
But a spokesperson for Mr Jones rejected that, saying he was not even aware a submission had been made until it was reported by media on 28 November.
Changes needed by climate-aware scientists.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/376269/new-zealand-scientists-call-on-government-to-move-faster-on-climate-change
Changes not needed by advantage-aware educator.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/377807/headmaster-slams-radical-proposals-for-schools
Australia having criminal troubles. Surprising?
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/world/377830/police-in-aus-spent-4-point-5m-to-keep-informer-secret
And now something completely different.
Has anyone read Pratchett’s book “Good Omens”? If so is it worth reading?
I see Amazon is bringing out a video of it next year but I sooner read than see.
Thanks
All of Pratchetts books are good reading.
Good Omen is good. And i am very much looking forward to the series. It will be epic.
Pratchett wrote one of his Discworld books centred on Australia called The Last Continent or the Lost can’t remember. I’ve yet to read it,; getting round to it.
He is/was a wonderful whimsical author with reality always at his fantastical elbow.
Here is a great summary of his style.
https://theconversation.com/a-beginners-guide-to-terry-pratchetts-discworld-55220
Going postal is great entertainment on any rainy, sunny or foggy day 🙂
Thanks, Sabine and Grey for your response. I will get that book to read. Also thanks for the other sites you have listed to visit I have read several Discworld novels, One of the best bits was the BIG BANG Theory. in “Mort” I think
The problem I have is, There are so many good books I want to read and now beginning to run out of years to read them in, so I have to be selective and cannot waste time on ones that may not be good. I know it is a matter of choice but have selected some duds lately though I did enjoy Iggulden’s novels on the War of the Roses and the Genghis Khan Dynasty.
Thank you all and compliments of the season
Compliments too halfcrown and fellow reader
Love that bit of getting more books for tight timing to read. Let’s say while you can read you will stay on top of the brain fade and so you will never leave us. Perhaps it could be said ‘Old readers never die they just can’t turn the page’.
James is paid $10 for every bite that he can muster on The Standard. The National Party do pay for this from their own funds.
Today he has earned over $300 and is sniggering all the way to his favourite shop.
Remember this as each time you respond to his bait he gets richer.
Ten bucks!!!
Let’s starve him!
Can you cut and paste your comment under each of his posts, ianmac?
It’ll cost $10, but it’ll be worth it 🙂
Pffft $300 would go nowhere in my favourite shop.
H&F?
B&D
At 4 I wrote
“We can choose to allow rwnjs to derail this thread or we can ignore them.”
I could see the way things were panning out.
You can read the responses to my suggestion.
Top work to Greg Presland for being awarded his Labour Party life membership this afternoon.
Well deserved after so many campaigns, so many decades of hard political work.
Congrats to the Labour Party for recognising quality when they see it.
The authoritarian thug quashes any dissent.
A Moscow court on Wednesday sentenced a 77-year-old rights activist to 25 days in jail for calling for protests against a growing crackdown on young people.
Lev Ponomaryov, one of Russia’s most respected activists, told AFP that the powerful FSB security service was behind his detention.
“They are taking revenge against me because I am waging a war against the FSB,” the head of the For Human Rights movement told AFP by phone as he was being driven to a detention centre.
“The country is gradually inching towards mass political repressions,” he said, referring to the peak of Stalin-era purges.
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/russia-jails-elderly-activist-protest-call-173726882.html
Stuart Munro, are you still about? I miss you.
Banned till 3 Feb.
Ahh, ta, that’ll do it.
Only the passionate get banned.
Do you Incognito have a link or knows when it was – i like reading what happened.
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-14-11-2018/#comment-1550029 and scroll down from there.
One suggestion though or friendly request rather, please don’t re-open or re-litigate any moderation issues; it does nobody nor the TS any favours.
Thanks that was cool. No; I like the moderation – tough job though, thank goodness them and not me.
Kia ora the Am Show Chris its is cool that we have a lot more people giving help to the poor people who need it.
simon what about all the money shonky took from the poor and gave to the rich that will equate into millions a day into the rich hip pocket I will not raise gst.
land line polls are not a accurate take on the views of all kiwis run a poll on your religious views based on landline users and you will get a totally different result.
Rodger the buff kangaroo condolences to all the people whom cared for him.
Andrew we all no the trickle down effect is non existent as some wealthy people use any move they can to keep all the lollies to them selves .
duncan you would not see any of the improvement of poor peoples lives with your head high up in that ——– you never see the poor people Trust me I can see the common poor people with smile’s on there faces that tells a big story there Te tangata whenua culture and tangata and minority cultures are receiving the respect we deserve .
