Hardly ever has any president made such a grand eloquent promise, at the start of any inauguration.
Significant words. That if made lightly will come to haunt this President’s final administration like an albatross around it’s neck.
But if fullfilled will elevate Obama into the ranks of one of the greats.
In his victory speech Obama also talked, (09:32 – 10:15), of an America “that isn’t threatened by the destructive power of a warming planet”.
This must mean that he has in mind a concrete course of action to remove that threat.
When someone says, ‘the best is yet to come’, it usually means that they have a plan and a course of action in mind.
Hopefully we will know what shape that plan will take within the coming ‘First Hundred Days’ of this renewed administration, when newly elected presidents traditionally release their new policy initiatives.
Let us hope that Obama will release his plan to achieve his promise made to the American people; “That the best is yet to come” within the coming days.
After all the crunch is rapidly approaching.
That crunch is the approaching January deadline agreed to by the previous Bush administration to abolish the “deficit trigger”, a promise to undo the more than $500 billion in automatic tax increases for the wealthy that are due to automatically click in to place in January to prevent a deficit in government accounts. ie the money necessary to pay for social programs like environmental protection, healthcare, pensions, veterans benefits, etc. The two deadlines, the approaching deficit and the approaching promise to cancel the automatic tax increases on the rich, are in imminent collision. One or the other has to give.
If it is the former that has to give way, this will be huge slap in the face for Obama supporters.
An earlier attempted bipartisan approach by Obama to congress asking them to vote for $1 of every $2.50 in tax cuts instead, was roundly rejected by the Republican dominated congress who demanded the full tax rebate for their backers.
Due to the intransigence of the Republicans – to break the deadlock, the President may have to use emergency executive powers to over rule them.
No doubt he will receive a severe right wing backlash for doing so.
An indication of which way Obama may go was given in an Obama election pamphlet entitled, “A Plan for Jobs & Middle-Class Security.” which promised that a second Obama administration would hire more teachers, promote manufacturing and raise taxes on the wealthy as “The New Economic Patriotism”
If a country that can spend tens of $billions on war, or to bail out Wall Street bankers and financiers, decided to spend similar amounts on the necessary technologies to address climate change the effects could be immense. Not only would it address the climate it would be a huge stimulus to the real economy of manufacturing and jobs. Effectively killing two birds with one stone.
What I am afraid of it is going to take a dive, a disruptive dive by equity prices in order to prompt Washington into, into coming up with a solution that is acceptable both politically and economically.
John Lansky</b of Moodies Capital Markets
The Republican dominated Congress declares class war:
In a garbled and rather vague address, a strained looking John Bainer, the Republican House leader, attacked any tax hikes on the rich saying it would be better to "grow the economy". (Though he doesn't say how this should be done).
That theory, known as trickle-down economics and dating to the era of President Ronald Reagan, holds that cutting taxes will vastly increase the size of the and profit pie, thereby producing more revenue even at lower tax rates.income
AP reporter Stephen Hurst clarifies John Bainer’s argument.
And though the Democrats dominate in the Senate, The Republican Senators announce that they will be as obstructive as possible:
As the Leader of the Senate minority, Republican Senator Mitch McConnell signalled a readiness at continued obstruction if the Democrats and the president don’t capitulate.
AP reporter Stephen Hurst
Despite these determined rear guard attacks from the Republicans and the financiers of Wall Street. So far, the Democrats still seem to be holding their ground:
“There was a message sent to us by the American people based on the campaign. And that is, people making all this money have to contribute a little bit more.
And all the exit polling, all the polling we’ve done, the vast majority of the American people support that, including rich people.
Harry Reid Democrat Senate Majority Leader
In the face of those challenges, Obama had told Americans on Election Day that he had never been more optimistic.
‘‘The best is yet to come,’’ he said at his victory rally in Chicago, ticking off his legislative goals of reforming the tax system, working to ease climate change and overhauling the nation’s immigration laws.
Mitt Romney who led a campaign based on division and winner take all arrogance. In an act of cynical hypocrisy, is now calling on the Democrats to work with the Republicans to cut social spending:
‘‘At a time like this, we can’t risk partisan bickering,’’ Romney said, after a campaign filled with it.
‘‘Our leaders have to reach across the aisle to do the people’s work.’’
You just know that Romney, this multi billionaire financier would not be this magnanimous in victory.
Yesterday at the Select Committee Environment and Local Body Meeting, the chief man at the Human Rights Mr Rutherford gave a burst that the stripping of democratic Rights was an affront to all that wars ghad been fought to preserve. Nick Smith got very angry and defensive. Wonder why. All NZ should be called to arms to condemn this antidemocratic travesty of ECan.
Nick Smith needs to wake up and open his beady eyes.
Same with David Carter. I am sure both of them would never in their wildest dreams (……) imagine they have acted in the exact same manner as the third world tin-pot dictators that we all spit on.
Jenny – While I go along with most of what you say, I think I ought to caution against Utopian thinking concerning the United States of America (in which I have lived, worked and studied over many years). A President, of course, has nothing like the unlimited power and influence many people think he possesses. We have heard all Obama’s skilled oratory (rhetoric, even hyperbole) before. The country ended up with more murderous drones than ever, posing threats to world peace and harmony also as ever (e.g. by imperialism – in the Pacific?) On the other hand, America is a generous country that treats foreigners rather well, a country of astounding extremes (for better and for worse).
In American politics you do not have much choice, for all the overwhelming cost of elections. There is not effective Left, the choice is between a Party leaning well towards the Right and another Party also leaning to the Right, but considerably less so (demonstrating compassion through policies that are not discriminatory). Times might be tough at present, but still materialism and marked patriotism are firmly in place throughout America.
“The best is yet to come”, proclaims Obama. Does this imply furtherance of the rather self-indulgent “American Dream”? Are these words comparable to another political leader who promised his country “a brighter future”? (Suddenly up to 7.3% unemployment, which thus far is receiving some remarkably mild reactions, a few even hinting that it is not too bad news, and that we are doing better, after all, than some other countries (which makes it alright!) “The best is yet to come” – we will have to wait a bit for Obama to unpack that prediction.
Dr Terry. Mitt Romney also promised ‘a brighter future’ but the American public wisely rejected him. Unfortunately our very own Mitt is having a ball destroying our country.
The country ended up with more murderous drones than ever, posing threats to world peace and harmony also as ever (e.g. by imperialism – in the Pacific?)
Remember the TV3 newspiece not so long ago (18 months back?) that scoffed at and ridiculed the idea of maximum driving hours for truckies ? The story focussed on a company dealing in agricultural product that was getting slapped with a wet bus ticket for basically ignoring the regulation. Much hilarity from drivers and an apparent inability on the part of the reporters to grasp the seriousness of the matter.
How the fuck does the British PM ( as headlined in both the guardian and the independent) figure that the current focus on paedophilia (healthy or unhealthy as it might be) in the UK is a ‘gay with-hunt’??? He’s just given the green light for people to view gays as potential paedophiles, no? And meanwhile, the so-called liberal press of the UK has underscored and endorsed the prejudice by giving the tosh uncritical headline prominance. Fucking unbelievable.
That, Bill, was exactly what I thought. The media and public were focusing on paedophiles – not sexual preference between consenting adults. Cameron just switched the emphasis to gay men to get himself out of a bind.
At the risk of being all contrarian, I thought Cameron handled the ambush pretty well. The UK has a history of conflating gay with paedophilia and at least one newspaper a few years ago printed the names and addresses of people innacurately accused of crimes against kids on that basis*. Innocent people were assaulted as a result. I think you’ll find that some of the names being bandied about in the UK as kiddy fiddlers are indeed gay, so Cameron will have been answering in that context.
* can’t recall the paper, but I think it was Rebekah Brooks who ran the name and shame campaign. Again, without bothering to search, I recall that a podiatrist was also attacked, because the word sounds like paedophile.
Yes, it was Rebekah Brooks and yes, paedohilia and paediatrician were confused because of the hype.
Yes, Cameron was ambushed, but he handled it badly imo – he should have just said internet speculation is just speculation. He aimed to deflect rather than quash speculation.
And yes “I think you’ll find that some of the names being bandied about in the UK as kiddy fiddlers are indeed gay” might be true, but just as true (numerically more so) is – I think you’ll find that some of the names being bandied about in the UK as sexually abusing children* are indeed straight (including the one this all started with – Jimmy Savile).
