Paging Pascal’s bookie,wakey wakey, here’s the reply to your rude interruption of the debate in yesterday’s ‘Open Mike’,
Note that ALL of the actions in ‘Operation Cyclone’ were the result of secret ‘directive 166’ signed first by President Jimmy Carter and later expanded by President Ronald Reagan,
Your claims that Arab groups fighting in the Afghan/Soviet war were only funded and armed by Saudi and other Arab states funneled through the Pakistani intelligence service are rather spurious considering the information now available,
Operation Cyclone- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia,
Bugger, another link that won’t, don’t know what’s with that, but ask the question of Google ‘US funds for groups fighting in Afghan/Soviet war’ and it should take to the page i tried to link to…
If your in for a ‘looong read’ which details ALL the players in the Afghan/Soviet war, the personal connections from the CIA to President Ronald Reagan meeting bin Laden’s older brother at the White-House, (along with such niceties as some of the ‘high-ups’ in bin Laden’ various organizations being aided by the CIA to repeatedly gain visa to enter the US despite being on the ‘terrorist watchlist’) there’s this,
You’ve ignored most of what I said, and have, as predicted, conflated mujaheddin with AQ.
Here’s your initial; claim:
You have to get with the real picture, prior to September 11 Al Qaeda were US funded and armed assets during the Soviet/Afghan war
Operation cyclone was about supporting the mujaheddin, and there is no conclusive evidence that OBL was funded. The implication that he was directly funded by the US is even harder to substantiate, which is probably why you are having such a hard time coming up with any good direct sources or quotes.
Nope i haven’t confused Al Qaeda and the Mujaheddin at all, they were all inter-connected during the Afghan/Soviet war so what funded the Mujahidden also at the same time funded Al Qaeda,
Riiiight, perhaps you think i mean that the CIA passed suitcases full of used 20’s directly to bin Laden, spurious, the funding went to the Pakistani intelligence network from the US, (billions of dollars),and was then distributed by the Pakistani intelligence network either directly as arms or laundered through the BCCI bank,
I suggest you read ‘The complete 911 Timeline: The Soviet-Afghan war which you obviously haven’t otherwise you would not be replying with such lame comments…
I’ve read the timeline. It’s a bit of a curate’s egg to be honest. It often claims certain things to be facts based on not much more than “x reported that unnamed source told him y”, which is a data point to be sure, but absent corroboration, not one that given much weight.*
It would better if it just left it at the ‘X reports’ and laid of on the implications that Y was true.
Based on what you’ve written though. I’d suggest you need to do a lot more reading. A good primer is “The Looming Tower”. It really is worth the time and money invested if you want to know what everyone is claiming and how much evidence exists for the claims.
Nope i haven’t confused Al Qaeda and the Mujaheddin at all, they were all inter-connected during the Afghan/Soviet war so what funded the Mujahidden also at the same time funded Al Qaeda,
I said you conflated the Mujaheddin and AQ.
‘Conflate’, as in, ‘assume that funding one is the same as funding the other’, as in, “so what funded the Mujahidden also at the same time funded Al Qaeda”.
You claimed AQ was a cia/US asset during the 70s and 80’s war. As suppport for this, the only thing you’ve presented is that the US gave money to the ISI to distribute to Mujaheddin. As I predicted.
I think you need to read that timeline yourself, pay attention to it this time.
Now how about justifying your doubts about Assad’s weapons? ( Prediction: ‘The US claimed saddam had WMD in 03 but he didn’t; therefore Assad doesn’t have them now’)
And tell me about my belief system and how it hasn’t changed; another unsupported statement you claimed to have some knowledge about.
*(It’s ironic that many of the claims in the timeline rely on a single MSM report of a statement made by an individual, but I guess that because the timeline itself isn’t MSM, you think, well, I don’t know what you think, but it’s amusing none-the-less)
Yes exactly, during the Afghan/Soviet war Al Qaeda was not so called, what funded the Mujahidden also funded all the Saudi’s and ‘other’s’ who joined the fight,
If you had of read the timeline you would know that bin Laden spent a large part of that war on the Pakistan side of the border funnelling the Saudi and ‘other’ fighters along with the arms across the border to the two main groups of Mujahidden,
It is obvious from the Presidential ‘directive 166’ and operation cyclone that the CIA supplied Osama bin Laden with arms and money and just as obvious that as proof of this you would only accept a ‘confession’ from both the CIA and the White-House which obviously will not be forthcoming,
Carry on with your hilarious belief in the goodness of apple pie and Uncle Sam,
Next you will be denying that prior to the first bombing of the world trade center bin Laden had a recruitment and funding office operating in New York and other US cities…
It isn’t ‘obvious’ at all, it’s an assumption based on ‘not much’. What is obvious is that your ‘knowledge’ stems from things like ‘the timeline’ which you seem to put an enormous weight on. Which is fine as far as it goes, but it’s not analysis, and it’s based on superficial stuff. You should try ‘books’.
Carry on with your hilarious belief in the goodness of apple pie and Uncle Sam,
citation required.
My belief is that the US wasn’t in any sort of control of what was going on, especially with regard to OBL. You seem to think that the US is some sort of ghost in the machine, that everything that happens, happens at their direction.
You claimed that AQ was a CIA asset in the 80s. That’s just laughable and you’ve provided no evidence for it. As is your claim that AQ are ‘basically mercenaries and guns for hire’.
No evidence for doubt about Assad’s wepaons either then?
Yes i should hunt out the book printed by ‘Time’ magazine which says much the same as what i have been saying and much the same as what the timeline also says not to forget the Wikipedia,
You are now retreating to a pathetic default position where you put up comments about what you ‘think’ i think,
Where have i said that the US were in immediate control of bin Laden??? well i didn’t, not even a slight insinuation,
What the CIA was ultimately in control of,(yes along with the Saudi’s) was the money and arms flow to the Pakistani’s who then used bin Laden and others to distribute these arms among the Jihadists,
Provided along with these arms and monies was also an ongoing series of satellite images of specific targets which they wished attacked,
Were the CIA on the ground at any time in Afghanistan giving orders, not likely their involvement was a supposed secret,(in terms of deniability), why do you think they suffered the Pakistani’s skimming the money supposedly for use in Afghanistan,
Untill recently even ‘Presidential directive 166’ was classified information and at the time that directive was issued by Carter it was simply a matter between His administration and the CIA with no over-sight from any other body…
“Where have i said that the US were in immediate control of bin Laden??? well i didn’t, not even a slight insinuation,”
” He who was captured [Mohamed al-Zawahiri] is just as likely to be in the employ of either the UN or the US via the Saudi Government,
You have to get with the real picture, prior to September 11 Al Qaeda were US funded and armed assets during the Soviet/Afghan war,”
That’s a pretty clear ‘insinuation’.
It doesn’t much look like, ‘Prior to forminh AQ OBL was raising funds and distributing them in Afghanistan and had some links with the ISI, who were also distributing US monies’.
But if that’s all you meant by ’employ’ and ‘US funded and armed assets’ and ‘AQ’, then fine I guess.
What you are describing is ‘deniability’, if the US provided the arms, money, and satellite photo’s through a third party to those opposing the Soviet’s in Afghanistan who is funding such opposition, the third party perhaps???…
And if you think anyone would need WMD as a Casus belli to go into Syria at the moment, you should read a newspaper from the last year. They could have gone in under ‘ duty to protect’ at any time.
You could try evaluating why they haven’t, (hint: it’s a shit fight with no good options) but that might challenge your pre-concieved notions about what’s going on.
Are these the same caring foreign countries who are supplying arms, financing and logistical support to the Rebels and assorted Salafi jihadists tearing up civilian areas?
what funded the Mujahidden also funded all the Saudi’s and ‘other’s’ who joined the fight,
large parts of your timeline directly contradict this. Much of the US funding was skimmed by the ISI if your timeline is to be taken as gospel. The funding OBL was attracting from wealthy saudis is what carried the war, according to your timeline. But your timeline contradicts itself in several places, doesn’t it?
Yeah i have read it close enough to know your talking s**t when you claim that the ‘timeline’ shows that ”the funding bin Laden was attracting from wealthy Saudis is what carried the war”…
Now how about justifying your doubts about Assad’s weapons? ( Prediction: ‘The US claimed saddam had WMD in 03 but he didn’t; therefore Assad doesn’t have them now’)
More like – information and claims about middle east WMD in 2003 proved extremely unreliable, information and claims about middle east WMD in 2013 may be equally unreliable.
of course it makes sense. In 1991 WMD was not seen as the all-encompassing rationale for invasion and regime change that it became after 9/11. Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait was the big trigger for allied action in 1991, not WMD.
What’s that got to do with doubting whether or not Assad has WMD?
I reckon he’s got them, based on the fact he claims to have them, is not a member of any of the relevant treaties banning them, and what we know about his programs.
Bad12 seems to think it’s doubtful, but he doesn’t seem to want to talk about it or say why.
So you accept the point that the environment surrounding the treatment of WMD has moved far on from 1991? Good.
Now, if Assad has WMD he’s had them for years and not used them against civilians AFAIK. So now we are back to the post 9/11 WMD pretext for regime change a la Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld.
BTW Syria does not have the most powerful WMD in the Middle East not governed by international treaties, by far. But you know this.
But the reactions are all important PB. After all, Assad has probably had WMD for many years (and Israel likely has the most powerful WMD of any middle east country). But today, after 9/11 and 2003, it’s become an effective pretext for waging war. A true, presumptive, convenient, casus belli a la Iraq.
Great quote from Sarah Teather in the UK Parliament during a debate on social security reforms…so applicable here too…and further evidence of the Crosby technique that they have just bought into there…so familiar!
