“US stock markets continued their wild ride on Friday morning, on course for their worst week since the financial crisis as international stock markets continued to fall, spooked by fears of more rapidly rising interest rates.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which lost over 1,000 points on Friday, rose 30 points on Friday morning as the more broadly based S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq also moved into the black only to shortly lose those gains. By noon the Dow was down over 200 points.
On its current course the Dow is set to fall more than 6%, its biggest one-week drop since October 2008.”
“The reality is that markets have been horribly distorted and a hard crash has to occur. The reason Winston was so grim the night he picked Labour as the Government was because he knew this correction was coming.
There are enormous problems with the stability of the global economy that go to the very heart of neoliberalism and when the full impact starts to set in, people are going to start to panic. The danger point will be when people start pulling their Kiwisaver out of the stock exchange and put it straight in the bank, that will begin a run away event on the stock exchange as more and more Kiwis start frantically pulling their depleting accounts out of the market.
There comes a point when panicking becomes perfectly rational.”
We know all this. If you can pick when it happens or even make it happen then you can be rich.otherwise you are just contributing to the general hysteria which helps to spook the market.
We are all just along for the ride.
No posts from you the other day on the market rallying.
You may know this.
A lot of people do not know all this.
Anyway, don’t believe me.
Listen to the former leader of the Bank of England.
“A worldwide debt binge could trigger the next financial crisis, warns former Bank of England governor Lord King.
King said it was essential to tackle the global debt pile, which stands at £166 trillion ($321t), according to the Washington-based Institute of International Finance.
“The areas of weakness in the current system are really focused on the amount of debt that exists, not just in the US and UK but across the world,” King said.
“Debt in the private sector relative to GDP is higher now than it was in 2007, and of course public debt is even higher still.”
Or listen to the International Monetary Fund chief.
” Christine Lagarde also sounded the alarm last month and researchers believe China is a danger.
Or the Council on Foreign Relations.
“Benn Steil and Benjamin Della Rocca of the Council on Foreign Relations said a meltdown is rapidly approaching, saying: “Given our evidence that China is shovelling new loans to companies with the least ability to pay them back, we think China is heading towards a debt crisis.””
The warning signs have been around for a while.
Our levels of debt are unsustainable.
“Global debt ratios have surged by a further 51 percentage points of GDP since the Lehman crisis, reaching a record 327 per cent (IIF data).
This is a new phenomenon in economic history and can be tracked to QE liquidity leakage from the West, which flooded East Asia, Latin America, and other emerging markets, with a huge push from China pursuing its own venture.”
Oab., I realise that I have a view, you will disagree with it.
If I have a view on Syria , you disagree with it.
If I have a view on Climate Change, you disagree with it.
If I have a view on meat eating, you disagree with it.
If I have a view on dairy farming , you disagree with it.
If I have a view on economic crashes , you disagree with it.
If I have a view Ukraine , you disagree with it.
If I have a view on ( fill in the gap) , you disagree with it.
Wrong on all counts Ed. I disagree with your sloppy counterproductive rhetoric though. If you can manage not to tell lies about that it will be nice change.
@OAB: I didn’t take him to be saying that and I don’t think you do either. Back off please, it’s the sort of behaviour that makes The Standard much less fun for some of us.
@GreyArea: I’m struggling to think of another interpretation of his statement that “If I have a view on ( fill in the gap) , you disagree with it.”
It follows a pattern that can also be seen in his comment at 6.1.1, wherein “people who are not ostriches and who have open minds and are capable of critical thinking” will be the ones who watch his video link. I could find a plethora of other examples if I could be bothered.
Ed is given to smearing anyone who criticises his presentation, let alone the content of his comments, in this manner.
Perhaps you should be asking him to “back off”. After all, you might succeed where everyone else has failed 🙄
You don’t need a bbq and a boat to be happy – perhaps that’s your problem.
Surround yourself with good friends and a family that loves you (and you them) and life will be a ton better.
It’s a mistake you make thinkingthat the toys are what makes you happy (don’t get me wrong I love the bbq – and I like the boat, although we don’t use it as much as we should). But sharing them with friends and family is what make the great days and give you a positive outlook on life.
No I am not selective.
If we all either cut down or gave up on meat, we would have a much better chance to mitigate the worst effects of climate change.
You want to make this a party political issue.
It is a planetary issue James.
“Either that or…”
Come on James, you’ve been busted for “pruning” quotes to suit your claims before; didn’t you learn then? People see straight through that deception.
I think credit suisse estimated the total wealth in the world at 250 trillion? It’s ridiculous how dumb we all really are for just accepting the monetary system we’ve been sold and blundering blindly on in an orgy of consumption…
if you think about it, all the debt is 70 trillion more than all the money….. wonder where the money’s gonna come from to pay the extra 70 trillion…. guess it’ll have to be borrowed…somebody’s making a killing…
the entire monetary and financial system will at some stage in the near future crash into complete and total meltdown. (Unless something drastic is done to change things before that happens).
maybe when the worldwide debt number has so many zero’s on the end of it that it takes a couple of hours or even days just to say “well… a thousand millions a billion, a thousand billions a trillion, a thousand trillions a quadrillion……and so on and so on….” , or it’s become such a big number that nobody on earth can come up with a name for it (as an aside, I wonder what the first ‘non illion’ will be???) Anyway that will be the straw that triggers the collapse
Sounds like it will take ages to get to that number, but exponentially increasing numbers have a way of catching up on you real quick…like the flash…
As a further aside, had a laugh with nephew yesterday when he was talking about something called a petabyte! I had to explain to him that when i got my first computer (which wasn’t all that long ago, must have been after 1981 because the computer was a zx81), the word megabyte didn’t even exist as a megabyte was something which hadn’t yet been imagined into existance! (And my 16kb expansion pack was like me being the king of personal computing storage space, even though that amount will never be needed of course…hehehe)
if you think about it, all the debt is 70 trillion more than all the money….. wonder where the money’s gonna come from to pay the extra 70 trillion…. guess it’ll have to be borrowed…somebody’s making a killing…
Yep. The private banks who get to create the money and then charge interest on it.
It’s both an inherently unstable system (when demand for money drops the creation of money stops and the economy goes into recession. It’s what happened in the GFC) and an unsustainable one as well as there’s never enough money to pay off the debt.
(And my 16kb expansion pack was like me being the king of personal computing storage space, even though that amount will never be needed of course…hehehe)
It was actually the megabyte that would never be needed according to Bill Gates. Of course, as soon as a PC came available that had a megabyte he wrote an OS, Windows, that used it all up.
“Under the announced plan, the Fed will allow a portion of the proceeds it receives each month to roll off. The monetary level will start at $10 billion then increase that much quarterly until it reaches $50 billion. Ultimately, economists expect the balance sheet to stabilize between $2 trillion and $3 trillion.”
“We’ve been patient in removing that accommodation”, Mr Powell said during a hearing on Tuesday before the Senate banking committee on his nomination to serve as Fed chair. “I think the patience has served us well. It’s time for us to be normalising interest rates.”
Why are you surprised?
The DJA, the S&P 500 and the NZSX 100 are all back at about the level they were in November last year. That isn’t really a crash, is it?
It has been agreed, by most market commentators for the last year or so that the markets are greatly overpriced. Here is a representative article. The same sentiments have been expressed for a long time. I chose this one, from a few weeks ago, not because it was the first to express the sentiments but merely because it explains what is going on very clearly. https://seekingalpha.com/article/4139502-u-s-stock-market-overbought-overvalued
The problem for investors has been that you have to put your money somewhere and when interest rates have been forced below inflation even an overpriced stock market seems sensible.
It is rather like people buying houses in Auckland. You may have thought for years that the houses were overpriced but you still need somewhere to live and if you don’t buy now you never will.
Try reading Keynes’ General Theory on the subject of irrational investing. The book is 80 years old but the exposition on the subject has never been bettered.
The problem for investors has been that you have to put your money somewhere and when interest rates have been forced below inflation even an overpriced stock market seems sensible.
Technically, we don’t need the bludging investors anyway. If they have excess amounts of money and nothing to do with it then that’s not our problem.
If you are making any attempt to save for you retirement you must, almost by definition, have excess money. If you are going to save it you have to put it somewhere, even if it is only in the bank.
DTB sounds as if he doesn’t have any surplus money and presumably isn’t therefore saving anything for the future.
Oh – this is the fallacy of individual responsibility. A rhetorical trick that goes like this:
1.) Leftie points out a problem in the world (e.g. climate change)
2.) Person no. 2 (usually a RWNJ) then frames a question to uncover any apparent inconsistencies between the stated concern and the behaviour of the left-wing person. e.g. “do you drive a car?”
3.) Left wing person usually does and so gets written off as a ‘hypocrite’
Whereas any rational examination of the inconsistency would conclude that it is due not to personal hypocrisy – but to the coercive power of the economic system in which we live, which locks people into activity they don’t like because it leaves no viable alternatives.
“… but to the coercive power of the economic system in which we live, which locks people into activity they don’t like because it leaves no viable alternatives.”
I predict it will crash tomorrow. And if not, the day after that, or the day after that, or on some other day in the future. If only there was someone who could warn us about it.
The money system is broken. It has been rorted by the rich. What can anyone do?
If you can, repay or lower any debt. Keep some cash on hand. Don’t panic, set up ways to talk to family quickly and cheaply. Offer support to any distressed family members. Loved ones and friends are what life is really about.
Have a plan in place. Always have extra meds on hand. “you are travelling/ may travel shortly” renew first aid and emergency kits and check safety aspects of your home and transport.
Any things you need, try to have extra on hand as supplies could be disrupted in a domino of collapses. Dried milk, long life milk, dried fruits, vegetables, soup bases, tinned goods, especially fish.
Don’t go overboard, but doing these things allows space to absorb larger shocks.
If any or all of these are too expensive or difficult, form a family/friends help group where skills and knowledge can be exchanged in a difficult situation. Talk to family and friends. Our biggest strength is working together, our biggest weakness is procrastination.
patricia bremner
I have been thinking of what should be done if what seems inevitable happens, something that has a scary effect on other countries and they lock down on you, sort of like Palestine suffers as a result of Israel feelings of concern. (Could we suffer similar from our friends in Australia. Always inclined to take the advantage ie preventing us exporting apples etc.) Next tornado? The wet spring meant some horticulturalists lost 50% of their crop. Note: listen to Country Calendar on Sat Mornings to hear real alive working people on the land, so admirable.
Who knows what is likely.
So your suggestions sound good for everyone. Thanks for putting it down for us in a practical way.
By the way – say you have a limited supply of protein and lots of pasta. How much protein to a cup of dried pasta would be sufficient to provide a meal sustaining two people. A cupful of dried pasta usually expands to quite a lot so would stirring in 1 tspn of tinned fish or meat be baseline diet okay, or 2, 3, or what.
And I presume that there would be no refrigeration so how long would the tinned fish, meat last covered? Sitting in cool water covered? It has been pointed out that most people have only enough food for 3 days, so knowing how to spin food out would be good info.
People who tramp and camp a lot would probably know this but most wouldn’t know how to manage for long without a frig.
Also need to have water, vessel for holding water and separate for cooking, boiling fuel so fire and wood or electricity, solar? and conserve water from cooking. Would be useful to have had workshops from survivors after Christchurch earthquake who had to do it hard.
Were these held so we could learn from them?
Greywarshark, Sorry, missed this earlier. Dried smoked fish will keep for a week or more. Tinned fish in oil two to three days in a cool safe( Out of the tin). Tinned fish in spring water (tuna 1.09 at PaknSave) with a cup of pasta would feed two, and dried peas/carrtts could be added/or tinned., fresh fish would keep best made into fritters or patties for buns. 2/3 days.
A cool safe is on the south side of a shrub or home/tent.
A hole deep and wide enough to take a stainless steel bucket. A stick or wooden spoon, cheese cloth (which is sold in tube lengths) One metre of cheese cloth, tie securely one end, insert a dinner plate or large pot lid as a base. Cut a vertical opening !5cm/6″ long. Tie top of the tube to your stick or wooden spoon.b Hang in your bucket.
This can contain, oils/ butter cold meats/fish salad goods.
The outer hole has bricks placed at the base, half filled with water, then the bucket prepared is carefully lowered in. your stick or spoon should be below the rim, and the bucket needs a lid to keep out vermin and insects. a brick weight on top and the whole covered with a damp towel/sugar sack and a board. This works a treat.
We always had two when camping, one for milk butter oils and cheese etc, one for meats smoked fish or bacon/ham treated with fat on the cut end.
We never got sick, loved camping “Food” and helped prepare the safes.
Remember.. when using it……Wash your hands first!!
If you make it cricket pasta that is stored it has a long shelf life and is a complete food with good amounts of fats, minerals and protein. Boil it up forage some greens and you are good to go.
The money system is broken. It has been rorted by the rich. What can anyone do?
The money system is broken and it was specifically set up the way it is so that the rich could rort it. The only thing that can be done is the government changing the monetary system from the interest bearing debt system it is to a non-interest bearing sovereign deficit system.
The government creates the money, spends it into the economy and then taxes the money back out. It would run at a slight deficit all the time to account for growth and development.
Great idea DTB. What chances of getting something goding like that? Or having a narrow countrywide or local region-wide exchange system with some things costed entirely in local $s and some in part local $s?
As an example, if you buy a house using an Islamic loan provide, while you don’t pay interest, you pay a premium over and above the “cost of the house”. It can be done a few ways…but it always ends up similar to using a normal mortgage provider (in terms of the overall cost in interest).
> If you can, repay or lower any debt. Keep some cash on hand. Don’t panic, set up ways to talk to family quickly and cheaply. Offer support to any distressed family members. Loved ones and friends are what life is really about.
> Have a plan in place. Always have extra meds on hand. “you are travelling/ may travel shortly” renew first aid and emergency kits and check safety aspects of your home and transport.
> Any things you need, try to have extra on hand as supplies could be disrupted in a domino of collapses. Dried milk, long life milk, dried fruits, vegetables, soup bases, tinned goods, especially fish.
This is slightly weird advice. It would not have been particularly useful in the GFC or, well, any other financial crisis ever. What scenario are you envisaging?
Hello Antoine, GFC is only one disaster, Cash is King and no debt is best in that scene, but in todays society, we live with debt, it is encouraged.
So we have few controls available when the system fails except those put in place by the Govt. which happened last time. We didn’t suffer as Greece did. Then, you would need the back up of cash on hand, meds foods and family.
Needing to be able to survive for 6 to 10 days has become common in disasters. We are asked to “be prepared”, but most people just feel overwhelmed and put action off.
Ordinary folk don’t have huge amounts invested anywhere. Their biggest investment is family friends and good health, and if they are lucky a home.
So learning how to use a transistor, make a cool safe, purify water, have suitable fall back rations and ways to cook outdoors are skills we have lost by and large.
We have altered the environment to such a degree, we can’t always forage for food either, so knowing porridge oats, dried or canned beans or peas and tinned fish can be excellent easily prepared meals in a disaster helps. They are good things to have and know.