* kiddy fiddlers although a common term sounds like a game to me.
Thanks for the vid lnk. Yes. Cameron was robust. But why say (paraphrasing) ‘particularily gay people’? Is that his own prejudice? And why oh why oh why do the broadsheets give prominence (and therefor a degree of legitimacy) to that claim or concern in a way that can only reinforce existing prejudice?
Wouldn’t it have been healthier to have questioned that bit of Cameron’s response and laid the prejudice bare for the tosh that it is? Further, shouldn’t it be expected from so-called intelligent jouornalistic outputs?
edit. And it was a list naming Tory mp’s. Not a list naming gays.
edit. And it was a list naming Tory mp’s. Not a list naming gays.
Not mutually exclusive, Bill!
It’s likely that Cameron knows the names and equally likely, given his response, that some may be gay. I got the impression that Cameron was trying to do the decent thing in that interview, which is a fluffy breakfast show, not, say, Hardtalk. Can you imagine Key defending gays against unwarranted attack? No, me neither. If it was me in his place, I would have been tempted to point out to Philip Schofield that as a former TV children’s entertainer in the 80’s and nineties, there might be people speculating about his tendencies, too. But, then, I’m a bit of a bastard!
I didn’t say the two are mutually exclusive. But the list focussed on political allegience/office – or public figures/profiles – not sexual orientation. So he could/should have defended politicians. Or specifically Tory politicians – or whatever. But his mention of gays was in no way defending them (they weren’t being questioned or attacked or focussed on up until that point). And what his pronouncement has done is to place them in the crosshairs. It’s fucked up.
edit. And it was a list naming Tory mp’s. Not a list naming gays.
What I have heard on the radio this morning, is, that heads have rolled – that is, the allegation against a Tory MP was false, and so the editor of Newsnight has fallen on his sword.
Interesting!
On the upside, you and me know why and how to tell the difference and we aren’t the only people of our type in the world. If our collective perspective prefers an over-reliance on numbers, statistics and generalisation, to turn a specific sample of “some homosexuals abused children” and conflate it to become “most child abusers are homosexuals” then we can use the same method to say:
“Our current political rhetoric utilises generalisations to create the fear of opposite” and then “Politicians are manipulative and untrustworthy”.
In our everyday life though, it’s up to us to know our responsibility to face the individual circumstance before us, not the prejudice in our minds. Otherwise we aren’t thinking and living our lives, we’re remembering what we’ve been told and we might as well be robots or cardboard cut-outs. The person next door, who co-incidentally may be gay, should be extended the same respect and privacy we think we deserve if we’re hetro. They might be thinking, “I’ll just keep an eye on that hetro, I know how unbalanced they get round people like me.”. They might just be living their life, like nosey hetros should learn to do.
If this was the case, newspapers and the proclamations of the manipulative would become like the distant farts of a far off mud pit, while real people, dealing in real realtionships, got on with their lives.
Bill can appreciate what you are sayingm but lets not miss the major point here which is something that I have mentioned previously.
There are very dark forces at work, and those forces use “the establishment”, and are part of “the establishment” , to abuse, and systematically cover up this type of behaviour.
This is only the latest example that what is said about those who ‘run the world’ , is backed up by the same response at the Catholic Church.
“Major players in the oil and gas industry have spoken in support of a report saying the industry will become unprofitable if fracking is banned.”
Well duh. Peak oil is as much about economics as the other. Eventually even with fracking, the industry will become unprofitable. By then we will have ruined the environment even more, just when we need a clean environment the most.
“impacts, including contamination of ground water, risks to air quality, the migration of gases and hydraulic fracturing chemicals to the surface, surface contamination from spills and flowback and the health effects of these.[6] For these reasons hydraulic fracturing has come under scrutiny internationally, with some countries suspending or even banning it”
Surface contamination = Liquification.
Anyone care too investigate the connection in Canterbury?
“A proppant is a material that will keep a induced hydraulic fracture open, during or following a fracturing treatment”
“Radioactive tracer isotopes are sometimes included in the hydrofracturing fluid”
From 1999 to 2008 Labour didn’t lift a finger to undo National’s H and S reforms – there was a hell of the lot of other things it never really did as well.
A lot of people on this blog think that Helen Clark’s government was the best ever, while over at Kiwiblog the rednecks entertain us with a delusional view that this country was like Bolshevik Russia in the 1920’s.
It wasant really all that left wing.
If you want a real left wing progressive government in New Zealand — look at Norman Kirk and Bill Rowling’s short lived government, even if Roger Douglas was in cabinet — back then he came up with some pretty progressive stuff (though I guess he was on a shorter leash back then).
“From 1999 to 2008 Labour didn’t lift a finger to undo National’s H and S reforms – there was a hell of the lot of other things it never really did as well.”
Most of the true ‘left’ if you can all it that is voting Green, while the rest remain in Labour trying to get the last of the 80s bunch out of the party.
The real issue is the “Real Time” governance of this country and it’s spineless implementation.
The “Left” would not have been spineless, simple fact.
Because they have “Ground” too stand on and would’ve pressured Pike River real time about it’s workplace standards and procedures.
Even when the opposition calls the Gnats’ on it they reply with delusional obfuscated PR spin.
It’s unbelievable too me that anyone over the age of 10 would think John Key a trustworthy person, and this rest of the Gnats’ are even worse, through subservience and gutlessness they are killing New Zealanders’ with impunity and a smile M8!.
Well, Trotter’s post/article also ends on a hopeful note, looking to the future:
Following the Royal Commission Report’s release, Labour leader, David Shearer, was asked if he thought the deregulatory pendulum had swung too far. Mr Shearer responded by saying that “the government needs to be much more hands on than it has been”.
It is to be hoped that these words reflect a genuine change of heart on Labour’s part, and that the next time they’re in office, Labour politicians will not hesitate to prevent the private sector’s “drive for production” (and profits) from pushing workers’ rights to effective workplace protection off the agenda.
Although Trotter’s final sentence is one last kick at Labour for its past record.
Perhaps Labour being more hands on would happen if we got some real tradesmen, semi-skilled workers, and mature women with family raising as well as paid workforce experience to those standing for Labour representation. Real hands-on people, not just higher educated, computer finger-clicking geniuses and lawyers good with words and understandings of the analogous nuts and bolts the state uses to keep us under control.
What National obviously fail to understand is that the cost of reducing GHG emissions, which is a required expense to reduce the effects of anthropomorphic climate change, might not be cheap… But the cost of failing to act will be even more expensive…
John Key, if he thinks about it at all, no doubt imagines that his grandchildren will live in ecodome, gated communities in Hawaii. The plebs can live on the scorched earth.
I noticed that Cameron connected paedophiles with gays. As far as I know heterosexuals can be quite as perverted in that direction as any other sexual persuasion. And incest can occur within apparently ‘normal’ families. And mothers can sometimes be compliant and silent about this because doing something destroys the marriage, family and home and apparent wellbeing and respect in the community etc. So the child, usually daughter, is abandoned to their own sad initiation into sex and twisted adulthood. All very dark and destructive to the human soul and a young person’s sense of self-worth.
Gays going about their gay lives in a way that follows personal integrity deserve better than being conflated with those perversions of love that lead to incest and other sick obssessions.
THAT interview in the Listener is now available online. What’s so wrong with a politician being smart, and aware of his media image? Does John Key not manipulate his media appearances even more than Cunliffe?
After all the bluster by right wingers, and English in parliament, the actual Espiner interview doesn’t live up to that hype. It looks like a lot of framing by Espiner to make Cunliffe look bad.
The important issues to me are what political policies, and strategies Cunliffe will pursue. The inteview highlights the main ones.
Cunliffe believes a new epoch is now upon us and that the left will no longer play second fiddle to the right as it has these past three decades. “The left of politics had to really adapt. You got Clinton’s Democrats. You got Blair’s Third Way, which to some extent had to accommodate and triangulate on triumphal markets and the Washington Consensus, and then the great crash of ’08-’09 happened and I reckon – we reckon – that that changes things again,” he says. “That gives not only the necessity but the freedom for us to ask big questions about do those policy settings, pre-crash, fit our people well for the future? And the answer in many cases is no.”