“In an atmosphere of uncertainty and limited resources, where every family in this country is struggling, there is a natural tendency to try and find someone to blame for our own woes. A fissure already exists between the working and non-working poor. Hammering on that faultline with the language of shirkers and strivers will have long-term impacts on public attitudes, on attitudes of one neighbour against another. It will make society less generous, less sympathetic, less able to co-operate. The marginalisation of the undeserving poor will place one group outwith society entirely over time and leave them less able to make choices about their own lives and less able to participate. That fragmentation of society is, for me, the spectre of broken Britain and it is one that we should worry about hastening at our peril.”
Unfortunately all across the Western World the same template of denigration is being applied by politicians,
Unemployment is simply a reflection of the success or FAILURE of the economic ism adhered to by the various political factions, rather than address the FAILURE of such policy they choose to address negatively the visible manifestation of the FAILURE, the unemployed,
Economically there’s a wealth transfer occurring which is at the heart of the unemployment numbers where as the 1%ers gather unto themselves greater amounts of ‘wealth’ the middle classes who act as (sometimes unwitting), agents of that wealth transfer are protected by the political system directly favoring one class over another,
Symptoms of this overt favoring of the middle classes being, interest free student loans, working for families tax credits, tax cuts, so called ma and pa asset sales, and ‘plans’ to shoe horn those who can afford to service a 300+ thousand dollar mortgage into home ownership,
The only one of such policies that i would qualify as being based upon ‘NEED’ would be the interest free student loans,
Having said that, education should be funded from ‘Social Credit’ and not from the taxpayer base which is simply a means by which education is allowed to be rationed among the population…
And how the lying bastard politicians shamelessly beat that drum to divide society……..their primary purpose being to win and lengthen tenure at the public trough. All the while loftily proclaiming how decent-values stuffed they are and how much they care. They’re scum really.
And how the majority of the players in the embedded media, self-important oracles along for the ride, delightedly, effervescently often, report on how well the drum is beaten…….on how well the “game” is played.
+1 and the current Labour caucus is playing that tune to the delight of the hollowmen. This theme will get rolled out against then in 2014.
How many troughers do you see in the likes of Ducky, Kingy, etc now all been there done that, tried and failed again yet not standing aside for the fresh blood.
The basic problem is that to get most people to understand the intricacies of the Global Financial Crisis and the wholesale looting of various countries treasuries by the rich is too difficult yet people need someone to blame. Western media continuously plays up the desirability of being rich and consuming excessively so the wealthy cannot be attacked. And since the demise of the Soviet Union communists cannot be blamed, even though the Tea Party delusionally thinks they can.
So who do we have left? Beneficiaries are the easiest to bash. There is always one individual amongst a group of hundreds of thousands that can be accused of some sort of shirking behaviour and then they can be blamed for all our problems.
I agree with the gist of this sentiment, however it’s not that pointing out the bad guys is hard, they are the Douglas/Richardson/Fay/Richwhite/Key crowd.
It’s that it’s impossible to point to any good guys around who are presenting Real Alternatives.
Here’s film director Ken Loach making the same point, devastatingly, on BBC television, goading the leonine Thatcher henchman Michael Heseltine into a display of apoplectic fury…
He makes the good point that i often make, here in New Zealand some 7 billion dollars of owed tax is either ‘avoided’ or evaded’ annually,
If that ‘avoidance’ were to be classes as criminal evasion and effort brought to bear on actually collecting this owed taxation Governments wouldn’t be scrabbling round looking to point the finger of blame at the unemployed who have no means of avoiding such tax, for their, (Governments), stupid mismanagement of the economy,
The same excuse of course will be trotted out here as that Tory piece of s**t trotted out in the Utube vid, ”Oh we can’t expect the rich to pay all the tax they owe, they will en masse take all their wealth and flee the country”,
Luckily i don’t get to sit in the same room as any of these ‘people’, hearing such speech drives me into spasms of violent thought…
“The basic problem is that to get most people to understand the intricacies of the Global Financial Crisis and the wholesale looting of various countries treasuries by the rich is too difficult”
Without wanting to sound self serving, that’s an added bonus to my fight to save stan heather park in Hamilton West. Not only would it safeguard a community facility, but give the local people a clear example of wealth transfer in their backyards. The ideas I’ve sent to various parties and organisations and all without reply, show how this local issue could set a national agenda for 2014. It’s so simple, I can’t understand why no-one’s doing it already.
Show the people the fight, teach them how to win it, help them to victory. Whoever does that could take the 6 west ward councillors in the 2013 local elections, and perhaps a good shot at forcing a cup of tea from sue moroney in 2014.
4-10k votes elected 6 ward wallies. Our three suburbs could do that easy.
Hi Al1en. Very nice. A concrete in your face issue used as a demonstrator for the values we are talking about. It allows those in the neighbourhood to inquire further into political economics, without having to start a postgrad degree in the subject.
I’d be very interested in reading some more detail on your ideas – would you please forward to lee.adama@gmx.com? (I will reply via the Std if that’s OK).
No worries, though you’ll have to wade through my pigeon English to get there.
The choice here is more money to a developer or free food for the hungry.
\Doesn’t get more in your face and direct than that. Classic good v evil clash.
Beat them here over a local issue, and who knows what a nationwide launch could achieve?
I’d go at least 5% with the right personnel.
Nice work, go hard.
How can Hardaker claim “”It’s good news for the city as it will be open to the public.” when it’s being turned from park into developed suburbia.
Some mates of hamilton rugby no doubt will be profiting nicely as it’s now reported as sold. Historically wouldn’t this have been gifted to them like Ellerslie racecouse was so sort of like selling on your inheritance.
How the F did such a booming city get into such a mess TA ? The growth in/around Te Rapa with suburbia and te Awa /the base etc, what happened.
Hardaker was on TV (campbell live) when the Chiefs were winning something at last, extolling how Hamilton is a rugby town and how she’s right behind Hamilton rugby. Hypocrite politicians, I shit them.
Asked all those questions, got no answers. The head of the Hamilton rugby union couldn’t ‘remember’ the name of the secret developer that just stumped up $2m, six months before the new district plan is live.
If it smells, looks and tastes like shit, it usually is.
If the rezoning is refused, then the market price drops drastically. Worthless to a developer, priceless to a trust run market garden.
Just got to announce a better use for the land than a money maker for the 1% and raise the cash by donation and all sales of my anonymous cd.
Being part of the 99% means there’s more of us than them, right? Makes it won before it even starts. 😆
Best Practice Dec.12: Did you know that it is estimated by 2026 20,000 NZers will require palliative care to rest in peace?
Pain-the most prevalent symptom preceding all deaths occurring in palliative care settings on NZ
Opioids, also indicated for the treatment of breathlessnes in p.c, sigh, deep breath,
Pain Assessment-STAS-Support Team Assessment Schedule
or,
PACSLAC for seniors
“Total Pain”-a subjective experience, influenced by
physical-psychological-social-spiritual elemants
threshold may be raised through positive influences
-improved sleep, companionship, sympathy,sic (empathy), fear reduction
expression of negative emotions valid: REAL frustrations exist about bureaucracy, diagnostic delays, lack of resources and treatment failure.
1. Morphine the most extensively studied, widely available and commonly used opioid in p.c
-active opioid metabolites can accumulate through impairments
-opioid toxicity; myoclonic spasms, excessive sedation, confusion, restlessness, hallucination
2.Oral oxy-codone (that’s slipped into NZ in recent times; severely abused in the U.S)
Adversities;
constipation expected
Nausea-distressing yet often transitory; trial various anti-emetics
-Haloperidol if chemo-receptor trigger zone induced
-Metoclopramide if reduced G.I motility
-Cyclizine-if vestibular stimulation
Drowsiness-often transitory,resolved over a period of days; persistence may indicate toxicity
11.8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land. (13, admittedly, we are aliens and strangers upon the earth)
Surah 13: 32 Mocked were many Messengers
Before thee: but I granted
Respite to the Unbelievers
And finally I punished them:
Then how terrible was My requital!
Pr.11.6
A kindhearted woman gains respect, but ruthless men gain only wealth.
(I have never been interested in the work of sacha baron cohen, his cousin Simon, yes; and Seinfeld? Woody Allen on a donut, such self-obsessed characters about nothing imo)
In the year following the theft of the Mona Lisa in 1911 by Vincenzo Peruggia more people went to gaze at the empty space than in the year before: Presence (seen the art work on the cover) Absence
“We are in a predominantly mechanical, materialistic phase that has led to a desacralizing of the cosmos. This may yet have disastrous ecological consequences, given the predictions of climate science, though the worst may be abated by recovering the “ancient ideas of sacred groves or holy springs”, The deep truth about matter which neither Descartes or Newton realized, is that over the course of four billion years, molten rocks transformed themselves into monarch butterflies,blue herons and the exalted music of Mozart (Rock me Amadeus) http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/amadeus/. Ignorant of this stupendous process (stupidly) we fell into the fantasy that our role here was to reign (Objectively) over matter.
-Journey of the Universe; Brian Swimme (comologist) and Mary Tucker (ecologist)
“We have to admit the disastrous course of Business as usual; Rather, invest in scientific research, including in the Social Sciences, to find all possible openings (any port in a storm); agree to a great extent on what can be done; negotiate in Good Faith as to who will do what; and stick with the overall plan through thick and thin, despite inevitable short-term crises”
“Earth is negotiating with us right now and waiting patiently-cometh the hour, cometh the political Leadership?-for a Good Faith reply. If humans don’t make it, the universe has plenty of time and space to evolve intelligence again, yet humanity will be sloughed off as if we had never been”
-Joel Primack (physicist) and Nancy Abrams (philosopher)
Not concluding that everyone will agree on what is “sacred” http://www.literaryreview.co.uk/gray_12_10.html
one conclusion is that sacred values lie at the heart of 21st century conflicts. Further,until they are recognized as such, these conflicts will Escalate and Perpetuate, not be won or lessened.
(reasearch has shown that “Palestinian hard-liners were more willing to recognize the right of Israel to exist, if the Israelis apologized for suffering caused to Palestinians civilians in the 1948 war) -Vernon
Why is our century worse than any other?