Aotearoa is one of the safes places on Papatuanuku to live and the greatest risk is strangers. This is the capitalist society have the people feel unsafe to worried to see the big picture that is our democracy is being undermined from the wealthy.
Ka kite ano P.S I see
Some Eco Maori music for the minute
Eco Maori is about leavening behind our grandchildren a healthy prosperous future
hence my post educating the tangata about our worlds reality’s and trumps reality .
The Republican Congress absolutely tried to shield the president,” he said. “The new Congress will not try to shield the president. It will try to get to the bottom of this in order to serve the American people and stop this massive fraud on the American people.”New court filings show Donald Trump was “at the center of a massive fraud” against the American people, the incoming chair of the House judiciary committee said on Sunday.
Mob mentality: how Mueller is working to turn Trump’s troops
Read more
Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat set to take over the panel in January, said Trump would have committed impeachable offenses if it is proven that he ordered his lawyer to make illegal payments to women to keep quiet about alleged sexual encounters.
“What these indictments and filings show is that the president was at the center of a massive fraud – several massive frauds against the American people,” Nadler said on CNN’s “State of the Union There’s a very real prospect that on the day Donald Trump leaves office, the justice department may indict him – that he may be the first president in quite some time to face the very real prospect of jail time,” Schiff said on CBS’s Face the Nation.
The California Democrat said the “powerful case” prosecutors made for Cohen to serve a prison sentence would apply “equally” to the man identified in filings as “Individual 1”: the president.
“To have the justice department basically say that the president of the United States not only coordinated but directed an illegal campaign scheme that may have had an election-altering impact is pretty breathtaking,” he said. Ana to kai links below.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/dec/09/donald-trump-michael-cohen-payments-impeachment-jerrold-nadler P.S the go oil party are all idiots who are so short sighted
Lets not let the worlds media turn one tragedy into a double whammy that will damage Aotearoa reputation as a safe place to come for a holiday there are citys the size of Aotearoa in America that have 500 murders a year .
Positive we have a Lady prime minister we have turned the corner to Equality our lady sports stars are getting more good publicity and some are getting payed for there great effords Maori and Pacific cultures people are getting more respect than we did in the past we have a government that is committed to fight Climate Change and inequality there are many more positive phenomenons happening in Aotearoa now than in the past .Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland: New Zealand’s bizarre landscape that’s ‘hell on earth ka kite ano link below .
https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/destinations/nz/109219315/waiotapu-thermal-wonderland-new-zealands-bizarre-landscape-thats-hell-on-earth
Deciding on a possible strike on 21 December?: Shades of the unconscionable Cooks and Stewards strikes on the Cook Strait ferries.
NO! Not now, later get tough if you are sure you are justified.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/377896/air-nz-unions-begin-urgent-talks-as-strike-looms
Get back, stay back, at work and you unions don’t start that neo lib nonsense that has brought so much despair to a mass of ordinary people when used by business and consultative government (with useful business cronies). There has been crookedness in government, so don’t let us have it occurring in unions too that show no community with the other workers in the nation. If that happens, then we are completely encircled by grasping people with dollars for eyeballs, unworthy of respect and support.
There should be no strikes held at times that upset people’s lives and time for getting together with family or children; the important times that we all live and breathe for. There is no excuse for this holiday threat, by the airline and other sector engineers who are not on the bones of their bums. But now seem to care nothing about others, some of whom are on the edge, and union behaviour like this shows they are prepared to put the nation’s economic functions under stress at their whim.
Unions that want fairer wages and conditions, must respect the meaning of fairness themselves, and when they put stress on the word and meaning of ‘fair’ they must follow and respect that understanding.
GWS get off Eco Maori’s coat tail use your own mana to float your views puppet muppet. because we have nothing incommon.
Its good that a lot of business can see past the veil of deceit money and lies to see that if we don’t dump carbon our Descendants Papatuanuku will turn into a nightmare on epic proportions.
The group of 414 institutional investors with $31 trillion under management say governments must take serious steps to cut emissions The largest ever group of institutional investors has called on governments around the world to urgently increase their efforts to meet the Paris climate change agreement goals.
The 414 global investors – which represent US$31 trillion of assets-under-management – say they are deeply concerned about the “ambition gap” that exists between governments’ commitments and what is needed to limit the global temperature increase to well below 2C above pre-industrial levels.
They say that gap is increasing the physical risks from climate change and hampering investors’ ability to properly allocate trillions of dollars needed to support the much-needed transition to a low carbon economy.
They have signed a “Global Investor Statement” to be handed to world leaders this week at the COP24 – the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Poland.