Rightly or wrongly, Cunliffe believes that the faction against him in caucus, is unhappy with his desire for change. And he reckons his opponents have learnt from Garner’s leaks. We shall see.
This ‘revolving door’ is another form of GRAND CORRUPTION which is endemic in New Zealand.
There should be a ‘quarantine’ period of 18 months / 2 years from the time politicians and senior staff leave the public service to when they take up employment in the private sector in an area where they could be seen to be using their contacts etc…..
eg: Former Minister of Justice and Commerce – Simon Power – going straight from Parliament to head the Westpac private bank. In Australia – both at Commonwealth and State Government level – that would be illegal.
Simon Power to head Westpac Private Bank
Last updated 14:20 11/10/2011
MOVING ON: Justice Minister Simon Power will take over as head of Westpac Private Bank.
Cabinet minister Simon Power will be taking over as the head of Westpac Private Bank, it was announced today.
The Rangitikei MP, 41, has been a National MP for 12 years and was tipped as the next party leader until his shock decision to stand down at the November general election.
Power said he felt he was young enough to have a second career.
Today, it was announced the commerce and justice minister would head Westpac Private Bank, a subsidiary of Westpac which deals with premium personal customers.
……………..
_______________________________________________________________________________
NEW SOUTH WALES INDEPENDENT COMMISSION AGAINST CORRUPTION (ICAC)
Post-separation employment is the situation where a public official leaves the public sector and obtains employment in the private sector. The principle underlying the management of post-separation employment is the need to ensure that public sector decisions are made only on their merits and not compromised by extraneous considerations or personal interests.
The Department of Premier and Cabinet Personnel Handbook refers to this issue in Section 8-12:
Employees should not use their position to obtain opportunities for future employment. They should not allow themselves or their work to be influenced by plans for, or offers of, employment outside the department.
The type of employment which may be cause for concern is that which bears a close or sensitive relationship with the person’s former position as a public official. Examples might be regulators who go to work in an industry they formerly regulated, an adviser or chief executive who resigns from the public service to work in the private sector in the area of his or her former expertise, or a former government minister who obtains work as a political lobbyist.
The risk of corruption is higher if the post-separation work involves contact with the former department, colleagues, or staff of the former public official. For the most part former public officials have no restrictions imposed on the type of employment they can obtain after they leave the public sector, and many post-separation employment problems only emerge after the public official has left public sector employment.
Corrupt conduct related to the post-separation employment of a public official can occur either before or after the official leaves public employment.
Corruption risks
A risk assessment of the management of post-separation employment is likely to identify some or all of the following corruption risks:
A current public official using their position to obtain an advantage for their future employment.
A former public official attempting to influence former colleagues to make decisions that favour their new employment or private business.
A former public official establishing their own business in the same field as the public agency and approaching the agency’s clients for business, using confidential information gained from the agency.
A former public official becoming a lobbyist for a private organisation or specialist group and trying to gain confidential information or favourable treatment from former colleagues.
A current public official stealing information, intellectual property, or other resources to develop their own business and/or to enhance employment prospects with other agencies and organisations.
________________________________________________________________________________
There is corruption in New Zealand politics that is pretty much under the radar, but keep in mind that such corruption is not illegal; the Roger Douglas crowd did a lot of things we would consider corrupt but it was not illegal. At the end of the day governments can act with impunity in New Zealand.
We do not have a solid constitutional document (even the Treaty of Waitangi could be removed if a government was determined enough) nor acts that cannot be easily overturned with a simple majority vote. Truth be told, a politician can do whatever he/she likes so long as he is on side with the government in power and doesn’t do what is termed ‘illegal’.
Until New Zealand gets an anti-corruption commission and makes conflicts of interests a punishable offense in law for politicians, we can’t do anything about it beyond exposing such in the media; but as it is not illegal, again it would result in no action.
The Government dominated the political agenda this week with its two-day conference pitching all manner of public infrastructure projects for Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories shortest in our political economy this week: The Government ploughed ahead with offers of PPPs to pension fund managers ...
You know that it's a snake eat snake worldWe slither and serpentine throughWe all took a bite, and six thousand years laterThese apples getting harder to chewSongwriters: Shawn Mavrides.“Please be Jack Tame”, I thought when I saw it was Seymour appearing on Q&A. I’d had a guts full of the ...
So here we are at the wedding of Alexandra Vincent Martelli and David Seymour.Look at all the happy prosperous guests! How proud Nick Mowbray looks of the gift he has made of a mountain of crap plastic toys stuffed into a Cybertruck.How they drink, how they laugh, how they mug ...
Some continue to defend David Seymour on school lunches, sidestepping his errors to say:“Well the parents should pack their lunch” and/or “Kids should be grateful for free food.”One of these people is the sitting Prime Minister.So I put together a quick list of why complaint is not only appropriate - ...
“Bugger the pollsters!”WHEN EVERYBODY LIVED in villages, and every village had a graveyard, the expression “whistling past the graveyard” made more sense. Even so, it’s hard to describe the Coalition Government’s response to the latest Taxpayers’ Union/Curia Research poll any better. Regardless of whether they wanted to go there, or ...
Prof Jane Kelsey examines what the ACT party and the NZ Initiative are up to as they seek to impose on the country their hardline, right wing, neoliberal ideology. A progressive government elected in 2026 would have a huge job putting Humpty Dumpty together again and rebuilding a state that ...
See I try to make a differenceBut the heads of the high keep turning awayThere ain't no useWhen the world that you love has goneOoh, gotta make a changeSongwriters: Arapekanga Adams-Tamatea / Brad Kora / Hiriini Kora / Joel Shadbolt.Aotearoa for Sale.This week saw the much-heralded and somewhat alarming sight ...
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom3, NZ Herald, Stuff, BusinessDesk-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT-$, WSJ-$, Bloomberg-$, New York Times-$, The Atlantic-$, The Economist-$ ...
By international standards the New Zealand healthcare system appears satisfactory – certainly no worse generally than average. Yet it is undergoing another redisorganisation.While doing some unrelated work, I came across some international data on the healthcare sector which seemed to contradict my – and the conventional wisdom’s – view of ...
When Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, he knew that he was upending Europe’s security order. But this was more of a tactical gambit than a calculated strategy ...
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Over the last year, I’ve been warning about Luxon’s pitch to privatise our public assets.He had told reporters in October that nothing was off the cards:Schools, hospitals, prisons, and ...
When ASPI’s Cyclone Tracy: 50 Years On was published last year, it wasn’t just a historical reflection; it was a warning. Just months later, we are already watching history repeat itself. We need to bake ...
1. Why was school lunch provider The Libelle Group in the news this week?a. Grand Winner in Pie of The Yearb. Scored a record 108% on YELP c. Bought by Oravida d. Went into liquidation2. What did our Prime Minister offer prospective investors at his infrastructure investment jamboree?a. The Libelle ...
South Korea has suspended new downloads of DeepSeek, and it was were right to do so. Chinese tech firms operate under the shadow of state influence, misusing data for surveillance and geopolitical advantage. Any country ...
Previous big infrastructure PPPs such as Transmission Gully were fiendishly complicated to negotiate, generated massive litigation and were eventually rewritten anyway. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesLong stories shortest: The Government’s international investment conference ignores the facts that PPPs cost twice as much as vanilla debt-funded public infrastructure, often take ...
Woolworths has proposed a major restructure of its New Zealand store operating model, leaving workers worried their hours and pay could be cut. Public servants are being asked how productive their office is, how much they use AI, and whether they’re overloaded with meetings as part of a “census”. An ...
Robert Kaplan’s book Waste Land: A World in Permanent Crisis paints a portrait of civilisation in flux. Drawing insights from history, literature and art, he examines the effect of modern technology, globalisation and urbanisation on ...
Sexuality - Strong and warm and wild and freeSexuality - Your laws do not apply to meSexuality - Don't threaten me with miserySexuality - I demand equalitySong: Billy Bragg.First, thank you to everyone who took part in yesterday’s survey. Some questions worked better than others, but I found them interesting, ...
Hi,I just got back from a week in Japan thanks to the power of cheap flights and years of accumulated credit card points.The last time I was in Japan the government held a press conference saying they might take legal action against me and Netflix, so there was a little ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: on the week in geopolitics, including Donald Trump’s wrecking of the post-WW II political landscape; andHealth Coalition Aotearoa co-chair Lisa ...
