Expect some delays in page loads first thing this morning for the first few people in.
I’ve fixed the feeds so that they now work correctly. However I had to change the media string for the images and other static data from the CDN (Content Delivery Network). Depending on your browser and if anyone else has loaded from it previously, you might experience some page delays.
But the tabs are all working again. Now to figure out how to make them ‘faster’.
And also how to get rid of the bloody duplicated feed items that Blogger likes to provide !
Just noticed my tabs “Replies” and “Opinions” have been swapped around, either an update I guess or a tory gremlin stuck in the system trying to find a way out 😉
Forget the tin foil hat: NSA-proof wallpaper could keep snoopers and ‘doomsday’ electromagnetic weapons at bay
*New flexible material can block electronic emission
*Blocks signals that could be used for cybersnooping
*Can also block electromagnetic ‘doomsday’ weapons
*Could be used to protect drones flying in enemy territory
Good God man this is so depressing it makes a person want to crawl back into bed and stay there. Can’t this wait until we have showered, had a decent coffee and “girded the loins” so to speak for yet another day in this troubled planet we all dwell on. Thanks for it nevertheless the less – though god knows what anybody can do about it.
So do Mediawork’s mercenary front line “media persons” like Henry and Plunket (Radio Live and TV3), Goff is now accused of “double dipping”, while he has not even announced yet, that he will stand for the election of mayor for Auckland next year.
Are we surprised? No, I at least am not. The Labour conference was also treated with little mention, and while it was more a feel-good meeting offering inspiring speeches and no policy yet, that was exploited by Henry in his breakfast show.
Problem for Henry, Plunket and others, there is little to attack Labour for at present in regards to policy, as it is mostly “under review”, so they do of course look for any other next best opportunity to throw mud.
Goff is the best opportunity now, and while I am certain that Nat MPs have in the past held onto their seat and stood for election or any other alternative position in the meantime, they have to stress the possibility of Goff “double dipping” now.
While I have only so much time for Goff, he does not deserve to be treated like this.
Hell I thought the henry interview of Little was as good as I’ve seen for Little, he came across relaxed and batted away Henrys bs with ease ,ad to that Kelvin Davis getting a lot of coverage and this morning was a good start for labour.
Yes, Andrew did quite well, but Henry was trying various angles to embarrass him. He soon changed the topic from the conference to the Mt Roskill electorate, to Goff and to a likely by-election.
Potential voters, and more so non voters, they will probably not have been overly impressed by Little, as so many now fall for the machinations by media and spin artists. Only those that follow politics (a true minority in NZ) will even know about Andrew Little and his speech and the Labour conference.
Going on the Paul Henry Breakfast is like swimming in between sharks 24/7 I would say.
Kept his council job right up till the point it didnt cause the position to be refilled. He didnt do his council job just took the money whilst being a new MP as his non attendance showed.
Blinglish is an experienced double dipper so the glasshouse is well built.
So, that would be standard nasty politics at play then. The right wing don’t seem to be able to carry an argument and thus always revert to ad hominem attacks.
Little said the text of the deal (released late on Thursday) met four of the party’s five bottom lines.
Jane Kelsey says: I’ve spent the past 36 hours pouring over the massive technical text to understand some of the complexities and what they mean for current and future policy space in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Yet, within a day the Labour leadership seems to have decided the text is fine aside from the narrow issue of the right to restrict sales of residential property to foreign owners.
At the very least Labour’s leaders might have waited for the Waitangi Tribunal’s inquiry into the TPPA, which is now likely to be expedited following the release of the text.
The following is why the TPPA fails to satisfy the other four non-negotiable bottom lines, in addition to the one the caucus concedes.
Watch as no policy substance is delivered over the next 12 months. We know that Labour tolerates poverty very well. We know that Labour doesn’t believe in true full employment. We know that Labour cannot stand by tough policies unless they are neoliberal ones. We know that Labour takes climate change so seriously it won’t ban new oil exploration.
@ CV: I can see that you are currently disheartened with Labour. I respect that you have reasons for this, but I want to put forward a thought for your consideration. What was important about Little’s speech to congress was that it was not equivocal, and it outlined standards against which future policies are able to be measured. Since the exit of Helen Clark, “market forces” have been the unstated but absolute measure of everything: the task was to show loyalty to market forces and win the punters over with rhetoric and equivocally framed scraps of bait. Anyone seeking to depart from this model was hobbled, vilified or both, with David Cunliffe being the prime example. I think you need to allow that, prima facie at least, Little’s speech represents a departure from this duplicity. At least you can now say to him, this plan will or will not lead to jobs. That plan will or will not lead to people being cast on the scrap heap, etc.
However, I suspect that we already know what Little’s standard is, and that it is a low one full of wriggle room, if not “duplicity”. Take Labour’s ‘unequivocal’ bottom lines around the TPPA. Now according to Little, the TPPA actually does meet 4 out of Labour’s 5 bottom lines. And that Labour cannot meaningfully oppose the TPPA but it can ‘flout’ a few of its provisions here and there.
(While Jane Kelsey says that the TPPA fails all of Labour’s bottom lines. Who is right? GIven that Kelsey has gone through every page of the TPPA and no one in Labour has, I would say she is.)
Some may be feeling inspired to give Little and Labour 6 more months to prove themselves but after a long list of crap like this over the last 12 months (voting for National’s spying and anti-terrorism legislation!) I am not feeling similarly beneficent.
Two things: I think a glimmer of hope is better than no hope at all 🙂
I also think it may be inevitable that Labour has a more nuanced approach to the TPP than you and I. I am opposed to it, and will be at this weekend’s protests, but I can see that a political party that thunders opposition that it is not in the potion to action can back-foot itself in the face of a fait accompli. When you are up against a force much more powerful than anything you can muster, strategy sometimes works better than beating your head against a brick wall – in the latter case, the head tends to break while the wall continues to hold.
well fair enough but its hardly evidence that Labour has learnt to fight for and stick with what it believes in, and now they seem to be saying that they have indeed learnt. Time will tell.
I ask why you still continue to comment here, then.
“a long list of crap like this”apparently includes Little’s personal failure to repudiate elements of the TPPA in line with Jane Kelsey’s analysis. Said agreement released just days ago and containing reams of legalese.
Little somehow has to find a way to bridge the gap between the party factions. Everyone will have to compromise to some extent.
By all accounts he spoke well at the conference. His speech read pretty well given that it was light on policy specifics, for well understood reasons.
He sounds encouraging to me.
You’re beginning to sound shrill and desperate.
I ask why you still continue to comment here, then.
My believing that Labour is spineless (as per backdowns on the TPPA, 90 day right to fire, NZ power, GST off fruits and vegetables, CGT, raising the issue of Chinese last names but having zero new policy of substance around it etc.) has nothing to do with whether or not I should comment on The Standard.
Good thinking Olwyn and Tautoko MM.
As CV says – what about the bennies bottom line?
So nice words – very heartening.
Now we want baby steps to attend to the basics, then we can toddle to the next stage. Some things are urgently needed, and may have to be dripfed small and regular improvements so as not to destabilise the system.
Can we have a timeline for the improvements that are doable without a lot of parliamentary kerfuffle?
How soon could that be done without leaving time for National to do something malicious and spoil, plug the gap with their own short-term panacea etc.?
Could we have a reduction in GST as one of the toddling steps – down to 12 and half percent and 2andhalf be allocated to the originating region.? Give back to the area so they get full benefit of the spending multiplier. This will give more bang for the buck for poor people particularly.
Present 15% was what Switzerland had when I was there in the 70’s. Since when have we had a financial standing like them across the nation? It is far too high for NZ
On tax they are talking about how people ned help where they have to work numerous jobs and co-ordinate a portfolio of employers, and money earners. That’s realistic do it Labour. Get rid of secondary tax – that goes back to an anti double dipping mentality that is not appropriate for workers these days, forced to be serving numerous ‘masters’. Also do something about open slather hours. Make an attempt. Zero contracts out. Free rides for employers with subsidies not from government but from their workers out..
Put personal and trust tax up instead. The idea that the more money you get, the less tax you pay is stupid, illogical, and unsustainable. The country needs a certain tax take to operate successfully. You have to oil the machine.