Sign up to the Green Light email to get the planet’s most important stories
Read more
The signatories include some of the world’s largest pension funds, asset managers and insurance companies, including Australian investors BT Financial Group, Australian Super, Cbus, HESTA, IFM Investors, Local Government Super, and VicSuper.
It is the single largest intervention from investors on climate change, surpassing even the one issued in Paris. Links Below ka kite ano. P.S green energy creates more jobs than carbon based energy.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/10/largest-ever-group-of-global-investors-call-for-more-action-to-meet-paris-targets
I could see that putin was playing the popular card on climate change this oil baron don’t give a ——– about our descendants future all he wants to do is turn back time to were Russia was a super power as for Saudi Arabia they are in the same waka they were playing the popular card to till the last minute and showing there true colors a power hungry regime who will let there descendants burn for that power
US and Russia ally with Saudi Arabia to water down climate pledge
The US and Russia have thrown climate talks into disarray by allying with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to water down approval of a landmark report on the need to keep global warming below 1.5C.
After a heated two-and-a-half-hour debate on Saturday night, the backwards step by the four major oil producers shocked delegates at the UN climate conference in Katowice as ministers flew in for the final week of high-level discussions.
It has also raised fears among scientists that the US president, Donald Trump, is going from passively withdrawing from climate talks to actively undermining them alongside a coalition of climate deniers.
‘We live in a lobstocracy’: Maine town is feeling the effects of climate change
Read more
Two months ago, representatives from the world’s governments hugged after agreeing on the 1.5C report by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), commissioned to spell out the dire consequences should that level of warming be exceeded and how it can be avoided. Links below ka kite ano .P.S the rest of the world need to be strong and the will of the people will prevail he tangata he tangat he tangata that count in 2018.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/09/us-russia-ally-saudi-arabia-water-down-climate-pledges-un
Kia ora Newshub Ka pai to our Prime minister for apologizing for the murder of that young lady holidaying in Aotearoa.
I totally agree with Lizzy men needs respect Wahine I will give a story on this later.
simon this show me that national is use to having the police dance to there tune with shonky tack ticks.
Yes most of the movie we watch promote alcohol way to much for my liking .
The NZ Transport agency CEO has stepped down I still say six monthly WOF should not have been scrapped for modem vehicles.
There you go if it smells like one look’s like one & behaves like one than he’s a cheating bulling lair .
Mike that’s working outside the square box in advertising to OUR Guest what they are doing wrong in NZ is being a respectful responsible host country Ka pai.
Here we go another man disrespecting Wahine jarod hanes .
shonky & bills poverty tsunami effect is still rolling in the trickle down effect is a big con job being played out on a world scale buy capitalist.
Ken is a good kiwi bloke and Kati Kati is a beautiful little place.
Ka kite ano
Kia ora James & Mulls from the Crows Goes Wild our cricketers all have a sore face ka pai
Our winter sports stars are having a great time at world events .
Our Allblacks 7 team don’t have to worry about that minor hickup in South Africa .
She is amazing that young Asian girl singing there national anthem James
Steven is a good coach all the best to the Warriors.
Looks like some one is damaging the brand of America.
Ka kite ano
Some Eco Maori Music for the minute
Kia ora the Am Show may brexit is doom to fail now everyone knows who created it to distract Europe on climate change and Equality for all foreigners interfering in Europe.
I say that all boards should have maori & Wahine representation on them I see some people were making fun of our ancient story’s and culture the big picture is our culture respects the ancestors and the decedents and Papatuanuku unlike some who live for the now and only respect themselves with that grain of thought they are stuffing up OUR future.
That’s the Chrismas spirit Jacinda you have achieved a enormous feat against the tide of neo capitalist money that distorts reality to conform with there elitist greedy short sighted view’s .
I say our government is thinking long term at least we have started changing the law so people who need medical weed will be able to use it legally.
The whole world needs to show the Wahine more respect .
There you go duncan automatically giving a tohu to a man over wahine if he had the best brain why is he leaving A. because his party made a big mess of Aotearoa with his votes chris finlayson .
All the best to Marina on her new Journey in life.
Ka kite ano
Some Eco Maori Music for the minute.
To scotty morrison you will need a big box of tissues after the Australian elections next year carbon pro fool running around after another fool trump scotty cannot even see some thing if it was right under his nose
Australia has reaffirmed its commitment to coal – and its unwavering support for the United States – by appearing at a US government-run event promoting the use of fossil fuels at the United Nations climate talks in Poland.
Australia was the only country apart from the host represented at the event, entitled “US innovative technologies spur economic dynamism”, designed to “showcase ways to use fossil fuels as cleanly and efficiently as possible, as well as the use of emission-free nuclear energy”.