Panic never helps, so having a simple plan, suitable supplies, and knowing you have done what you can to stop the overwhelmed out of control feelings , also talking to other people keeps things in perspective, and our strength in adversity is co-operation. Cheers.
Talking about foraging for food, strength of purpose, strength of body, strength of community I recommend ;
Christopher McDougall
Natural Born Heroes.
It centres on Crete but branches out in so many ways, I found it fascinating.
In a GFC type event, the problem is _investment_ not debt. The risk is that your shares, bonds, investment properties etc will lose their value. The solution is to liquidate your investments into some mix of cash, bank deposits, gold and bricks and mortar.
On the other hand, in a total economic collapse, debt is also not a problem cos theres no banks left to collect your mortgage and if someone does turn up wanting money, you can drive them away with a shotgun.
I hope the news item listed on Scoop under Politics “Decision overturning care ruling welcomed by H.R.C.” Also recommendations made to Ministry of Health. Yay!!! Gives some hope to Rosemary and others. Things are going to change hopefully.
patricia…its a simple copy and paste exercise…the really clever bit is when the link is embedded in the text. Looks nice and tidy and takes up less space. I have failed to do this on TS.
” I have failed to do this on TS.”.
Thank God. I thought that I was the only one that had the problem.
I keep trying but I still can’t get the hang of it.
Mind you it took me ages before I worked out how to do emoji so I suppose there is still hope on mastering the link technique.
“Thank God. I thought that I was the only one that had the problem.”
Take heart. I still am subjected to occasional supervision from the Offspring. They think that one day my ineptitude will bring about complete destruction of the internet. They keep telling me to “Clear your cookies ffs!!!” and I nod agreeably and don’t tell them I have no idea what they are talking about. For some reason, checking out the latest dispicableness from Farrar’s Ferals seems to provoke more of this verbal abuse…
Method: <a href=”long link address”>your choice of link name</a>
Copy and file away for next time. Soon you can do it from memory.
(To do this I had to get help to put it up so it would show how to do it without turning the instructions into an actual link – something to do with an ampersand etc. That is something that usually we don’t need to know.)
Oh goodie chocolate fish – fish – chocolate – favourites. I’m on to a winner.
Just referring to nothing in particular I am reading about David Nobbs
d.2015, who wrote a lot for tv, humour, books with humorous sidelines such as about Reginald Perrin.
I like the summary of Nobb’s character Perrin’s restlessness and dissatisfaction with his prosaic life at Sunshine Desserts.
Caught in a hapless suburban existence, Perrin reflected a contemporary mood with his fervent hope to become more than “just a product of Freudian slips and traumatic experiences and bad education and capricious pointlessness”.
I think we all echo that!
He wrote a Fairly Secret Army. Here is a short clip from that and it’s rather funny halfway through as it starts to sound like some of the TS more diverting discussions.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-5A9Rz6fqk
patricia, I would so like to share your optimism. Incredible though it may seem, Ministry of Health Disability Support Services are simply not structured to allow for change such as is required to sort this.
Their response back in 2012 when they lost in the Appeal court for Atkinson was to do the chicken licken thing and claimed that paying family carers would undermine the entire system…they set up a technical advisory group (all members of which had a financial relationship with the MOH of some kind) and they called for submissions from the plebs and ‘stakeholders’ and they held ‘workshops’ around the country to engage with us. Have Bus patricia, will travel ( ;-)) and Peter and I did all the workshops in the North Island.
All this was a pantomime.
Back in 2010 when the HRRT decision came out to much fanfare and flagwaving the Ministry asked for and finally secured a Suspension Order to allow the discrimination to continue (and disallow any other plaintiffs coming in) until one year after the Appeals process was completed. They needed this time they claimed to get their systems organised to allow paying of family carers..blah, blah, blah. The current system and the way resources were allocated just weren’t set up for paying family for care that had been considered ‘natural support’ during assessments.
Now…go forward (back) to 2012 and their inevitable loss in the Appeal Court…they had one year of the Suspension Order up their sleeve remember…and this sham of policy work and consultation which culminated in the Part4A amendment to the PHDAct and the disgusting Funded Family Care policy which finally addressed the discrimination and provided a mechanism whereby the previously unthinkable could happen and Family Carers Could Be Paid. Completely coincidentally, the Suspension Order they had secured (later found to be illegal) expired the day before the PHDAct(2) made its lightening speed run through the house.
The Chamberlain Case is about how unworkable and generally shit Funded Family Care is.
And now, to sort this out, we are supposed to hop into our time machine and go back and completely revise the NASC processes which should have been done back in 2010 or 2012.
OR…they could have simply examined the 272 cases the 2008 (how’s that time machine going???) HRRT heard about where, oh my god, family were being paid to provide assessed disability support!!!
I did an OIA for info about these 272 (actually 274) cases where family were being paid. These family carers were not under the same restrictions as Chamberlain and others on FFC. If the person had been allocated 50 hours per week, that’s what the family member was paid for. Simple. The sky didn’t fall (as one of the judges in a 2010 High Court hearing remarked) and despite the PHDAct legislation specifically stating these arrangements were to be terminated by the end of May 2014…they continued as they were until the end of March 2016. (I have documentary proof of this, and I also know a couple in exactly the same situation as my partner and I who enjoyed such an arrangement).
No simple fix here…there’s way too much dirty water gone under the bridge.
First thing needed is for Claire Curran to pull finger and have the redacted sections of this revealed.
Now…job for today is to pack all the supplies, meds, and the general paraphernalia of disability back into our Bus before we head away into the blue yonder next week. We will be well prepared for the financial apocalypse you talked about at (2). 😉
Rosemary. Bloody hell!! That is a ball of barbed wire. You have every reason to be distrusful in view of all that!!
However, I now have a group who are bringing every instance of unfairness to the attention of the new government ministers and local MPs. We just act as individuals, drip dripping on the stone.
Have a good trip. We always felt more “in control” when we had the motor home.
I think because you learn to be prepared and how to make do. Regardsxx
Patricia could you give me details of this group?
My daughter and I are trying to get Disability Support services to take a case of fraud seriously concerning payment for my sister’s end of life care, where people who should have been paid weren’t and those who shouldn’t have been were.
They just keep fobbing us off with b/s and not returning calls.
Brigid. You have me interested. “Fraud” is a strong word. I have no doubt there has been seriously dodgy stuff gone on, but you can bet your bottom dollar if the Ministry of Health or a DHB are directly involved in funding care then it will have gone through a Contracted Provider. These CPs often have multi tentacled accounting systems where details can be conveniently lost.
This Contracted Provider may have simply have been an “Host”…takes $$$ from the MOH or DHB and makes payments for services rendered. I have heard of cases (and yes the victims claim ‘fraud’) where a timesheet has been submitted to the Host and the carer paid at a lower hourly rate than the client stipulated, and instead of the balance being put back into the total funding package…it gets ‘lost.’
Some CPs are under a ‘bulk funding’ contract where they have a pool of $$$ not necessarily strictly allocated to specific clients. I can find some more info on this if you like. It’s all about maximising profit.
The Ministry of Health at one stage tried to hide information about a contracted provider by claiming the info was ‘commercially sensitive’. A friend did an OIA request that went to the Ombudsman to overcome that secret squirrel bs. ” It is about taxpayer $$$, cough up!”
No it wasn’t a contractor but I’m not surprised by all you’ve written.
I’m under the impression contractors are funded nicely and workers paid appallingly.
A good rule of thumb (ie: to keep your business afloat) is to pay your employees one-third of what you charge your clients for their time. This is one reason why consultants cost so much more than public servants.
Lots of assumptions, for example that you’ll get 1200 hours of productive time per year (out of a possible 1920). It’s still a lot better than reckons.
Brigid, these are just my friends who go on line to the ministers or visit local MPs here. We are in Rotorua. …In your case….
Q. Who qualifies for payment at end of life? Who would not?
Are there govt. regulations you could read covering that situation online?
Can you afford a lawyer’s letter? Ring round a few, I have found free helpful advice here doing that. Be clear about the situation. Write it out as a clear simple story. (no names in the story is best).
If you write a letter to the Minister with a question, they have to answer.
Write clearly what happened. Speak only of what you can prove.
Ask for clarification on who should be paid and why in such a situation.
It is hard to keep the emotion out, but it is best to be calm. Do not claim fraud until you clearly have a case of broken rules. I’m sorry to hear you have lost your sister with these things unresolved. A sad time for you.
Thanks for your help Rosemary and Patricia.
If we persist I guess we’d get somewhere, but it’s so much of a head f**k.
What is worse is that it was a member of the family that created this mess, as embarrassed as i am to admit I’m related to such vile creatures.
It stems from the thing that sometimes happens when a family suffers a bereavement. A power struggle ensues. Unfortunately.
This morning a very informed and interesting discussion on Kim Hill with English commenter on Brexit and the English in particular, about whom he has described the Europeans thinking as ” lager louts”.
8.09 Nicholas Boyle – Brexit is a collective English breakdown
Professor Nicholas Boyle is Emeritus Schröder Professor of German at the University of Cambridge. He’s been Professor of German Literary and Intellectual History, and he has taught German in Cambridge since he was a student.
He has a particular interest in German literature and thought of the 18th and 19th centuries, and especially in Goethe.
Alwyn, for one who is usually so punctilious, you apparently hear what you want to..
I also taught German. I remember that word – it was Vergangenheitsverwertigung, and, as Kim Hill said (she also learnt German), it means ‘reconciliation with the past’.
Sorry about that.
I was making a cup of coffee when I heard it and clearly wasn’t paying sufficient attention.
I should have checked the recording before I gave the meaning as I obviously got it wrong.
I still think she was very sensible not to attempt to say it.
Fair enough..
Kim Hill once said she majored in German at university (ie, a pretty good level), and German is far more consistent and logical in its spelling than English is.. I suspect Kim would not really have too much trouble if she needed to pronounce it.
Prof Boyle’s analysis is similar to that of Fintan O’Toole of the Irish Times (and Guardian and NYT)
“The country that prides itself on sober moderation has made one of the most impulsive moves ever undertaken in a developed democracy. The stiff upper lips have parted and released a wild and inarticulate cry of rage and triumph.
Make no mistake: this is an English nationalist revolution.”
Prof Boyle explains why the Pro Brexit faction of the Conservative Party are to be knows as “wankers” while their opponents are to be knows as “fuckers”.
“Surely this rhetoric inverts the truth? It is the Europobes who shut themselves away in self-gratifying fantasies, while the remainers know that real life is only possible through interaction with others.”
Did they really publish it?
I would never have expected the FT, such a staid paper, to publish something like that.
Actually, given Boyles definition as you have quoted it, and the purported behaviour of the leave and remain groups, surely Boyle was correct?
Thank you for the link. I think it is wonderful.
It is certainly nothing I would have expected them to publish.
I couldn’t look at it in the FT. They let you look at a few, a very few, articles free and I had reached my limit. Obviously I should just google part of the quote and let Google find me another source.
That’s less to do with democracy than their intention to buy people with public money. Only way they’re likely to get power again, but voters whose MPs turn ought to have some serious sanctions at their disposal.
And there were plenty frankly. Not all waka jumped really – you have to distinguish between those who continued to represent the constituency that supported them and those who sold out for money or other inducements.
The corruption of Alamein Kopu for example should have seen both her, and the person who corrupted her (Shipley) in prison. You wouldn’t have found a voter who supported her supporting her defection.
Rubbish. The only complete and utter idiots in this little exercise were the fools that ranked her in 12th place on the Alliance List.
Can you provide any evidence at all that Shipley had anything at all to do with her resignation from The Alliance? Your own opinion doesn’t count.
Given that she never showed her face again politically your claim of place envy is no better than most of your witless maunderings.
I suppose you expect Shipley to have published accounts of the inducements she used to suborn her – Jenny is pretty stupid, but not quite to the level of publicly incriminating herself.
I’m stating that she suborned her – I understand the inducement was publicly funded things, similar in character to the ‘party leadership’ baubles that were granted to Peter Dunne after his party de facto no longer existed.
What on earth do you mean by “your claim of place envy”?
All I am saying is that she should never have been put in a position where she could possibly become an MP. That was promoting her far beyond her competency level.
Once she got there she was completely out of her depth.
As for “she never showed her face again politically” I could suggest that that happens with every MP who loses their seat. What is Hone up to these days?
As far as you second comment “I understand the inducement was publicly funded things” goes I asked for some evidence. After all I suppose I could propose that the reason that Jim Anderton dropped all his claims to be the real Labour was that he was suborned by inducements like being kept in Cabinet and receiving all the perks of being a Party leader even though he was a one man band.
I could also suggest that the Green Party have lost their backbone because they have been suborned by the perks of being Ministers of the Crown and have dropped all pretensions that they actually cared about the environment.
And there has been absolutely no evidence produced that
“The corruption of Alamein Kopu for example should have seen both her, and the person who corrupted her (Shipley) in prison”.
That is just a wild supposition from Stuart Munro.
I merely followed his style and made up the same story about Labour and the Greens.
I at least had the decency to say “I could also suggest” etc.
I didn’t make it as if it was clearly factual and as a blatant statement of corruption.
Of course I don’t have any evidence. In that respect I am in exactly the same situation as Stuart Munro is. I am willing to admit that fact and he is not.
You could (and probably would) make such claims – but they would only tend to erode the weight of your assertions.
It goes back in fact to what amounts to reasonable party hopping and what does not. The Green departure from the Alliance, for example, appeared to be conscientious, and was scrupulous in not making off with or eroding the franchise they bore on the part of their constituents.
The NZF waka jumpers were not conscientious and were unscrupulous in terms of the franchise – but would likely have argued that they cut a better deal for their constituents – it was arguable, if not particularly persuasive.
Kopu’s defection was neither conscientious nor scrupulous – there is no interpretation other than that she betrayed her constituents, and knowing this she didn’t stick around to defend it.
Come on, Stop waffling.
You claimed that Kopu and Shipley were corrupt and should be in prison.
Then you toned down to claiming that Shipley had suborned Kopu.
Why don’t you either produce some evidence or admit that you simply made the whole thing up and you have no evidence at all for your scurrilous statements?
Be a man. Admit you are lying.
The NZF Waka Jumpers were contacted directly by Shipley and the National Party, whether there were financial strings or benefits attached one will never know ?
@SM
“I consider that the overwhelming probability”.
In other words, and more honestly, you are saying that you haven’t any evidence at all but that you really, really hate Shipley.
What a plonker you are.
As for your question about Kopu?
“I consider that the overwhelming probability” is that she simply got pissed of with the way she was treated by the other MPs in the Alliance.
Did you ever read Pam Corkery’s book about life as an Alliance MP?
As she said
“Politicians are, by and large, far more self-deluding, devious, bloated, insecure, egocentric wankers than I had feared.”
She was talking about Jim Anderton remember, even if it seems to be a very accurate description of you.
Even Alamein finally had enough of that shit.
It really is a waste of time trying to debate with you though.
Logic and reason have no place in your strange little view of the world.
Be a man. You are simply a lying bigot who will smear anyone who isn’t in your little cess-pit. Why not simply admit it?