And a system where some people are starved of jobs and wages and can’t pay much tax, while others benefit from that economy with people being out of work yet moan that they have to pay the tax thaat advantages them must be exposed as criminal and irrational. Perhaps the facts can be explained simply and firmly. Say the tax is going to better hospital services and health programs which are intensive in needy areas.
edited
One of the things they are talking about is allowing beneficiaries to earn more before abatement kicks in, and Carmel Sepuloni has spoken about that as well – I think she may have drafted a private members bill on it. I don’t know whether the ‘baby steps’ will follow your suggestions, but we will certainly want to see some.
“Could we have a reduction in GST as one of the toddling steps – down to 12 and half percent and 2andhalf be allocated to the originating region.? Give back to the area so they get full benefit of the spending multiplier. This will give more bang for the buck for poor people particularly.
Present 15% was what Switzerland had when I was there in the 70’s. Since when have we had a financial standing like them across the nation? It is far too high for NZ”
My response. Could we abolish GST? Lets do this. Introduce a robin hood style tax. For those of us struggling week to week and are always a step behind financially this would be a huge burden lifted from our shoulders. We can’t afford to prop up the lifestyles of wealthy MD and CE’s etc when our lifestyles are so threadbare.
As mentioned far too many times before. It’s not 1986 any more. Labour needs to acknowledge they introduced a cruel and unfair tax, and now, living in this vastly unequal society we need to abolish those taxes that grow the divide.
Agree with putting personal tax up if you’re on a high salary, eg, over $150K
Present 15% was what Switzerland had when I was there in the 70’s. Since when have we had a financial standing like them across the nation? It is far too high for NZ
You misunderstand why GST is there. It is solely so that the government could decrease taxes on the rich and put the responsibility for covering the inevitable shortfall upon the poor. In other words, it gives to the rich and takes from the poor.
+1 Olwyn
I would add – this policy will do nothing to reduce child policy.
Andrew Little has concentrated on uniting caucus and getting around the country as he said he would. Ensuring that the caucus does not split into various factions is an ongoing job, hence the careful words. By concentrating on the sovereignty issue in the TPP he can be opposed without allowing the pro TPP faction room to object.
I do hope that the attempt to keep the Labour Party operating as a cohesive entity does not reduce time for good policy, for us all as well as children.
Keeping Labour together is what Helen managed. We might excuse her then for not breaking the cycle of bennie bashing, and distancing herself from the concerns of oh-so-ordinary Kiwis. We won’t do so for Andrew Little and any other New Faces contestants looking for a big hand from the audience.
Oops – I meant child poverty. The bit where he said every policy will be measured in terms of reducing child poverty and every budget will measure the degree to which this has been achieved was very clever and heartening.
How can anybody, whatever their political leanings, say reducing child poverty isn’t something to work towards? And having accepted this is important and that the policies must reflect this, that means increasing minimum wages and benefits. There is no other way of reducing child poverty. An increase in minimum wages and benefits reduces all poverty – not just child poverty.
I’d like to see Labour support the Living Wage campaign.
Have I missed media reports of Labour’s vocal support of the WCC in the stoush with the Chamber of Commerce over insisting that contractors pay the Living Wage?
Indeed. And let’s remember that a “living wage” is only that for those lucky enough to have full time employment. For many others in NZ even a living wage would be largely irrelevant.
Fair enough for a “living wage”, what would a “dying wage” look like, as that must be the logical counter balance of a wage then? It seems many get nothing more than a little over the minimum wage, which should perhaps be renamed the “dying wage” (wage of a slowly dying, impoverished person).
However in Andrew Little’s speech he said
“So, I’m telling you, when it comes to undermining our democracy and our sovereignty in the TPPA, I am totally opposed and I will fight with every fibre in my body to stop it, to resist it, to make sure it never happens in New Zealand”.
Since the TPP is supposed to “level the playing field” and prevent any local favouritism, then some of the ideas for favouring Kiwis in jobs that Andrew Little mentioned in the speech would not be possible without incurring litigation if the TPP was ratified. He has outlined a vision of a proactive government. We now need the public to engage in some rational thinking and realise the full implications of what Key and Co are signing away.
The biggest dead rat in the TPP is the loss of our rights to determine the future direction of NZ without being financially screwed by foreign corporations.
To quote Andrew Little “I am totally opposed and I will fight with every fibre in my body to stop it, to resist it, to make sure it never happens in New Zealand”. Me too.
(Also, I’ll be fighting against the oil exploration with the same vigour!)
“So, I’m telling you, when it comes to undermining our democracy and our sovereignty in the TPPA, I am totally opposed and I will fight with every fibre in my body to stop it, to resist it, to make sure it never happens in New Zealand”.
But signing the TPP will do that. All his polices talked about in his speech will be in violation of TPP such as limiting property sales, keeping government contracts onshore, and taxing harmful products like sugar.
It’s utterly schizophrenic. Just a week ago Little was saying that the TPPA passed 4 out of 5 Labour “bottom lines” and that it was a done deal that could not be meaningfully opposed.
well in the post I wrote on the matter I said “weaker than tissue paper” but yep exactly right: Little remaking himself into a man of principle this weekend has me curious indeed.
Yet, Little’s focus concerning the investor-state dispute process seems to be solely on our ability to ban foreign buyers from the local housing market.
If Little genuinely wanted to ensure our sovereignty, he could utilize the exit clause.
However, he insists the deal is here. Implying there is little he can now do about it except for flouting or renegotiating the ability to ban foreign buyers from the local housing market.
and now R0b has written a post on the escalating costs of cancer treatments in NZ. Guess what: the TPPA is going to make it even worse for Kiwis and our health budget.
A great program Chairman.
What a pity that there is no public dialog in NZ to do this analysis of TPPA! A TV channel? Nah! MSM? Nah! Criminal isn’t it?
And Congress gets to vote yes/no. In NZ it will be Grosser, Key, Joyce and English who decide. Trust them? Sure can
+1 – great link – very similar problem to NZ – on one hand they are thinking NZ can push our food exports out there but like in the US it allows very cheap food to flood in and now people can fight the inspections.
So a pile of fruit flies and diseases comes into the country but NZ has reduced powers to stop it the pests coming in.
Shrimp from Vietnam that is not safe.
No food labelling.
6 of the 7 Nafda environmental conditions deleted in the TPP.
Pharma able to extend existing patents even if they have no real change.
Increased medicine costs.
Competing with Vietnamese workers on 65 cents an hour.
Can’t see what you are quibbling about savenz. /sarc
Don’t know whether I mean quibbling or kibbling. ( I think the kibbling comes after the quibbling. I can feel myself getting ground down and coarser as I write. Fu.ked……)
kibble1
ˈkɪb(ə)l/
verb
gerund or present participle: kibbling –
grind or chop (beans, grain, etc.) coarsely.
“a high protein legume such as kibbled beans”
On the food labelling it makes no sense either because
NZ food’ has a really safe international reputation so without knowing where any food is coming we are undermining our exports with cheaper producers who are cutting corners. (Unless the idea is, we all cut corners to have unsafe food?)
From boom to bust, and little hope for dairy farmers, same as Australian mining companies, and other businesses exporting raw materials and low value added products to the “Middle Empire”.
“We know that companies with more gender balanced leadership teams significantly outperform companies with only men at the helm,” says Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, CEO of Twenty first, a consulting company that focuses in building gender-balanced businesses. “Why wouldn’t this be even more true at a country level?”
Actual balance, rather than the ‘balance’ that the RWNJs like which prioritises the economy over everything else, produces better results.
FYI, Jamie Oliver is not some newcomer to this debate. He has campaigned for a long time on issues around obesity.
I wonder what Vernon Small and the rest of the right wing media will make of this?
John Key has proven himself to be a pm who is beholden to celebrity culture so I wouldn’t be surprised of there is some movement from National to steal this policy on the back of a TV chef’s Facebook post.
Labour’s policy on sugar labelling is ABSOLUTE madness. A. King has no idea what she is trying to do. It is not only unworkable but will cost many votes.
their usual form is to steal the rhetoric and fuck up the details so that what on the surface was a good idea becomes a seven-figure clusterfuck, and then the tories say “but it was Labour policy”.
I don’t think it’ll work as well as people think/want as it doesn’t do anything to solve the real issue which is people not grasping the basics such as fizzy drink being a treat drink and not an all day/every day drink
What I suspect is that the most obvious labelling (e.g. “50% less sugar!!!”) has more influence than kJ/carbohydrates per 100gm or arbitrary serving size.