Is it that in the stupor of fear and grief
It has plunged it’s fingers in the blackest ulcer,
Yet cannot bring relief?
Westward the sun is dropping,
And the roofs of towns are dropping in it’s light.
Already death is chalking doors with crosses
And calling the ravens and the ravens are in flight.
-Anna Akhmatova
Karl Marx was playing a parlour game
with his daughters. To their question
What is the quality one should most abhor?
he wrote; Servility.
This was found-a scrap of paper
amongst the family albums and letters;
it is the most essential of all
the Complete Works.
-Robert Gray
It takes much time to kill a tree
The hand that signed the paper felled a city;
Five sovereign fingers taxed the breath,
Doubled the globe of dead and halved a country;
These five kings did a king to death.
Also as an aside is there any chance that someone could have got my email address from here to add me on facebook? I got a random friend request from someone with some high profile left leaning friends and cannot figure out why they would have added me. I realise more than likely it was just someone adding me by accident, but thought I would check if anyone else had got this or there was any chance it came from here.
I think it would be highly unlikely it came from here.
Might be a fb group or like you made a while ago?
The other option is that it’s someone you did actually meet ages ago and forgot about – happened to me a couple of times. Turned out they knew me from years back.
Dom
-Treaty spawns a Legion of lawyers
-thankfully settlements have risen
yet,
-numbers of lawyers willing to “represent” falling
-$$$ stacked in govts court
-HNZ earthquake-prone stocks unsettling people
-17 Billion bicycles, I mean planets above Beijing
– 1 Trillion dollar platinum Federal coin
-“silliness before disaster”-Krugman
-(accounting manoeuvres only deploy ’til February 😉
-The Biggest Bank in The Whole Wide World, China’s ICBC growing a branch in NZ
-“primed” to launch-Amanda Lu
-unlikely to need to stop at red lights-Claire Matthews
meanwhile, back in the kitchen (Aus “dome of heat”)
-Bureau of Meteorology’s temperature forecast chart adds Deep Purple (Oh my love it’s a long way, where you’re from it’s a long way) and Pink to spectrum and extend range to 54 Degrees C
(all time record high, 50.7 C in 1960 at Oodnadatta)
Are you on a benefit, scared of facing life off the benefit, have you been shafted on the benefit, are you perhaps even informed and know that a nasty piece of legislation called the “Social Security (Benefit Categories and Work Focus) Amendment Bill” is right before Parliament now, being looked at by the Social Services Committee, likely to hear more submissions soon???
Better WAKE up, LEARN what the hell goes down and on, have a read of the bill on Parliament’s website, or on the sites found under following links:
I get it, your parents are rich, your parents are secure middle class, you have some savings, you studied and will get a good and well-paying job, if need be in Australia, you will “never” have to rely on the dole or any other benefit, as you will be fit and healthy for ALL times, right?!
Learn the bloody lessons of live, open your lazy ears and eyes, take a look, have a read, as this is extremely important. No, it will not just “deal to” so-called “bludgers”, “breeding solo mums” and “maligners” on sick and invalid’s benefits. The whole system will change, it will get REAL mean and you will in most cases be affected at one or another time in YOUR bloody life, dear reader.
Now the Ministry of Social (Under) Development, of social exclusion, of meanness, under the bullying Minister in charge, has launched a bloody SURVEY, to serve it’s cause and get the ignorant, blue eyed, naive and good-believing folk out there to offer ideas, suggestions and feed-back on the reforms, solely designed to “assist” the poor and so much neglected sick, injured and disabled into real good value work!?
Propaganda from and for the bottom level of inputters has never been any “sweeter”, not even Master demagogues like Goebbels, Mussolini and Hitler would have thought of such a smart scheme to “involve” all those so “concerned”.
So there you are, able to give your “input”. I am sure Farrar, Whale soil and whatever kinds of their following have already been online day and night, to offer their “advice” and support to MSD.
So dear Standardistas, get off your bloody arses, go there, and deliver also your, and your valued friend’s advice, suggestions and feedback now. It must be done, or the masters of demagoguery will win.
Get onto it, tell them what you think and feel on the MSD website, NOW, please!!!
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One of the best speakers I ever saw was Sir Paul Callaghan.One of the most enthusiastic receptions I have ever, ever seen for a speaker was for Sir Paul Callaghan.His favourite topic was: Aotearoa and what we were doing with it.He did not come to bury tourism and agriculture but ...
The Tertiary Education Union is predicting a “brutal year” for the tertiary sector as 240,000 students and teachers at Te Pūkenga face another year of uncertainty. The Labour Party are holding their caucus retreat, with Chris Hipkins still reflecting on their 2023 election loss and signalling to media that new ...
The Prime Minister’s State of the Nation speech is an exercise in smoke and mirrors which deflects from the reality that he has overseen the worst economic growth in 30 years, said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff. “Luxon wants to “go for growth” but since he and Nicola ...
People get readyThere's a train a-comingYou don't need no baggageYou just get on boardAll you need is faithTo hear the diesels hummingDon't need no ticketYou just thank the LordSongwriter: Curtis MayfieldYou might have seen Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde's speech at the National Prayer Service in the US following Trump’s elevation ...
Long stories short, the six things of interest in the political economy in Aotearoa around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday January 23 are:PM Christopher Luxon’s State of the Nation speech after midday today, which I’ll attend and ask questions at;Luxon is expected to announce “new changes to incentivise research ...
I’m trying a new way to do a more regular and timely daily Dawn Choruses for paying subscribers through a live video chat about the day’s key six things @ 6.30 am lasting about 10 minues. This email is the invite to that chat on the substack app on your ...
Yesterday, Trump pardoned the founder of Silk Road - a criminal website designed to anonymously trade illicit drugs, weapons and services. The individual had been jailed for life in 2015 after an FBI sting.But libertarian interest groups had lobbied Donald Trump, saying it was “government overreach” to imprison the man, ...
The Prime Minister will unveil more of his economic growth plan today as it becomes clear that the plan is central to National’s election pitch in 2026. Christopher Luxon will address an Auckland Chamber of Commerce meeting with what is being billed a “State of the Nation” speech. Ironically, after ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). 2025 has only just begun, but already climate scientists are working hard to unpick what could be in ...
The NZCTU’s view is that “New Zealand’s future productivity to 2050” is a worthwhile topic for the upcoming long-term insights briefing. It is important that Ministers, social partners, and the New Zealand public are aware of the current and potential productivity challenges and opportunities we face and the potential ...
The NZCTU supports a strengthening of the Commerce Act 1986. We have seen a general trend of market consolidation across multiple sectors of the New Zealand economy. Concentrated market power is evident across sectors such as banking, energy generation and supply, groceries, telecommunications, building materials, fuel retail, and some digital ...
The maxim is as true as it ever was: give a small boy and a pig everything they want, and you will get a good pig and a terrible boy.Elon Musk the child was given everything he could ever want. He has more than any one person or for that ...
A food rescue organisation has had to resort to an emergency plea for donations via givealittle because of uncertainty about whether Government funding will continue after the end of June. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories short in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Wednesday, January 22: Kairos Food ...
Leo Molloy's recent "shoplifting" smear against former MP Golriz Ghahraman has finally drawn public attention to Auror and its database. And from what's been disclosed so far, it does not look good: The massive privately-owned retail surveillance network which recorded the shopping incident involving former MP Golriz Ghahraman is ...
The defence of common law qualified privilege applies (to cut short a lot of legal jargon) when someone tells someone something in good faith, believing they need to know it. Think: telling the police that the neighbour is running methlab or dobbing in a colleague to the boss for stealing. ...
NZME plans to cut 38 jobs as it reorganises its news operations, including the NZ Herald, BusinessDesk, and Newstalk ZB. It said it planned to publish and produce fewer stories, to focus on those that engage audience. E tū are calling on the Government to step in and support the ...
Data released by Statistics New Zealand today showed that inflation remains unchanged at 2.2%, defying expectations of further declines, said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “While inflation holding steady might sound like good news, the reality is that prices for the basics—like rent, energy, and insurance—are still rising. ...
I never mentioned anythingAbout the songs that I would singOver the summer, when we'd go on tourAnd sleep on floors and drink the bad beerI think I left it unclearSong: Bad Beer.Songwriter: Jacob Starnes Ewald.Last night, I was watching a movie with Fi and the kids when I glanced ...
Last night I spoke about the second inauguration of Donald Trump with in a ‘pop-up’ Hoon live video chat on the Substack app on phones.Here’s the summary of the lightly edited video above:Trump's actions signify a shift away from international law.The imposition of tariffs could lead to increased inflation ...
An interesting article in Stuff a few weeks ago asked a couple of interesting questions in it’s headline, “How big can Auckland get? And how big is too big?“. Unfortunately, the article doesn’t really answer those questions, instead focusing on current growth projections, but there were a few aspects to ...
Today is Donald J Trump’s second inauguration ceremony.I try not to follow too much US news, and yet these developments are noteworthy and somehow relevant to us here.Only hours in, parts of their Project 2025 ‘think/junk tank’ policies — long planned and signalled — are already live:And Elon Musk, who ...
How long is it going to take for the MAGA faithful to realise that those titans of Big Tech and venture capital sitting up close to Donald Trump this week are not their allies, but The Enemy? After all, the MAGA crowd are the angry victims left behind by the ...
California Burning: The veteran firefighters of California and Los Angeles called it “a perfect storm”. The hillsides and canyons were full of “fuel”. The LA Fire Department was underfunded, below-strength, and inadequately-equipped. A key reservoir was empty, leaving fire-hydrants without the water pressure needed for fire hoses. The power companies had ...
The Waitangi Tribunal has been one of the most effective critics of the government, pointing out repeatedly that its racist, colonialist policies breach te Tiriti o Waitangi. While it has no powers beyond those of recommendation, its truth-telling has clearly gotten under the government's skin. They had already begun to ...