Ok Alwyn – so we’ve established that you are crude, if rather unimaginative, but nothing more. You have nothing to contribute to the debate on the propriety of waka jumping . This is understandable because you are trolling – taking pains to divert the discussion from the propriety of waka jumping into a pig wallow of personal abuse. I guess that’s your natural element and thus the best you can muster.
You have nevertheless inadvertently outlined some part of Shipley’s modus operandi in terms of suborning waka jumpers.
“Even Alamein finally had enough of that shit” What shit? Being elevated to a list place above her competence but below her ambitions? Doubtless a narrative on just desserts was part of the process – as it was for a more recent defection.
“You are simply a lying bigot who will smear anyone who isn’t in your little cess-pit. ” There speaks a Jungian shadow if ever I saw one.
@SM
The only thing that you have established Stuart is that any connection between you and logic is totally absent.
You seem to be limited to a simple view of your world where the only standard is “Green Good”. Everyone else is evil.
I’ll bet you even supported Meteria’s fraud on the taxpayer.
Irrespective of anything else I propose to simply ignore you in the future. Like so many on the watermelon side of politics you find debate impossible.
And You do not have to be a bigot to have a bad impression or memory of Alamein Kopu… thats how she was presented
I make no comment on her actions …. but the media reporting gave the impression of a Lazy unprincipled politician doing the bare minimum for a salary she did not deserve .
Putting the boot in further, when she left Parliament ….The Herald printed a ‘Maori stole the furniture’ type smear / story
It Insinuated she was a serial thief ….. “the furnishings, including a desk, chair, filing cabinet and rubbish bin, are missing”
Headed: “Missing Kopu office items ‘not a first'”
” ROTORUA – The disappearance of furnishings from one-term MP Alamein Kopu’s Rotorua electorate office is not the first time property belonging to the Parliamentary Service has gone missing while in her care…
The Herald revealed yesterday that police are investigating” ….
The herald story was racist crap … business as usual
I think National cynicaly used the late Alamein … took her vote and attempted harm upon Maori politics with her as a scapegoat …. racists like Wayne Mapp and his drinking buddy Ansell would have loved it.
Shipley is dishonest, disloyal … and seems to be involved in the long time National party love affair with very dodgy business practices …
“Jenny Shipley among Mainzeal directors facing legal action”
“Mainzeal was one of the country’s biggest construction firms before it collapsed in 2013, initially owing unsecured creditors an estimated $138 million.
That amount grew to $151.3m” ..
“In its reports, BDO remarked on the convoluted company structure that Mainzeal was part of and the related party transfers that had occurred.”
“related party transfers” .. is a creative phrase for tax scamming.
**************************
Finally Alwyns serial dishonesty ….
As a troll Alwyns trademark technique … …. was to quote or use John Keys / Nationals lies. lines and spin from the debating chamber…..
I remember Alwyn talking pure shit about the number of house builds National were claiming for Auckland …. as they supposedly solved our housing crisis …
The numbers were lies with national fabricating and exaggerating.,,, counting consents as built houses or something ( It was not me who busted him on the thread but I’m sure others remember )
So Key and national lies were Alwyns lies…. Its probably why he hates Blips list so much … he’s probably lied hundreds of times too.
That’s Keys legacy for you Alwyn … he made you a proven liar….
What happened to the end of this post?
You proclaimed “as I’ll show at the end of this post” and then did no such thing.
Did you accidentally delete something before you put this comment out?
Or, in your incandescent rage did you simply forget to add whatever you thought justified you claim?
Whatever. I suggest you take a break and settle down with a nice cup of tea, as David Lange might have said.
“Give me some motivation”.
Why do you bother if it hurts so much?
I assure you I won’t be hurt if you don’t read what I have to say.
I only propose ideas for intelligent open-minded people who may be able to appreciate new ideas that may not have occurred to them before.
If it is impossible for you to read them with an open mind please don’t bother.
Alwyn …. I searched my mind and came up with an example of you spinning lies …….. it took about me about 3 seconds to recall an example involving numbers which will leave you no wriggle room … it was far less effort than making a cup of tea.
Your recollection is probably more detailed than mine … as you wrote the bullshit fake stats regarding Auckland house builds.
Do you deny it ?.
You may well write interesting stuff …. but your troll method involved quoting Nationals lies … which makes you dishonest.
I’ve trimmed down your little flight of fantasy to the essential truth.
“…. I searched my mind …….. it took about me about 3 seconds…….”
There that is more accurate, isn’t it. Everything you know could be gone through in about 3 seconds.
I note you haven’t put in any link to this supposed story.
Kindly put one in or I will just have to assume that this is another little fantasy from your fetid little imagination.
Put up or apologise.
@reason.
I’m still waiting.
If it actually existed I’m sure you could have found it by now.
Oh well. I suppose it isn’t really your fault if your memory is letting you down.
“Waka jumping (especially by list MPs) is of course anti-democratic. You have it arse about face.”
That is making the assumption that in the majority of cases the MP is leaving for reasons other than having the genuine concerns of the party’s supporter base at heart.
This bill is to give Winston the power to control his MP’s.
If they come up with a judicial review process where departing MPs must justify their stance in terms of public interest it might work out rather well.
Not only, but also https://www.corbettreport.com/whitehelmets/
“Contrary to what its multi-million dollar international PR campaign would have you believe, the “White Helmets” are not a group of volunteer search-and-rescue workers that sprang spontaneously out of the Syrian soil. When you peel back the layers of foreign financing and reveal the foreign intelligence operatives and murky lobbying groups at the heart of the organization, what you find is that the White Helmets are, in fact, a propaganda construct.”
Through your breathless attempt in trying to rationalise the narrow view you have of the world [your comments tell that story], while simultaneously seeking to belittle , Brigid….
You’ve managed to ignore the message about the White Helmets, which Brigid was attempting to convey….
Did it feel good to leap on the link used, and then try to piss all over it…..did it give you another little rush when you realised it attracted other responses to your obvious piss take?
Joe90’s comment is entirely apt. As Michael Shermer says in The Baloney Detection Kit, the source of any claim is a relevant factor in deciding the credibility of the claim.
Watch out for a pattern of fringe thinking that consistently ignores or distorts data.
The controversy surrounding the White Helmets has been thoroughly explored at The Standard. Speaking of “belittling”, I note that Brigid apparently agreed with Ed’s assessment of people who will pass on watching the video he posted: that they are closed minded and are incapable of critical thinking. I further note your attempt to belittle Joe90: “the narrow view you have of the world”. Did it feel good to leap on his comment, and then try to piss all over it? Hoist on your own petard much?
I’m grateful to Joe for pointing out the pattern at the Corbett Report, although I daresay I’d have noticed it myself eventually. Only so many hours in the day.
Not as breathless as the heavy breathing stalker still following around my comments…
Once you’ve touched a nerve, they will then chime in, and keep chiming in….if you continue posting what they don’t agree with [taboo subjects almost a form of kryptonite] or can’t understand….
Expect the responses to take on venom as the abuse ratchets upwards…
In the end, the point is no more that we should uncritically accept every statement made in opposition to the White Helmets than that we should uncritically accept every statement made in their favour.
It takes a long time to get to that which everyone involved in this discussion already knows: the art of warfare is deception. No matter who the white helmets really are, someone is going to tell lies about them. However, I find it difficult to believe that Syrian civilian medics wouldn’t run to the aid of the injured, and organise amongst themselves in doing so. Refusing aid to the wounded is a war crime.
…and you’re arguing from authority. Did you read Psycho Milt’s link? You do read the links people put up, eh. Or do you take the ostrich approach (your words)?
Let’s look at it in terms of set theory.
Assumption: there are two sets of people: White Helmets (WH) and Syrian Civilian Medics (SCM). The ones that are still alive, that is.
In Brigid’s hypothesis (The white helmets are not Syrian civilian medics), the subset of the two is empty.
In mine, the subset of the two has a value greater than zero.
Life won’t become extinct. The worst that would happen would be similar to the Permian Extinction and it only took ten million years for life to recover biodiversity afterwards.
Of course, humans probably wouldn’t be part of the biodiversity afterwards if such an extinction event took place now.
You’re often hostile Stunned Mullet, I think people here would like to have a community of commenters that listen to others and limit their level of abuse.
“The worst that would happen would be similar to the Permian Extinction and it only took ten million years for life to recover biodiversity afterwards.”
Jacinda Ardern and Julie Bishop met informally last night in Auckland. Revealed by Julie Bishop in a tweet at 11pm. She is here for the weekend for the standard six monthly meeting with Winston Peters, her equal as Deputy PM. They are meeting on Waiheke Islalnd today.
The smiling photo made me realise just how small Julie Bishop is. Take away the high heels and she would be even smaller.
[No cattiness, criticism etc intended -or encouraged. Perhaps some (female) envy on my part for her size and trimness !!!!]
PS – Audrey Young must have originally filed her opinion article on Julie Bishop’s visit before knowing of the meeting with our PM as when I read it in the early hours of today, it said that there were no plans for Ardern and Bishop to meet. It has since be updated. A reasonably middle of the road summary of the current NZ/Australia relationship by Young.
The Dystopic Leftist Youth of Reddit and Facebook
A look into the spaces where young people mock the “boring dystopia” that capitalism has built
“This post aided me on my journey to personal wealth and happiness,” reads the hover text on the upvote button. “This post is unprofitable and thus useless,” reads the text on its counterpart.
Welcome to /r/LateStageCapitalism, a Reddit page where even the content rating system is a satire of the constant monetization of our daily lives. It’s one of many online forums where a leftist brand of humor can flourish, composed of anticapitalist memes, caustic jokes about current affairs, and a sprinkling of underreported news stories and research papers.
Read it now. Not sure what I think tbh. I like the bit where the reddit dudes said they are pessimistic but know we can effect change. Not sure that the memes support that but maybe I’m too old.
Not just the nearest woman, but one whose meteoric rise within the Trump administration etc both before and after the inauguration was attributed to her close relationships with Trump – presumably before her relationship with Porter.
A White House speechwriter resigned Friday after his former wife claimed that he was violent and emotionally abusive during their turbulent 2½ -year marriage — allegations that he vehemently denied, saying she was the one who victimized him.
The abrupt departure of David Sorensen, a speechwriter who worked under senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, came as The Washington Post was reporting on a story about abuse claims by his ex-wife, Jessica Corbett. Corbett told The Post that she described his behavior to the FBI last fall as the bureau was conducting a background check of Sorensen.
[…]
She said that during her marriage to Sorensen, he ran a car over her foot, put out a cigarette on her hand, threw her into a wall and grasped her menacingly by her hair while they were alone on their boat in remote waters off Maine’s coast, an incident she said left her fearing for her life.
According to the RBNZ inflation calculator my first Auckland London economy return flight cost $11,581.59, twice the price of a business class flight today.
Remember this is supposedly a 48 year old dyslexic male who left school at fifteen and who has two adult children running their own businesses after having attended $25k/annum Kristin School.
Yes, fair point, but we, the readers, have no way to test the veracity of his claims. And frankly, the successes of his children or his legendary BBQs make not an iota of difference to me; it is Facebook stuff IMO.
Who are you talking to Ed.? I wonder if we can elevate ourselves from biting each other in the playpen. When you think of replying or initiating some brave critique, just suck in some air and go for a wee instead will you.
Hi travel buff’s,
Since you are all talking about transport here I had our NGO send this reminder to the ruling Labour Coalition Government to ratchet up the rail travel (expressly freight) but passenger rail could be added to as it was good in the 1980’s here.
With our family boarding a rail-car from Napier to Wellington and catching the ferry to Picton and hiring a car to go down the west coast to see folks where rail didn’t go that far.
A report by HSBC shows that contrary to the commonplace narrative in the industry, even amidst the glut of unconventional oil and gas, the vast bulk of the world’s oil production has already peaked and is now in decline; while European government scientists show that the value of energy produced by oil has declined by half within just the first 15 years of the 21st century.
The upshot?
Welcome to a new age of permanent economic recession driven by ongoing dependence on dirty, expensive, difficult oil… unless we choose a fundamentally different path;
This evidence of using rail rather than road freight to lower our use of fuel/energy is reported to be from four to eight times more benefit to us all from use of rail as fuel compressions now show rail uses far less fuel to carry one tonne one km than road freight does.
The truck freight industry now uses between 28% to 36% of all NZ diesel supplies.
Use of rail will use less than 6% of our total diesel supplies.
This is found in studies according to all available fuel use studies of rail verses road freight fuel uses when comparing moving each one tonne per one km.
“Freight Railroads and Fuel Efficiency Go Hand in Hand Freight railroads are the environmentally friendly way to move freight: ✓ In 2016, U.S. freight railroads moved a ton of freight an average of 468 miles per gallon of fuel — up from 235 miles in 1980 (see Figure 1). That’s a 99 percent improvement. ✓ On average, railroads are four times more fuel efficient than trucks, according to an independent study for the Federal Railroad Administration. ✓ Greenhouse gas emissions are directly related to fuel consumption. That means moving freight by rail instead of truck lowers greenhouse gas emissions by 75 percent.”
The recently new labour Government discovered (formerly hidden) rail report (see above) “The value of rail in new Zealand” that was commissioned by our own “State Owned Enterprise” (SOE) ‘Kiwi rail’ a publicly owned crown state asset was said to be “for the NZ Transport agency” has now proven that this “fundamentally different path” of using rail is now needed to be incorporated urgently now that we are nearing the end of cheap oil. Rail using electric locomotives also should be used to further our less dependency on road freight and using fossil fuels that are destroying our climate, health wellbeing and economy as well as our individual wealth.
Dear PM Jacinda Ardern please place us on the right “fundamental different path” using rail freight for saving our environmental future, and help to reverse our climate change.
‘lets do this’
Your early response is appreciated please.
Warmest regards,
But sharing them with friends and family is what make the great days and give you a positive outlook on life.
How many times have we heard these kinds of platitudes? Sharing is caring and compassion is a sure way to achieve happiness, etc. Yet, a majority of people, 44.5±3.1%, go berserkers when you mention inequality and distributive taxes. They go nuts at the idea that their hard-earned money goes to support the ‘lifestyle’ of the lazy, the bludgers, the “pretty damned hopeless”, etc.
They scream the strongest ‘argument’ that pops up in their narrow selfish minds:
It’s legalised theft!
It is clear that the sharing and caring does not extend far and social interactions and attitudes can be summarised as follows:
1) Like knows like
2) Like only shares with and cares for like
3) Unlike is dislike
4) Intense dislike is hate
Welcome to human society.
Another beersy and a sossie, John? Yes thanks, mate.
Agreed. Most selfish bastards limit their generosity to very close family and friends, then congratulate themselves on how much they enjoy ‘sharing’ it, oblivious to how they are actually denying that generosity to most of humankind.
Come on James, I challenge you to make a symbolic donation of $1 (or more if you so wish) and show us up for the obvious hypocrites we are! I’ll make a mental note that I must donate to each & every cause I sympathise with and, in fact, to all charities because they all serve a good and noble cause. In other words, if the shoe fits …
And then we can argue about whether you just created a false equivalence or not.