When I started looking at labels more closely after going onto a lower-sodium diet, I was surprised at some of the ingredient levels, expecially in processed foods. E.g. fruit juice is often as sugary as fizzy drink, yet juice is often seen as “healthy”.
So I suspect that the minority might down 8 litres of coke a day and be surprised when helth turns to shit, but a hefty chunk of folks probably just follow broad rules and don’t realise quite how bastardised some of their food staples are – e.g. the cheaper bread usually has a massive anount of salt.
But then if I were a cynic, I’d suspect that you knew very well that having simple graphical guides on food content would show up some of the major foodstuff producers as being as amoral as the tobacco industry, and that’s why you speak against the label idea.
well, no it doesn’t taste the same (some of it has a really rank aftertaste), but you missed my point about people who “want to drink a boat load of fizzy drink” probably not really making up all that large a chunk (excuse the pun) of our increasingly obese population.
Shows you how our culture has a complete disconnect on knowledge about food, how many people are self medicating on shitty food, and how we’ve driven low income earners to poor diets, poorer overall health and shorter lives.
Yeah we just need to all channel our inner Annabel Langbeins, and flounce around making our coq au vins and wait for hubby/wifey to come home in the audi.
Well that was actually the WHO recommendation that was altered without the authors’ knowledge.
Many countries use the WHO guidelines to determine their standards.
Seems that the only reason the recommendation was suppressed and the only reason it would be political suicide is because of the lobbying by the powerful sugar industry.
Good of you to acknowledge that money buys influence.
Why would the public care if a maximum limit was imposed in all products? You really think people would object to their coke being a little less sweet?
I knew that Milo has been changed but didn’t know it was the vanilla.
We use their instant coffee cafe sleeves and that has changed its packaging recently and as often happens, the recipe too I think. It’s sort of watery, perhaps less milk powder and maybe it had vanilla there too.
On a side note I was surprised to find out how little sugar there is in beer, something like 1/2 teaspoon per bottle.
Beer is a great drink for diabetics. It does fuck-all to your blood sugar unless you’re drinking stuff like Kilkenny or Guinness. Every time medical professionals suggest I drink less beer, I give them a more polite version of “Fuck off.”
Yeah the beer belly is actually a complete myth, nothing to do with beer at all.
Having said that though, beer can often lead to eating large amounts of fatty fish and chips and other assorted take away nasties which results in a rather large gut.
Friends of Earth Indonesia/WALHI and its five regional offices have been conducting investigations of companies suspected of involvement in the fires and triggering the smoke and haze problems in Indonesia. They overlaid the concession maps of the companies, and tracked the names of companies mentioned by the environment and forestry minister. Many of the land concessions of those companies are in the precious peatland area
Already a number of company executives have been arrested for their suspected role in starting illegal forest fires, some of whom supply pulp products to the giant logging corporation Asian Pulp and Paper (APP).
The fires that have been started deliberately are part of a process which usually involves building canals to block water to the beautiful peatlands; thereby drying it out and enabling deliberately lit fires to burn. This drains the life out of these naturally-moist tropical forests, dries them out, and enables deliberately lit fires to burn. In time, companies and contractors will return to plant endless rows of palm oil and wood plantations in their place.
I keep waiting for God to do something, but I think there is too much going on for him/her to be able to cope. We may have to do more ourselves. Any way of getting through to the Indonesian’s heart?
Sadly, the bad parts are indeed bad enough to risk the whole; yet, the partners could also agree to a more measured, step-by-step approach, since that would be in the common interest, though not necessarily to the benefit of certain powerful interest groups.
The most egregious parts of the agreement are the exorbitant investor powers implicit in the Investor-State Dispute Settlement system as well as the unjustified expansion of copyright and patent coverage. We’ve seen this show before. Corporations are already using ISDS provisions in existing trade and investment agreements to harass governments in order to frustrate regulations and judicial decisions that negatively impact the companies’ interests. The system proposed in the TPP is a dangerous and unnecessary grant of power to investors and a blow to the judicial systems of all the signatory countries. And as in earlier trade agreements, the United States has pushed through overly strong intellectual property rights that strengthen the aggressive pricing practices of big pharma and unnecessarily extend the copyright protections far beyond their social usefulness.”
It isn’t all good news, though: soon the Australian forces will regroup and launch a full on assault, and although our plucky lads have plenty of heart, they simply don’t have the weapons that would allow them to fight back.
At the very least we could send someone over there to give them some training.
I’m glad you think that anyone who proposes military action go to the front of the deployment queue. That will have a most salutory effect, let’s do it!
‘As Syrian peace talks pick up speed, should we hope for any progress in ending the war? This conflict is a riddle, surely – as years go on, it becomes more and more difficult to sort out who’s fighting whom and for what purpose. And over that boiling pot of violence and blood, major powers – Russia, America, Gulf States, Iran – play their own game, no less convoluted, with goals and forces used to influence the conflict unclear. We try to solve that riddle, and to do that, we speak to the director of the Center for Middle East studies at the University of Oklahoma, who is an influential analyst on Syria. Professor Joshua Landis is on Sophie&Co today.”
“Steady as she goes: Russia continues to pursue a carefully calibrated policy of force and diplomacy in Syria. Damascus invited Moscow to enter the conflict to preserve the state and fight terrorism. Washington and its allies remain clueless.
CrossTalking with Mohammad Marandi, Gregg Roman and Catherine Shakdam.”
Trust Trev’ of the Herald to be all invigorated over this piece of Who.Gives.A.Fuck ? Egomaniac crooks wanking one another. Still, some relief for Richie…..
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Engineers are pleading for the Government to free up funds to restart stalled projects. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, February 17 are:Engineering New Zealand CEO Richard Templer said yesterday hundreds of ...
It’s one of New Zealand’s great sustaining myths: the spirit of ANZAC, our mates across the ditch, the spirit of Earl’s Court, Antipodeans united against the world. It is also a myth; it is not reality. That much was clear from a series of speakers, including a former Australian Prime ...
Many people have been unsatisfied for years that things have not improved for them, some as individuals, many more however because their families are clearly putting in more work, for less money – and certainly far less purchase on society. This general discontent has grown exponentially since the GFC. ...
A listing of 34 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 9, 2025 thru Sat, February 15, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report shows worsening food poverty and housing shortages mean more than 400,000 people now need welfare support, the highest level since the 1990s. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and ...
You're just too too obscure for meOh you don't really get through to meAnd there's no need for you to talk that wayIs there any less pessimistic things to say?Songwriters: Graeme DownesToday, I thought we’d take a look at some of the most cringe-inducing moments from last week, but don’t ...
Please note: I’ve delayed my “What can we do?” article for this video.The video above shows Destiny Church members assaulting staff and librarians as they pushed through to a room of terrified parents and young children.It was posted to social media last night.But if you read Sinead Boucher’s Stuff, you ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is sea level rise exaggerated? Sea levels are rising at an accelerating rate, not stagnating or decreasing. Warming global temperatures cause land ice ...
Here is a scenario, but first a historical parallel. Hitler and the Nazis could well have accomplished everything that they wanted to do within German borders, including exterminating Jews, so long as they confined their ambitious to Germany itself. After all, the world pretty much sat and watched as the ...
I’ve spent the last couple of days in Hamilton covering Waikato University’s annual NZ Economics Forum, where (arguably) three of the most influential people in our political economy right now laid out their thinking in major speeches about the size and role of Government, their views on for spending, tax ...
Simeon Brown’s Ideology BentSimeon Brown once told Kiwis he tries to represent his deep sense of faith by interacting “with integrity”.“It’s important that there’s Christians in Parliament…and from my perspective, it’s great to be a Christian in Parliament and to bring that perspective to [laws, conversations and policies].”And with ...
Severe geological and financial earthquakes are inevitable. We just don’t know how soon and how they will play out. Are we putting the right effort into preparing for them?Every decade or so the international economy has a major financial crisis. We cannot predict exactly when or exactly how it will ...
Questions1. How did Old Mate Grabaseat describe his soon-to-be-Deputy-PM’s letter to police advocating for Philip Polkinghorne?a.Ill-advisedb.A perfect letterc.A letter that will live in infamyd.He had me at hello2. What did Seymour say in response?a.What’s ill-advised is commenting when you don’t know all the facts and ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff has called on OJI Fibre Solutions to work with the government, unions, and the community before closing the Kinleith Paper Mill. “OJI has today announced 230 job losses in what will be a devastating blow for the community. OJI needs to work with ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is sounding the alarm about the latest attack on workers from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden, who is ignoring her own officials to pursue reckless changes that would completely undermine the personal grievance system. “Brooke van Velden’s changes will ...