I don't mind where you come fromAs long as you come to meBut I don't like illusionsI can't see them clearlyI don't care, no I wouldn't dareTo fix the twist in youYou've shown me eventually what you'll doSong: Shimon Moore, Emma Anzai, Antonina Armato, and Tim James.National Hugging Day.Today, January ...
Is Rwanda turning into a country that seeks regional dominance and exterminates its rivals? This is a contention examined by Dr Michela Wrong, and Dr Maria Armoudian. Dr Wrong is a journalist who has written best-selling books on Africa. Her latest, Do Not Disturb. The story of a political murder ...
The economy isn’t cooperating with the Government’s bet that lower interest rates will solve everything, with most metrics indicating per-capita GDP is still contracting faster and further than at any time since the 1990-96 series of government spending and welfare cuts. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short in ...
Hi,Today is the day sexual assaulter and alleged rapist Donald Trump officially became president (again).I was in a meeting for three hours this morning, so I am going to summarise what happened by sharing my friend’s text messages:So there you go.Welcome to American hell — which includes all of America’s ...
This is a re-post from the Climate BrinkI have a new paper out today in the journal Dialogues on Climate Change exploring both the range of end-of-century climate outcomes in the literature under current policies and the broader move away from high-end emissions scenarios. Current policies are defined broadly as policies in ...
Long story short: I chatted last night with ’s on the substack app about the appointment of Chris Bishop to replace Simeon Brown as Transport Minister. We talked through their different approaches and whether there’s much room for Bishop to reverse many of the anti-cycling measures Brown adopted.Our chat ...
Last night I chatted with Northland emergency doctor on the substack app for subscribers about whether the appointment of Simeon Brown to replace Shane Reti as Health Minister. We discussed whether the new minister can turn around decades of under-funding in real and per-capita terms. Our chat followed his ...
Christopher Luxon is every dismal boss who ever made you wince, or roll your eyes, or think to yourself I have absolutely got to get the hell out of this place.Get a load of what he shared with us at his cabinet reshuffle, trying to be all sensitive and gracious.Dr ...
The text of my submission to the Ministry of Health's unnecessary and politicised review of the use of puberty blockers for young trans and nonbinary people in Aotearoa. ...
Hi,Last night one of the world’s biggest social media platforms, TikTok, became inaccessible in the United States.Then, today, it came back online.Why should we care about a social network that deals in dance trends and cute babies? Well — TikTok represents a lot more than that.And its ban and subsequent ...
Sometimes I wake in the middle of the nightAnd rub my achin' old eyesIs that a voice from inside-a my headOr does it come down from the skies?"There's a time to laugh butThere's a time to weepAnd a time to make a big change"Wake-up you-bum-the-time has-comeTo arrange and re-arrange and ...
Former Health Minister Shane Reti was the main target of Luxon’s reshuffle. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short to start the year in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate: Christopher Luxon fired Shane Reti as Health Minister and replaced him with Simeon Brown, who Luxon sees ...
Yesterday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced a cabinet reshuffle, which saw Simeon Brown picking up the Health portfolio as it’s been taken off Dr Shane Reti, and Transport has been given to Chris Bishop. Additionally, Simeon’s energy and local government portfolios now sit with Simon Watts. This is very good ...
The sacking of Health Minister Shane Reti yesterday had an air of panic about it. A media advisory inviting journalists to a Sunday afternoon press conference at Premier House went out on Saturday night. Caucus members did not learn that even that was happening until yesterday morning. Reti’s fate was ...
Yesterday’s demotion of Shane Reti was inevitable. Reti’s attempt at a re-assuring bedside manner always did have a limited shelf life, and he would have been a poor and apologetic salesman on the campaign trail next year. As a trained doctor, he had every reason to be looking embarrassed about ...
A listing of 25 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 12, 2025 thru Sat, January 18, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
After another substantial hiatus from online Chess, I’ve been taking it up again. I am genuinely terrible at five-minute Blitz, what with the tight time constraints, though I periodically con myself into thinking that I have been improving. But seeing as my past foray into Chess led to me having ...
Rise up o children wont you dance with meRise up little children come and set me freeRise little ones riseNo shame no fearDon't you know who I amSongwriter: Rebecca Laurel FountainI’m sure you know the go with this format. Some memories, some questions, letsss go…2015A decade ago, I made the ...
In 2017, when Ghahraman was elected to Parliament as a Green MP, she recounted both the highlights and challenges of her role -There was love, support, and encouragement.And on the flipside, there was intense, visceral and unchecked hate.That came with violent threats - many of them. More on that later.People ...
It gives me the biggest kick to learn that something I’ve enthused about has been enough to make you say Go on then, I'm going to do it. The e-bikes, the hearing aids, the prostate health, the cheese puffs. And now the solar power. Yes! Happy to share the details.We ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Can CO2 be ...
The old bastard left his ties and his suitA brown box, mothballs and bowling shoesAnd his opinion so you'd never have to choosePretty soon, you'll be an old bastard tooYou get smaller as the world gets bigThe more you know you know you don't know shit"The whiz man" will never ...
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.The Numbers2024 could easily have been National’s “Annus Horribilis” and 2025 shows no signs of a reprieve for our Landlord PM Chris Luxon and his inept Finance Minister Nikki “Noboats” Willis.Several polls last year ...
This Friday afternoon, Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka announced an overhaul of the Waitangi Tribunal.The government has effectively cleared house - appointing 8 new members - and combined with October’s appointment of former ACT leader Richard Prebble, that’s 9 appointees.[I am not certain, but can only presume, Prebble went in ...
The state of the current economy may be similar to when National left office in 2017.In December, a couple of days after the Treasury released its 2024 Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update (HEYFU24), Statistics New Zealand reported its estimate for volume GDP for the previous September 24 quarter. Instead ...
So what becomes of you, my love?When they have finally stripped you ofThe handbags and the gladragsThat your poor old granddadHad to sweat to buy you, babySongwriter: Mike D'aboIn yesterday’s newsletter, I expressed sadness at seeing Golriz Ghahraman back on the front pages for shoplifting. As someone who is no ...
It’s Friday and time for another roundup of things that caught our attention this week. This post, like all our work, is brought to you by a largely volunteer crew and made possible by generous donations from our readers and fans. If you’d like to support our work, you can join ...
Note: This Webworm discusses sexual assault and rape. Please read with care.Hi,A few weeks ago I reported on how one of New Zealand’s richest men, Nick Mowbray (he and his brother own Zuru and are worth an estimated $20 billion), had taken to sharing posts by a British man called ...
The final Atlas Network playbook puzzle piece is here, and it slipped in to Aotearoa New Zealand with little fan fare or attention. The implications are stark.Today, writes Dr Bex, the submission for the Crimes (Countering Foreign Interference) Amendment Bill closes: 11:59pm January 16, 2025.As usual, the language of the ...
Excitement in the seaside village! Look what might be coming! 400 million dollars worth of investment! In the very beating heart of the village! Are we excited and eager to see this happen, what with every last bank branch gone and shops sitting forlornly quiet awaiting a customer?Yes please, apply ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to stand firm and work with allies to progress climate action as Donald Trump signals his intent to pull out of the Paris Climate Accords once again. ...
The Green Party has welcomed the provisional ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, and reiterated its call for New Zealand to push for an end to the unlawful occupation of Palestine. ...
The Green Party welcomes the extension of the deadline for Treaty Principles Bill submissions but continues to call on the Government to abandon the Bill. ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced three new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ...
Ki te kahore he whakakitenga, ka ngaro te Iwi – without a vision, the people will perish. The Government has achieved its target to reduce the number of households in emergency housing motels by 75 per cent five years early, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The number of households ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the new membership of the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control (PACDAC), who will serve for a three-year term. “The Committee brings together wide-ranging expertise relevant to disarmament. We have made six new appointments to the Committee and reappointed two existing members ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora, good morning, talofa, malo e lelei, bula vinaka, da jia hao, namaste, sat sri akal, assalamu alaikum. It’s so great to be here and I’m ready and pumped for 2025. Can I start by acknowledging: Simon Bridges – CEO of the Auckland ...
The Government has unveiled a bold new initiative to position New Zealand as a premier destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) that will create higher paying jobs and grow the economy. “Invest New Zealand will streamline the investment process and provide tailored support to foreign investors, to increase capital investment ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced the largest reset of the New Zealand science system in more than 30 years with reforms which will boost the economy and benefit the sector. “The reforms will maximise the value of the $1.2 billion in government funding that goes into ...
Turbocharging New Zealand’s economic growth is the key to brighter days ahead for all Kiwis, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. In the Prime Minister’s State of the Nation Speech in Auckland today, Christopher Luxon laid out the path to the prosperity that will affect all aspects of New Zealanders’ lives. ...
The latest set of accounts show the Government has successfully checked the runaway growth of public spending, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. “In the previous government’s final five months in office, public spending was almost 10 per cent higher than for the same period the previous year. “That is completely ...
The Government’s welfare reforms are delivering results with the number of people moving off benefits into work increasing year-on-year for six straight months. “There are positive signs that our welfare reset and the return consequences for job seekers who don't fulfil their obligations to prepare for or find a job ...
Jon Kroll and Aimee McCammon have been appointed to the New Zealand Film Commission Board, Arts Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “I am delighted to appoint these two new board members who will bring a wealth of industry, governance, and commercial experience to the Film Commission. “Jon Kroll has been an ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has hailed a drop in the domestic component of inflation, saying it increases the prospect of mortgage rate reductions and a lower cost of living for Kiwi households. Stats NZ reported today that inflation was 2.2 per cent in the year to December, the second consecutive ...