Sharing and caring. I like the one about the elderly brother who charged his elderly sister for petrol for driving her to visit their other elderly sister. And I think he had bought the car using moneys he was holding in trust for her on an Enduring Power of Attorney. People can rationalise self-centred greed given half a chance.
I think airbnb is a minor player in the diminishing number of rentals available.
The critics in your link let long-term rentals and run motels, of course they’re anti airbnb. They’re happy to beat it up, not because of any proven commercial threat but because it’s a soft target. ‘Airbnb bastards have got your home!’
Our visitor numbers have gone up by a million this year. Tourism dollars are sweet. They spend big, pay GST and require little in return.
There are lots of holiday houses around me, empty for most of the year. Hosting international visitors at these properties denies no Kiwi a home. Rather than a curse, I see these owners contributing to NZ.
We need to get better at how we do it but I see it as a benefit rather than a cancer.
Home ownership rates are dropping, this is a fact, so it’s not that the rental stock is being bought by first time buyers.
Whole property airbnb listings in Auckland doubled in the last year and rental stock listed on Trademe halved.
Did you even read the article? It says:
In other countries where affordable housing is scarce, short-term rentals listed as an entire place are capped in a bid to bring them back into the rental stock – London has moved to cap it at 90 days per year, and it’s 60 days in Amsterdam.
According to the BBC, London boroughs have warned that short-term lets are pushing up longer-term rental prices in the UK capital, and reducing housing availability in London as many properties stay empty for long periods of the year.
These countries appear to be recognising the very same problem you are dismissing. Why is that?
Have you read any of the other articles in the media recently about amateur landlords being ‘sick of tenants’, and about those who are going to list on airbnb because of ‘the cost of providing a warm, dry home to renters’, and because ‘I can double my money’?
I haven’t seen any posts from him since last year, he suffered an MI last year so I hope he’s still around, I know what it’s like, I suffered one 15 yrs ago, statistically, there is only a 50% survival rate.
I remember Farrar attacking a tourist family who lost $17k from an airbnb scam. They made the mistake of paying third party. Farrar reckoned it was impossible to be scammed if you went through the airbnb process.
Well, it seems not:
A hen’s party of 20 women was almost left without a venue after a scam on Airbnb involving a house that didn’t exist.
Auckland woman Renee Carroll only realised she had been scammed an hour before guests were due to arrive for the weekend of celebrations on February 3.
The house – a sunny and inviting four-bedroom villa – was booked and paid for through the legitimate Airbnb site
“Carroll immediately called Airbnb staff who questioned if she was “at the right house” before offering alternative accommodation and then a full refund.”
Alternative accomodation or a full refund – gee scammed hard.
Rosemary McDonald
For feisty foodie – and about other things. Good to exchange info and advice, individualism will have to be lessened as times get tougher if we want a decent society, and sharing when possible is the way to go.
Well we’ve been busy looking after the mokos 9 of them on the farm my Wairua feels good here just over the road is a local Tapu sight ECO MAORI feels the good Wairua here. I show my mokos to the Tepuna buried there I hope they are proud of us Ka pai.
I see some people are making fun of ECO
for caring about all the mokos of Papatuanukue and using mokos all the time.
Here is my reasons the children of Papatuanukue don’t have the Mana to make choices that can change there lives for good or bad the grown-up do this on behalf of the mokos because of this fact
I advocate for all the children of Papatuanukue in my view one is not a adult till 20 and most men are not men till they turn 40 most ladies are adults at 18. Its is funny that they hide behind the smallest person be careful as if I want to I could decimate your ratings. Eco Maori doesn’t like affecting others in a negative way Ana to kai. Ka kite ano
“The taxpayers of Miami and Tampa should not have to facilitate bigotry and anti-Semitism, and I look forward to the Miami Sports and Exhibition Authority and the Tampa Sports Authority complying with the law and cancelling these concerts.“
If this gets upheld- her US career is toast – 20 states have the same laws (and growing)
“He said about $5bn is invested in Vix ETPs (exchange traded products) betting on stable markets, “but what people should be afraid of is a disorderly unwind of the much larger $1.5-2tn [invested] in financial engineering strategies that are leveraged to low volatility.
Cole said the collapse in Vix ETPs was analogous to the quant hedge fund meltdown of 2007, which preceded the 2008 financial crisis. “I do think another crisis of that magnitude will occur in the next few years.”
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This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
Dame Susan Devoy takes us through her life in television, including late night ER debriefs, her proudest CTI moment and the show she watches in secret. Quite aside from her four world champion squash titles, Dame Susan Devoy will likely go down in history as one of the best Celebrity ...
Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard.Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
Introducing a new way to read The Spinoff every weekend. After nearly 10 years of being an online magazine, we’re finally embracing the weekend liftout. Despite our best efforts to convince you otherwise, writers and editors at The Spinoff don’t work weekend. It is through the sheer power of technology ...
Tip one: let yourself be nurtured by this big old man. Tip two: don’t ask him to adopt you. So, you’ve arrived at your first session with a new therapist. He tells you to make yourself comfortable and you opt for the tweed armchair, hoping it makes you look like ...
I didn’t know books could open you back up; that there were books that stayed with you, where reading was like a chemical event. I knew nothing.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Not too long ago, I was listening to the American ...
Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has already started training for the Enhanced games, though says he won’t start taking performance enhancing substances until about nine months out from the competition. The Australian world champion was the first athlete to be announced by Enhanced, but he says the organisation has had ...
Everyone thinks he’s dead. Every day they expect his body to be washed up along the coast. Most likely up Karitane way, the way the tide’s running. But nobody’ll be too surprised if his body’s never found. Even in death he wouldn’t have wished for such attention. He would have ...
Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University Shutterstock Following an emergency meeting of the National Cabinet this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a raft of measures to tackle the problem ...
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The stock market continues to fall……
“US stock markets continued their wild ride on Friday morning, on course for their worst week since the financial crisis as international stock markets continued to fall, spooked by fears of more rapidly rising interest rates.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which lost over 1,000 points on Friday, rose 30 points on Friday morning as the more broadly based S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq also moved into the black only to shortly lose those gains. By noon the Dow was down over 200 points.
On its current course the Dow is set to fall more than 6%, its biggest one-week drop since October 2008.”
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/feb/09/us-stocks-heading-for-worst-week-since-financial-crisis-as-wild-ride-continues
I quote Martin ‘Bomber’ Bradbury.
“The reality is that markets have been horribly distorted and a hard crash has to occur. The reason Winston was so grim the night he picked Labour as the Government was because he knew this correction was coming.
There are enormous problems with the stability of the global economy that go to the very heart of neoliberalism and when the full impact starts to set in, people are going to start to panic. The danger point will be when people start pulling their Kiwisaver out of the stock exchange and put it straight in the bank, that will begin a run away event on the stock exchange as more and more Kiwis start frantically pulling their depleting accounts out of the market.
There comes a point when panicking becomes perfectly rational.”
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2018/02/09/another-dow-jones-1033-point-meltdown-dont-panic-do-panic-the-conflicting-messages-being-fed-to-the-nz-public/
We know all this. If you can pick when it happens or even make it happen then you can be rich.otherwise you are just contributing to the general hysteria which helps to spook the market.
We are all just along for the ride.
No posts from you the other day on the market rallying.
You may know this.
A lot of people do not know all this.
Anyway, don’t believe me.
Listen to the former leader of the Bank of England.
“A worldwide debt binge could trigger the next financial crisis, warns former Bank of England governor Lord King.
King said it was essential to tackle the global debt pile, which stands at £166 trillion ($321t), according to the Washington-based Institute of International Finance.
“The areas of weakness in the current system are really focused on the amount of debt that exists, not just in the US and UK but across the world,” King said.
“Debt in the private sector relative to GDP is higher now than it was in 2007, and of course public debt is even higher still.”
Or listen to the International Monetary Fund chief.
” Christine Lagarde also sounded the alarm last month and researchers believe China is a danger.
Or the Council on Foreign Relations.
“Benn Steil and Benjamin Della Rocca of the Council on Foreign Relations said a meltdown is rapidly approaching, saying: “Given our evidence that China is shovelling new loans to companies with the least ability to pay them back, we think China is heading towards a debt crisis.””
The warning signs have been around for a while.
Our levels of debt are unsustainable.
“Global debt ratios have surged by a further 51 percentage points of GDP since the Lehman crisis, reaching a record 327 per cent (IIF data).
This is a new phenomenon in economic history and can be tracked to QE liquidity leakage from the West, which flooded East Asia, Latin America, and other emerging markets, with a huge push from China pursuing its own venture.”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/world/100831022/it-is-frankly-scary-world-financial-system-as-stretched-as-before-2008-crash
And he’s off again..
I call his first comments here on OM each morning the Chicken Little Ed Hour.
If you think it’s bad now, just wait until the stopped clock’s time comes around again. He’ll be insufferable.
Oab., I realise that I have a view, you will disagree with it.
If I have a view on Syria , you disagree with it.
If I have a view on Climate Change, you disagree with it.
If I have a view on meat eating, you disagree with it.
If I have a view on dairy farming , you disagree with it.
If I have a view on economic crashes , you disagree with it.
If I have a view Ukraine , you disagree with it.
If I have a view on ( fill in the gap) , you disagree with it.
This is Open Mike.
Are you against free speech?
And please desist from the bully boy abuse.
Wrong on all counts Ed. I disagree with your sloppy counterproductive rhetoric though. If you can manage not to tell lies about that it will be nice change.
[Cut out the gratuitous abuse] – Bill
What do you agree with me on?
After the gratuitous abuse in your first reply I think I’ll pass.
What gratuitous abuse exactly?
@Grey Area: the implication that I am so closed minded and bereft of imagination that I base my opinions on what Ed reckons.
@OAB: I didn’t take him to be saying that and I don’t think you do either. Back off please, it’s the sort of behaviour that makes The Standard much less fun for some of us.
@GreyArea: I’m struggling to think of another interpretation of his statement that “If I have a view on ( fill in the gap) , you disagree with it.”
It follows a pattern that can also be seen in his comment at 6.1.1, wherein “people who are not ostriches and who have open minds and are capable of critical thinking” will be the ones who watch his video link. I could find a plethora of other examples if I could be bothered.
Ed is given to smearing anyone who criticises his presentation, let alone the content of his comments, in this manner.
Perhaps you should be asking him to “back off”. After all, you might succeed where everyone else has failed 🙄
That was unkind.
Have you ever seen him/her post anything positive in the world? It must be hard living under a cloud of such negativity.
That’s because I don’t have a barbecue and a boat.
You don’t need a bbq and a boat to be happy – perhaps that’s your problem.
Surround yourself with good friends and a family that loves you (and you them) and life will be a ton better.
It’s a mistake you make thinkingthat the toys are what makes you happy (don’t get me wrong I love the bbq – and I like the boat, although we don’t use it as much as we should). But sharing them with friends and family is what make the great days and give you a positive outlook on life.
Keep ignoring issues like child poverty James.
Because that would be negative….
And yet here you are on a left blog site, James..
Deliberately agitating and seeking reaction from other commentators to satisfy…what exactly…[i don’t care by the way, that’s for you]…
And you have the gall to suggest Ed is negative…
There is little to nothing positive about your contribution, James…
You’re an agitator on an anonymous blog site…
No, it’s not abuse either..
My lovely sock puppet !
James is paid to be here.
Either that or he is a real tragic character, trolling away on a left wing blog site for kicks.
And the persona he has created is totally fake.
It’s a stereotype of what ‘James’ thinks a real Kiwi bloke looks like.
Btw missed your howls of outrage (outrage I tell you) over Jacinda cooking a bbq with meat on it the other day.
Or do you have selective outrage ?
Ed can’t do all the vegan heavy lifting. Maybe you could help him if you put your tongs down for a bit.
No I am not selective.
If we all either cut down or gave up on meat, we would have a much better chance to mitigate the worst effects of climate change.
You want to make this a party political issue.
It is a planetary issue James.
”If we all either cut down or gave up on meat, we would have a much better chance to mitigate the worst effects of climate change.”
Thta’s a pretty bold assertion Ed and while it may very well be correct, has anyone done a peer reviewed study which you can point to ?
@Stunned Mullet, see IPCC reports for that citation.
James;
I hoped you helped put on the barbecue for the ‘hapless national’ party “retreat” I couldn’t imagine they would not invite you to there own barbecue.
Why?
Don’t you want to hear the real news.
Perhaps you should read this if you want to be deluded and distracted.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/
Don’t believe me.
I for one dont.
Just replying to your statements above:
“James is paid to be here.
And the persona he has created is totally fake.
It’s a stereotype of what ‘James’ thinks a real Kiwi bloke looks like.”
Any evidence to back up your accusations?
Or are you still fucking goats and beating your wife? (being an example of making accusations that cannot be backed up).
When I was corrected on one of your post where I called you a liar – I withdrew and apologised.
So – I guess I back to calling you a liar – because that is what you are.
Not only a troll.
Also ( given that diatribe) the real James is quite an unpleasant and aggressive person.
Your reaction shows up a lot about you.
+1
And your lies tell more about you.
“Either that or…”
Come on James, you’ve been busted for “pruning” quotes to suit your claims before; didn’t you learn then? People see straight through that deception.
I’m over his petty and puerile comments.
And I’m over your lies.
Says the troll with the created persona….
Says ed the liar.
Thank you Ed.
I think credit suisse estimated the total wealth in the world at 250 trillion? It’s ridiculous how dumb we all really are for just accepting the monetary system we’ve been sold and blundering blindly on in an orgy of consumption…
if you think about it, all the debt is 70 trillion more than all the money….. wonder where the money’s gonna come from to pay the extra 70 trillion…. guess it’ll have to be borrowed…somebody’s making a killing…
the entire monetary and financial system will at some stage in the near future crash into complete and total meltdown. (Unless something drastic is done to change things before that happens).
maybe when the worldwide debt number has so many zero’s on the end of it that it takes a couple of hours or even days just to say “well… a thousand millions a billion, a thousand billions a trillion, a thousand trillions a quadrillion……and so on and so on….” , or it’s become such a big number that nobody on earth can come up with a name for it (as an aside, I wonder what the first ‘non illion’ will be???) Anyway that will be the straw that triggers the collapse
Sounds like it will take ages to get to that number, but exponentially increasing numbers have a way of catching up on you real quick…like the flash…
As a further aside, had a laugh with nephew yesterday when he was talking about something called a petabyte! I had to explain to him that when i got my first computer (which wasn’t all that long ago, must have been after 1981 because the computer was a zx81), the word megabyte didn’t even exist as a megabyte was something which hadn’t yet been imagined into existance! (And my 16kb expansion pack was like me being the king of personal computing storage space, even though that amount will never be needed of course…hehehe)
Ahh the good old days…
Yep. The private banks who get to create the money and then charge interest on it.
It’s both an inherently unstable system (when demand for money drops the creation of money stops and the economy goes into recession. It’s what happened in the GFC) and an unsustainable one as well as there’s never enough money to pay off the debt.