Its panel discussion was disrupted for several minutes by dozens of protesters who stood up suddenly during speeches, unfurling a banner reading “Keep it in the ground” while singing and chanting “Shame on you”.
How America’s clean coal dream unravelled
Read more
Patrick Suckling, Australia’s ambassador for the environment, and the head of the country’s negotiating delegation at the climate talks, spoke on the panel. His nameplate bore a US flag. Ka kite ano link below P.S the sandfly have been stuffing with my computer again muppets
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/11/australia-only-nation-to-
join-us-at-pro-coal-event-at-cop24-climate-talks
Eco Maori agrees with this cartoon
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/dec/10/global-commitment-to-climate-change-dies-on-the-floor-of-a-committee-and-australia-is-silent
Ka kite ano
The big picture is the kocoal brothers have trump on a string like a puppet and he is dancing to there tune.
US undermining ‘last chance’ climate talks, experts charge
The American delegation came to promote coal.
And the kids laughed in their faces.
That was the bizarre and symbolic scene that unfolded Monday at the UN COP24 climate talks at a spaceship-shaped conference center in Polish coal country.
The nations of the world are meeting here to hash out a “rulebook” to help ensure the viability of humanity — preventing runaway global warming from causing even greater calamity in the form of superstorms, searing droughts and deadly heat waves.
Ka kite ano links below.
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/12/10/world/climate-change-us-coal-cop24/index.htmlhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClU3fctbGls
Here you go our truth seeking scientist have been intimidated & suppressed by some state agency’s and big business groups they have been warning us about our wai and awa becoming to toxic to swim in we need to look after our wai .There are very strong disincentives for speaking out,” Death said.
“For those of us who do speak out, our funding is clearly impacted, and we don’t get as much funding as we would get [if we didn’t] speak out about various industry bodies in New Zealand.
“We do have to speak out, and we are allowed to speak out, but we speak out at our peril and our cost.”
In his address, Death said New Zealand’s water quality was not “something to be overly proud about,” citing its rate of endangered native freshwater species – which was the highest in the world – and its rate of waterborne disease, which was among the highest in the western world.
He also cited deaths related to contaminated drinking water, as seen in the Havelock North disaster in 2016, in which an outbreak New Zealand’s freshwater scientists had done valuable, at times world-leading research, Death said, but scientists – as well as the Society itself, for which he had been a member for 30 years – needed to stand up and push aggressively for their science to be practically applied.
“I think we really do need to do better,” Death said. “We are the expert body of freshwater science in New Zealand, and we are the people that can have an effect.
“I like to think we could be a little more supportive of those of us who speak out. I think Mike Joy in particular has been vilified for speaking out – a lot of us congratulate him for doing it because we’re scared to do it ourselves. ka kite ano links below
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/109213762/we-speak-out-at-our-peril-science-on-water-quality-has-been-ignored-scientist-says
Kia ora Newshub yes we need everyone to give our wahine more respect I have a story about the police’s response to one complainant.
There you go this is just a start to the cannabis reforms its a pity we did not get it passed to limit Helen Kellys pain ????? .
seenothing the regions have been farmed and starved of money from the goverment you supported for the last nine years they poured the money into bill south island M8 to the tune of hundreds on millions .
Yes a warming tangaroa is bad for our fishes we have seen big changes in fisheries over seas red algae blooms killing of fishes to and still we have climate change deniers .
Samantha yes trumps smocking gun well its is affecting America quite negatively the last time a go oil party president got the wheel he caused a world financial crises this one is doing more damage in a quarter of the time.
That is great news to stop company’s bottling our water and exporting it with little financial gain for Aotearoa.
Its good to see that the IPCA is doing its job finding that the first police investigation of that 13 year old girl and a teacher from Gisborne was differently not on you see what it tell me that the law is dish out unfairly its who you know Ka kite ano
Kia ora James & Mulls good waiata with Marina James it sounds like our tennis stars need more Tau toko.
That was a awesome try that won the Wahine 7 gold medal at the games guy Ka pai.
I see Hartley has Porse backing him for there E racing team he said there was a lot of politics in Formal 1 racing ECO Maori could see that he has a quick lap times. Electric cars are the future I see some big car companies did not jump on the bandwagon of Ecar why because they make more profits off enternal combustion car parts than they make off there cars.
Storm the snoop sports reporter the net ball Wahine stars will shine bright.
Steven Adams is cool showing the aroha to the children on a good day I can hear a Haka from some of his biggest fans.
Ka kite ano P.S I have to switch device you know why