He does, all the time, the whole 4 or 5 of Him, depending upon the scene that is set Slippery can transform Himself from Dances with transvestites to discussing issues upon the world stage with international leaders in the blink of an eye,
The reshuffle was one such rare moment.
No-one saw the knives go in, everyone was surprised, the new order settled in seconds.
“I can smile, and murder while I smile.”
Thanks. Read the first bit. Will read the rest after work today.
This quote from Arundhati Roy, is very relevant at home and abroad:
This theft of language, this technique of usurping words and deploying them like weapons, of using them to mask intent and to mean exactly the opposite of what they have traditionally meant, has been one of the most brilliant strategic victories of the czars of the new dispensation. It has allowed them to marginalize their detractors, deprive them of a language to voice their critique and dismiss them as being “anti-progress,” “anti-development,” “anti-reform,” and of course “anti-national” – negativists of the worst sort. To reclaim these stolen words requires explanations that are too tedious for a world with a short attention span, and too expensive in an era when Free Speech has become unaffordable for the poor. This language heist may prove to be the keystone of our undoing.
But according to you Karol as a Deconstructionist, language is meaningless anyway, so what does it matter, language and words are only good for “deploying…like weapons”?
According to Deconstructionism, isn’t Roy’s world view, just that, a purely subjective experience, there is no objective reality out there for it to attache to, its no more truthful or valid or evil than Hitler’s world view?
Does she really need her girl pal QofT to rush in snarling and biting?
QofT, you repeatedly avoids stating what intellectual school she subscribes to.
What are you afraid of?
For the record, QofT, your girl pal has admitted she is a Deconstructionist, with a small qualification interestingly enough – ‘for the most part’ was it if I remember correctly – a failed attempt to hedge her bet I think.
Some of us get bored with your fixation.
You tried this ages ago, then never replied to Karol when she explained herself.
It was either sniper shots at Karol, or sniper shots at those troublemakers born on another patch of dirt. Got stats yet?
I remember Karol saying she was a bit of this a bit of that.
It’s BS of course.
Acting like you are scouring a rubbish tip of discarded and broken ideologies you don’t actually have a clue about, picking up fragments that you think are ‘useful’ to your vested interests is called creating propaganda.
Marxism, neo or whatever, Deconstructionism/Postmodernism or whatever those flaky followers like to call it, are ideologies which make truth claims about the way the world is. Claims that are easily disprovable.
You build your world view/argument on these failed ideologies as Feminists do, then you are exposed to the same failures.
Wailing that you are being “pigeon holed” doesn’t change that.
Ditto for neo-liberalism/neo conservatism and those scrambling to defend it in the wake of 2008.
Acting like you are scouring a rubbish tip of discarded and broken ideologies you don’t actually have a clue about, picking up fragments that you think are ‘useful’ to your vested interests is called creating propaganda.
Just because you do it doesn’t mean that everyone does. Karol certainly doesn’t share your attitude toward “thinking”. Perhaps if you gave the rather pathetic misogynist stroking a rest some time, maybe the blood will flood back to the organ that is responsible for actual thought.
In case that was too subtle for you…
Most people think about things before they spew it out on the rest of us… You just seem to wank a lot when you get excited. Your keyboard must have a sticky problem whenever you reply to a female commentator.
Lol, I’ll leave the rest of your ignorant absurdities to others, but seeing you are so hung up on labels, please enlighten me on what happened with regard to neo-Conservatism in 2008.
Pretty strong suggestion in that comment that you don’t know anything about Neo-Conservatism.
k_p: I remember Karol saying she was a bit of this a bit of that.
It’s BS of course.
Acting like you are scouring a rubbish tip of discarded and broken ideologies you don’t actually have a clue about, picking up fragments that you think are ‘useful’ to your vested interests is called creating propaganda.
Gee, you sure do show your superficial understanding of the umbrella terms you are referring to. I assume you mean that comment fatty helpfully linked to, of which I associated myself with bits of poststructuralism and neo-Marxism, etc. Do you understand the meaning of “heterogeneous” as used at the link?
Note in the second line the reference to “critical theorists” as being included in the general collection of post-structuralists theories. Click on the link and you will see that neo-Marxism is included there.
ie I was referring to an eclectic mix of related theories all included under very general terms that you don’t really seem to understand.
I don’t know how anyone can do anything but pick out various bits of each, as ones they most agree with.
Scouring rubbish tips for discarded and broken ideologies about and picking up fragments that you think are ‘useful’.
That’s not creating propaganda.
That’s bricolage!
Especially when it’s women writing, because our ladybrains can’t come up with awesome arguments about deconstructionist marxist neo-anarcho-eco-feminism like k_p’s.
k_p: But according to you Karol as a Deconstructionist, [citation needed] language is meaningless [citation needed] anyway, so what does it matter, language and words are only good for “deploying…like weapons”? [citation needed]
For an objectivist, you make a lot of loose claims based on little evidence.