Hi,I just got back from a short trip to Japan, mostly spending time in Tokyo.I haven’t been there since we shot Dark Tourist back in 2017 — and that landed us in a bit of hot water with the Japanese government.I am glad to report I was not thrown into ...
I’ve been on Substack for almost 8 months now.It’s been good in terms of the many great individuals that populate its space. So much variety and intelligence and humour and depth.I joined because someone suggested I should ‘start a Substack,’ whatever that meant.So I did.Turning on payments seemed like the ...
Open access notables Would Adding the Anthropocene to the Geologic Time Scale Matter?, McCarthy et al., AGU Advances:The extraordinary fossil fuel-driven outburst of consumption and production since the mid-twentieth century has fundamentally altered the way the Earth System works. Although humans have impacted their environment for millennia, justification for ...
Australia should buy equipment to cheaply and temporarily convert military transport aircraft into waterbombers. On current planning, the Australian Defence Force will have a total of 34 Chinook helicopters and Hercules airlifters. They should be ...
Indonesia’s government has slashed its counterterrorism (CT) budgets, despite the persistent and evolving threat of violent extremism. Australia can support regional CT efforts by filling this funding void. Reducing funding to the National Counterterrorism Agency ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Resource Management (Prohibition on Extraction of Freshwater for On-selling) Amendment Bill (Debbie Ngarewa-Packer) The bill does exactly what it says on the label, and would effectively end the rapacious water-bottling industry ...
Twilight Time Lighthouse Cuba, Wigan Street, Wellington, Sunday 6 April, 5:30pm for 6pm start. Twilight Time looks at the life and work of Desmond Ball, (1947-2016), a barefooted academic from ‘down under’ who was hailed by Jimmy Carter as “the man who saved the world”, as he proved the fallacy ...
Foreign aid is being slashed across the Global North, nowhere more so than in the United States. Within his first month back in the White House, President Donald Trump dismantled the US Agency for International ...
Nicola Willis has proposed new procurement rules that unions say will lead to pay cuts for already low-paid workers in cleaning, catering and security services that are contracted by government. The Crimes (Theft by Employer) Amendment Bill passed its third reading with support from all the opposition parties and NZ ...
Most KP readers will not know that I was a jazz DJ in Chicago and Washington DC while in grad school in the early and mid 1980s. In DC I joined WPFW as a grave shift host, then a morning drive show host (a show called Sui Generis, both for ...
Long stories shortest: The IMF says a capital gains tax or land tax would improve real economic growth and fix the budget. GDP is set to be smaller by 2026 than it was in 2023. Compass is flying in school lunches from Australia. 53% of National voters say the new ...
Last year in October I wrote “Where’s The Opposition?”. I was exasperated at the relative quiet of the Green Party, Labour and Te Pati Māori (TPM), as the National led Coalition ticked off a full bingo card of the Atlas Network playbook.1To be fair, TPM helped to energise one of ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkGood data visualizations can help make climate change more visceral and understandable. Back in 2016 Ed Hawkins published a “climate spiral” graph that ended up being pretty iconic – it was shown at the opening ceremony of the Olympics that year – and ...
An agreement to end the war in Ukraine could transform Russia’s relations with North Korea. Moscow is unlikely to reduce its cooperation with Pyongyang to pre-2022 levels, but it may become more selective about areas ...
This week, the Government is hosting a grand event aimed at trying to interest big foreign capital players in financing capital works in New Zealand, particularly its big rural motorway programme. Financing vs funding: a quick explainer The key word in the sentence above is financing. It is important ...
In a month’s time, the Right Honourable Winston Peters will be celebrating his 80th birthday. Good for him. On the evidence though, his current war on “wokeness” looks like an old man’s cranky complaint that the ancient virtues of grit and know-how are sadly lacking in the youth of today. ...
As noted, early March has been about moving house, and I have had little chance to partake in all things internet. But now that everything is more or less sorted, I can finally give a belated report on my visit to the annual Regent Booksale (28th February and 1st March). ...
Information operations Australia has banned cybersecurity software Kaspersky from government use because of risks of espionage, foreign interference and sabotage. The Department of Home Affairs said use of Kaspersky products posed an unacceptable security ...
The StrategistBy Linus Cohen, Astrid Young and Alice Wai
One of the best understood tropes of screen drama is the scene where the beloved family dog is barking incessantly and cannot be calmed. Finally, somebody asks: What is it, girl? Has someone fallen down a well? Is there trouble at the old John Key place?One is reminded of this ...
The ’ndrangheta, the Calabrian mafia, plays a significant role in the global cocaine trade and is deeply entrenched in Australia, influencing the cocaine trade and engaging in a variety of illicit activities. A range of ...
In the US, the Trump regime is busy imposing tariffs on its neighbours and allies, then revoking them, then reimposing them, permanently poisoning relations with Canada and Mexico. Trump has also threatened to impose tariffs on agricultural goods, which will affect Aotearoa's exports. National's response? To grovel for an exemption, ...
Troy Bowker’s Caniwi Capital’s Desmond Gittings, former TradeMe and Warehouse executive Simon West, former anonymous right wing blogger / Labour attacker & now NZ On Air Board member / Waitangi Tribunal member Philip Crump, Canadian billionaire Jim Grenon who used to run vaccine critical, Treaty of Waitangi critical, and trans-rights ...
The free school lunch program was one of Labour's few actual achievements in government. Decent food, made locally, providing local employment. So naturally, National had to get rid of it. Their replacement - run by Compass, a multinational which had already been thrown out of our hospitals for producing inedible ...
New draft government procurement guidelines will remove living wage protections for thousands of low-paid workers in Aotearoa New Zealand, said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff. “The Minister of Finance Nicola Willis has proposed a new rule saying that the Living Wage no longer needs to be paid in ...
The Trump administration’s effort to divide Russia from China is doomed to fail. This means that the United States is destroying security relationships based on a delusion. To succeed, Russia would need to overcome more ...
Māori workers now hold more high-skilled jobs than low-skilled jobs with 46 percent in high-skilled jobs, 14 percent in skilled jobs, and 40 percent in low-skilled jobs. Resource teachers of literacy and Te Reo Māori are “devastated” by a proposal from the Education Minister to stop funding 174 roles from ...
Knowing what is going on in orbit is getting harder—yet hardly less necessary. But new technologies are emerging to cope with the challenge, including some that have come from Australian civilian research. One example is ...
This is a guest post by Malcolm McCracken. It previously appeared on his blog Better Things Are Possible and is shared by kind permission. New Zealand’s largest infrastructure project, the City Rail Link (CRL), is expected to open in 2026. This will be an exciting step forward for Auckland, delivering better ...
“The reality is I'm just saying to you I'm proud of the work we're doing. We're doing a great job”, said Luxon, pushing back at Auckland Council’s reports of rising homelessness and pleas for help. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories shortest:Christopher Luxon denies his Government caused a ...
Should I stay, or should I go now?Should I stay, or should I go now?If I go, there will be troubleAnd if I stay, it will be doubleSo come on and let me knowSongwriters: Topper Headon, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Joe Strummer.Christopher,Tomorrow marks seventeen months since the last election. We’re ...
Homelessness in Auckland has risen by 53% in 4 months - that’s 653 peopleliving in cars, on streets and in parks.The city’s emergency housing numbers have fallen by about 650 under National too - now at record lows.Housing First Auckland is on the frontlines: There is “more and more ...
A growing consensus holds that the future of airpower, and of defense technology in general, involves the interplay of crewed and uncrewed vehicles. Such teaming means that more-numerous, less-costly, even expendable uncrewed vehicles can bring ...
Only two more sleeps to the Government’s Jamboree Investor Extravaganza! As a proud New Zealander I’m very much hoping for the best: Off-shore wind farms! Solar power! Sustainable industry powered by the abundant energy we could be producing!I wonder, will they have a deal already lined up, something to announce ...
After decades of gradual decline, Australia’s manufacturing capability is no longer mission-fit to meet national security needs. Any whole-of-nation effort to arrest this trend needs to start by making the industrial operating environment more conducive ...