Hi,When I started writing Webworm in 2020, I wrote a lot about the conspiracy theories that were suddenly invading our Twitter timelines and Facebook feeds. Four years ago a reader, John, left this feedback under one of my essays:It’s a never ending labyrinth of lunacy which, as you have pointed ...
And if you said this life ain't good enoughI would give my world to lift you upI could change my life to better suit your moodBecause you're so smoothAnd it's just like the ocean under the moonOh, it's the same as the emotion that I get from youYou got the ...
Aotearoa remains the minority’s birthright, New Zealand the majority’s possession. WAITANGI DAY commentary see-saws manically between the warmly positive and the coldly negative. Many New Zealanders consider this a good thing. They point to the unexamined patriotism of July Fourth and Bastille Day celebrations, and applaud the fact that the ...
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: and on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump’s administration over Gaza and Ukraine; on the ...
Up until now, the prevailing coalition view of public servants was that there were simply too many of them. But yesterday the new Public Service Commissioner, handpicked by the Luxon Government, said it was not so much numbers but what they did and the value they produced that mattered. Sir ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guests and ...
In a moment we explore the question: What is Andrew Bayly wanting to tell ACC, and will it involve enjoying a small wine tasting and then telling someone to fuck off? But first, for context, a broader one: What do we look for in a government?Imagine for a moment, you ...
As expected, Donald Trump just threw Ukraine under the bus, demanding that it accept Russia's illegal theft of land, while ruling out any future membership of NATO. Its a colossal betrayal, which effectively legitimises Russia's invasion, while laying the groundwork for the next one. But Trump is apparently fine with ...
A ballot for a single member's bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Employment Relations (Collective Agreements in Triangular Relationships) Amendment Bill (Adrian Rurawhe) The bill would extend union rights to employees in triangular relationships, where they are (nominally) employed by one party, but ...
This is a guest post by George Weeks, reviewing a book called ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin AshtonBook review: ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin Ashton (2015) – and what it means for Auckland. The title of this article might unnerve any Greater Auckland ...
This story was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Within just a week, the sheer devastation of the Los Angeles wildfires has pushed to the fore fundamental questions about the impact of the climate crisis that have been ...
In this world, it's just usYou know it's not the same as it wasSongwriters: Harry Edward Styles / Thomas Edward Percy Hull / Tyler Sam JohnsonYesterday, I received a lovely message from Caty, a reader of Nick’s Kōrero, that got me thinking. So I thought I’d share it with you, ...
In past times a person was considered “unserious” or “not a serious” person if they failed to grasp, behave and speak according to the solemnity of the context in which they were located. For example a serious person does not audibly pass gas at Church, or yell “gun” at a ...
Long stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, February 13 are:The coalition Government’s early 2024 ‘fiscal emergency’ freeze on funding, planning and building houses, schools, local roads and hospitals helped extend and deepen the economic and jobs recession through calendar ...
For obvious reasons, people feel uneasy when the right to be a citizen is sold off to wealthy foreigners. Even selling the right to residency seems a bit dubious, when so many migrants who are not millionaires get turned away or are made to jump through innumerable hoops – simply ...
A new season of White Lotus is nearly upon us: more murder mystery, more sumptuous surroundings, more rich people behaving badly.Once more we get to identify with the experience of the pampered tourist or perhaps the poorly paid help; there's something in White Lotus for all New Zealanders.And unlike the ...
In 2016, Aotearoa shockingly plunged to fourth place in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. Nine years later, and we're back there again: New Zealand has seen a further slip in its global ranking in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). [...] In the latest CPI New Zealand's score ...
1. You’ve started ranking your politicians on how much they respect the rule of law2. You’ve stopped paying attention to those news publications3. You’ve developed a sudden interest in a particular period of history4. More and more people are sounding like your racist, conspiracist uncle.5. Someone just pulled a Nazi ...
Transforming New Zealand: Brian EastonBrian Easton will discuss the above topic at 2/57 Willis Street, Wellington at 5:30pm on Tuesday 26 February at 2/57 Willis Street, WellingtonThe sub-title to the above is "Why is the Left failing?" Brian Easton's analysis is based on his view that while the ...
Salvation Army’s State of the Nation 2025 report highlights falling living standards, the highest unemployment rates since the 1990s and half of all Pacific children going without food. There are reports of hundreds if not thousands of people are applying for the same jobs in the wake of last year’s ...
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Correction: On the article The Condundrum of David Seymour, Luke Malpass conducted joint reviews with Bryce Wilkinson, the architect of the Regulatory Standards Bill - not Bryce Edwards. The article ...
Tomorrow the council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee meet and agenda has a few interesting papers. Council’s Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport Every year the council provide a Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport which is part of the process for informing AT of the council’s priorities and ...
All around in my home townThey're trying to track me down, yeahThey say they want to bring me in guiltyFor the killing of a deputyFor the life of a deputySongwriter: Robert Nesta Marley.Support Nick’s Kōrero today with a 20% discount on a paid subscription to receive all my newsletters directly ...
Hi,I think all of us have probably experienced the power of music — that strange, transformative thing that gets under our skin and helps us experience this whole life thing with some kind of sanity.Listening and experiencing music has always been such a huge part of my life, and has ...
Business frustration over the stalled economy is growing, and only 34% of voters are confidentNicola Willis can deliver. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 12 are:Business frustration is growing about a ...
I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
“The ACT Party can’t be bothered putting an MP on one of the Justice subcommittees hearing submissions on their own Treaty Principles Bill,” Labour Justice Spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
The Government’s newly announced funding for biodiversity and tourism of $30-million over three years is a small fraction of what is required for conservation in this country. ...
The Government's sudden cancellation of the tertiary education funding increase is a reckless move that risks widespread job losses and service reductions across New Zealand's universities. ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
There is certainly plenty of room for better police training for dealing with protest activity that starts with a rights-based approach to ensuring people can fully exercise their human rights. ...
“We are thrilled that this Bill is making its way through the House and looks set to become law,” said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Isaac Gross, Lecturer in Economics, Monash University Gumbariya/Shutterstock The Reserve Bank’s decision to cut interest rates for the first time in four years has triggered a round of celebration. Mortgage holders are cheering the fact their monthly repayments are now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Housing supply in Australia will be a key battleground in the election campaign. With home ownership more and more out of reach for young and not so young Australians, red tape and low productivity are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Korolev, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, UNSW Sydney The United States and Russia agreed to work on a plan to end the war in Ukraine at high-level talks in Saudi Arabia this week. Ukrainian and European representatives were pointedly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karleen Gribble, Adjunct Professor, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University BaLL LunLa/Shutterstock Sleep is the holy grail for new parents. So no wonder many tired parents are looking for something to help their babies sleep. A TikTok trend claims ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ranjana Gupta, Senior Lecturer, Accounting Department, Auckland University of Technology Jirsak/Shutterstock The profit made on every breakfast bowl of weet-bix is tax exempt, giving Sanitarium Health Food Company, owned by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, an advantage over other breakfast food companies. ...
A closer look at some of the homegrown talent currently commanding television screens around the globe. The new season of The White Lotus hit our screens this week, and with it a familiar face in New Zealand actor Morgana O’Reilly. To secure a role in one of the world’s most ...
"This is a crisis of the Government’s own making and the unit is another sign of desperation," said PSA acting national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Francesca Perugia, Senior Lecturer, School of Design and the Built Environment, Curtin University Australia’s housing crisis has created a push for fast-tracked construction. Federal, state and territory governments have set a target of 1.2 million new homes over five years. Increasing housing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ash Watson, Scientia Fellow and Senior Lecturer, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock When we’re uncomfortable we say the “vibe is off”. When we’re having a good time we’re “vibing”. To assess the mood we do a “vibe check”. And when the atmosphere in ...
What’s up with the man from Epsom? The leader of the Act Party has been in plenty of headlines in the last two weeks, ranging from a controversial letter to police on behalf of constituent Philip Polkinghorne (written before David Seymour was a minister) to an attempt to drive ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Stephenson, Deputy Director, Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, Australian National University Newly published research has found clear evidence that openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, and queer+ (LGBTIQ+) Australian politicians were disproportionately targeted with personal abuse on social media at the ...