Two new appointed members and one reappointed member of the Employment Relations Authority have been announced by Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden today. “I’m pleased to announce the new appointed members Helen van Druten and Matthew Piper to the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) and welcome them to ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has delivered a refreshed team focused on unleashing economic growth to make people better off, create more opportunities for business and help us afford the world-class health and education Kiwis deserve. “Last year, we made solid progress on the economy. Inflation has fallen significantly and now ...
Veterans’ Affairs and a pan-iwi charitable trust have teamed up to extend the reach and range of support available to veterans in the Bay of Plenty, Veterans Minister Chris Penk says. “A major issue we face is identifying veterans who are eligible for support,” Mr Penk says. “Incredibly, we do ...
A host of new appointments will strengthen the Waitangi Tribunal and help ensure it remains fit for purpose, Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka says. “As the Tribunal nears its fiftieth anniversary, the appointments coming on board will give it the right balance of skills to continue its important mahi hearing ...
Almost 22,000 FamilyBoost claims have been paid in the first 15 days of the year, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The ability to claim for FamilyBoost’s second quarter opened on January 1, and since then 21,936 claims have been paid. “I’m delighted people have made claiming FamilyBoost a priority on ...
The Government has delivered a funding boost to upgrade critical communication networks for Maritime New Zealand and Coastguard New Zealand, ensuring frontline search and rescue services can save lives and keep Kiwis safe on the water, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Transport Minister Matt Doocey say. “New Zealand has ...
Mahi has begun that will see dozens of affordable rental homes developed in Gisborne - a sign the Government’s partnership with Iwi is enabling more homes where they’re needed most, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. Mr Potaka attended a sod-turning ceremony to mark the start of earthworks for 48 ...
New Zealand welcomes the ceasefire deal to end hostilities in Gaza, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Over the past 15 months, this conflict has caused incomprehensible human suffering. We acknowledge the efforts of all those involved in the negotiations to bring an end to the misery, particularly the US, Qatar ...
The Associate Minster of Transport has this week told the community that work is progressing to ensure they have a secure and suitable shipping solution in place to give the Island certainty for its future. “I was pleased with the level of engagement the Request for Information process the Ministry ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour says he is proud of the Government’s commitment to increasing medicines access for New Zealanders, resulting in a big uptick in the number of medicines being funded. “The Government is putting patients first. In the first half of the current financial year there were more ...
New Zealand's first-class free trade deal and investment treaty with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been signed. In Abu Dhabi, together with UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, New Zealand Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, witnessed the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and accompanying investment treaty ...
The latest NZIER Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion, which shows the highest level of general business confidence since 2021, is a sign the economy is moving in the right direction, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. “When businesses have the confidence to invest and grow, it means more jobs and higher ...
Events over the last few weeks have highlighted the importance of strong biosecurity to New Zealand. Our staff at the border are increasingly vigilant after German authorities confirmed the country's first outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD) in nearly 40 years on Friday in a herd of water buffalo ...
Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee reminds the public that they now have an opportunity to have their say on the rewrite of the Arms Act 1983. “As flagged prior to Christmas, the consultation period for the Arms Act rewrite has opened today and will run through until 28 February 2025,” ...
Complaints about disruptive behaviour now handled in around 13 days (down from around 60 days a year ago) 553 Section 55A notices issued by Kāinga Ora since July 2024, up from 41 issued during the same period in the previous year. Of that 553, first notices made up around 83 ...
The time it takes to process building determinations has improved significantly over the last year which means fewer delays in homes being built, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “New Zealand has a persistent shortage of houses. Making it easier and quicker for new homes to be built will ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is pleased to announce the annual list of New Zealand’s most popular baby names for 2024. “For the second consecutive year, Noah has claimed the top spot for boys with 250 babies sharing the name, while Isla has returned to the most popular ...
Work is set to get underway on a new bus station at Westgate this week. A contract has been awarded to HEB Construction to start a package of enabling works to get the site ready in advance of main construction beginning in mid-2025, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“A new Westgate ...
Minister for Children and for Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour is encouraging people to use the resources available to them to get help, and to report instances of family and sexual violence amongst their friends, families, and loved ones who are in need. “The death of a ...
Opinion: Architecture has the power to shape our lives, not only in our homes and workplaces but in the public spaces that we all share. Civic architecture – our public libraries, train stations, swimming pools, schools, and other community facilities – is more than just functional infrastructure.These buildings are the ...
Asia Pacific Report A co-founder of a national Palestinian solidarity network in Aotearoa New Zealand today praised the “heroic” resilience and sacrifice of the people of Gaza in the face of Israel’s ruthless attempt to destroy the besieged enclave of more than 2 million people. Speaking at the first solidarity ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Neale Daniher, a campaigner in the fight against motor neurone disease and a former champion Essendon footballer, is the 2025 Australian of the Year, Himself a sufferer from the deadly disease Daniher, 63, who ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Peter Dutton has chosen a dark horse in naming David Coleman for the key shadow foreign affairs portfolio, in a reshuffle that also seeks to boost the opposition’s credentials with women. Coleman has been ...
By Harry Pearl of BenarNews Vanuatu’s top lawyer has called out the United States for “bad behavior” after newly inaugurated President Donald Trump withdrew the world’s biggest historic emitter of greenhouse gasses from the Paris Agreement for a second time. The Pacific nation’s Attorney-General Arnold Loughman, who led Vanuatu’s landmark ...
ACT leader David Seymour is being slammed for his "extreme right-wing policies" after saying Aotearoa needs to get past its "squeamishness" about privatisation. ...
By Moera Tuilaepa-Taylor, RNZ Pacific manager RNZ International (RNZI) began broadcasting to the Pacific region 35 years ago — on 24 January 1990, the same day the Auckland Commonwealth Games opened. Its news bulletins and programmes were carried by a brand new 100kW transmitter. The service was rebranded as RNZ ...
If you believe Prime Minister Chris Luxon economic growth will solve our problems and, if this is not just around the corner, it is at least on the horizon. It won’t be too long before things are “awesome” again. If you believe David Seymour the country is beset by much greater ...
Opinion: New Zealand’s universities are failing to prepare students for the entrepreneurial realities of the modern economy. That is a key finding of the Science System Advisory Group report released Thursday as part of the Government’s major science sector overhaul.The report highlights major gaps in entrepreneurship and industry-focused training. PhD ...
I first met Neve at a house party in Mount Maunganui. She was tall, blonde and tanned. An influencer typecast. She wore a string of pearls and a shell necklace that sat around her collarbones, and a silk dress that barely passed her crotch. Her hair was in tight curls—I ...
The Angry LeftSummer in New Zealand, and what does Christopher Luxon do about it? He goes fishing. Unbelievable.And worse, he does it in a boat. How tone-deaf is that? There he is, fishing, at sea, in a boat that would be better put to some practical use, like housing. How ...
A Complete Unknown may be fictionalised but it gets the key parts right. What is biography for? Especially the biopic, in which years and people and facts must be compressed into a mass-audience-friendly, sub-three-hour format. And what does biography do with an artist as immortal, inimitable and unwilling as Bob ...
The pool is a summery delight for swimmers and a smart move from the mayor. Last week I walked through Auckland’s Wynyard Quarter, commando and braless. After smugly setting off that morning for my second swim at the Karanga Plaza pool, dubbed Browny’s Pool by mayor Wayne Brown, I realised ...
Following his headline act in the Christchurch Buskers Festival, Alex Casey chats to Sam Wills about spending two decades as the elusive Tape Face. It’s a Thursday night at The Isaac Theatre Royal in Ōtautahi, and the fly swats, rubbish bags, and coat hangers littered across the stage make it ...
In my late 50s, I discovered long-distance hiking – and woke up to a new life infused with the rhythms of nature. The Spinoff Essay showcases the best essayists in Aotearoa, on topics big and small. Made possible by the generous support of our members.It began innocuously, just before my ...
The comedian and actor takes us through his life in television, including the British sitcom that changed his life and the trauma of 80s Telethons. You may know him best as Murray from Flight of the Conchords, or Stede Bonnet from Our Flag Means Death, but Rhys Darby is taking ...
Madeleine Chapman reflects on the week that was. Nearly every piece of advice or social trend can be boiled down to encouraging people to say “yes” more or “no” more. Dating advice has a foundation of saying yes, putting yourself out there, being open to new people and possibilities. The ...
Asia Pacific Report The Fijians for Palestine Solidarity Network (FPSN) and its allies have called for “justice and accountability” over Israel’s 15 months of genocide and war crimes. The Pacific-based network met in a solidarity gathering last night in the capital Suva hosted by the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre and ...
Analysis - There needs to be recognition of the significant risks associated with focusing on mining and tourism, Glenn Banks and Regina Scheyvens write. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Andriana Syvanych/Shutterstock Most of us are fortunate that, when we turn on the tap, clean, safe and high-quality water comes out. But a senate inquiry ...
Analysis: Try as they might, Christopher Luxon and his partners in NZ First have been unable to distance themselves from the division caused by the Treaty Principles Bill, hampering the potential for further progress in areas where the Prime Minister believes the Crown and tangata whenua can collaborate.While the celebration ...
The Treaty Principles Bill continues to dog the National Party despite Luxon's repeated efforts to communicate the legislation will not go beyond second reading. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julia Richardson, Professor of Human Resource Management, Head of School of Management, Curtin University Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock US President Donald Trump has called time on working from home. An executive order signed on the first day of his presidency this week requires all ...
The prime minister says he can mend the relationship with Māori after the bill is voted down, and he would refuse a future referendum in the next election's coalition negotiations. ...
Forest & Bird will continue to support New Zealanders to oppose these destructive activities and reminds the Prime Minister that in 2010, 40,000 people marched down Queen Street, demanding that high-value conservation land be protected from mining. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Glenn Banks, Professor of Geography, School of People, Environment and Planning, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University Getty Images Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s state-of-the-nation address yesterday focused on growth above all else. We shouldn’t rush to judgement, but at least ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Minister for Health and Medical Services has declared an HIV outbreak. Dr Ratu Atonio Rabici Lalabalavu announced 1093 new HIV cases from the period of January to September 2024. “This declaration reflects the alarming reality that HIV is evolving faster than our current services can cater for,” ...