It was actually the megabyte that would never be needed according to Bill Gates. Of course, as soon as a PC came available that had a megabyte he wrote an OS, Windows, that used it all up.
you forgot to add…
“Under the announced plan, the Fed will allow a portion of the proceeds it receives each month to roll off. The monetary level will start at $10 billion then increase that much quarterly until it reaches $50 billion. Ultimately, economists expect the balance sheet to stabilize between $2 trillion and $3 trillion.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/19/fed-economist-no-evidence-qe-works-as-balance-sheet-unwind-starts.html
and…
“We’ve been patient in removing that accommodation”, Mr Powell said during a hearing on Tuesday before the Senate banking committee on his nomination to serve as Fed chair. “I think the patience has served us well. It’s time for us to be normalising interest rates.”
https://www.ft.com/content/95b4f10d-8134-30f7-9b53-9f190a2c687e
“Ultimately, economists expect the balance sheet to stabilize between $2 trillion and $3 trillion.”
When they say economists, I wonder if they mean all economists, or just a certain group of them, or maybe just two or three?
Regardless, I wouldn’t bet much on them being right.
except however that is the plan outlined by the Fed….and as they are running the programme I guess they will need to know the target.
Currently sits at around 4.5 trillion and windback is timed to approx 3 years
Why are you surprised?
The DJA, the S&P 500 and the NZSX 100 are all back at about the level they were in November last year. That isn’t really a crash, is it?
It has been agreed, by most market commentators for the last year or so that the markets are greatly overpriced. Here is a representative article. The same sentiments have been expressed for a long time. I chose this one, from a few weeks ago, not because it was the first to express the sentiments but merely because it explains what is going on very clearly.
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4139502-u-s-stock-market-overbought-overvalued
The problem for investors has been that you have to put your money somewhere and when interest rates have been forced below inflation even an overpriced stock market seems sensible.
It is rather like people buying houses in Auckland. You may have thought for years that the houses were overpriced but you still need somewhere to live and if you don’t buy now you never will.
Try reading Keynes’ General Theory on the subject of irrational investing. The book is 80 years old but the exposition on the subject has never been bettered.
I am not surprised.
I have been warning people about our levels of debt for ages.
Technically, we don’t need the bludging investors anyway. If they have excess amounts of money and nothing to do with it then that’s not our problem.
I take it you do not have a KiwiSaver account then?
Or any other form of saving for your declining years.
What’s that question have to do with the conversation, Alwyn
Investments are not necessary, except in a rotton to the core debt system..
Interest is a mirage, a phantom to protect the mirage through blinding the simple and the uninformed…
I offer you 0.75% interest, but will inflate the monetary supply by 1.25% and charge you 3.75 above the cash rate…
So to pay back what is owed you might need to go an steal from another person…or invent an instrument which will do it indirectly…
Declining years…being stolen from people since… [pick a date]..
If you are making any attempt to save for you retirement you must, almost by definition, have excess money. If you are going to save it you have to put it somewhere, even if it is only in the bank.
DTB sounds as if he doesn’t have any surplus money and presumably isn’t therefore saving anything for the future.
Hint: It’s impossible to save anything for the future. That’s just reality.
Oh – this is the fallacy of individual responsibility. A rhetorical trick that goes like this:
1.) Leftie points out a problem in the world (e.g. climate change)
2.) Person no. 2 (usually a RWNJ) then frames a question to uncover any apparent inconsistencies between the stated concern and the behaviour of the left-wing person. e.g. “do you drive a car?”
3.) Left wing person usually does and so gets written off as a ‘hypocrite’
Whereas any rational examination of the inconsistency would conclude that it is due not to personal hypocrisy – but to the coercive power of the economic system in which we live, which locks people into activity they don’t like because it leaves no viable alternatives.
“… but to the coercive power of the economic system in which we live, which locks people into activity they don’t like because it leaves no viable alternatives.”
This.
+111
Backing a Ponzi Scheme doesn’t make it work.
But the stockmarket (US) was actually up today?
I predict it will crash tomorrow. And if not, the day after that, or the day after that, or on some other day in the future. If only there was someone who could warn us about it.
How much to subscribe to your market prediction signals OAB?
Or has someone else here already cornered that market 🙂
Only people who have an open mind and are capable of critical thinking will heed my words 🙂
I love paradoxes 😉
The money system is broken. It has been rorted by the rich. What can anyone do?
If you can, repay or lower any debt. Keep some cash on hand. Don’t panic, set up ways to talk to family quickly and cheaply. Offer support to any distressed family members. Loved ones and friends are what life is really about.
Have a plan in place. Always have extra meds on hand. “you are travelling/ may travel shortly” renew first aid and emergency kits and check safety aspects of your home and transport.
Any things you need, try to have extra on hand as supplies could be disrupted in a domino of collapses. Dried milk, long life milk, dried fruits, vegetables, soup bases, tinned goods, especially fish.
Don’t go overboard, but doing these things allows space to absorb larger shocks.
If any or all of these are too expensive or difficult, form a family/friends help group where skills and knowledge can be exchanged in a difficult situation. Talk to family and friends. Our biggest strength is working together, our biggest weakness is procrastination.
patricia bremner
I have been thinking of what should be done if what seems inevitable happens, something that has a scary effect on other countries and they lock down on you, sort of like Palestine suffers as a result of Israel feelings of concern. (Could we suffer similar from our friends in Australia. Always inclined to take the advantage ie preventing us exporting apples etc.) Next tornado? The wet spring meant some horticulturalists lost 50% of their crop. Note: listen to Country Calendar on Sat Mornings to hear real alive working people on the land, so admirable.
Who knows what is likely.
So your suggestions sound good for everyone. Thanks for putting it down for us in a practical way.
By the way – say you have a limited supply of protein and lots of pasta. How much protein to a cup of dried pasta would be sufficient to provide a meal sustaining two people. A cupful of dried pasta usually expands to quite a lot so would stirring in 1 tspn of tinned fish or meat be baseline diet okay, or 2, 3, or what.
And I presume that there would be no refrigeration so how long would the tinned fish, meat last covered? Sitting in cool water covered? It has been pointed out that most people have only enough food for 3 days, so knowing how to spin food out would be good info.
People who tramp and camp a lot would probably know this but most wouldn’t know how to manage for long without a frig.
Also need to have water, vessel for holding water and separate for cooking, boiling fuel so fire and wood or electricity, solar? and conserve water from cooking. Would be useful to have had workshops from survivors after Christchurch earthquake who had to do it hard.
Were these held so we could learn from them?
Greywarshark, Sorry, missed this earlier. Dried smoked fish will keep for a week or more. Tinned fish in oil two to three days in a cool safe( Out of the tin). Tinned fish in spring water (tuna 1.09 at PaknSave) with a cup of pasta would feed two, and dried peas/carrtts could be added/or tinned., fresh fish would keep best made into fritters or patties for buns. 2/3 days.
A cool safe is on the south side of a shrub or home/tent.
A hole deep and wide enough to take a stainless steel bucket. A stick or wooden spoon, cheese cloth (which is sold in tube lengths) One metre of cheese cloth, tie securely one end, insert a dinner plate or large pot lid as a base. Cut a vertical opening !5cm/6″ long. Tie top of the tube to your stick or wooden spoon.b Hang in your bucket.
This can contain, oils/ butter cold meats/fish salad goods.
The outer hole has bricks placed at the base, half filled with water, then the bucket prepared is carefully lowered in. your stick or spoon should be below the rim, and the bucket needs a lid to keep out vermin and insects. a brick weight on top and the whole covered with a damp towel/sugar sack and a board. This works a treat.
We always had two when camping, one for milk butter oils and cheese etc, one for meats smoked fish or bacon/ham treated with fat on the cut end.
We never got sick, loved camping “Food” and helped prepare the safes.
Remember.. when using it……Wash your hands first!!
Thanks Patricia I will run that off as a handy guide and need to practice it to get the way of it.
If you make it cricket pasta that is stored it has a long shelf life and is a complete food with good amounts of fats, minerals and protein. Boil it up forage some greens and you are good to go.
The money system is broken and it was specifically set up the way it is so that the rich could rort it. The only thing that can be done is the government changing the monetary system from the interest bearing debt system it is to a non-interest bearing sovereign deficit system.
The government creates the money, spends it into the economy and then taxes the money back out. It would run at a slight deficit all the time to account for growth and development.
Great idea DTB. What chances of getting something goding like that? Or having a narrow countrywide or local region-wide exchange system with some things costed entirely in local $s and some in part local $s?
Is this similar to the Muslim way of loans?
No.
As an example, if you buy a house using an Islamic loan provide, while you don’t pay interest, you pay a premium over and above the “cost of the house”. It can be done a few ways…but it always ends up similar to using a normal mortgage provider (in terms of the overall cost in interest).
@patricia
> If you can, repay or lower any debt. Keep some cash on hand. Don’t panic, set up ways to talk to family quickly and cheaply. Offer support to any distressed family members. Loved ones and friends are what life is really about.
> Have a plan in place. Always have extra meds on hand. “you are travelling/ may travel shortly” renew first aid and emergency kits and check safety aspects of your home and transport.
> Any things you need, try to have extra on hand as supplies could be disrupted in a domino of collapses. Dried milk, long life milk, dried fruits, vegetables, soup bases, tinned goods, especially fish.
This is slightly weird advice. It would not have been particularly useful in the GFC or, well, any other financial crisis ever. What scenario are you envisaging?
A.
Hello Antoine, GFC is only one disaster, Cash is King and no debt is best in that scene, but in todays society, we live with debt, it is encouraged.
So we have few controls available when the system fails except those put in place by the Govt. which happened last time. We didn’t suffer as Greece did. Then, you would need the back up of cash on hand, meds foods and family.
Needing to be able to survive for 6 to 10 days has become common in disasters. We are asked to “be prepared”, but most people just feel overwhelmed and put action off.
Ordinary folk don’t have huge amounts invested anywhere. Their biggest investment is family friends and good health, and if they are lucky a home.
So learning how to use a transistor, make a cool safe, purify water, have suitable fall back rations and ways to cook outdoors are skills we have lost by and large.
We have altered the environment to such a degree, we can’t always forage for food either, so knowing porridge oats, dried or canned beans or peas and tinned fish can be excellent easily prepared meals in a disaster helps. They are good things to have and know.
Panic never helps, so having a simple plan, suitable supplies, and knowing you have done what you can to stop the overwhelmed out of control feelings , also talking to other people keeps things in perspective, and our strength in adversity is co-operation. Cheers.
Talking about foraging for food, strength of purpose, strength of body, strength of community I recommend ;
Christopher McDougall
Natural Born Heroes.
It centres on Crete but branches out in so many ways, I found it fascinating.
Thanks, will do.
Agree….if you can, lower debt and forget the treats and trinkets AND family and friends working together.
I dont see the big problem with debt in a crisis.
In a GFC type event, the problem is _investment_ not debt. The risk is that your shares, bonds, investment properties etc will lose their value. The solution is to liquidate your investments into some mix of cash, bank deposits, gold and bricks and mortar.
On the other hand, in a total economic collapse, debt is also not a problem cos theres no banks left to collect your mortgage and if someone does turn up wanting money, you can drive them away with a shotgun.
A.
I hope the news item listed on Scoop under Politics “Decision overturning care ruling welcomed by H.R.C.” Also recommendations made to Ministry of Health. Yay!!! Gives some hope to Rosemary and others. Things are going to change hopefully.
Link?
This one?
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1802/S00080/decision-overturning-care-ruling-welcomed-by-hrc.htm
Thank you, I will have to learn how to do that.
patricia…its a simple copy and paste exercise…the really clever bit is when the link is embedded in the text. Looks nice and tidy and takes up less space. I have failed to do this on TS.
” I have failed to do this on TS.”.
Thank God. I thought that I was the only one that had the problem.
I keep trying but I still can’t get the hang of it.
Mind you it took me ages before I worked out how to do emoji so I suppose there is still hope on mastering the link technique.
“Thank God. I thought that I was the only one that had the problem.”
Take heart. I still am subjected to occasional supervision from the Offspring. They think that one day my ineptitude will bring about complete destruction of the internet. They keep telling me to “Clear your cookies ffs!!!” and I nod agreeably and don’t tell them I have no idea what they are talking about. For some reason, checking out the latest dispicableness from Farrar’s Ferals seems to provoke more of this verbal abuse…
One day I’ll be old enough to sign up for a http://www.seniornet.co.nz/ course. 🙂
Getting link pinned under a chosen word or name.
Method: <a href=”long link address”>your choice of link name</a>
Copy and file away for next time. Soon you can do it from memory.
(To do this I had to get help to put it up so it would show how to do it without turning the instructions into an actual link – something to do with an ampersand etc. That is something that usually we don’t need to know.)
If this works, a cyber choc fish for you greywarshark. 🙂
Seniornet
Enjoy the choc fish!
Make that two chocolate fish xx
Oh goodie chocolate fish – fish – chocolate – favourites. I’m on to a winner.
Just referring to nothing in particular I am reading about David Nobbs
d.2015, who wrote a lot for tv, humour, books with humorous sidelines such as about Reginald Perrin.
I like the summary of Nobb’s character Perrin’s restlessness and dissatisfaction with his prosaic life at Sunshine Desserts.
I think we all echo that!
He wrote a Fairly Secret Army. Here is a short clip from that and it’s rather funny halfway through as it starts to sound like some of the TS more diverting discussions.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-5A9Rz6fqk
patricia, I would so like to share your optimism. Incredible though it may seem, Ministry of Health Disability Support Services are simply not structured to allow for change such as is required to sort this.
Their response back in 2012 when they lost in the Appeal court for Atkinson was to do the chicken licken thing and claimed that paying family carers would undermine the entire system…they set up a technical advisory group (all members of which had a financial relationship with the MOH of some kind) and they called for submissions from the plebs and ‘stakeholders’ and they held ‘workshops’ around the country to engage with us. Have Bus patricia, will travel ( ;-)) and Peter and I did all the workshops in the North Island.
All this was a pantomime.
Back in 2010 when the HRRT decision came out to much fanfare and flagwaving the Ministry asked for and finally secured a Suspension Order to allow the discrimination to continue (and disallow any other plaintiffs coming in) until one year after the Appeals process was completed. They needed this time they claimed to get their systems organised to allow paying of family carers..blah, blah, blah. The current system and the way resources were allocated just weren’t set up for paying family for care that had been considered ‘natural support’ during assessments.
Now…go forward (back) to 2012 and their inevitable loss in the Appeal Court…they had one year of the Suspension Order up their sleeve remember…and this sham of policy work and consultation which culminated in the Part4A amendment to the PHDAct and the disgusting Funded Family Care policy which finally addressed the discrimination and provided a mechanism whereby the previously unthinkable could happen and Family Carers Could Be Paid. Completely coincidentally, the Suspension Order they had secured (later found to be illegal) expired the day before the PHDAct(2) made its lightening speed run through the house.
The Chamberlain Case is about how unworkable and generally shit Funded Family Care is.