Gilmore Girls, Schitt’s Creek, even The Vampire Diaries – they’re all set in tight-knit neighbourhoods where everyone knows everyone. So what is it like to actually know your neighbours? My favourite television shows are set in tight-knit neighbourhoods where everyone knows everyone. Characters attend town meetings where they debate local ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yanyan Hong, PhD Candidate in Communication and Media Studies, University of Adelaide IMDB On the surface, Ne Zha 2: The Sea’s Fury (2025), the sequel to the 2019 Chinese blockbuster Nezha: Birth of the Demon Child, is a high-octane, action-packed and ...
Wellington travellers say their buses are so hot they’re often forced to get off early and walk. Shanti Mathias explores the impact of non-functioning air conditioning on public transport. When Bella, a young professional living in Wellington, thinks about taking the bus, her first thought is “Ugh”. The bus might ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Annette Kroen, Research Fellow Planning and Transport, RMIT University The cleanup is underway in northern Queensland following the latest flooding catastrophe to hit the state. More than 7,000 insurance claims have already been lodged, most of them for inundated homes and other ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Subha Parida, Lecturer in Property, University of South Australia Carl Oberg/Shutterstock Houses and fire do not mix. The firestorm which hit Los Angeles in January destroyed nearly 2,000 buildings and forced 130,000 people to evacuate. The 2019–20 Australian megafires destroyed ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Bowman, Professor of Pyrogeography and Fire Science, University of Tasmania Tasmania has been burning for more than two weeks, with no end in sight. Almost 100,000 hectares of bushland in the northwest has burned to date. This includes the Tarkine rainforest ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Martin Loosemore, Professor of Construction Management, University of Technology Sydney This week, the Productivity Commission released its much-awaited report into productivity growth in Australia’s housing construction sector. It wasn’t a glowing appraisal. The commission found physical productivity – the total number ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pascale Lubbe, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Molecular Ecology, University of Otago Royal spoonbills are among several new species that have crossed the Tasman and naturalised in New Zealand. JJ Harrison/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA When people arrived on the shores of Aotearoa ...
Stats NZ’s head is stepping down over the agency’s failure to safeguard census data, and more officials may soon be in the firing line, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. An ‘absolutely unacceptable’ failure Stats NZ chief ...
Health NZ is under greater government scrutiny, with the new health minister setting up a unit he says will "drive greater accountability and performance". ...
Manurewa Marae acknowledges should have done better at handling completed census forms, following an inquiry into steps government agencies took to protect data. ...
Police failed to protect people from protesters at a high-profile rally and made unlawful arrests at another, the Independent Police Conduct Authority says. ...
Comment: Crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are making it easier for people to invest in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum without having to handle digital wallets or private keys. These allow investors to buy and sell cryptocurrency through their regular brokerage accounts.This has opened the door for billions of dollars ...
Expect some delays in page loads first thing this morning for the first few people in.
I’ve fixed the feeds so that they now work correctly. However I had to change the media string for the images and other static data from the CDN (Content Delivery Network). Depending on your browser and if anyone else has loaded from it previously, you might experience some page delays.
But the tabs are all working again. Now to figure out how to make them ‘faster’.
And also how to get rid of the bloody duplicated feed items that Blogger likes to provide !
Just out of interest, do you run the Google Page Speed mod for apache?
Seems you don’t. You should seriously install that.
Just noticed my tabs “Replies” and “Opinions” have been swapped around, either an update I guess or a tory gremlin stuck in the system trying to find a way out 😉
Forget the tin foil hat: NSA-proof wallpaper could keep snoopers and ‘doomsday’ electromagnetic weapons at bay
*New flexible material can block electronic emission
*Blocks signals that could be used for cybersnooping
*Can also block electromagnetic ‘doomsday’ weapons
*Could be used to protect drones flying in enemy territory
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3286629/Forget-tin-foil-hat-NSA-proof-wallpaper-snoopers-doomsday-electromagnetic-weapons-bay.html
Good God man this is so depressing it makes a person want to crawl back into bed and stay there. Can’t this wait until we have showered, had a decent coffee and “girded the loins” so to speak for yet another day in this troubled planet we all dwell on. Thanks for it nevertheless the less – though god knows what anybody can do about it.
Bill Ralston was interviewed by Espiner on the radio a few minutes ago.
What an obvious propagandist.
What an arse.
What an easy run from Espiner.
**He was announcing that he will compete for Waitamata. He slagged off Phil Goff
So do Mediawork’s mercenary front line “media persons” like Henry and Plunket (Radio Live and TV3), Goff is now accused of “double dipping”, while he has not even announced yet, that he will stand for the election of mayor for Auckland next year.
Are we surprised? No, I at least am not. The Labour conference was also treated with little mention, and while it was more a feel-good meeting offering inspiring speeches and no policy yet, that was exploited by Henry in his breakfast show.
Problem for Henry, Plunket and others, there is little to attack Labour for at present in regards to policy, as it is mostly “under review”, so they do of course look for any other next best opportunity to throw mud.
Goff is the best opportunity now, and while I am certain that Nat MPs have in the past held onto their seat and stood for election or any other alternative position in the meantime, they have to stress the possibility of Goff “double dipping” now.
While I have only so much time for Goff, he does not deserve to be treated like this.
Hell I thought the henry interview of Little was as good as I’ve seen for Little, he came across relaxed and batted away Henrys bs with ease ,ad to that Kelvin Davis getting a lot of coverage and this morning was a good start for labour.
Yes, Andrew did quite well, but Henry was trying various angles to embarrass him. He soon changed the topic from the conference to the Mt Roskill electorate, to Goff and to a likely by-election.
Potential voters, and more so non voters, they will probably not have been overly impressed by Little, as so many now fall for the machinations by media and spin artists. Only those that follow politics (a true minority in NZ) will even know about Andrew Little and his speech and the Labour conference.
Going on the Paul Henry Breakfast is like swimming in between sharks 24/7 I would say.
Wasn’t there a few instances of National Party MPs double dipping which the MSM thoroughly ignored?
Sleepy Sam standing for National while still an Auckland City Councillor. Did both jobs for a while in my recall.
Kept his council job right up till the point it didnt cause the position to be refilled. He didnt do his council job just took the money whilst being a new MP as his non attendance showed.
Blinglish is an experienced double dipper so the glasshouse is well built.
Jono Naylor was still Mayor of Palmerston North while running for Parliament for the Nats in 2014 – How is that alright but for Goff it’s not?
So, that would be standard nasty politics at play then. The right wing don’t seem to be able to carry an argument and thus always revert to ad hominem attacks.
I wonder who invited Ralston to be on the programme. mustn’t ask that sort of question I suppose.
How many people have to die before Australian wingnuts start appearing at The Hague?
Send in Kelvin Davis? Send the SAS to Canberra to arrest the fuckers more like.
How many Australian wingnuts care? They devolved responsibility.
https://www.amris.com/serco_australia/requirement_display.php?noheader=1&requirementid=68168
NZ wingnuts will cheer them on rather than arrest them.
Serco would have run the gas chambers during the Holocaust.
This is who Serco are
“Serco would have run the gas chambers during the Holocaust”
exactly
Or send them to Christmas Island unannounced and rescue those in the detention camp. Or do the same on Manus Island or Nauru.
Little said the text of the deal (released late on Thursday) met four of the party’s five bottom lines.
Jane Kelsey says: I’ve spent the past 36 hours pouring over the massive technical text to understand some of the complexities and what they mean for current and future policy space in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Yet, within a day the Labour leadership seems to have decided the text is fine aside from the narrow issue of the right to restrict sales of residential property to foreign owners.
At the very least Labour’s leaders might have waited for the Waitangi Tribunal’s inquiry into the TPPA, which is now likely to be expedited following the release of the text.
The following is why the TPPA fails to satisfy the other four non-negotiable bottom lines, in addition to the one the caucus concedes.
See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/11/07/exclusive-open-letter-from-jane-kelsey-to-labour-party-conference/#sthash.yi60JtLh.dpuf
Surely you’re not surprised ?
It adds to the disappointment Labour have become.
Watch as no policy substance is delivered over the next 12 months. We know that Labour tolerates poverty very well. We know that Labour doesn’t believe in true full employment. We know that Labour cannot stand by tough policies unless they are neoliberal ones. We know that Labour takes climate change so seriously it won’t ban new oil exploration.