Acting PSA National Secretary Fleur Fitzsimons says the ACT proposals would take money from public services and funnel it towards private providers. Privatisation will inevitably mean syphoning money off from providing services for all to pay profits ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Claudio Bozzi, Lecturer in Law, Deakin University Shutterstock On his way to the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro in November, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Peruvian President Dina Boluarte to officially open a new US$3.6 billion (A$5.8 billion) deepwater ...
Paging Pascal’s bookie,wakey wakey, here’s the reply to your rude interruption of the debate in yesterday’s ‘Open Mike’,
Note that ALL of the actions in ‘Operation Cyclone’ were the result of secret ‘directive 166’ signed first by President Jimmy Carter and later expanded by President Ronald Reagan,
Your claims that Arab groups fighting in the Afghan/Soviet war were only funded and armed by Saudi and other Arab states funneled through the Pakistani intelligence service are rather spurious considering the information now available,
Operation Cyclone- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/operation_cyclone
Bugger, another link that won’t, don’t know what’s with that, but ask the question of Google ‘US funds for groups fighting in Afghan/Soviet war’ and it should take to the page i tried to link to…
If your in for a ‘looong read’ which details ALL the players in the Afghan/Soviet war, the personal connections from the CIA to President Ronald Reagan meeting bin Laden’s older brother at the White-House, (along with such niceties as some of the ‘high-ups’ in bin Laden’ various organizations being aided by the CIA to repeatedly gain visa to enter the US despite being on the ‘terrorist watchlist’) there’s this,
Complete 911 Timeline: The Soviet/Afghan war.
http://www.historycommons.org>…>Afghanistan>complete911timeline
If that link fails, try asking google the same question i refer to after my earlier link didn’t work…
It’s all pretty weak, and anticipated in my comment.
I suggest we take this over there, so that it doesn’t clutter this thread, and so that people can see the context.
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-07012013/comment-page-1/#comment-570950
You’ve ignored most of what I said, and have, as predicted, conflated mujaheddin with AQ.
Here’s your initial; claim:
You have to get with the real picture, prior to September 11 Al Qaeda were US funded and armed assets during the Soviet/Afghan war
Operation cyclone was about supporting the mujaheddin, and there is no conclusive evidence that OBL was funded. The implication that he was directly funded by the US is even harder to substantiate, which is probably why you are having such a hard time coming up with any good direct sources or quotes.
I’ll repost this in the relevant thread.
Nope i haven’t confused Al Qaeda and the Mujaheddin at all, they were all inter-connected during the Afghan/Soviet war so what funded the Mujahidden also at the same time funded Al Qaeda,
Riiiight, perhaps you think i mean that the CIA passed suitcases full of used 20’s directly to bin Laden, spurious, the funding went to the Pakistani intelligence network from the US, (billions of dollars),and was then distributed by the Pakistani intelligence network either directly as arms or laundered through the BCCI bank,
I suggest you read ‘The complete 911 Timeline: The Soviet-Afghan war which you obviously haven’t otherwise you would not be replying with such lame comments…
I’ve read the timeline. It’s a bit of a curate’s egg to be honest. It often claims certain things to be facts based on not much more than “x reported that unnamed source told him y”, which is a data point to be sure, but absent corroboration, not one that given much weight.*
It would better if it just left it at the ‘X reports’ and laid of on the implications that Y was true.
Based on what you’ve written though. I’d suggest you need to do a lot more reading. A good primer is “The Looming Tower”. It really is worth the time and money invested if you want to know what everyone is claiming and how much evidence exists for the claims.
Nope i haven’t confused Al Qaeda and the Mujaheddin at all, they were all inter-connected during the Afghan/Soviet war so what funded the Mujahidden also at the same time funded Al Qaeda,
I said you conflated the Mujaheddin and AQ.
‘Conflate’, as in, ‘assume that funding one is the same as funding the other’, as in, “so what funded the Mujahidden also at the same time funded Al Qaeda”.
You claimed AQ was a cia/US asset during the 70s and 80’s war. As suppport for this, the only thing you’ve presented is that the US gave money to the ISI to distribute to Mujaheddin. As I predicted.
I think you need to read that timeline yourself, pay attention to it this time.
Now how about justifying your doubts about Assad’s weapons? ( Prediction: ‘The US claimed saddam had WMD in 03 but he didn’t; therefore Assad doesn’t have them now’)
And tell me about my belief system and how it hasn’t changed; another unsupported statement you claimed to have some knowledge about.
*(It’s ironic that many of the claims in the timeline rely on a single MSM report of a statement made by an individual, but I guess that because the timeline itself isn’t MSM, you think, well, I don’t know what you think, but it’s amusing none-the-less)
Yes exactly, during the Afghan/Soviet war Al Qaeda was not so called, what funded the Mujahidden also funded all the Saudi’s and ‘other’s’ who joined the fight,
If you had of read the timeline you would know that bin Laden spent a large part of that war on the Pakistan side of the border funnelling the Saudi and ‘other’ fighters along with the arms across the border to the two main groups of Mujahidden,
It is obvious from the Presidential ‘directive 166’ and operation cyclone that the CIA supplied Osama bin Laden with arms and money and just as obvious that as proof of this you would only accept a ‘confession’ from both the CIA and the White-House which obviously will not be forthcoming,
Carry on with your hilarious belief in the goodness of apple pie and Uncle Sam,
Next you will be denying that prior to the first bombing of the world trade center bin Laden had a recruitment and funding office operating in New York and other US cities…
It isn’t ‘obvious’ at all, it’s an assumption based on ‘not much’. What is obvious is that your ‘knowledge’ stems from things like ‘the timeline’ which you seem to put an enormous weight on. Which is fine as far as it goes, but it’s not analysis, and it’s based on superficial stuff. You should try ‘books’.
Carry on with your hilarious belief in the goodness of apple pie and Uncle Sam,
citation required.
My belief is that the US wasn’t in any sort of control of what was going on, especially with regard to OBL. You seem to think that the US is some sort of ghost in the machine, that everything that happens, happens at their direction.
You claimed that AQ was a CIA asset in the 80s. That’s just laughable and you’ve provided no evidence for it. As is your claim that AQ are ‘basically mercenaries and guns for hire’.
No evidence for doubt about Assad’s wepaons either then?
Yes i should hunt out the book printed by ‘Time’ magazine which says much the same as what i have been saying and much the same as what the timeline also says not to forget the Wikipedia,
You are now retreating to a pathetic default position where you put up comments about what you ‘think’ i think,
Where have i said that the US were in immediate control of bin Laden??? well i didn’t, not even a slight insinuation,
What the CIA was ultimately in control of,(yes along with the Saudi’s) was the money and arms flow to the Pakistani’s who then used bin Laden and others to distribute these arms among the Jihadists,
Provided along with these arms and monies was also an ongoing series of satellite images of specific targets which they wished attacked,
Were the CIA on the ground at any time in Afghanistan giving orders, not likely their involvement was a supposed secret,(in terms of deniability), why do you think they suffered the Pakistani’s skimming the money supposedly for use in Afghanistan,
Untill recently even ‘Presidential directive 166’ was classified information and at the time that directive was issued by Carter it was simply a matter between His administration and the CIA with no over-sight from any other body…
“Where have i said that the US were in immediate control of bin Laden??? well i didn’t, not even a slight insinuation,”
” He who was captured [Mohamed al-Zawahiri] is just as likely to be in the employ of either the UN or the US via the Saudi Government,
You have to get with the real picture, prior to September 11 Al Qaeda were US funded and armed assets during the Soviet/Afghan war,”
That’s a pretty clear ‘insinuation’.
It doesn’t much look like, ‘Prior to forminh AQ OBL was raising funds and distributing them in Afghanistan and had some links with the ISI, who were also distributing US monies’.
But if that’s all you meant by ’employ’ and ‘US funded and armed assets’ and ‘AQ’, then fine I guess.
What you are describing is ‘deniability’, if the US provided the arms, money, and satellite photo’s through a third party to those opposing the Soviet’s in Afghanistan who is funding such opposition, the third party perhaps???…
Sigh.
Your initial claim was that AQ was a CIA asset, and that based on that Al Zawahiri was likely to be in the employ of the UN, via the Saud regime.
That’s ridiculous.
Now you are saying that OBL possibly got some money from the ISI before AQ was even formed.
Weapons of mass destruction??? now where have i heard that before…
What did you mean by that?
Do you doubt he has them? On what grounds?
And if you think anyone would need WMD as a Casus belli to go into Syria at the moment, you should read a newspaper from the last year. They could have gone in under ‘ duty to protect’ at any time.
You could try evaluating why they haven’t, (hint: it’s a shit fight with no good options) but that might challenge your pre-concieved notions about what’s going on.
Duty to protect? LOL
Are these the same caring foreign countries who are supplying arms, financing and logistical support to the Rebels and assorted Salafi jihadists tearing up civilian areas?
what funded the Mujahidden also funded all the Saudi’s and ‘other’s’ who joined the fight,
large parts of your timeline directly contradict this. Much of the US funding was skimmed by the ISI if your timeline is to be taken as gospel. The funding OBL was attracting from wealthy saudis is what carried the war, according to your timeline. But your timeline contradicts itself in several places, doesn’t it?
Have you really read it? Closely?
Yeah i have read it close enough to know your talking s**t when you claim that the ‘timeline’ shows that ”the funding bin Laden was attracting from wealthy Saudis is what carried the war”…
It’s a claim made in the Timeline, not one I made.
notice heaps of “a source within x” in the MSM these days
sooo, where is the mandate to verify sources?
‘First draft of history’ and all that.
More like – information and claims about middle east WMD in 2003 proved extremely unreliable, information and claims about middle east WMD in 2013 may be equally unreliable.