And now, to sort this out, we are supposed to hop into our time machine and go back and completely revise the NASC processes which should have been done back in 2010 or 2012.
OR…they could have simply examined the 272 cases the 2008 (how’s that time machine going???) HRRT heard about where, oh my god, family were being paid to provide assessed disability support!!!
I did an OIA for info about these 272 (actually 274) cases where family were being paid. These family carers were not under the same restrictions as Chamberlain and others on FFC. If the person had been allocated 50 hours per week, that’s what the family member was paid for. Simple. The sky didn’t fall (as one of the judges in a 2010 High Court hearing remarked) and despite the PHDAct legislation specifically stating these arrangements were to be terminated by the end of May 2014…they continued as they were until the end of March 2016. (I have documentary proof of this, and I also know a couple in exactly the same situation as my partner and I who enjoyed such an arrangement).
No simple fix here…there’s way too much dirty water gone under the bridge.
First thing needed is for Claire Curran to pull finger and have the redacted sections of this revealed.
http://www.treasury.govt.nz/publications/informationreleases/ris/pdfs/ris-moh-fcc-may13.pdf
Now…job for today is to pack all the supplies, meds, and the general paraphernalia of disability back into our Bus before we head away into the blue yonder next week. We will be well prepared for the financial apocalypse you talked about at (2). 😉
Rosemary. Bloody hell!! That is a ball of barbed wire. You have every reason to be distrusful in view of all that!!
However, I now have a group who are bringing every instance of unfairness to the attention of the new government ministers and local MPs. We just act as individuals, drip dripping on the stone.
Have a good trip. We always felt more “in control” when we had the motor home.
I think because you learn to be prepared and how to make do. Regardsxx
Patricia could you give me details of this group?
My daughter and I are trying to get Disability Support services to take a case of fraud seriously concerning payment for my sister’s end of life care, where people who should have been paid weren’t and those who shouldn’t have been were.
They just keep fobbing us off with b/s and not returning calls.
They aren’t interested. They don’t care.
Brigid. You have me interested. “Fraud” is a strong word. I have no doubt there has been seriously dodgy stuff gone on, but you can bet your bottom dollar if the Ministry of Health or a DHB are directly involved in funding care then it will have gone through a Contracted Provider. These CPs often have multi tentacled accounting systems where details can be conveniently lost.
This Contracted Provider may have simply have been an “Host”…takes $$$ from the MOH or DHB and makes payments for services rendered. I have heard of cases (and yes the victims claim ‘fraud’) where a timesheet has been submitted to the Host and the carer paid at a lower hourly rate than the client stipulated, and instead of the balance being put back into the total funding package…it gets ‘lost.’
Some CPs are under a ‘bulk funding’ contract where they have a pool of $$$ not necessarily strictly allocated to specific clients. I can find some more info on this if you like. It’s all about maximising profit.
The Ministry of Health at one stage tried to hide information about a contracted provider by claiming the info was ‘commercially sensitive’. A friend did an OIA request that went to the Ombudsman to overcome that secret squirrel bs. ” It is about taxpayer $$$, cough up!”
Good luck.
No it wasn’t a contractor but I’m not surprised by all you’ve written.
I’m under the impression contractors are funded nicely and workers paid appallingly.
A good rule of thumb (ie: to keep your business afloat) is to pay your employees one-third of what you charge your clients for their time. This is one reason why consultants cost so much more than public servants.
One third sounds too low
To whom?
From my experience I am used to seeing a rather higher %. No doubt it varies between industries etc
It’s a rule of thumb, not an edict.
Lots of assumptions, for example that you’ll get 1200 hours of productive time per year (out of a possible 1920). It’s still a lot better than reckons.
Brigid, these are just my friends who go on line to the ministers or visit local MPs here. We are in Rotorua. …In your case….
Q. Who qualifies for payment at end of life? Who would not?
Are there govt. regulations you could read covering that situation online?
Can you afford a lawyer’s letter? Ring round a few, I have found free helpful advice here doing that. Be clear about the situation. Write it out as a clear simple story. (no names in the story is best).
If you write a letter to the Minister with a question, they have to answer.
Write clearly what happened. Speak only of what you can prove.
Ask for clarification on who should be paid and why in such a situation.
It is hard to keep the emotion out, but it is best to be calm. Do not claim fraud until you clearly have a case of broken rules. I’m sorry to hear you have lost your sister with these things unresolved. A sad time for you.
I see Rosemary has more inside knowledge of situations like this. xx
Thanks for your help Rosemary and Patricia.
If we persist I guess we’d get somewhere, but it’s so much of a head f**k.
What is worse is that it was a member of the family that created this mess, as embarrassed as i am to admit I’m related to such vile creatures.
It stems from the thing that sometimes happens when a family suffers a bereavement. A power struggle ensues. Unfortunately.
Thanks, both of you. It sure helps.
Glad talking helped. Yes it is hard to find relatives skewing the system.
This morning a very informed and interesting discussion on Kim Hill with English commenter on Brexit and the English in particular, about whom he has described the Europeans thinking as ” lager louts”.
8.09 Nicholas Boyle – Brexit is a collective English breakdown
Professor Nicholas Boyle is Emeritus Schröder Professor of German at the University of Cambridge. He’s been Professor of German Literary and Intellectual History, and he has taught German in Cambridge since he was a student.
He has a particular interest in German literature and thought of the 18th and 19th centuries, and especially in Goethe.
Boyle has latterly weighed in on the Brexit issue in a range of publications, questioning the results of the EU referendum. In January he wrote a piece for the Irish Times, describing Brexit as a “collective English mental breakdown”.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2018631465/nicholas-boyle-brexit-is-a-collective-english-breakdown
HeHe don’t mention the war around that guy…
I loved the bit where Kim commented that there was a German word to describe the Federal Government system in Germany.
She then asked, in what seemed to be a very coy manner whether he was willing to say the word.
He immediately rattled of about 20 syllables. I can see why Kim wasn’t game to attempt it.
It was a very interesting interview though. Well worth listening to.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2018631465/nicholas-boyle-brexit-is-a-collective-english-breakdown
Alwyn, for one who is usually so punctilious, you apparently hear what you want to..
I also taught German. I remember that word – it was Vergangenheitsverwertigung, and, as Kim Hill said (she also learnt German), it means ‘reconciliation with the past’.
‘The Federal Govt system in Germany’ ??
Sorry about that.
I was making a cup of coffee when I heard it and clearly wasn’t paying sufficient attention.
I should have checked the recording before I gave the meaning as I obviously got it wrong.
I still think she was very sensible not to attempt to say it.
Fair enough..
Kim Hill once said she majored in German at university (ie, a pretty good level), and German is far more consistent and logical in its spelling than English is.. I suspect Kim would not really have too much trouble if she needed to pronounce it.
Prof Boyle’s analysis is similar to that of Fintan O’Toole of the Irish Times (and Guardian and NYT)
“The country that prides itself on sober moderation has made one of the most impulsive moves ever undertaken in a developed democracy. The stiff upper lips have parted and released a wild and inarticulate cry of rage and triumph.
Make no mistake: this is an English nationalist revolution.”
https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/fintan-o-toole-brexit-is-an-english-nationalist-revolution
The most read FT letter in a decade.
Prof Boyle explains why the Pro Brexit faction of the Conservative Party are to be knows as “wankers” while their opponents are to be knows as “fuckers”.
“Surely this rhetoric inverts the truth? It is the Europobes who shut themselves away in self-gratifying fantasies, while the remainers know that real life is only possible through interaction with others.”
Did they really publish it?
I would never have expected the FT, such a staid paper, to publish something like that.
Actually, given Boyles definition as you have quoted it, and the purported behaviour of the leave and remain groups, surely Boyle was correct?
https://www.indy100.com/article/funny-letter-financial-times-brexit-theresa-may-lionel-barber-7826411
here it is
https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/brexit-is-a-collective-english-mental-breakdown-1.3356258
Here is Boyle’s IT article.
Brexit is a collective English mental breakdown
English people living on dreams of empire never learned to see others as equals
Tue, Jan 16, 2018
Thank you for the link. I think it is wonderful.
It is certainly nothing I would have expected them to publish.
I couldn’t look at it in the FT. They let you look at a few, a very few, articles free and I had reached my limit. Obviously I should just google part of the quote and let Google find me another source.
All I can say is,
Democracy is one thing the Tories hate. Especially when there is a dollar to be made.
I am waiting to see what National Light will do about this, at this stage, it looks like Fuck All.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/101194040/eight-years-on-and-canterburys-environment-still-has-no-democracy
‘Democracy is one thing the Tories hate.’
Bit ironic that they’re the only party likely to vote against the ‘waka jumping’ bill.
I am hoping the Greens find their spine when it comes up for its second reading.
Shouldn’t you be having this conversation over at Kiwiblog?
Why not here?
Why don’t you pop off and have a chat to one of your sock puppets Ed ?
They haven’t lost it. It will be discussed in select committee (where it should be) and then they’ll decide whether to support it further or not.
I would hope if they suck Winston salty balls on this issue that they at least get some quid pro quo…Kermadec’s sanctuary perhaps ?
That’s less to do with democracy than their intention to buy people with public money. Only way they’re likely to get power again, but voters whose MPs turn ought to have some serious sanctions at their disposal.
🙄 Not many bought and paid for amongst this list.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waka-jumping#List_of_waka-jumpers
One would have been too many.
And there were plenty frankly. Not all waka jumped really – you have to distinguish between those who continued to represent the constituency that supported them and those who sold out for money or other inducements.
The corruption of Alamein Kopu for example should have seen both her, and the person who corrupted her (Shipley) in prison. You wouldn’t have found a voter who supported her supporting her defection.
Rubbish. The only complete and utter idiots in this little exercise were the fools that ranked her in 12th place on the Alliance List.
Can you provide any evidence at all that Shipley had anything at all to do with her resignation from The Alliance? Your own opinion doesn’t count.
Given that she never showed her face again politically your claim of place envy is no better than most of your witless maunderings.
I suppose you expect Shipley to have published accounts of the inducements she used to suborn her – Jenny is pretty stupid, but not quite to the level of publicly incriminating herself.
So you are stating on a public blog that Shipley bribed Kopu …I’m intrigued do tell.
I’m stating that she suborned her – I understand the inducement was publicly funded things, similar in character to the ‘party leadership’ baubles that were granted to Peter Dunne after his party de facto no longer existed.
What on earth do you mean by “your claim of place envy”?
All I am saying is that she should never have been put in a position where she could possibly become an MP. That was promoting her far beyond her competency level.
Once she got there she was completely out of her depth.
As for “she never showed her face again politically” I could suggest that that happens with every MP who loses their seat. What is Hone up to these days?
As far as you second comment “I understand the inducement was publicly funded things” goes I asked for some evidence. After all I suppose I could propose that the reason that Jim Anderton dropped all his claims to be the real Labour was that he was suborned by inducements like being kept in Cabinet and receiving all the perks of being a Party leader even though he was a one man band.
I could also suggest that the Green Party have lost their backbone because they have been suborned by the perks of being Ministers of the Crown and have dropped all pretensions that they actually cared about the environment.
Alwyn, one thing doesn’t cause the other. There is no evidence of the Greens “dropping all pretensions” That is your construct.
And there has been absolutely no evidence produced that
“The corruption of Alamein Kopu for example should have seen both her, and the person who corrupted her (Shipley) in prison”.
That is just a wild supposition from Stuart Munro.
I merely followed his style and made up the same story about Labour and the Greens.
I at least had the decency to say “I could also suggest” etc.
I didn’t make it as if it was clearly factual and as a blatant statement of corruption.
Of course I don’t have any evidence. In that respect I am in exactly the same situation as Stuart Munro is. I am willing to admit that fact and he is not.
You could (and probably would) make such claims – but they would only tend to erode the weight of your assertions.
It goes back in fact to what amounts to reasonable party hopping and what does not. The Green departure from the Alliance, for example, appeared to be conscientious, and was scrupulous in not making off with or eroding the franchise they bore on the part of their constituents.
The NZF waka jumpers were not conscientious and were unscrupulous in terms of the franchise – but would likely have argued that they cut a better deal for their constituents – it was arguable, if not particularly persuasive.
Kopu’s defection was neither conscientious nor scrupulous – there is no interpretation other than that she betrayed her constituents, and knowing this she didn’t stick around to defend it.
Come on, Stop waffling.
You claimed that Kopu and Shipley were corrupt and should be in prison.
Then you toned down to claiming that Shipley had suborned Kopu.
Why don’t you either produce some evidence or admit that you simply made the whole thing up and you have no evidence at all for your scurrilous statements?
Be a man. Admit you are lying.
Alwyn – I consider that the overwhelming probability is that Shipley bribed her.
Certainly there is nothing in Shipley’s character that would have prevented it. There’s not much that baggage would stick at.
But I do not possess evidence beyond the circumstantial or I promise you I’d’ve had them in jail long long ago.
But since you’re talking big – how do you explain the turning of Alamein Kopu? Brownian Motion?
Be a man: answer an honest question for once in your trivial life.
The NZF Waka Jumpers were contacted directly by Shipley and the National Party, whether there were financial strings or benefits attached one will never know ?
@SM
“I consider that the overwhelming probability”.
In other words, and more honestly, you are saying that you haven’t any evidence at all but that you really, really hate Shipley.
What a plonker you are.
As for your question about Kopu?
“I consider that the overwhelming probability” is that she simply got pissed of with the way she was treated by the other MPs in the Alliance.
Did you ever read Pam Corkery’s book about life as an Alliance MP?
As she said
“Politicians are, by and large, far more self-deluding, devious, bloated, insecure, egocentric wankers than I had feared.”
She was talking about Jim Anderton remember, even if it seems to be a very accurate description of you.
Even Alamein finally had enough of that shit.
It really is a waste of time trying to debate with you though.
Logic and reason have no place in your strange little view of the world.
Be a man. You are simply a lying bigot who will smear anyone who isn’t in your little cess-pit. Why not simply admit it?
Because “being a man” is such a great standard for y’all to adhere to?
Have you tried “being a decent human being”?
A.
Ok Alwyn – so we’ve established that you are crude, if rather unimaginative, but nothing more. You have nothing to contribute to the debate on the propriety of waka jumping . This is understandable because you are trolling – taking pains to divert the discussion from the propriety of waka jumping into a pig wallow of personal abuse. I guess that’s your natural element and thus the best you can muster.
You have nevertheless inadvertently outlined some part of Shipley’s modus operandi in terms of suborning waka jumpers.
“Even Alamein finally had enough of that shit” What shit? Being elevated to a list place above her competence but below her ambitions? Doubtless a narrative on just desserts was part of the process – as it was for a more recent defection.
“You are simply a lying bigot who will smear anyone who isn’t in your little cess-pit. ” There speaks a Jungian shadow if ever I saw one.
@SM
The only thing that you have established Stuart is that any connection between you and logic is totally absent.
You seem to be limited to a simple view of your world where the only standard is “Green Good”. Everyone else is evil.
I’ll bet you even supported Meteria’s fraud on the taxpayer.