The substance of policy is how one deciphers how the political rhetoric will take shape.
Labour can’t expect voter support when voters aren’t clear on how the rhetoric will take shape.
Therefore, failing to produce it will be another mistake.
Moreover, they can’t genuinely counter National when they can’t offer the substance behind what they will do differently.
@ CV: I can see that you are currently disheartened with Labour. I respect that you have reasons for this, but I want to put forward a thought for your consideration. What was important about Little’s speech to congress was that it was not equivocal, and it outlined standards against which future policies are able to be measured. Since the exit of Helen Clark, “market forces” have been the unstated but absolute measure of everything: the task was to show loyalty to market forces and win the punters over with rhetoric and equivocally framed scraps of bait. Anyone seeking to depart from this model was hobbled, vilified or both, with David Cunliffe being the prime example. I think you need to allow that, prima facie at least, Little’s speech represents a departure from this duplicity. At least you can now say to him, this plan will or will not lead to jobs. That plan will or will not lead to people being cast on the scrap heap, etc.
Hi Olwyn. Thanks for your thoughtful comments.
However, I suspect that we already know what Little’s standard is, and that it is a low one full of wriggle room, if not “duplicity”. Take Labour’s ‘unequivocal’ bottom lines around the TPPA. Now according to Little, the TPPA actually does meet 4 out of Labour’s 5 bottom lines. And that Labour cannot meaningfully oppose the TPPA but it can ‘flout’ a few of its provisions here and there.
(While Jane Kelsey says that the TPPA fails all of Labour’s bottom lines. Who is right? GIven that Kelsey has gone through every page of the TPPA and no one in Labour has, I would say she is.)
Some may be feeling inspired to give Little and Labour 6 more months to prove themselves but after a long list of crap like this over the last 12 months (voting for National’s spying and anti-terrorism legislation!) I am not feeling similarly beneficent.
Two things: I think a glimmer of hope is better than no hope at all 🙂
I also think it may be inevitable that Labour has a more nuanced approach to the TPP than you and I. I am opposed to it, and will be at this weekend’s protests, but I can see that a political party that thunders opposition that it is not in the potion to action can back-foot itself in the face of a fait accompli. When you are up against a force much more powerful than anything you can muster, strategy sometimes works better than beating your head against a brick wall – in the latter case, the head tends to break while the wall continues to hold.
well fair enough but its hardly evidence that Labour has learnt to fight for and stick with what it believes in, and now they seem to be saying that they have indeed learnt. Time will tell.
Do your heart condition a favour and pop over and knock on the Greens door.
Overall they are less conflicted people, and the Dunedin lot could do with fresh blood. They will already know you are a good organizer.
It would be no fun to lose you from political activism altogether out of sheer frustration.
Thanks, Ad. Always enjoy your writing on The Standard.
You say ‘ I am not feeling similarly beneficent.”
I ask why you still continue to comment here, then.
“a long list of crap like this”apparently includes Little’s personal failure to repudiate elements of the TPPA in line with Jane Kelsey’s analysis. Said agreement released just days ago and containing reams of legalese.
Little somehow has to find a way to bridge the gap between the party factions. Everyone will have to compromise to some extent.
By all accounts he spoke well at the conference. His speech read pretty well given that it was light on policy specifics, for well understood reasons.
He sounds encouraging to me.
You’re beginning to sound shrill and desperate.
My believing that Labour is spineless (as per backdowns on the TPPA, 90 day right to fire, NZ power, GST off fruits and vegetables, CGT, raising the issue of Chinese last names but having zero new policy of substance around it etc.) has nothing to do with whether or not I should comment on The Standard.
Why do you believe it does?
Good thinking Olwyn and Tautoko MM.
As CV says – what about the bennies bottom line?
So nice words – very heartening.
Now we want baby steps to attend to the basics, then we can toddle to the next stage. Some things are urgently needed, and may have to be dripfed small and regular improvements so as not to destabilise the system.
Can we have a timeline for the improvements that are doable without a lot of parliamentary kerfuffle?
How soon could that be done without leaving time for National to do something malicious and spoil, plug the gap with their own short-term panacea etc.?
Could we have a reduction in GST as one of the toddling steps – down to 12 and half percent and 2andhalf be allocated to the originating region.? Give back to the area so they get full benefit of the spending multiplier. This will give more bang for the buck for poor people particularly.
Present 15% was what Switzerland had when I was there in the 70’s. Since when have we had a financial standing like them across the nation? It is far too high for NZ
On tax they are talking about how people ned help where they have to work numerous jobs and co-ordinate a portfolio of employers, and money earners. That’s realistic do it Labour. Get rid of secondary tax – that goes back to an anti double dipping mentality that is not appropriate for workers these days, forced to be serving numerous ‘masters’. Also do something about open slather hours. Make an attempt. Zero contracts out. Free rides for employers with subsidies not from government but from their workers out..
Put personal and trust tax up instead. The idea that the more money you get, the less tax you pay is stupid, illogical, and unsustainable. The country needs a certain tax take to operate successfully. You have to oil the machine.
And a system where some people are starved of jobs and wages and can’t pay much tax, while others benefit from that economy with people being out of work yet moan that they have to pay the tax thaat advantages them must be exposed as criminal and irrational. Perhaps the facts can be explained simply and firmly. Say the tax is going to better hospital services and health programs which are intensive in needy areas.
edited
One of the things they are talking about is allowing beneficiaries to earn more before abatement kicks in, and Carmel Sepuloni has spoken about that as well – I think she may have drafted a private members bill on it. I don’t know whether the ‘baby steps’ will follow your suggestions, but we will certainly want to see some.
yeah well only a small proportion have additional income so fat lot of use that will be to most people.
Re-instating Ruth’s benefit cuts, getting rid of the youth rate – or putting it back to 18 would both be more meaningful.
Better still remove age discrimination all together and make benefits the same rate as NZS.
Those things would be a darn site more help than fiddling at the margins.
Bring back universal family benefit as well so you’re not playing off one set of NZer’s against another.
The whole benefit system is now set up to play NZer’s off in that way,
But it’s still pale blue Labour we’re talking about.
“Could we have a reduction in GST as one of the toddling steps – down to 12 and half percent and 2andhalf be allocated to the originating region.? Give back to the area so they get full benefit of the spending multiplier. This will give more bang for the buck for poor people particularly.
Present 15% was what Switzerland had when I was there in the 70’s. Since when have we had a financial standing like them across the nation? It is far too high for NZ”
My response. Could we abolish GST? Lets do this. Introduce a robin hood style tax. For those of us struggling week to week and are always a step behind financially this would be a huge burden lifted from our shoulders. We can’t afford to prop up the lifestyles of wealthy MD and CE’s etc when our lifestyles are so threadbare.
As mentioned far too many times before. It’s not 1986 any more. Labour needs to acknowledge they introduced a cruel and unfair tax, and now, living in this vastly unequal society we need to abolish those taxes that grow the divide.
Agree with putting personal tax up if you’re on a high salary, eg, over $150K
You misunderstand why GST is there. It is solely so that the government could decrease taxes on the rich and put the responsibility for covering the inevitable shortfall upon the poor. In other words, it gives to the rich and takes from the poor.
thats essentially true Draco but it also adds 2 + million tourists year as taxpayers as the majority fail to claim it back
+1 Olwyn
I would add – this policy will do nothing to reduce child policy.
Andrew Little has concentrated on uniting caucus and getting around the country as he said he would. Ensuring that the caucus does not split into various factions is an ongoing job, hence the careful words. By concentrating on the sovereignty issue in the TPP he can be opposed without allowing the pro TPP faction room to object.
It was a very good speech – let’s celebrate it.
I do hope that the attempt to keep the Labour Party operating as a cohesive entity does not reduce time for good policy, for us all as well as children.
Keeping Labour together is what Helen managed. We might excuse her then for not breaking the cycle of bennie bashing, and distancing herself from the concerns of oh-so-ordinary Kiwis. We won’t do so for Andrew Little and any other New Faces contestants looking for a big hand from the audience.
Oops – I meant child poverty. The bit where he said every policy will be measured in terms of reducing child poverty and every budget will measure the degree to which this has been achieved was very clever and heartening.