Do you have anything to contribute about the significant article GeoffC linked to, or are you just trying to divert his thread?
This “theft of language” is being most effectively deployed by the coal industry to hide the dirty nature of their business, using words to mask intent and to mean exactly the opposite of what they have traditionally meant. For example Fonterra say they plan to excavate a major “Escarpment Mine” Just south of Auckland, that looks likely to become the ground zero in the fight against climate change in the Auckland area. Fonterra facing unexpectedly stiff opposition from local residents and Auckland based environmentalists, hoped an “Escarpment Mine” wouldn’t get the same emotional response from Aucklanders that “Open Cast Mine” might.
Everyone knows what an open cast mine looks like, from unpleasant pictures seen on television and in books.
“Escarpment” in geology means a natural feature of the landscape, either a very steep natural slope, or slanting cliff face. The coal mining industry have subverted the original meaning of this word, for their own uses. Using the word ‘Escarpment’ avoids the unpleasant mental pictures that automatically form in people’s minds on hearing the words ‘Open Cast Mine’. ‘Escarpment Mine’, much more pleasant.
<blockquote.Dairy juggernaut Fonterra is planning a major new coal mine in north Waikato, saying that will be cheaper than buying coal from Solid Energy, the state-owned enterprise axing 120 jobs at Huntly, blaming falling prices.
Fonterra's coal mining company Glencoal is about to apply for resource consents to develop an open cast coalmine on 30ha of farmland it has owned for 10 years between Mangatawhiri Rd and the new State Highway 2 at Maramarua.
The name Mangatangi is more familiar to Aucklanders as being the location of the Mangatangi Dam, Auckland’s largest water-storage dam. With a capacity of 39 million cubic metres, it supplies nearly a quarter of the city’s bulk water.
Aucklanders are not too happy to learn that it will also be the location of the regions biggest opencast coal mine. Oops, pardon me ‘escarpment mine’.
PS. This proposed mine was originally going to be publicy notified with a chance for public submissions. But on meeting unexpectedly stiff resistance from locals and environmentalitst, this is now in doubt with Fonterra considering seeking fast track permission. (Maybe the language trick didn’t work).
The Truth-Out.Org article – the politics of disconnect. And we wonder why the polls read as they do. “Mr Key’s a ‘nice man’……..honourably doing all he can in the circumstances. Very well. Kia Ora……”
Deliberate is what it is………brought here to do the business.
Not an easy article to read being so very very American, but quite unnerving with a clear echo with what’s happening here in NZ. Makes one wonder where the brief is coming from?
He is his usual aggressive obnoxious self but amongst the abuse and self obsessed diatribe are a couple of pearlers. About Paula Bennett he says “I can’t stand what she is doing to beneficiaries, I just won’t tolerate taking a stick to the most vulnerable, who, by and large, don’t want to be there.”
And about the distribution of wealth he says “[i]n this government, the few get rich in the name of the many. That just can’t continue.” So government, he says, has to become far more involved.
If only he learned to be more civilised and circumspect he could become a very good politician.
Yes. I read it and thought he was very good on the class/beneficiaries/anti-wealthy elites stuff. But his prejudices against people/qualities outside of various socially constructed “norms” undo all the good stuff he says.
There you go with that Deconstructionist nonsense again, Karol.
“various socially constructed “norms””
What about your socially constructed feminist ideas, values, attitudes? Can’t they be deconstructed as well, aren’t they also just another set of self serving formulae, Karol?
It’s like that nonsensewith gay “marriage’, you were banging on about “binary opposites” – that’s just pure academic pedantry.
Ditto with the “essentialism” cry that goes up around here to dismiss any opinion you lot don’t like. It’s a bit of jargon made up by the Academic Left, premised on the same old flaky, 1970’s French philosophy, Deconstructionist/Feminist nonsense.
Oh, k_p. It’s seriously cute how you keep popping up whenever a woman has an opinion to try and score some pseudoacademic point about what you think the term “social construct” means.
@Kiwi Prometheus
Having looked it up, it appears that Deconstructionism is about finding meaning in texts by uncovering underlying assumptions. The Basics of
Philosophy pages. point out that it is “notoriously difficult to define” and that some critics have “gone so far as to claim it is a dangerous form of Nihilism”.
Nihilism appears to be where K.P is pushing it.
You can push any philosophy or analytical approach to extremes and it will be…well…extreme. Keeping an eye on a wider perspective, therefore is required with any philosophy or analytical approach.
With regard to deconstructionism, it appears useful; if we don’t check up on our basic assumptions from time to time we really will deviate from our aims and ideals. I believe doing this “checking” is part of what is commonly called “thinking”.