Irrespective of anything else I propose to simply ignore you in the future. Like so many on the watermelon side of politics you find debate impossible.
Good – your biased and ill-natured nonsense will not be missed.
Your the bull-shitter Alwyn
A liar … as I’ll show at the end of this post.
And You do not have to be a bigot to have a bad impression or memory of Alamein Kopu… thats how she was presented
I make no comment on her actions …. but the media reporting gave the impression of a Lazy unprincipled politician doing the bare minimum for a salary she did not deserve .
Putting the boot in further, when she left Parliament ….The Herald printed a ‘Maori stole the furniture’ type smear / story
It Insinuated she was a serial thief ….. “the furnishings, including a desk, chair, filing cabinet and rubbish bin, are missing”
Headed: “Missing Kopu office items ‘not a first'”
” ROTORUA – The disappearance of furnishings from one-term MP Alamein Kopu’s Rotorua electorate office is not the first time property belonging to the Parliamentary Service has gone missing while in her care…
The Herald revealed yesterday that police are investigating” ….
The herald story was racist crap … business as usual
I think National cynicaly used the late Alamein … took her vote and attempted harm upon Maori politics with her as a scapegoat …. racists like Wayne Mapp and his drinking buddy Ansell would have loved it.
Shipley is dishonest, disloyal … and seems to be involved in the long time National party love affair with very dodgy business practices …
“Jenny Shipley among Mainzeal directors facing legal action”
“Mainzeal was one of the country’s biggest construction firms before it collapsed in 2013, initially owing unsecured creditors an estimated $138 million.
That amount grew to $151.3m” ..
“In its reports, BDO remarked on the convoluted company structure that Mainzeal was part of and the related party transfers that had occurred.”
“related party transfers” .. is a creative phrase for tax scamming.
**************************
Finally Alwyns serial dishonesty ….
As a troll Alwyns trademark technique … …. was to quote or use John Keys / Nationals lies. lines and spin from the debating chamber…..
I remember Alwyn talking pure shit about the number of house builds National were claiming for Auckland …. as they supposedly solved our housing crisis …
The numbers were lies with national fabricating and exaggerating.,,, counting consents as built houses or something ( It was not me who busted him on the thread but I’m sure others remember )
So Key and national lies were Alwyns lies…. Its probably why he hates Blips list so much … he’s probably lied hundreds of times too.
That’s Keys legacy for you Alwyn … he made you a proven liar….
Spot some other dodgy MPs .. http://www.insolvencywatch.co.nz/failed-finance-companies-26-january-2012/
What happened to the end of this post?
You proclaimed “as I’ll show at the end of this post” and then did no such thing.
Did you accidentally delete something before you put this comment out?
Or, in your incandescent rage did you simply forget to add whatever you thought justified you claim?
Whatever. I suggest you take a break and settle down with a nice cup of tea, as David Lange might have said.
….. I try not to waste to much time on trolls Alwyn … unless there is a reward or pay-off
Do you deny your a liar ????: …. lets have a wager if you do .
The loser stops posting here for six months ….
Give me some motivation to pick through your shit.
“Give me some motivation”.
Why do you bother if it hurts so much?
I assure you I won’t be hurt if you don’t read what I have to say.
I only propose ideas for intelligent open-minded people who may be able to appreciate new ideas that may not have occurred to them before.
If it is impossible for you to read them with an open mind please don’t bother.
Alwyn …. I searched my mind and came up with an example of you spinning lies …….. it took about me about 3 seconds to recall an example involving numbers which will leave you no wriggle room … it was far less effort than making a cup of tea.
Your recollection is probably more detailed than mine … as you wrote the bullshit fake stats regarding Auckland house builds.
Do you deny it ?.
You may well write interesting stuff …. but your troll method involved quoting Nationals lies … which makes you dishonest.
Why should your dishonesty get a free pass
Now you could admit it and apologize ….
I’ve trimmed down your little flight of fantasy to the essential truth.
“…. I searched my mind …….. it took about me about 3 seconds…….”
There that is more accurate, isn’t it. Everything you know could be gone through in about 3 seconds.
I note you haven’t put in any link to this supposed story.
Kindly put one in or I will just have to assume that this is another little fantasy from your fetid little imagination.
Put up or apologise.
@reason.
I’m still waiting.
If it actually existed I’m sure you could have found it by now.
Oh well. I suppose it isn’t really your fault if your memory is letting you down.
Waka jumping (especially by list MPs) is of course anti-democratic. You have it arse about face.
“Waka jumping (especially by list MPs) is of course anti-democratic. You have it arse about face.”
That is making the assumption that in the majority of cases the MP is leaving for reasons other than having the genuine concerns of the party’s supporter base at heart.
This bill is to give Winston the power to control his MP’s.
If they come up with a judicial review process where departing MPs must justify their stance in terms of public interest it might work out rather well.
A brave journalist telling the truth about Syria and North Korea. A true heroine of our times.
It’s a wet day.
if you have 40 minutes, watch…
Ed those who don’t want to know about the Proxy Syrian War wont watch this.
Appreciate that.
This is for people who are not ostriches and who have open minds and are capable of critical thinking.
Not only, but also
https://www.corbettreport.com/whitehelmets/
“Contrary to what its multi-million dollar international PR campaign would have you believe, the “White Helmets” are not a group of volunteer search-and-rescue workers that sprang spontaneously out of the Syrian soil. When you peel back the layers of foreign financing and reveal the foreign intelligence operatives and murky lobbying groups at the heart of the organization, what you find is that the White Helmets are, in fact, a propaganda construct.”
Lots of also….
/
https://www.corbettreport.com/?s=illuminati
https://www.corbettreport.com/?s=chemtrails
https://www.corbettreport.com/?s=NWO
https://www.corbettreport.com/?s=sandy+hook
I can’t tell if that’s an example of open-mindedness and critical thinking or not 😉
It’s so open-minded the breeze whistles on the way through.
Woke anti-imperialist blogger works tirelessly exposing Deep State-CIA-NATO-Zionist plotters.
Through your breathless attempt in trying to rationalise the narrow view you have of the world [your comments tell that story], while simultaneously seeking to belittle , Brigid….
You’ve managed to ignore the message about the White Helmets, which Brigid was attempting to convey….
Did it feel good to leap on the link used, and then try to piss all over it…..did it give you another little rush when you realised it attracted other responses to your obvious piss take?
Some many imperialists and neocons like Andre and joe90 on this site.
They follow the mantra of Blair and Clinton.
Oh look, gratuitous abuse.
Plus some fine sockpuppetry, surely that’s worth additional points.
I would doubt that’s what they believe, Ed..
There is a readiness to insult in various ways, so try not to fall into the same patterns….
I don’t bother engaging with some these days, which has likely been picked up as a ‘free hit’ to saying [whatever] being played out…
End of the day, Ed….the twisting of words, insults ultimately ensures the ‘safe environment’ will remain unlikely….
Don’t feed into further preventing that possibility, however unlikely it may seem….insults and such only propgate negativity….
Call it out, but deliver the message in a neutral manner if you can…
Let’s see if you can take your own advice rather than authoring any more patronising attempts to belittle people.
I think you will struggle to break that pattern of yours, although I could be projecting.
Joe90’s comment is entirely apt. As Michael Shermer says in The Baloney Detection Kit, the source of any claim is a relevant factor in deciding the credibility of the claim.
The controversy surrounding the White Helmets has been thoroughly explored at The Standard. Speaking of “belittling”, I note that Brigid apparently agreed with Ed’s assessment of people who will pass on watching the video he posted: that they are closed minded and are incapable of critical thinking. I further note your attempt to belittle Joe90: “the narrow view you have of the world”. Did it feel good to leap on his comment, and then try to piss all over it? Hoist on your own petard much?
I’m grateful to Joe for pointing out the pattern at the Corbett Report, although I daresay I’d have noticed it myself eventually. Only so many hours in the day.
joe90s ‘breathless attempt’
Hilarious. I can just see it too.
Not as breathless as the heavy breathing stalker still following around my comments…
Once you’ve touched a nerve, they will then chime in, and keep chiming in….if you continue posting what they don’t agree with [taboo subjects almost a form of kryptonite] or can’t understand….
Expect the responses to take on venom as the abuse ratchets upwards…
Rise above it, should you become ‘a target’…
…deliver the message in a neutral manner if you can…
…heavy breathing stalker…
QED.
As I assume you didn’t read the link I put up, I trust that you gained enough information from the paragraph I quoted.
That’s good.
I’m not sure if the links you’ve supplied are worth reading though..
From the very end of your linked article:
It takes a long time to get to that which everyone involved in this discussion already knows: the art of warfare is deception. No matter who the white helmets really are, someone is going to tell lies about them. However, I find it difficult to believe that Syrian civilian medics wouldn’t run to the aid of the injured, and organise amongst themselves in doing so. Refusing aid to the wounded is a war crime.
The white helmets are not Syrian civilian medics.
Please do more research on them. Refer to Vanessa Beeley’s articles.
And Patrick Cockbun, John Pilger and Eva Bartlett.
Read William of Occam and Carl Sagan.
Specifically, read The Fine Art of Baloney Detection on RationalWiki.
Pay particular attention to the following two points:
In science, there are no authorities. At most, there are experts.
And:
Every step in an argument must be logically sound; a single weak link can doom the entire chain.
Good thing I didn’t say they were then eh.
I note you failed to comprehend the conclusion of your own source.
You are aware of who these people are.
Brilliant independent journalists.
…and you’re arguing from authority. Did you read Psycho Milt’s link? You do read the links people put up, eh. Or do you take the ostrich approach (your words)?
Let’s look at it in terms of set theory.
Assumption: there are two sets of people: White Helmets (WH) and Syrian Civilian Medics (SCM). The ones that are still alive, that is.
In Brigid’s hypothesis (The white helmets are not Syrian civilian medics), the subset of the two is empty.
In mine, the subset of the two has a value greater than zero.
Brigid: {WH} ∩ {SCM} = Ø
Me: {WH} ∩ {SCM} > Ø
I hope the wounded are getting medical attention.
Cyclone Gita.
Another reminder that we urgently need to change the whole industrial capitalist system.
Or see life on the planet become extinct.
I like the way Bomber is naming these cyclones after the culprits of climate change.
This one he is calling Cyclone Gerry.
The last one was Cyclone Fonterra.
I suggest we call the 10th cyclone Cyclone James.
For services to denial of the crisis.
Life won’t become extinct. The worst that would happen would be similar to the Permian Extinction and it only took ten million years for life to recover biodiversity afterwards.
Of course, humans probably wouldn’t be part of the biodiversity afterwards if such an extinction event took place now.
Human extinction is probably a fair price to pay for a cessation of posts by Ed on the inter webs.
You should be at Kiwiblog you troll.
I know you are but what am I ?
Stunned mullet, I’m sick of you trying to get a bite, it’s bloody tiresome.
So grow up and scroll past ed’s comments if you don’t like them, stop acting like a two year old.
Adam if you dislike my comments so intensely why don’t you scroll past whilst sucking your alternate thumb ?
I’m with Adam. I’m sick of your abusive comments. It is really tiresome.
I didn’t realize sockpuppets could become sick or tired.
You’re often hostile Stunned Mullet, I think people here would like to have a community of commenters that listen to others and limit their level of abuse.
If you wesorry about that
I meant the 6th mass extinction will happen.
“The worst that would happen would be similar to the Permian Extinction and it only took ten million years for life to recover biodiversity afterwards.”
lol, that’s alright then.
Always nice to have something named after you . I have a sheep in my paddock called ed.
Trolling again.
No I really do. It makes me laugh.
But what tends to appear just behind your Ed? 👿
And your remark about “Cyclone James”, and your pretence of knowing James’ motives and circumstances are what exactly? A good example of flamebait?
Well, well, well …
Jacinda Ardern and Julie Bishop met informally last night in Auckland. Revealed by Julie Bishop in a tweet at 11pm. She is here for the weekend for the standard six monthly meeting with Winston Peters, her equal as Deputy PM. They are meeting on Waiheke Islalnd today.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11991572
The smiling photo made me realise just how small Julie Bishop is. Take away the high heels and she would be even smaller.
[No cattiness, criticism etc intended -or encouraged. Perhaps some (female) envy on my part for her size and trimness !!!!]
PS – Audrey Young must have originally filed her opinion article on Julie Bishop’s visit before knowing of the meeting with our PM as when I read it in the early hours of today, it said that there were no plans for Ardern and Bishop to meet. It has since be updated. A reasonably middle of the road summary of the current NZ/Australia relationship by Young.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11991310
https://medium.com/s/darkish-web/the-dystopic-leftist-youth-of-reddit-and-facebook-cbe4e35dfd6f
The Dystopic Leftist Youth of Reddit and Facebook
A look into the spaces where young people mock the “boring dystopia” that capitalism has built
“This post aided me on my journey to personal wealth and happiness,” reads the hover text on the upvote button. “This post is unprofitable and thus useless,” reads the text on its counterpart.
Welcome to /r/LateStageCapitalism, a Reddit page where even the content rating system is a satire of the constant monetization of our daily lives. It’s one of many online forums where a leftist brand of humor can flourish, composed of anticapitalist memes, caustic jokes about current affairs, and a sprinkling of underreported news stories and research papers.
holy fuck, Medium are charging for access now?
lol, irony.
Yep. Did you manage to access that article though? If it’s paywalled, I might just “appropriate” it.
Three articles and then you have to use a different browser or pay.
I was sufficiently shocked by the 3 free posts/mth thing that I didn’t read the article.
Read it now. Not sure what I think tbh. I like the bit where the reddit dudes said they are pessimistic but know we can effect change. Not sure that the memes support that but maybe I’m too old.
Get 3 free goes!! LOL
It gets better. tRump defends a man with a history of domestic violence, and blames the nearest woman .
.
https://shareblue.com/trump-throws-female-aide-hope-hicks-under-the-bus-to-cover-for-john-kelly-in-latest-scandal/
Not just the nearest woman, but one whose meteoric rise within the Trump administration etc both before and after the inauguration was attributed to her close relationships with Trump – presumably before her relationship with Porter.
Only the best people.
/
A White House speechwriter resigned Friday after his former wife claimed that he was violent and emotionally abusive during their turbulent 2½ -year marriage — allegations that he vehemently denied, saying she was the one who victimized him.
The abrupt departure of David Sorensen, a speechwriter who worked under senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, came as The Washington Post was reporting on a story about abuse claims by his ex-wife, Jessica Corbett. Corbett told The Post that she described his behavior to the FBI last fall as the bureau was conducting a background check of Sorensen.
[…]
She said that during her marriage to Sorensen, he ran a car over her foot, put out a cigarette on her hand, threw her into a wall and grasped her menacingly by her hair while they were alone on their boat in remote waters off Maine’s coast, an incident she said left her fearing for her life.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/second-white-house-official-departs-amids-abuse-allegations-which-he-denies/2018/02/09/72ba47e6-0d0d-11e8-8b0d-891602206fb7_story.html?utm_term=.397ae7b7889b
Only half an hour to Auckland airport. Only half an our before the trauma that is collecting luggage and braving customs and immigration.