How can anybody, whatever their political leanings, say reducing child poverty isn’t something to work towards? And having accepted this is important and that the policies must reflect this, that means increasing minimum wages and benefits. There is no other way of reducing child poverty. An increase in minimum wages and benefits reduces all poverty – not just child poverty.
We know that Labour tolerates poverty very well.
I’d like to see Labour support the Living Wage campaign.
Have I missed media reports of Labour’s vocal support of the WCC in the stoush with the Chamber of Commerce over insisting that contractors pay the Living Wage?
Indeed. And let’s remember that a “living wage” is only that for those lucky enough to have full time employment. For many others in NZ even a living wage would be largely irrelevant.
Fair enough for a “living wage”, what would a “dying wage” look like, as that must be the logical counter balance of a wage then? It seems many get nothing more than a little over the minimum wage, which should perhaps be renamed the “dying wage” (wage of a slowly dying, impoverished person).
YUP, the disability and mental health communities are relegated to subsistence unless and until they reach 65… then they get a “pay rise”
Good, Labour is finally learning.
Politics only matters for about 6 weeks every 3 years
Rest of the time should be spent in PR.
Yup with slogans and catchphrases that cut to the core of nacts subtle and belligerent methods.
The sheeple doze off between elections so they need to start the memes now.
The sheeple aren’t listening so you’re wasting your time.
If Key and National fuck up let the media crucify them, Little sticking is oar in doesn’t help, people just roll their eyes and go what ever.
Save it for the election period.
“If Key and National fuck up let the media crucify them,” & therein lies the problem, the media, on a whole, won’t (crucify them).
Actually the people are listening and don’t like what they see and so don’t vote.
Why would you vote for one set of neo-libs over another?
Ah, the RWNJ comes in tells the populace to go back to sleep, nothing to see here while National and their stooges keep fucking us over.
However in Andrew Little’s speech he said
“So, I’m telling you, when it comes to undermining our democracy and our sovereignty in the TPPA, I am totally opposed and I will fight with every fibre in my body to stop it, to resist it, to make sure it never happens in New Zealand”.
Since the TPP is supposed to “level the playing field” and prevent any local favouritism, then some of the ideas for favouring Kiwis in jobs that Andrew Little mentioned in the speech would not be possible without incurring litigation if the TPP was ratified. He has outlined a vision of a proactive government. We now need the public to engage in some rational thinking and realise the full implications of what Key and Co are signing away.
The biggest dead rat in the TPP is the loss of our rights to determine the future direction of NZ without being financially screwed by foreign corporations.
To quote Andrew Little “I am totally opposed and I will fight with every fibre in my body to stop it, to resist it, to make sure it never happens in New Zealand”. Me too.
(Also, I’ll be fighting against the oil exploration with the same vigour!)
+100 TMM
Yes I have to say it was good to hear the lines
“So, I’m telling you, when it comes to undermining our democracy and our sovereignty in the TPPA, I am totally opposed and I will fight with every fibre in my body to stop it, to resist it, to make sure it never happens in New Zealand”.
But signing the TPP will do that. All his polices talked about in his speech will be in violation of TPP such as limiting property sales, keeping government contracts onshore, and taxing harmful products like sugar.
It’s utterly schizophrenic. Just a week ago Little was saying that the TPPA passed 4 out of 5 Labour “bottom lines” and that it was a done deal that could not be meaningfully opposed.
Bottom lines appear to be written on crepe paper with chalk.
well in the post I wrote on the matter I said “weaker than tissue paper” but yep exactly right: Little remaking himself into a man of principle this weekend has me curious indeed.
Yet, Little’s focus concerning the investor-state dispute process seems to be solely on our ability to ban foreign buyers from the local housing market.
If Little genuinely wanted to ensure our sovereignty, he could utilize the exit clause.
However, he insists the deal is here. Implying there is little he can now do about it except for flouting or renegotiating the ability to ban foreign buyers from the local housing market.
and now R0b has written a post on the escalating costs of cancer treatments in NZ. Guess what: the TPPA is going to make it even worse for Kiwis and our health budget.
I was heartened by that too, if he meant what I took him to mean…
What is being said in the US:
https://youtu.be/KEi4ZqruX6Q
A great program Chairman.
What a pity that there is no public dialog in NZ to do this analysis of TPPA! A TV channel? Nah! MSM? Nah! Criminal isn’t it?
And Congress gets to vote yes/no. In NZ it will be Grosser, Key, Joyce and English who decide. Trust them? Sure can
+1 – great link – very similar problem to NZ – on one hand they are thinking NZ can push our food exports out there but like in the US it allows very cheap food to flood in and now people can fight the inspections.
So a pile of fruit flies and diseases comes into the country but NZ has reduced powers to stop it the pests coming in.
Shrimp from Vietnam that is not safe.
No food labelling.
6 of the 7 Nafda environmental conditions deleted in the TPP.
Pharma able to extend existing patents even if they have no real change.
Increased medicine costs.
Competing with Vietnamese workers on 65 cents an hour.
What a great day to be an international lawyer!!!
Where do we sign? Sarc/
And the Disputes Risk.
Little says it meets 4 out of Labour’s 5 bottom lines…no problems right.
Can’t see what you are quibbling about savenz. /sarc
Don’t know whether I mean quibbling or kibbling. ( I think the kibbling comes after the quibbling. I can feel myself getting ground down and coarser as I write. Fu.ked……)
kibble1
ˈkɪb(ə)l/
verb
gerund or present participle: kibbling –
grind or chop (beans, grain, etc.) coarsely.
“a high protein legume such as kibbled beans”
On the food labelling it makes no sense either because
NZ food’ has a really safe international reputation so without knowing where any food is coming we are undermining our exports with cheaper producers who are cutting corners. (Unless the idea is, we all cut corners to have unsafe food?)
Now this is what should really get our attention, prepare for a harder landing with the Mainland Chinese economy than so far expected:
‘China’s imports fall 19% on waning demand’
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-34759608
From boom to bust, and little hope for dairy farmers, same as Australian mining companies, and other businesses exporting raw materials and low value added products to the “Middle Empire”.
Here’s What Happens When You Put More Women in Government
Actual balance, rather than the ‘balance’ that the RWNJs like which prioritises the economy over everything else, produces better results.
Whatever you think of Jamie Oliver, this is some heavy hitting support for Labour’s sugar policy…
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/73828189/celebrity-chef-jamie-oliver-throws-support-behind-labour-plans-to-cut-back-sugar
FYI, Jamie Oliver is not some newcomer to this debate. He has campaigned for a long time on issues around obesity.
I wonder what Vernon Small and the rest of the right wing media will make of this?
John Key has proven himself to be a pm who is beholden to celebrity culture so I wouldn’t be surprised of there is some movement from National to steal this policy on the back of a TV chef’s Facebook post.
Soon someone will tell us that he should keep his nose out of NZ and what would he know?
Only in more colourful language Tracey.
Naah hes a bit of a twat although I did manage to follow one of his recipies for pork chops that turned out pretty good…
Labour’s policy on sugar labelling is ABSOLUTE madness. A. King has no idea what she is trying to do. It is not only unworkable but will cost many votes.
That’s what they said about “number of standard drinks” labels on liquor bottles.
Thanks for your concern
And star ratings for water and power use on appliances. Terrible idea.
The government will steal this policy. You watch.
If National can appropriate the policy quickly and easily it likely means that the policy didn’t go far enough to begin with.
their usual form is to steal the rhetoric and fuck up the details so that what on the surface was a good idea becomes a seven-figure clusterfuck, and then the tories say “but it was Labour policy”.
E.g. flags.
That is well expressed.
Thanks for being specific and stcking to facts. Your post may have been undermined if you had gone all scattergun and emotive.
I don’t think it’ll work as well as people think/want as it doesn’t do anything to solve the real issue which is people not grasping the basics such as fizzy drink being a treat drink and not an all day/every day drink
I think most people grasp that.
What I suspect is that the most obvious labelling (e.g. “50% less sugar!!!”) has more influence than kJ/carbohydrates per 100gm or arbitrary serving size.
When I started looking at labels more closely after going onto a lower-sodium diet, I was surprised at some of the ingredient levels, expecially in processed foods. E.g. fruit juice is often as sugary as fizzy drink, yet juice is often seen as “healthy”.