But that’s no better.
The situation is closer to Iraq in 91. Care to claim he didn’t have WMD then?
Since 9/11, your example has become less relevant and mine more so. Blame Bush/Cheney for this environment.
That makes no sense at all.
Saying ‘Bush Cheney’ doesn’t render logical fallacies valid, it just adds another to the mix.
of course it makes sense. In 1991 WMD was not seen as the all-encompassing rationale for invasion and regime change that it became after 9/11. Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait was the big trigger for allied action in 1991, not WMD.
What’s that got to do with doubting whether or not Assad has WMD?
I reckon he’s got them, based on the fact he claims to have them, is not a member of any of the relevant treaties banning them, and what we know about his programs.
Bad12 seems to think it’s doubtful, but he doesn’t seem to want to talk about it or say why.
So you accept the point that the environment surrounding the treatment of WMD has moved far on from 1991? Good.
Now, if Assad has WMD he’s had them for years and not used them against civilians AFAIK. So now we are back to the post 9/11 WMD pretext for regime change a la Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld.
BTW Syria does not have the most powerful WMD in the Middle East not governed by international treaties, by far. But you know this.
We’re not ‘back to’ anything.
We were talking about whether or not he has them. The reactions to that, do not effect the likelihood of that.
But the reactions are all important PB. After all, Assad has probably had WMD for many years (and Israel likely has the most powerful WMD of any middle east country). But today, after 9/11 and 2003, it’s become an effective pretext for waging war. A true, presumptive, convenient, casus belli a la Iraq.
By the way, in todays stupid languaging a 100 year old chlorine, mustard gas or phosgene shell would be correctly considered “WMD”. Hopeless.
johnny boy’s gotta lotta ‘D’s on his report card, Frankly Speaking 🙁
Great quote from Sarah Teather in the UK Parliament during a debate on social security reforms…so applicable here too…and further evidence of the Crosby technique that they have just bought into there…so familiar!
“In an atmosphere of uncertainty and limited resources, where every family in this country is struggling, there is a natural tendency to try and find someone to blame for our own woes. A fissure already exists between the working and non-working poor. Hammering on that faultline with the language of shirkers and strivers will have long-term impacts on public attitudes, on attitudes of one neighbour against another. It will make society less generous, less sympathetic, less able to co-operate. The marginalisation of the undeserving poor will place one group outwith society entirely over time and leave them less able to make choices about their own lives and less able to participate. That fragmentation of society is, for me, the spectre of broken Britain and it is one that we should worry about hastening at our peril.”
The beneficiary painting the roof couldn’t be a better example of ‘A fissure already exists between the working and non-working poor.’
Unfortunately all across the Western World the same template of denigration is being applied by politicians,
Unemployment is simply a reflection of the success or FAILURE of the economic ism adhered to by the various political factions, rather than address the FAILURE of such policy they choose to address negatively the visible manifestation of the FAILURE, the unemployed,
Economically there’s a wealth transfer occurring which is at the heart of the unemployment numbers where as the 1%ers gather unto themselves greater amounts of ‘wealth’ the middle classes who act as (sometimes unwitting), agents of that wealth transfer are protected by the political system directly favoring one class over another,
Symptoms of this overt favoring of the middle classes being, interest free student loans, working for families tax credits, tax cuts, so called ma and pa asset sales, and ‘plans’ to shoe horn those who can afford to service a 300+ thousand dollar mortgage into home ownership,
The only one of such policies that i would qualify as being based upon ‘NEED’ would be the interest free student loans,
Having said that, education should be funded from ‘Social Credit’ and not from the taxpayer base which is simply a means by which education is allowed to be rationed among the population…
And how the lying bastard politicians shamelessly beat that drum to divide society……..their primary purpose being to win and lengthen tenure at the public trough. All the while loftily proclaiming how decent-values stuffed they are and how much they care. They’re scum really.
And how the majority of the players in the embedded media, self-important oracles along for the ride, delightedly, effervescently often, report on how well the drum is beaten…….on how well the “game” is played.
Damn…….there are even knighthoods in the offing.
+1 and the current Labour caucus is playing that tune to the delight of the hollowmen. This theme will get rolled out against then in 2014.
How many troughers do you see in the likes of Ducky, Kingy, etc now all been there done that, tried and failed again yet not standing aside for the fresh blood.
The basic problem is that to get most people to understand the intricacies of the Global Financial Crisis and the wholesale looting of various countries treasuries by the rich is too difficult yet people need someone to blame. Western media continuously plays up the desirability of being rich and consuming excessively so the wealthy cannot be attacked. And since the demise of the Soviet Union communists cannot be blamed, even though the Tea Party delusionally thinks they can.
So who do we have left? Beneficiaries are the easiest to bash. There is always one individual amongst a group of hundreds of thousands that can be accused of some sort of shirking behaviour and then they can be blamed for all our problems.
People need simple targets.
I agree with the gist of this sentiment, however it’s not that pointing out the bad guys is hard, they are the Douglas/Richardson/Fay/Richwhite/Key crowd.
It’s that it’s impossible to point to any good guys around who are presenting Real Alternatives.
+1
Need to do more than point out the Bad guys as well – need to point out that the entire socio-economic system is a failure.
Gareth’s retrospective is helpful
Here’s film director Ken Loach making the same point, devastatingly, on BBC television, goading the leonine Thatcher henchman Michael Heseltine into a display of apoplectic fury…
He makes the good point that i often make, here in New Zealand some 7 billion dollars of owed tax is either ‘avoided’ or evaded’ annually,
If that ‘avoidance’ were to be classes as criminal evasion and effort brought to bear on actually collecting this owed taxation Governments wouldn’t be scrabbling round looking to point the finger of blame at the unemployed who have no means of avoiding such tax, for their, (Governments), stupid mismanagement of the economy,
The same excuse of course will be trotted out here as that Tory piece of s**t trotted out in the Utube vid, ”Oh we can’t expect the rich to pay all the tax they owe, they will en masse take all their wealth and flee the country”,
Luckily i don’t get to sit in the same room as any of these ‘people’, hearing such speech drives me into spasms of violent thought…
“The basic problem is that to get most people to understand the intricacies of the Global Financial Crisis and the wholesale looting of various countries treasuries by the rich is too difficult”
Without wanting to sound self serving, that’s an added bonus to my fight to save stan heather park in Hamilton West. Not only would it safeguard a community facility, but give the local people a clear example of wealth transfer in their backyards. The ideas I’ve sent to various parties and organisations and all without reply, show how this local issue could set a national agenda for 2014. It’s so simple, I can’t understand why no-one’s doing it already.
Show the people the fight, teach them how to win it, help them to victory. Whoever does that could take the 6 west ward councillors in the 2013 local elections, and perhaps a good shot at forcing a cup of tea from sue moroney in 2014.
4-10k votes elected 6 ward wallies. Our three suburbs could do that easy.
But nope, not going to happen.
Hi Al1en. Very nice. A concrete in your face issue used as a demonstrator for the values we are talking about. It allows those in the neighbourhood to inquire further into political economics, without having to start a postgrad degree in the subject.
I’d be very interested in reading some more detail on your ideas – would you please forward to lee.adama@gmx.com? (I will reply via the Std if that’s OK).
No worries, though you’ll have to wade through my pigeon English to get there.
The choice here is more money to a developer or free food for the hungry.
\Doesn’t get more in your face and direct than that. Classic good v evil clash.
Beat them here over a local issue, and who knows what a nationwide launch could achieve?
I’d go at least 5% with the right personnel.
I’ll send you something later tonight.
Thanks.
Nice work, go hard.
How can Hardaker claim “”It’s good news for the city as it will be open to the public.” when it’s being turned from park into developed suburbia.
Some mates of hamilton rugby no doubt will be profiting nicely as it’s now reported as sold. Historically wouldn’t this have been gifted to them like Ellerslie racecouse was so sort of like selling on your inheritance.
How the F did such a booming city get into such a mess TA ? The growth in/around Te Rapa with suburbia and te Awa /the base etc, what happened.
Hardaker was on TV (campbell live) when the Chiefs were winning something at last, extolling how Hamilton is a rugby town and how she’s right behind Hamilton rugby. Hypocrite politicians, I shit them.
Asked all those questions, got no answers. The head of the Hamilton rugby union couldn’t ‘remember’ the name of the secret developer that just stumped up $2m, six months before the new district plan is live.
If it smells, looks and tastes like shit, it usually is.
If the rezoning is refused, then the market price drops drastically. Worthless to a developer, priceless to a trust run market garden.
Just got to announce a better use for the land than a money maker for the 1% and raise the cash by donation and all sales of my anonymous cd.
Being part of the 99% means there’s more of us than them, right? Makes it won before it even starts. 😆
Councils all over the country are flogging off open spaces and community facilities like they are going out of fashion.
“Some wonderful responses to our Chatham Oi-lands story!”
Summer Noelle doggedly keeping it light
I’ve still had no reply from Noelle McCarthy, following her timid handling yesterday of the American writer Mark Bowden….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-08012013/comment-page-1/#comment-570645
She did, however, have time to read out several emails, all of them whimsical and non-threatening comments about the “Chatham Oi-lands.”
Obviously there is no room on “Summer Noelle” for anything resembling debate, let alone dissent. Maybe she thinks she’s still working at NewstalkZB.
RNZ is turning into ZB under Griffin. She got caught out for plagarism from memory last time around.
Wouldn’t summer be a good time to give some fresh local talent some airtime rather than this recycled common garden variety hack.
Does Richard Griffin actually have an influence on the programming now? That prospect is almost too depressing to contemplate.
Perhaps RNZ should turn over its summer air time to the Access radio/student radio stations…
“New Zealand’s status as a test-playing cricket nation in question; lack of depth, or out of our depth”
is Hell other people?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Paul_Sartre
is literatures’ function ultimately a bourgeois substitute for real “authentic” commitment in the world?
beavering on, (more on Nausea to follow)
Best Practice Dec.12: Did you know that it is estimated by 2026 20,000 NZers will require palliative care to rest in peace?