I do this boring travelling crap for exports. I fail to understand why anyone would do it for pleasure? Selective amnesia perhaps?.
Once air travel was glamorous.
Now it is an endurance test.
Not if you fly business class.
According to the RBNZ inflation calculator my first Auckland London economy return flight cost $11,581.59, twice the price of a business class flight today.
Bragging again about your wealth.
Repulsive.
Go to Kiwiblog and share the company of fellow selfish gits.
James does not fly business class…
If he did he would realise it makes no difference when passing through security…
It was an ambiguous wind up Ed….serving to show another example of James the left blog site agitator…
I never said it did you moron.
I was pointing out that it’s no an endurance test when you fly with the lie flat beds etc.
James does not fly business class……It was an ambiguous wind up Ed
In a hurry are you, James…
48 year old man should have higher levels of comprehension…
I’ll leave aside the juvenile response mechanism…..which actually was an insult…..in case you go off half cocked wildly projecting in my direction……
You seem to think you know a lot about me – which is funny.
You are an idiot.
You need to control your anger.
Not angry – laughing at people who are liars.
Work fights. Plenty of them.
Nice Freudian slip there, James 😉
Remember this is supposedly a 48 year old dyslexic male who left school at fifteen and who has two adult children running their own businesses after having attended $25k/annum Kristin School.
Oh, I see. I thought it aptly fitted his pugilistic style of commenting here on TS.
They are the claims of James himself. I’ll leave readers to judge the veracity of those claims, and by extension any other claims he might make.
Yes, fair point, but we, the readers, have no way to test the veracity of his claims. And frankly, the successes of his children or his legendary BBQs make not an iota of difference to me; it is Facebook stuff IMO.
James is virtue-signalling again.
Who are you talking to Ed.? I wonder if we can elevate ourselves from biting each other in the playpen. When you think of replying or initiating some brave critique, just suck in some air and go for a wee instead will you.
Good grief james
That really is pathetic
It’s true tho.
Can’t you afford First Class?
Sucks to be you.
Not really – at least I know there isnt first class on Air New Zealand flights anymore.
I prefer 1st class and it’s great that there’s internet access on flights now.
Yep! Soon you’ll be able to take your barbies as hand luggage, and have an on-flight fry-up.
Let’s hope.
Don’t find business class much better.
Not as cost effective these days. We used to get it for the long haul. These days we get premium economy.
At least I can mostly get the net when flying. And I load up a lot of Netflix, music from spotify, and books from my library.
oops looks like we landed…
How come you have to go overseas? i.e. are you doing hardware as well as coding? Or is it larger project management that needs face to face meetings?
Hi travel buff’s,
Since you are all talking about transport here I had our NGO send this reminder to the ruling Labour Coalition Government to ratchet up the rail travel (expressly freight) but passenger rail could be added to as it was good in the 1980’s here.
With our family boarding a rail-car from Napier to Wellington and catching the ferry to Picton and hiring a car to go down the west coast to see folks where rail didn’t go that far.
Wished we could do that also today. – Cheers.
Letter to Government.
10th February 2018.
Dear ministers;
https://medium.com/insurge-intelligence/brace-for-the-financial-crash-of-2018-b2f81f85686b
A report by HSBC shows that contrary to the commonplace narrative in the industry, even amidst the glut of unconventional oil and gas, the vast bulk of the world’s oil production has already peaked and is now in decline; while European government scientists show that the value of energy produced by oil has declined by half within just the first 15 years of the 21st century.
The upshot?
Welcome to a new age of permanent economic recession driven by ongoing dependence on dirty, expensive, difficult oil… unless we choose a fundamentally different path;
One such “fundamentally different path” can easily just be using rail freight rather than road truck freight. https://www.aar.org/BackgroundPapers/Environmental%20Benefits%20of%20Moving%20Freight%20by%20Rail.pdf
This evidence of using rail rather than road freight to lower our use of fuel/energy is reported to be from four to eight times more benefit to us all from use of rail as fuel compressions now show rail uses far less fuel to carry one tonne one km than road freight does.
The truck freight industry now uses between 28% to 36% of all NZ diesel supplies.
Use of rail will use less than 6% of our total diesel supplies.
This is found in studies according to all available fuel use studies of rail verses road freight fuel uses when comparing moving each one tonne per one km.
https://www.aar.org/BackgroundPapers/Environmental%20Benefits%20of%20Moving%20Freight%20by%20Rail.pdf
“Freight Railroads and Fuel Efficiency Go Hand in Hand Freight railroads are the environmentally friendly way to move freight: ✓ In 2016, U.S. freight railroads moved a ton of freight an average of 468 miles per gallon of fuel — up from 235 miles in 1980 (see Figure 1). That’s a 99 percent improvement. ✓ On average, railroads are four times more fuel efficient than trucks, according to an independent study for the Federal Railroad Administration. ✓ Greenhouse gas emissions are directly related to fuel consumption. That means moving freight by rail instead of truck lowers greenhouse gas emissions by 75 percent.”
http://www.kiwirail.co.nz/uploads/Publications/The%20Value%20of%20the%20Rail%20in%20New%20Zealand.pdf
The recently new labour Government discovered (formerly hidden) rail report (see above) “The value of rail in new Zealand” that was commissioned by our own “State Owned Enterprise” (SOE) ‘Kiwi rail’ a publicly owned crown state asset was said to be “for the NZ Transport agency” has now proven that this “fundamentally different path” of using rail is now needed to be incorporated urgently now that we are nearing the end of cheap oil. Rail using electric locomotives also should be used to further our less dependency on road freight and using fossil fuels that are destroying our climate, health wellbeing and economy as well as our individual wealth.
Dear PM Jacinda Ardern please place us on the right “fundamental different path” using rail freight for saving our environmental future, and help to reverse our climate change.
‘lets do this’
Your early response is appreciated please.
Warmest regards,
How many times have we heard these kinds of platitudes? Sharing is caring and compassion is a sure way to achieve happiness, etc. Yet, a majority of people, 44.5±3.1%, go berserkers when you mention inequality and distributive taxes. They go nuts at the idea that their hard-earned money goes to support the ‘lifestyle’ of the lazy, the bludgers, the “pretty damned hopeless”, etc.
They scream the strongest ‘argument’ that pops up in their narrow selfish minds:
It is clear that the sharing and caring does not extend far and social interactions and attitudes can be summarised as follows:
1) Like knows like
2) Like only shares with and cares for like
3) Unlike is dislike
4) Intense dislike is hate
Welcome to human society.
Another beersy and a sossie, John? Yes thanks, mate.
Agreed. Most selfish bastards limit their generosity to very close family and friends, then congratulate themselves on how much they enjoy ‘sharing’ it, oblivious to how they are actually denying that generosity to most of humankind.
Yes – it was fantastic to see the response to Eco Maoris give-a-little page from people who comment on here – not a single donation.
Come on James, I challenge you to make a symbolic donation of $1 (or more if you so wish) and show us up for the obvious hypocrites we are! I’ll make a mental note that I must donate to each & every cause I sympathise with and, in fact, to all charities because they all serve a good and noble cause. In other words, if the shoe fits …
And then we can argue about whether you just created a false equivalence or not.
I wouldn’t donate to him as I think he’s – well, not right.
I’d wait until after the givealittle page is “pending moderation” if I were you.
‘fantastic to see… not a single donation.’ – James
Fascinating; RWNJs can ‘do schadenfreude’ too.
🙂
Sharing and caring. I like the one about the elderly brother who charged his elderly sister for petrol for driving her to visit their other elderly sister. And I think he had bought the car using moneys he was holding in trust for her on an Enduring Power of Attorney. People can rationalise self-centred greed given half a chance.
The drums are beating for airbnb. Great to see this cancer getting some coverage in the media.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/property/101326010/new-zealands-rental-squeeze-something-in-the-airbnb
But some of the drums are bringing good news for them:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2017-11-14/airbnb-is-said-to-reach-net-revenue-of-1-billion-last-quarter
I think airbnb is a minor player in the diminishing number of rentals available.
The critics in your link let long-term rentals and run motels, of course they’re anti airbnb. They’re happy to beat it up, not because of any proven commercial threat but because it’s a soft target. ‘Airbnb bastards have got your home!’
Our visitor numbers have gone up by a million this year. Tourism dollars are sweet. They spend big, pay GST and require little in return.
There are lots of holiday houses around me, empty for most of the year. Hosting international visitors at these properties denies no Kiwi a home. Rather than a curse, I see these owners contributing to NZ.
We need to get better at how we do it but I see it as a benefit rather than a cancer.
Who is the major player then?
Home ownership rates are dropping, this is a fact, so it’s not that the rental stock is being bought by first time buyers.
Whole property airbnb listings in Auckland doubled in the last year and rental stock listed on Trademe halved.
Did you even read the article? It says:
These countries appear to be recognising the very same problem you are dismissing. Why is that?
Have you read any of the other articles in the media recently about amateur landlords being ‘sick of tenants’, and about those who are going to list on airbnb because of ‘the cost of providing a warm, dry home to renters’, and because ‘I can double my money’?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/property/101061077/taupo-rental-market-tight-but-exairbnb-homes-joining-market-might-offer-hope
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/property/101259878/from-290-a-week-to-4000-a-month–boost-from-joining-airbnb
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/property/101215231/landlords-fear-and-loathing-of-the-new-zealand-rental-market
It’s their house, they can do whatever the fuck they want.
What would make the biggest difference is if this amateur hour government engaged their brains and thought about cause and effect.
They’re they’re ones making the situation worse with their ideological stupidity.
The government should start by thinking airbnb’s cause and effect.
It’s their house, they can do whatever the fuck they want.
Nah, we dumped that lot in September, when they lost the election. It ain’t your House any more.
Good one dingus, this government ain’t going to do shit.
As slow as these ass hats are I think it will soon dawn upon on them that they’re actually making the situation worse.
Backtrack number 156789 is on its way.
New book about the Democratic Party
Written in honor of Nancy Pelosi and her fellow Democrats’ brave struggle against the Trump gang….
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51IFNch-HiL._SL300_.jpg
Interesting piece in The Intercept about intelligence agency mind games and the chaos created by Trump-Russia issues within those agencies.
https://theintercept.com/2018/02/09/donald-trump-russia-election-nsa/
Not a single piece of evidence. The Democrats’ “leaders” are wasting their time and everyone else’s.
I fail to see how your comment relates to the linked article.
Did you actually read it, or did the “Trump-Russia” in my comment just activate your *no evidence, blame the Democrats* kneejerk reflex?
Just a question for the regulars………
Has anyone heard from Marty Mars?
I haven’t seen any posts from him since last year, he suffered an MI last year so I hope he’s still around, I know what it’s like, I suffered one 15 yrs ago, statistically, there is only a 50% survival rate.
So far as I can tell, this comment in response to North’s remarks is the last one he made here, three weeks ago:
I hope he’s well.
He took some time out, temporary I hope.
I think he got tired of being targeted by a condescending and spiteful marker-pen, much like this kind of thing.
Cheers OAB, thanks for that, I hope he is too.
Pie, anyone?
Those with a command of our language that I admire have started doing it and I can bite my tongue no longer.
Nothing can be ‘quite unique’.
Nothing can be ‘really unique’.
Nothing can be ‘so unique’
Something is unique or it isn’t.
Draco is not quite unique. There can be only one.
Quite.
What prompted that?
If “Nothing can be ‘quite unique’.
Nothing can be ‘really unique’.
Nothing can be ‘so unique’”
and “Something is unique or it isn’t.”
Does than then imply that if something isn’t unique it is nothing?
And if something is nothing then nothing can be unique?
And if nothing can be unique then something can’t be unique…unless it is nothing…which would mean it’s not something…..
#@%# !!!
🙂
🙂
Orange balloon animal.
Larious
I do so love a bit of pie for dessert.
What I didn’t know about was the march in London to demand the Gummint protect the beloved but beleaguered NHS.
That was kept quiet.
I struggle to imagine a day when we Kiwis take to the streets in a mass protest against the privatisation of our Public Health and Disability system.
The only one I can think of was the Compass crap food protest
(greywarshark for fromatting tutor of the year)
I remember Farrar attacking a tourist family who lost $17k from an airbnb scam. They made the mistake of paying third party. Farrar reckoned it was impossible to be scammed if you went through the airbnb process.
Well, it seems not:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11991210
“Carroll immediately called Airbnb staff who questioned if she was “at the right house” before offering alternative accommodation and then a full refund.”
Alternative accomodation or a full refund – gee scammed hard.
Air bnb provide a great service
Long shift for you today.
Do you get overtime?
Rosemary McDonald
For feisty foodie – and about other things. Good to exchange info and advice, individualism will have to be lessened as times get tougher if we want a decent society, and sharing when possible is the way to go.
Well we’ve been busy looking after the mokos 9 of them on the farm my Wairua feels good here just over the road is a local Tapu sight ECO MAORI feels the good Wairua here. I show my mokos to the Tepuna buried there I hope they are proud of us Ka pai.
I see some people are making fun of ECO
for caring about all the mokos of Papatuanukue and using mokos all the time.
Here is my reasons the children of Papatuanukue don’t have the Mana to make choices that can change there lives for good or bad the grown-up do this on behalf of the mokos because of this fact
I advocate for all the children of Papatuanukue in my view one is not a adult till 20 and most men are not men till they turn 40 most ladies are adults at 18. Its is funny that they hide behind the smallest person be careful as if I want to I could decimate your ratings. Eco Maori doesn’t like affecting others in a negative way Ana to kai. Ka kite ano
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=11991993
Law makers move to cancel Lorde concerts.
“The taxpayers of Miami and Tampa should not have to facilitate bigotry and anti-Semitism, and I look forward to the Miami Sports and Exhibition Authority and the Tampa Sports Authority complying with the law and cancelling these concerts.“
If this gets upheld- her US career is toast – 20 states have the same laws (and growing)
Good thing Lorde, Justine Sachs, and Nadia Abu-Shanab have never acknowledged supporting the BDS movement.
Israel gets good value for the money it spends buying and influencing U.s.a politics … doesn’t it James ? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N294FMDok98
https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/aipac-the-israeli-lobby/
Israel would just lock up Lorde if she was a Palestinian … and maybe shoot her cousin
https://theintercept.com/2017/12/20/israel-tackles-existential-threat-posed-16-year-old-palestinian-girl/
Here’s a bit of history for anyone who still thinks Lorde is wrong to have taken a stand against apartheid.
It must be really embarrassing to the Lorde-haters that they’ve chosen what posterity will consider the wrong and losing side.
“He said about $5bn is invested in Vix ETPs (exchange traded products) betting on stable markets, “but what people should be afraid of is a disorderly unwind of the much larger $1.5-2tn [invested] in financial engineering strategies that are leveraged to low volatility.
Cole said the collapse in Vix ETPs was analogous to the quant hedge fund meltdown of 2007, which preceded the 2008 financial crisis. “I do think another crisis of that magnitude will occur in the next few years.”
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/feb/09/how-artemis-hit-bulls-eye-by-betting-on-stock-market-collapse