So I suspect that the minority might down 8 litres of coke a day and be surprised when helth turns to shit, but a hefty chunk of folks probably just follow broad rules and don’t realise quite how bastardised some of their food staples are – e.g. the cheaper bread usually has a massive anount of salt.
But then if I were a cynic, I’d suspect that you knew very well that having simple graphical guides on food content would show up some of the major foodstuff producers as being as amoral as the tobacco industry, and that’s why you speak against the label idea.
If they really want to drink a boat load of fizzy drink then they could try the diet or sugar free versions, costs the same and tastes the same
well, no it doesn’t taste the same (some of it has a really rank aftertaste), but you missed my point about people who “want to drink a boat load of fizzy drink” probably not really making up all that large a chunk (excuse the pun) of our increasingly obese population.
Yeah the amount of people I see with trollies full of cheap fizz, fatty cuts of meat and white bread is quite staggering.
I some how doubt a couple of tea spoons on the side is going to make any difference.
Thing is there’s already a ton of low sugar options out there.
On a side note I was surprised to find out how little sugar there is in beer, something like 1/2 teaspoon per bottle.
And if you marinate your steak in beer first, the carcinogen levels go right down.
Beer really is a super food.
Shows you how our culture has a complete disconnect on knowledge about food, how many people are self medicating on shitty food, and how we’ve driven low income earners to poor diets, poorer overall health and shorter lives.
Nah, it’s just laziness and lack of will power.
There’s never been more information available to people at any time in human history.
There really is no excuse.
There’s lots of data available.
Whether that equates to “information”, on the other hand, is highly debatable.
Yeah we just need to all channel our inner Annabel Langbeins, and flounce around making our coq au vins and wait for hubby/wifey to come home in the audi.
don’t forget all those handy hints Gwyneth gives us for using our leftover quinoa 🙂
Come on McFlock, all other things being equitable I can’t believe that you would ever eat quinoa.
lol
I might have done. I have no idea. Sometimes there’s weird stuff on a plate next to the meat, and one doesn’t wish to offend…
You don’t know how to cook healthy?
Limit the amount of sugar (carbohydrate) in all manufactured products ie they can’t be sold.
So you can still produce Coke but with less sugar in it QED.
Of course the sugar lobby is fighting any suggestion people have less sugar:
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2003/apr/21/usnews.food
http://www.tonywardle.co.uk/articles/vh2_15.php
There’s a documentary somewhere about the NZ scientist involved in the 1990 report which was altered before release by the sugar lobby groups.
Political suicide.
Well that was actually the WHO recommendation that was altered without the authors’ knowledge.
Many countries use the WHO guidelines to determine their standards.
Seems that the only reason the recommendation was suppressed and the only reason it would be political suicide is because of the lobbying by the powerful sugar industry.
Good of you to acknowledge that money buys influence.
Why would the public care if a maximum limit was imposed in all products? You really think people would object to their coke being a little less sweet?
You may find this interesting.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/food-wine/69169715/Milos-new-recipe-slated-as-disgusting-but-its-healthy-Nestle-says
Imagine of every one had to change their recipes, lots and lots of very unhappy voters.
Did you bother to read the article. They changed the flavours quite substantially eg removing vanilla.
Removing sugar, which has no flavour, and is simply sweet won’t particularly change the taste – it will simply be less sweet.
It’s a bit like when people started removing the copious amount of salt put in boiled potatoes. It didn’t take long for people to adjust.
You’re not removing the ability to put sugar in – just limiting the volume.
In the case of soft drinks for instance they will still be sweet – just less so.
I knew that Milo has been changed but didn’t know it was the vanilla.
We use their instant coffee cafe sleeves and that has changed its packaging recently and as often happens, the recipe too I think. It’s sort of watery, perhaps less milk powder and maybe it had vanilla there too.
On a side note I was surprised to find out how little sugar there is in beer, something like 1/2 teaspoon per bottle.
Beer is a great drink for diabetics. It does fuck-all to your blood sugar unless you’re drinking stuff like Kilkenny or Guinness. Every time medical professionals suggest I drink less beer, I give them a more polite version of “Fuck off.”
Yeah the beer belly is actually a complete myth, nothing to do with beer at all.
Having said that though, beer can often lead to eating large amounts of fatty fish and chips and other assorted take away nasties which results in a rather large gut.
Indonesia burning again.
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/nov/07/setting-a-country-alight-indonesias-devastating-forest-fires-are-manmade
Friends of Earth Indonesia/WALHI and its five regional offices have been conducting investigations of companies suspected of involvement in the fires and triggering the smoke and haze problems in Indonesia. They overlaid the concession maps of the companies, and tracked the names of companies mentioned by the environment and forestry minister. Many of the land concessions of those companies are in the precious peatland area
Already a number of company executives have been arrested for their suspected role in starting illegal forest fires, some of whom supply pulp products to the giant logging corporation Asian Pulp and Paper (APP).
The fires that have been started deliberately are part of a process which usually involves building canals to block water to the beautiful peatlands; thereby drying it out and enabling deliberately lit fires to burn. This drains the life out of these naturally-moist tropical forests, dries them out, and enables deliberately lit fires to burn. In time, companies and contractors will return to plant endless rows of palm oil and wood plantations in their place.
Also http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/know-indonesias-devastating-fires/
I keep waiting for God to do something, but I think there is too much going on for him/her to be able to cope. We may have to do more ourselves. Any way of getting through to the Indonesian’s heart?
God is busy being all excited about the All Blacks and the Royals of the UK.
TPP deal ‘worst thing that Harper government has done for Canada’: Balsillie
Sadly, the bad parts are indeed bad enough to risk the whole; yet, the partners could also agree to a more measured, step-by-step approach, since that would be in the common interest, though not necessarily to the benefit of certain powerful interest groups.
The most egregious parts of the agreement are the exorbitant investor powers implicit in the Investor-State Dispute Settlement system as well as the unjustified expansion of copyright and patent coverage. We’ve seen this show before. Corporations are already using ISDS provisions in existing trade and investment agreements to harass governments in order to frustrate regulations and judicial decisions that negatively impact the companies’ interests. The system proposed in the TPP is a dangerous and unnecessary grant of power to investors and a blow to the judicial systems of all the signatory countries. And as in earlier trade agreements, the United States has pushed through overly strong intellectual property rights that strengthen the aggressive pricing practices of big pharma and unnecessarily extend the copyright protections far beyond their social usefulness.”
http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2015/11/08/jeffrey-sachs-tpp-too-flawed-for-simple-yes-vote/sZd0nlnCr18RurX1n549GI/story.html
A bunch of can-do Kiwis showing John Key how to get some guts.
It isn’t all good news, though: soon the Australian forces will regroup and launch a full on assault, and although our plucky lads have plenty of heart, they simply don’t have the weapons that would allow them to fight back.
At the very least we could send someone over there to give them some training.
At the very least we could send someone over there to give them some training.
– You volunteering?
No, I’m nominating you be sent over as a human shield.
Thought not, just another keyboard warrior
I’m glad you think that anyone who proposes military action go to the front of the deployment queue. That will have a most salutory effect, let’s do it!
‘US in stupor, doesn’t know what to do or even what it wants in Syria – MidEast studies academic’
https://www.rt.com/shows/sophieco/321020-syrian-peace-talk-conflict/
‘As Syrian peace talks pick up speed, should we hope for any progress in ending the war? This conflict is a riddle, surely – as years go on, it becomes more and more difficult to sort out who’s fighting whom and for what purpose. And over that boiling pot of violence and blood, major powers – Russia, America, Gulf States, Iran – play their own game, no less convoluted, with goals and forces used to influence the conflict unclear. We try to solve that riddle, and to do that, we speak to the director of the Center for Middle East studies at the University of Oklahoma, who is an influential analyst on Syria. Professor Joshua Landis is on Sophie&Co today.”
‘Russian diplomacy’
https://www.rt.com/shows/crosstalk/321032-syria-russian-diplomacy-terrorism/
“Steady as she goes: Russia continues to pursue a carefully calibrated policy of force and diplomacy in Syria. Damascus invited Moscow to enter the conflict to preserve the state and fight terrorism. Washington and its allies remain clueless.
CrossTalking with Mohammad Marandi, Gregg Roman and Catherine Shakdam.”
Trust Trev’ of the Herald to be all invigorated over this piece of Who.Gives.A.Fuck ? Egomaniac crooks wanking one another. Still, some relief for Richie…..
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11542494