Pain-the most prevalent symptom preceding all deaths occurring in palliative care settings on NZ
Opioids, also indicated for the treatment of breathlessnes in p.c, sigh, deep breath,
Pain Assessment-STAS-Support Team Assessment Schedule
or,
PACSLAC for seniors
“Total Pain”-a subjective experience, influenced by
physical-psychological-social-spiritual elemants
threshold may be raised through positive influences
-improved sleep, companionship, sympathy,sic (empathy), fear reduction
expression of negative emotions valid: REAL frustrations exist about bureaucracy, diagnostic delays, lack of resources and treatment failure.
1. Morphine the most extensively studied, widely available and commonly used opioid in p.c
-active opioid metabolites can accumulate through impairments
-opioid toxicity; myoclonic spasms, excessive sedation, confusion, restlessness, hallucination
2.Oral oxy-codone (that’s slipped into NZ in recent times; severely abused in the U.S)
3. Fentanyl
Adjuvant analgesics
Indications
neuropathic- tri-cyclics, anti-epileptics
bone pain- NSAIDS
skeletal muscle spasm- relaxants, benzos etc
smooth muscle spasm- anti-cholinergics, anti-muscurinics
intra-cranial pressure
liver capsule stretch
tenesmus (gotta go) – steroids
Adversities;
constipation expected
Nausea-distressing yet often transitory; trial various anti-emetics
-Haloperidol if chemo-receptor trigger zone induced
-Metoclopramide if reduced G.I motility
-Cyclizine-if vestibular stimulation
Drowsiness-often transitory,resolved over a period of days; persistence may indicate toxicity
11.8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land. (13, admittedly, we are aliens and strangers upon the earth)
Surah 13: 32 Mocked were many Messengers
Before thee: but I granted
Respite to the Unbelievers
And finally I punished them:
Then how terrible was My requital!
Pr.11.6
A kindhearted woman gains respect, but ruthless men gain only wealth.
(I have never been interested in the work of sacha baron cohen, his cousin Simon, yes; and Seinfeld? Woody Allen on a donut, such self-obsessed characters about nothing imo)
These are the Gangs from New York I like
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gangs_of_New_York:_Music_from_the_Miramax_Motion_Picture
-Hawkeye
In the year following the theft of the Mona Lisa in 1911 by Vincenzo Peruggia more people went to gaze at the empty space than in the year before: Presence (seen the art work on the cover) Absence
“We are in a predominantly mechanical, materialistic phase that has led to a desacralizing of the cosmos. This may yet have disastrous ecological consequences, given the predictions of climate science, though the worst may be abated by recovering the “ancient ideas of sacred groves or holy springs”, The deep truth about matter which neither Descartes or Newton realized, is that over the course of four billion years, molten rocks transformed themselves into monarch butterflies,blue herons and the exalted music of Mozart (Rock me Amadeus) http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/amadeus/. Ignorant of this stupendous process (stupidly) we fell into the fantasy that our role here was to reign (Objectively) over matter.
-Journey of the Universe; Brian Swimme (comologist) and Mary Tucker (ecologist)
“We have to admit the disastrous course of Business as usual; Rather, invest in scientific research, including in the Social Sciences, to find all possible openings (any port in a storm); agree to a great extent on what can be done; negotiate in Good Faith as to who will do what; and stick with the overall plan through thick and thin, despite inevitable short-term crises”
“Earth is negotiating with us right now and waiting patiently-cometh the hour, cometh the political Leadership?-for a Good Faith reply. If humans don’t make it, the universe has plenty of time and space to evolve intelligence again, yet humanity will be sloughed off as if we had never been”
-Joel Primack (physicist) and Nancy Abrams (philosopher)
Not concluding that everyone will agree on what is “sacred”
http://www.literaryreview.co.uk/gray_12_10.html
one conclusion is that sacred values lie at the heart of 21st century conflicts. Further,until they are recognized as such, these conflicts will Escalate and Perpetuate, not be won or lessened.
(reasearch has shown that “Palestinian hard-liners were more willing to recognize the right of Israel to exist, if the Israelis apologized for suffering caused to Palestinians civilians in the 1948 war) -Vernon
Why is our century worse than any other?
Is it that in the stupor of fear and grief
It has plunged it’s fingers in the blackest ulcer,
Yet cannot bring relief?
Westward the sun is dropping,
And the roofs of towns are dropping in it’s light.
Already death is chalking doors with crosses
And calling the ravens and the ravens are in flight.
-Anna Akhmatova
Karl Marx was playing a parlour game
with his daughters. To their question
What is the quality one should most abhor?
he wrote; Servility.
This was found-a scrap of paper
amongst the family albums and letters;
it is the most essential of all
the Complete Works.
-Robert Gray
It takes much time to kill a tree
The hand that signed the paper felled a city;
Five sovereign fingers taxed the breath,
Doubled the globe of dead and halved a country;
These five kings did a king to death.
-Dylan
Apologies if this has already been posted, but here is a very interesting article about the effects of austerity:
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/when-a-guess-is-as-good-as-a-forecast-20130108-2cep8.html
Don’t know how to embed the link.
Also as an aside is there any chance that someone could have got my email address from here to add me on facebook? I got a random friend request from someone with some high profile left leaning friends and cannot figure out why they would have added me. I realise more than likely it was just someone adding me by accident, but thought I would check if anyone else had got this or there was any chance it came from here.
easiest way is to fb message the person and ask.
Yeah I have but they haven’t responded and it’s not anywhere near important enough for me to follow up with another message.
I think it would be highly unlikely it came from here.
Might be a fb group or like you made a while ago?
The other option is that it’s someone you did actually meet ages ago and forgot about – happened to me a couple of times. Turned out they knew me from years back.
Dom
-Treaty spawns a Legion of lawyers
-thankfully settlements have risen
yet,
-numbers of lawyers willing to “represent” falling
-$$$ stacked in govts court
-HNZ earthquake-prone stocks unsettling people
-17 Billion bicycles, I mean planets above Beijing
– 1 Trillion dollar platinum Federal coin
-“silliness before disaster”-Krugman
-(accounting manoeuvres only deploy ’til February 😉
-The Biggest Bank in The Whole Wide World, China’s ICBC growing a branch in NZ
-“primed” to launch-Amanda Lu
-unlikely to need to stop at red lights-Claire Matthews
meanwhile, back in the kitchen (Aus “dome of heat”)
-Bureau of Meteorology’s temperature forecast chart adds Deep Purple (Oh my love it’s a long way, where you’re from it’s a long way) and Pink to spectrum and extend range to 54 Degrees C
(all time record high, 50.7 C in 1960 at Oodnadatta)
Cobra II
http://books.google.co.nz/books/about/Cobra_II.html?id=CyuUZlAFXHUC&redir_esc=y
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/09/25/the-endgame-is-a-well-researched-highly-critical-look-at-u-s-policy-in-iraq.html
The End Game
those who give have all things, those who withhold, nothing.
-Hindu proverb (sounds a little like Mana)
HALLO ALL!
Are you on a benefit, scared of facing life off the benefit, have you been shafted on the benefit, are you perhaps even informed and know that a nasty piece of legislation called the “Social Security (Benefit Categories and Work Focus) Amendment Bill” is right before Parliament now, being looked at by the Social Services Committee, likely to hear more submissions soon???
Better WAKE up, LEARN what the hell goes down and on, have a read of the bill on Parliament’s website, or on the sites found under following links:
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/bill/government/2012/0067/latest/DLM4542304.html
http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/Legislation/Bills/5/2/a/00DBHOH_BILL11634_1-Social-Security-Benefit-Categories-and-Work-Focus.htm
http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/SC/Documents/Evidence/?Custom=00DBHOH_BILL11634_1
I get it, your parents are rich, your parents are secure middle class, you have some savings, you studied and will get a good and well-paying job, if need be in Australia, you will “never” have to rely on the dole or any other benefit, as you will be fit and healthy for ALL times, right?!
Learn the bloody lessons of live, open your lazy ears and eyes, take a look, have a read, as this is extremely important. No, it will not just “deal to” so-called “bludgers”, “breeding solo mums” and “maligners” on sick and invalid’s benefits. The whole system will change, it will get REAL mean and you will in most cases be affected at one or another time in YOUR bloody life, dear reader.
Now the Ministry of Social (Under) Development, of social exclusion, of meanness, under the bullying Minister in charge, has launched a bloody SURVEY, to serve it’s cause and get the ignorant, blue eyed, naive and good-believing folk out there to offer ideas, suggestions and feed-back on the reforms, solely designed to “assist” the poor and so much neglected sick, injured and disabled into real good value work!?
Have a look at this piece:
http://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/work-programmes/welfare-reform/july-2013/ill-health-disability-feedback.html
Propaganda from and for the bottom level of inputters has never been any “sweeter”, not even Master demagogues like Goebbels, Mussolini and Hitler would have thought of such a smart scheme to “involve” all those so “concerned”.
So there you are, able to give your “input”. I am sure Farrar, Whale soil and whatever kinds of their following have already been online day and night, to offer their “advice” and support to MSD.
So dear Standardistas, get off your bloody arses, go there, and deliver also your, and your valued friend’s advice, suggestions and feedback now. It must be done, or the masters of demagoguery will win.
Get onto it, tell them what you think and feel on the MSD website, NOW, please!!!
Sorry to bother you Lyn but I keep getting an unresponsive script on the pages in here, is it me or you?
Error is.
Script: http://s0.wp.com/wp-content/js/devicepx-jetpack.js?ver=201302:22
Cheers
Probably Me. Looking at a cache setting and I can only really test it on the live site (so I do it late at night).
But maybe not that error is from wordpress.com… A javascript file that isn’t getting sent?