Back in October 2022, Restore Passenger Rail hung banners across roads in Wellington to protest against the then-Labour government's weak climate change policy. The police responded by charging them not with the usual public order offences, but with "endangering transport", a crime with a maximum sentence of 14 years in ...
Luxon’s popularity continues to fall, and a new survey shows voters rank fixing the health system as the top priority. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesLong stories shortest in Aotearoa’s political economy this morning: National’s pollster finds Christopher Luxon has fallen behind Chris Hipkins as preferred PM for the first ...
The CTU is calling for an apology from Nicola Willis after her office made a false characterisation of CTU statements, which ultimately saw him blocked from future Treasury briefings. New data shows that Māori make up 83% of those charged under new gang laws. Financial incentives are being offered to ...
Australia’s cyber capabilities have evolved rapidly, but they are still largely reactive, not preventative. Rather than responding to cyber incidents, Australian law enforcement agencies should focus on dismantling underlying criminal networks. On 11 December, Europol ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters Finally, there’s some good news to report from NOAA, the parent organization of the National Hurricane Center, or NHC: During the highly active 2o24 Atlantic hurricane season, the NHC made record-accurate track forecasts at every time interval (12-, ...
The Australian government has prioritised enhancing Australia’s national resilience for many years now, whether against natural disasters, economic coercion or hostile armed forces. However, the public and media response to the presence of Chinese naval ...
It appears that Auckland Transport is finally set to improve Auckland’s busiest non-frequent bus route, the 120. As highlighted in my post a month ago on Auckland’s busiest bus routes, the 120 is the busiest route that doesn’t already run frequently all day/week and carries more passengers than many other ...
Economists have earned their reputation for jargon and tunnel vision, but sometimes, it takes an someone as perceptive as Simplicity economist Shamubeel Eaqub to identify something simple and devastating. As he pointed out recently, the coalition government is trying to attract foreign investment here to generate economic growth, while – ...
Opinion & AnalysisSimeon Brown, left, and Deloitte partner David LovattIn September 2024, Deloitte Partner David Lovatt, was contracted by the National Government to help National ostensibly understand “the drivers behind HNZ’s worsening financial performance”.1 i.e. deficit.The report shows the last version was dated December 2024.It was formally released this week ...
This cobbled-together government was altogether more the beneficiary of Labour getting turfed out than anything it managed to do itself. Even the worthless cheques they were writing didn't buy all that much favour.How’s it all looking now?Shall we take a look at a Horizon poll?The Government’s performance is making only ...
There's horrible news from the US today, with the Trump regime disappearing Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University student, for protesting against genocide in Gaza. Its another significant decline in US human rights, and puts them in the same class as the authoritarian dictatorships they used to sponsor in South ...
Yesterday National announced plans to amend the Public Works Act to "speed up" land acquisition for public works. Which sounds boring and bureaucratic - except its not. Because what "land acquisition" means is people's homes being compulsorily acquired by the state - which is inherently controversial, and fairly high up ...
Contenders: The next question after “Will Luxon really go?” is, of course, “Will that work?” The answer to that question lies not so much in the efficacy of Luxon’s successor as it does in the perceived strength of the Centre-Left alternative.AT LEAST TWO prominent political commentators are alluding publicly to the ...
Ice will melt, water will boilYou and I can shake off this mortal coilIt's bigger than usYou don't have to worry about itIt's circumstantialIt's nothing written in the skyAnd we don't even have to trySongwriters: Neil Finn / Tim Finn.Preparing for the future.Many of you will be familiar with the ...
Shane Jones’ display on Q&A showed how out of touch he and this Government are with our communities and how in sync they are with companies with little concern for people and planet. ...
Labour does not support the private ownership of core infrastructure like schools, hospitals and prisons, which will only see worse outcomes for Kiwis. ...
The Green Party is disappointed the Government voted down Hūhana Lyndon’s member’s Bill, which would have prevented further alienation of Māori land through the Public Works Act. ...
The Labour Party will support Chloe Swarbrick’s member’s bill which would allow sanctions against Israel for its illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territories. ...
The Government’s new procurement rules are a blatant attack on workers and the environment, showing once again that National’s priorities are completely out of touch with everyday Kiwis. ...
With Labour and Te Pāti Māori’s official support, Opposition parties are officially aligned to progress Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick’s Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in Palestine. ...
Te Pāti Māori extends our deepest aroha to the 500 plus Whānau Ora workers who have been advised today that the govt will be dismantling their contracts. For twenty years , Whānau Ora has been helping families, delivering life-changing support through a kaupapa Māori approach. It has built trust where ...
Labour welcomes Simeon Brown’s move to reinstate a board at Health New Zealand, bringing the destructive and secretive tenure of commissioner Lester Levy to an end. ...
This morning’s announcement by the Health Minister regarding a major overhaul of the public health sector levels yet another blow to the country’s essential services. ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill that will ensure employment decisions in the public service are based on merit and not on forced woke ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’ targets. “This Bill would put an end to the woke left-wing social engineering and diversity targets in the public sector. ...
Police have referred 20 offenders to Destiny Church-affiliated programmes Man Up and Legacy as ‘wellness providers’ in the last year, raising concerns that those seeking help are being recruited into a harmful organisation. ...
Te Pāti Māori welcomes the resignation of Richard Prebble from the Waitangi Tribunal. His appointment in October 2024 was a disgrace- another example of this government undermining Te Tiriti o Waitangi by appointing a former ACT leader who has spent his career attacking Māori rights. “Regardless of the reason for ...
Police Minister Mark Mitchell is avoiding accountability by refusing to answer key questions in the House as his Government faces criticism over their dangerous citizen’s arrest policy, firearm reform, and broken promises to recruit more police. ...
The number of building consents issued under this Government continues to spiral, taking a toll on the infrastructure sector, tradies, and future generations of Kiwi homeowners. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Prime Minister to rule out joining the AUKUS military pact in any capacity following the scenes in the White House over the weekend. ...
The Green Party is appalled by the Government’s plan to disestablish Resource Teachers of Māori (RTM) roles, a move that takes another swing at kaupapa Māori education. ...
The Government’s levies announcement is a step in the right direction, but they must be upfront about who will pay its new infrastructure levies and ensure that first-home buyers are protected from hidden costs. ...
The Government’s levies announcement is a step in the right direction, but they must be upfront about who will pay its new infrastructure levies and ensure that first-home buyers are protected from hidden costs. ...
After months of mana whenua protecting their wāhi tapu, the Green Party welcomes the pause of works at Lake Rotokākahi and calls for the Rotorua Lakes Council to work constructively with Tūhourangi and Ngāti Tumatawera on the pathway forward. ...
New Zealand First continues to bring balance, experience, and commonsense to Government. This week we've made progress on many of our promises to New Zealand.Winston representing New ZealandWinston Peters is overseas this week, with stops across the Middle East and North Asia. Winston's stops include Saudi Arabia, the ...
Green Party Co-Leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick have announced the party’s plans to deliver a Green Budget this year to offer an alternative vision to the Government’s trickle-down economics and austerity politics. ...
At this year's State of the Planet address, Green Party co-leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick announced the party’s plans to deliver a Green Budget this year to offer an alternative vision to the Government’s trickle-down economics and austerity politics. ...
The Government has spent $3.6 million dollars on a retail crime advisory group, including paying its chair $920 a day, to come up with ideas already dismissed as dangerous by police. ...
The Green Party supports the peaceful occupation at Lake Rotokākahi and are calling for the controversial sewerage project on the lake to be stopped until the Environment Court has made a decision. ...
ActionStation’s Oral Healthcare report, released today, paints a dire picture of unmet need and inequality across the country, highlighting the urgency of free dental care for all New Zealanders. ...
Analysis: Not many saw it.But when applause built at a Unity Week hui on the anniversary of the Christchurch terror attack, and Prime Minister Chistopher Luxon joined in, it seemed photo-worthy.Abdur Razzaq, of the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (FIANZ), introduced Luxon to the hui by noting the ...
Do BetterKing Luxon saddled his mighty war steed TitanicAnd rode out to inspect his realm.The King passed by the Mayoress of King’s LandingSitting on a burst water pipe.“Lame-O”, scoffed the King.The King passed by a pile of burning offalSurrounded by weeping school urchins.“Get a Marmite sandwich,” snorted the King.The King ...
Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. – In Bislama, they say, “Wan nambanga i foldaon“. A great tree has fallen. The nambanga, or banyan tree, is the centrepiece of many a Vanuatu village. Its massive network of boughs provides shade, shelter and strength. I’ve only ever seen ...
COMMENTARY:By Greg Barns When it comes to antisemitism, politicians in Australia are often quick to jump on the claim without waiting for evidence. With notable and laudable exceptions like the Greens and independents such as Tasmanian federal MP Andrew Wilkie, it seems any allegation will do when it comes ...
By Emma Andrews, RNZ Henare te Ua Māori journalism intern Māori contributions to the Aotearoa New Zealand economy have far surpassed the projected goal of “$100 billion by 2030”, a new report has revealed. The report conducted by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s (MBIE) and Te Puni Kōkiri, ...
A global renewable energy developer backing one of New Zealand’s last standing offshore wind farm proposals says it would be “difficult” to cohabit with seabed mining.Danish developer Michael Hannibal, a partner in Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, is visiting New Zealand for the Government’s infrastructure investment summit. His firm and the NZ ...
A wide-ranging conversation with the opposition spokesperson on foreign affairs. Even before the second Trump term began, the world was a volatile place. But since January 20, across eight whiplash weeks, the pace of change has been astonishing. Donald Trump’s America First geopolitics, melding expansionist and isolationist instincts, has created ...
Surviving terror can be isolating, trauma expert Jo Dover says.Dover – a Brit who is in New Zealand to hold resilience workshops with the Muslim community, speak publicly, and meet government officials – has supported people affected by terrorism, conflict and war for almost three decades. She arrived in Christchurch ...
Two trade experts based in Delhi expressed some mild optimism about Luxon's chances, but with a major caveat: NZ would have to abandon hope of including dairy in any deal.. ...
MONDAYAt precisely 0300 hours I gave last-minute instructions to a team of crack troops who had sworn their allegiance in the war against woke left-wing social engineering and diversity targets in the public sector. They assembled in the basement bunker at the Beehive. It was built to withstand nuclear radiation. ...
It’s been six years since a lone gunman opened fire at two mosques in Christchurch, killing 51 people, shattering the country’s innocence and changing lives forever.Now a young Afghan-Kiwi couple, who were praying in another mosque in the Garden City that fateful day, is releasing a film in remembrance of ...
Gabi Lardies for now, Mad Chapman next week. Despite allegations they’re filled with shit books, I cannot pass by a little library without having a peek inside. Two weeks ago, stretching my legs from a hard morning sitting on my non-ergonomic wheely chair, I spied two curious spines in the ...
Poet Kate Camp learned to swim late in life. Now it’s a defining component of her identity. But why won’t she write about it? I learned to swim in a 15 metre pool in the backyard of Mandi’s place in Paraparaumu. That’s not true. I learned to swim in a ...
The highs, lows and silver linings of single-parenting a toddler. He lay there prone, unmoving, his dark eyes glassy and fixed on the ceiling above. My daughter looked at him, then at me. “Is that… Daddy?” I sighed. “No, darling, that’s not Daddy.” I grabbed the man to whom her ...
The star of Secrets at Red Rocks takes us through his life in television, including being duped by the Goodnight Kiwi and botching a song on Shortland Street. Whether he’s musing over a murder mystery as a cop in One Lane Bridge or in the midst of a surprise tandem ...
With the passenger seat withdrawn like this, for extra leg room, it occurs to Llew that someone has been having sex in this car. He and Nancy haven’t had sex since Waiheke. Barely even a kiss. Nancy shields her nipples with a forearm now out of the shower and Llew’s ...
With five regular season games remaining, the Wellington Phoenix women are still in with a great chance of finishing in the top six of the A-League and making the business end of this season’s competition.This Saturday night, they travel across the Tasman to face bottom of the table Sydney FC, ...
SPECIAL REPORT:By Giff Johnson, editor of the Marshall Islands Journal and RNZ Pacific correspondent in Majuro The late Member of Parliament Jeton Anjain and the people of the nuclear test-affected Rongelap Atoll changed the course of the history of the Marshall Islands by using Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior ship to ...
Health Minister Simeon Brown rejected advice from officials to lower the bowel screening age to 58 for the general population and 56 for Māori and Pacific people, just-released documents show. ...
Much was made in the build-up about the bipartisan spirit of the summit, with both government and opposition aware of the need to see through projects beyond election cycles. ...
COMMENTARY:By Gavin Ellis New Zealand-based Canadian billionaire James Grenon owes the people of this country an immediate explanation of his intentions regarding media conglomerate NZME. This cannot wait until a shareholders’ meeting at the end of April. Is his investment in the owner of The New Zealand Herald and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carolina Quintero Rodriguez, Senior Lecturer and Program Manager, Bachelor of Fashion (Enterprise) program, RMIT University Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock When you come home from a run or a sweaty gym session, do you immediately fling your clothes into the washing machine for a hot ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexis Vassiley, Lecturer, School of Business and Law, Edith Cowan University Aussie Family Living/Shutterstock A battle is underway on the mine sites in Western Australia’s remote Pilbara region. Unions are keen to get back into the iron ore industry after decades ...
"It will be a chance, really, for an update as to the different lines of diplomatic efforts that are going in across securing peace in Ukraine," Luxon said. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pat McConville, Lecturer in Ethics, Law, and Professionalism, School of Medicine, Deakin University Master1305/Shutterstock This week, doctors announced that an Australian man with severe heart failure had left hospital with an artificial heart that had kept him alive until he could ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tanya Latty, Associate Professor, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney Mircea Costina/Shutterstock About 90% of flowering plants rely on animals to transfer their pollen and optimise reproduction, making pollination one of nature’s most important processes. Bees are usually ...
A first step of good faith would be the reinstatement of a Social Sector Budget lockup for Budget 2025, inviting a cross-section of organisations representing the diversity of our population to hear key Budget messages firsthand. ...
The great thing about living on a rotating planet with an orbiting rocky satellite is that opportunities for orbs to align, well, come around. Here’s how to enjoy tonight’s lunar eclipse. In May 2024, Aotearoa was blessed with the celestial phenomenon of an exceptionally strong solar storm, causing the aurora ...
A new poem by Ted Greensmith-West. My grief is like a never-ending anticipation of impending dooms The dark hand that lurks behind the curtain is like Dorothy in photonegative with snarled teeth and pigtails… and acts as the constant reminder that Cole is dead forever now, like dust. // The ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Fourth Estate, $38) Dream Count is the first novel in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato Shutterstock Nearly 30 years before the Christchurch terror attacks of March 15 2019, New Zealand had to grapple with the horrors of another mass shooting. The Aramoana massacre on November 13 1990 left ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alice Nason, Research Associate, Foreign Policy and Defence, United States Studies Centre, University of Sydney Shutterstock Following the recent imposition of steel and aluminium tariffs, the Australian government is coming to terms with the reality of engaging with a US ally ...
well…when Iraq and Afghanistan wars were at top volume, billions were being spent a week…
You are right of course CV. I meant to write hundreds of $billions.
The fight heats up.
Will the Democrats cave under the pressure?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/7924297/Closing-the-gap-before-the-cliff
Equity traders threaten the Whitehouse:
Canterbury still looking like Fiji
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/7926305/Axing-election-abuse-of-human-rights-watchdog
But until the Central Plains and Hurunui irrigation schemes, and the extra Waitaki water take, are rammed through, don’t expect any change.
http://norightturn.blogspot.co.nz/
.
David Carter refused to comment.
Arsehole. He should take his family money and shove it up his arse. Unwelcome.
Permanent link http://norightturn.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/stealing-our-water.html
Yesterday at the Select Committee Environment and Local Body Meeting, the chief man at the Human Rights Mr Rutherford gave a burst that the stripping of democratic Rights was an affront to all that wars ghad been fought to preserve. Nick Smith got very angry and defensive. Wonder why. All NZ should be called to arms to condemn this antidemocratic travesty of ECan.
Yes I caught that.
Nick Smith needs to wake up and open his beady eyes.
Same with David Carter. I am sure both of them would never in their wildest dreams (……) imagine they have acted in the exact same manner as the third world tin-pot dictators that we all spit on.
pitoooey
Irrigation schemes should be publicly owned IMO, and metered, with revenue/profit going straight into cleaning up our rivers.
That’s what happens in the USA, and to a lesser extent, Australia.
We seem to let the private sector run the irrigation schemes, and pocket the profits and the water.
Jenny – While I go along with most of what you say, I think I ought to caution against Utopian thinking concerning the United States of America (in which I have lived, worked and studied over many years). A President, of course, has nothing like the unlimited power and influence many people think he possesses. We have heard all Obama’s skilled oratory (rhetoric, even hyperbole) before. The country ended up with more murderous drones than ever, posing threats to world peace and harmony also as ever (e.g. by imperialism – in the Pacific?) On the other hand, America is a generous country that treats foreigners rather well, a country of astounding extremes (for better and for worse).
In American politics you do not have much choice, for all the overwhelming cost of elections. There is not effective Left, the choice is between a Party leaning well towards the Right and another Party also leaning to the Right, but considerably less so (demonstrating compassion through policies that are not discriminatory). Times might be tough at present, but still materialism and marked patriotism are firmly in place throughout America.
“The best is yet to come”, proclaims Obama. Does this imply furtherance of the rather self-indulgent “American Dream”? Are these words comparable to another political leader who promised his country “a brighter future”? (Suddenly up to 7.3% unemployment, which thus far is receiving some remarkably mild reactions, a few even hinting that it is not too bad news, and that we are doing better, after all, than some other countries (which makes it alright!) “The best is yet to come” – we will have to wait a bit for Obama to unpack that prediction.
Dr Terry. Mitt Romney also promised ‘a brighter future’ but the American public wisely rejected him. Unfortunately our very own Mitt is having a ball destroying our country.
Exactly my worry about Obama…
Yet another truck has crashed.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/7927518/Molasses-tanker-crashes
That makes three truck crashes in two days. Should there be an investigation into the trucking industry?
Another driver probably half-asleep in the early hours of the morning.
This was predicted. Nats blocked any action as usual. Workers are disposable.
http://www.dogandlemon.com/articles/sleep-death
http://www.labour.org.nz/portfolios/transport-safety?page=2
Remember the TV3 newspiece not so long ago (18 months back?) that scoffed at and ridiculed the idea of maximum driving hours for truckies ? The story focussed on a company dealing in agricultural product that was getting slapped with a wet bus ticket for basically ignoring the regulation. Much hilarity from drivers and an apparent inability on the part of the reporters to grasp the seriousness of the matter.
Doesnt help that our railway system is being run down slowly.
Being wise enough to realise that selling it as a going concern is a no go, they are going to break it up and flog it off bit by bit by bit.
How the fuck does the British PM ( as headlined in both the guardian and the independent) figure that the current focus on paedophilia (healthy or unhealthy as it might be) in the UK is a ‘gay with-hunt’??? He’s just given the green light for people to view gays as potential paedophiles, no? And meanwhile, the so-called liberal press of the UK has underscored and endorsed the prejudice by giving the tosh uncritical headline prominance. Fucking unbelievable.
That, Bill, was exactly what I thought. The media and public were focusing on paedophiles – not sexual preference between consenting adults. Cameron just switched the emphasis to gay men to get himself out of a bind.
At the risk of being all contrarian, I thought Cameron handled the ambush pretty well. The UK has a history of conflating gay with paedophilia and at least one newspaper a few years ago printed the names and addresses of people innacurately accused of crimes against kids on that basis*. Innocent people were assaulted as a result. I think you’ll find that some of the names being bandied about in the UK as kiddy fiddlers are indeed gay, so Cameron will have been answering in that context.
* can’t recall the paper, but I think it was Rebekah Brooks who ran the name and shame campaign. Again, without bothering to search, I recall that a podiatrist was also attacked, because the word sounds like paedophile.
edit: News of the World et al, circa 2000
Yes, it was Rebekah Brooks and yes, paedohilia and paediatrician were confused because of the hype.
Yes, Cameron was ambushed, but he handled it badly imo – he should have just said internet speculation is just speculation. He aimed to deflect rather than quash speculation.
And yes “I think you’ll find that some of the names being bandied about in the UK as kiddy fiddlers are indeed gay” might be true, but just as true (numerically more so) is – I think you’ll find that some of the names being bandied about in the UK as sexually abusing children* are indeed straight (including the one this all started with – Jimmy Savile).
* kiddy fiddlers although a common term sounds like a game to me.
Thanks for the vid lnk. Yes. Cameron was robust. But why say (paraphrasing) ‘particularily gay people’? Is that his own prejudice? And why oh why oh why do the broadsheets give prominence (and therefor a degree of legitimacy) to that claim or concern in a way that can only reinforce existing prejudice?
Wouldn’t it have been healthier to have questioned that bit of Cameron’s response and laid the prejudice bare for the tosh that it is? Further, shouldn’t it be expected from so-called intelligent jouornalistic outputs?
edit. And it was a list naming Tory mp’s. Not a list naming gays.
edit. And it was a list naming Tory mp’s. Not a list naming gays.
Not mutually exclusive, Bill!
It’s likely that Cameron knows the names and equally likely, given his response, that some may be gay. I got the impression that Cameron was trying to do the decent thing in that interview, which is a fluffy breakfast show, not, say, Hardtalk. Can you imagine Key defending gays against unwarranted attack? No, me neither. If it was me in his place, I would have been tempted to point out to Philip Schofield that as a former TV children’s entertainer in the 80’s and nineties, there might be people speculating about his tendencies, too. But, then, I’m a bit of a bastard!
I didn’t say the two are mutually exclusive. But the list focussed on political allegience/office – or public figures/profiles – not sexual orientation. So he could/should have defended politicians. Or specifically Tory politicians – or whatever. But his mention of gays was in no way defending them (they weren’t being questioned or attacked or focussed on up until that point). And what his pronouncement has done is to place them in the crosshairs. It’s fucked up.
What I have heard on the radio this morning, is, that heads have rolled – that is, the allegation against a Tory MP was false, and so the editor of Newsnight has fallen on his sword.
Interesting!
On the upside, you and me know why and how to tell the difference and we aren’t the only people of our type in the world. If our collective perspective prefers an over-reliance on numbers, statistics and generalisation, to turn a specific sample of “some homosexuals abused children” and conflate it to become “most child abusers are homosexuals” then we can use the same method to say:
“Our current political rhetoric utilises generalisations to create the fear of opposite” and then “Politicians are manipulative and untrustworthy”.
In our everyday life though, it’s up to us to know our responsibility to face the individual circumstance before us, not the prejudice in our minds. Otherwise we aren’t thinking and living our lives, we’re remembering what we’ve been told and we might as well be robots or cardboard cut-outs. The person next door, who co-incidentally may be gay, should be extended the same respect and privacy we think we deserve if we’re hetro. They might be thinking, “I’ll just keep an eye on that hetro, I know how unbalanced they get round people like me.”. They might just be living their life, like nosey hetros should learn to do.
If this was the case, newspapers and the proclamations of the manipulative would become like the distant farts of a far off mud pit, while real people, dealing in real realtionships, got on with their lives.
Bill can appreciate what you are sayingm but lets not miss the major point here which is something that I have mentioned previously.
There are very dark forces at work, and those forces use “the establishment”, and are part of “the establishment” , to abuse, and systematically cover up this type of behaviour.
This is only the latest example that what is said about those who ‘run the world’ , is backed up by the same response at the Catholic Church.
British arms exports to repressive gulf state regimes visualised.
ha ha ha ha ha ha this has to be the funniest attempt at credibility in a while …….
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/7927838/Industry-backs-Todd-fracking-report
“Major players in the oil and gas industry have spoken in support of a report saying the industry will become unprofitable if fracking is banned.”
Well duh. Peak oil is as much about economics as the other. Eventually even with fracking, the industry will become unprofitable. By then we will have ruined the environment even more, just when we need a clean environment the most.
This is from WikiPedia …
“impacts, including contamination of ground water, risks to air quality, the migration of gases and hydraulic fracturing chemicals to the surface, surface contamination from spills and flowback and the health effects of these.[6] For these reasons hydraulic fracturing has come under scrutiny internationally, with some countries suspending or even banning it”
Surface contamination = Liquification.
Anyone care too investigate the connection in Canterbury?
“A proppant is a material that will keep a induced hydraulic fracture open, during or following a fracturing treatment”
“Radioactive tracer isotopes are sometimes included in the hydrofracturing fluid”
Chris Trotter quite rightly suggests that the Fifth Labour Government is as much to blame for Pike River as anyone else
From 1999 to 2008 Labour didn’t lift a finger to undo National’s H and S reforms – there was a hell of the lot of other things it never really did as well.
A lot of people on this blog think that Helen Clark’s government was the best ever, while over at Kiwiblog the rednecks entertain us with a delusional view that this country was like Bolshevik Russia in the 1920’s.
It wasant really all that left wing.
If you want a real left wing progressive government in New Zealand — look at Norman Kirk and Bill Rowling’s short lived government, even if Roger Douglas was in cabinet — back then he came up with some pretty progressive stuff (though I guess he was on a shorter leash back then).
“From 1999 to 2008 Labour didn’t lift a finger to undo National’s H and S reforms – there was a hell of the lot of other things it never really did as well.”
Most of the true ‘left’ if you can all it that is voting Green, while the rest remain in Labour trying to get the last of the 80s bunch out of the party.
You can argue historical issues for ever millsy.
The real issue is the “Real Time” governance of this country and it’s spineless implementation.
The “Left” would not have been spineless, simple fact.
Because they have “Ground” too stand on and would’ve pressured Pike River real time about it’s workplace standards and procedures.
Even when the opposition calls the Gnats’ on it they reply with delusional obfuscated PR spin.
It’s unbelievable too me that anyone over the age of 10 would think John Key a trustworthy person, and this rest of the Gnats’ are even worse, through subservience and gutlessness they are killing New Zealanders’ with impunity and a smile M8!.
Well, Trotter’s post/article also ends on a hopeful note, looking to the future:
Although Trotter’s final sentence is one last kick at Labour for its past record.
Perhaps Labour being more hands on would happen if we got some real tradesmen, semi-skilled workers, and mature women with family raising as well as paid workforce experience to those standing for Labour representation. Real hands-on people, not just higher educated, computer finger-clicking geniuses and lawyers good with words and understandings of the analogous nuts and bolts the state uses to keep us under control.
prism.
A non-university qualified hands-on working labourer like Savage would have no hope of being allowed to lead todays Labour Party. That’s a fact.
Actual Link
National guilty of ecocide
What National obviously fail to understand is that the cost of reducing GHG emissions, which is a required expense to reduce the effects of anthropomorphic climate change, might not be cheap… But the cost of failing to act will be even more expensive…
John Key, if he thinks about it at all, no doubt imagines that his grandchildren will live in ecodome, gated communities in Hawaii. The plebs can live on the scorched earth.
I noticed that Cameron connected paedophiles with gays. As far as I know heterosexuals can be quite as perverted in that direction as any other sexual persuasion. And incest can occur within apparently ‘normal’ families. And mothers can sometimes be compliant and silent about this because doing something destroys the marriage, family and home and apparent wellbeing and respect in the community etc. So the child, usually daughter, is abandoned to their own sad initiation into sex and twisted adulthood. All very dark and destructive to the human soul and a young person’s sense of self-worth.
Gays going about their gay lives in a way that follows personal integrity deserve better than being conflated with those perversions of love that lead to incest and other sick obssessions.
THAT interview in the Listener is now available online. What’s so wrong with a politician being smart, and aware of his media image? Does John Key not manipulate his media appearances even more than Cunliffe?
After all the bluster by right wingers, and English in parliament, the actual Espiner interview doesn’t live up to that hype. It looks like a lot of framing by Espiner to make Cunliffe look bad.
The important issues to me are what political policies, and strategies Cunliffe will pursue. The inteview highlights the main ones.
Rightly or wrongly, Cunliffe believes that the faction against him in caucus, is unhappy with his desire for change. And he reckons his opponents have learnt from Garner’s leaks. We shall see.
Is National really the farmer’s friend?
http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/federated-farmers-and-professor.html
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7929764/Government-turns-its-back-on-Kyoto-commitment
By Tim Grosser appropriately titled the Minister for Climate Change.
OH FFS
NZ’s reputation turned to mud
That’s generally what happens under Nationals governance.
That would be like the returning to surplus 2014/15 promise achieved by cutting taxes for the rich.
BROADENING THE DEBATE ABOUT ‘POST-SEPARATION EMPLOYMENT’
(THE ‘REVOLVING DOOR’)
The latest from Cronywatch… http://fmacskasy.wordpress.com/2012/11/09/crony-watch-2/
This ‘revolving door’ is another form of GRAND CORRUPTION which is endemic in New Zealand.
There should be a ‘quarantine’ period of 18 months / 2 years from the time politicians and senior staff leave the public service to when they take up employment in the private sector in an area where they could be seen to be using their contacts etc…..
eg: Former Minister of Justice and Commerce – Simon Power – going straight from Parliament to head the Westpac private bank. In Australia – both at Commonwealth and State Government level – that would be illegal.
The term is ‘post-separation employment’.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/5767710/Simon-Power-to-head-Westpac-Private-Bank
Simon Power to head Westpac Private Bank
Last updated 14:20 11/10/2011
MOVING ON: Justice Minister Simon Power will take over as head of Westpac Private Bank.
Cabinet minister Simon Power will be taking over as the head of Westpac Private Bank, it was announced today.
The Rangitikei MP, 41, has been a National MP for 12 years and was tipped as the next party leader until his shock decision to stand down at the November general election.
Power said he felt he was young enough to have a second career.
Today, it was announced the commerce and justice minister would head Westpac Private Bank, a subsidiary of Westpac which deals with premium personal customers.
……………..
_______________________________________________________________________________
NEW SOUTH WALES INDEPENDENT COMMISSION AGAINST CORRUPTION (ICAC)
http://www.icac.nsw.gov.au/preventing-corruption/knowing-your-risks/post-separation-employment/4301
Post-separation employment
Post-separation employment is the situation where a public official leaves the public sector and obtains employment in the private sector. The principle underlying the management of post-separation employment is the need to ensure that public sector decisions are made only on their merits and not compromised by extraneous considerations or personal interests.
The Department of Premier and Cabinet Personnel Handbook refers to this issue in Section 8-12:
Employees should not use their position to obtain opportunities for future employment. They should not allow themselves or their work to be influenced by plans for, or offers of, employment outside the department.
The type of employment which may be cause for concern is that which bears a close or sensitive relationship with the person’s former position as a public official. Examples might be regulators who go to work in an industry they formerly regulated, an adviser or chief executive who resigns from the public service to work in the private sector in the area of his or her former expertise, or a former government minister who obtains work as a political lobbyist.
The risk of corruption is higher if the post-separation work involves contact with the former department, colleagues, or staff of the former public official. For the most part former public officials have no restrictions imposed on the type of employment they can obtain after they leave the public sector, and many post-separation employment problems only emerge after the public official has left public sector employment.
Corrupt conduct related to the post-separation employment of a public official can occur either before or after the official leaves public employment.
Corruption risks
A risk assessment of the management of post-separation employment is likely to identify some or all of the following corruption risks:
A current public official using their position to obtain an advantage for their future employment.
A former public official attempting to influence former colleagues to make decisions that favour their new employment or private business.
A former public official establishing their own business in the same field as the public agency and approaching the agency’s clients for business, using confidential information gained from the agency.
A former public official becoming a lobbyist for a private organisation or specialist group and trying to gain confidential information or favourable treatment from former colleagues.
A current public official stealing information, intellectual property, or other resources to develop their own business and/or to enhance employment prospects with other agencies and organisations.
________________________________________________________________________________
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption campaigner’
http://www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com
There is corruption in New Zealand politics that is pretty much under the radar, but keep in mind that such corruption is not illegal; the Roger Douglas crowd did a lot of things we would consider corrupt but it was not illegal. At the end of the day governments can act with impunity in New Zealand.
We do not have a solid constitutional document (even the Treaty of Waitangi could be removed if a government was determined enough) nor acts that cannot be easily overturned with a simple majority vote. Truth be told, a politician can do whatever he/she likes so long as he is on side with the government in power and doesn’t do what is termed ‘illegal’.
Until New Zealand gets an anti-corruption commission and makes conflicts of interests a punishable offense in law for politicians, we can’t do anything about it beyond exposing such in the media; but as it is not illegal, again it would result in no action.