I can imagine that those who are “winning” under the basic assumptions going by unquestioned would not like this form of analytical approach.
I would question those who think they are “winning” under basic assumptions going by unquestioned. I really don’t think there are many people at all who are currently “winning” at present. That is, not unless you thrive in living in a divided, unhappy and stressed society that is heading for financial, social and environmental meltdown.
Interesting that there is no reply from K.P. One could be forgiven for thinking that this “deconstructionism” argument was a poorly thought out faux intellectual comment that was in actuality simply trying to get someone to STFU.
Good points there, bl @1.28pm. And after a day at work, I am not that interested in untangling all of k_p’s off-target claims, unsubstantiated and loose assumptions, and poor understanding of theory/ies. I have other more useful things I’d rather be doing.
k_p: There you go with that Deconstructionist nonsense again, Karol. How did you decide that I was deconstructing and not doing an older form of semiotic (structuralist) analysis, or some discourse analysis, or applying critical theory, or just doing what most folks do here when they critically read a newspaper article?
Where did I mention “binary opposites” on open mike today?
Tamihere has an image in his head of the good deserving worker (generally male) that Labour should go into bat for. It’s a cloth cap vision that was not even entirely relevant in the 1930s. As far as I’m concerned, he’s far too much like Shane Jones, and can shove his political aspirations up his back pussy. In today’s world he would do far more harm than good.
The fact that he can say something that sounds militant and left wing only serves to show how far to the right Shearer and the ABC have remained. Instead of complaining about a male beneficiary on a roof, Tamihere would complain if they weren’t driving a ute. I thought the left in general had moved well past his sort of blokiness, but maybe not.
What a hypocrite. He was waving his own stick around years before Paula even thought about picking hers up.
And it is all well and good saying “So government, he says, has to become far more involved”, he really needs to spell out that policies he would adopt.
And didn’t he take the side of the POA against their workers in that dispute?
Well he’s got the right level of arrogance and double standards to be back in parliament amongst like minded characters and he’d know all about diversion of public monies for personal gain.
What DS needs to realise is he’d stab him in the back given half the chance and is not a team player so it’s a major judgement call, if JT can take a seat off the nat’s why not I say as they’ve got plenty of candidates who can’t do that so far.
Agreed. The Labour caucus would be benefit from his energy and passion. However JT’s unrestrained “bull in the china shop” manner during his previous term as a MP lost him a lot of friends on his own side (and continues to alienate to this day). Without wise mentoring I suspect JT would stumble back into his familiar form and serve as a liability rather than an asset to the caucus.
Duh!? What a pointless comment, [email protected]. When you strip way your emotive, subjective sneer, all you are doing is outlining my comment in general terms: i.e. I agree with some things Tamihere says and not others. And that is unusual or wrong,…. how?
Why not try engaging with the substance of my or others comments, instead of such pointless general sneers?
lol
Even if the military analogy stood, why would that be wrong?
Or do you believe that the appropriate response to being struck by so-called “friendly” fire is “thank you, sir, may I have another”?
If only he learned to be more civilised and circumspect he could become a very good politician.
Yeah, unlikely, micky, given he says:
“Tamihere reckons it’s not what he says, but how he says it that gets him into trouble. He reckons people know he’s saying the right thing, “but they might be far more genteel or academic [how they say it]. I’m not”.”
Because you know, he’s clearly just saying what we’re all thinking, he just doesn’t sugar-coat it, man. Just like Paul Henry.
I greet this new “positioning” from a man who is interested in charter schools with some caution. It looks as if he is shaping himself up for one of the West Auckland seats; either Carmel’s, or if they take Hooton’s advice, New Lynn. Hooton, who seems to take “left” and “sinister” as across the board synonyms, was earlier this week suggesting that they metaphorically “cut Cunliffe’s throat,” as well as making oblique remarks about his family.
I agree with you, Olwyn. I’ve just read the story in SST re Tamihere, and I don’t think he’s changed one little bit. What I find interesting is that Shearer has endorsed his re-entry into Labour membership, and it sounds as if he (Tamihere) is going after the Waitakere seat. Which, after the hard yards put in by Carmel Sepuloni to get in behind with only nine votes to win it, is cheeky to say the least. I hope the Waitakere Labour people can see behind the cheeky grin and charm to the self-interested, egotistical rightwing boy who wants another “go” at Parliament.
It is hard to tell just how much influence Hooton has, but it seems as if there are certain quarters that are not content to bury the hatchet now that Shearer has been endorsed by his colleagues, but instead want to continue to sideline the centre-left of the party while tacking rightwards. Not only that, they seem to favour right wingers on that ground alone, with competence, hard work and even the ability to win seats coming a distant second. I will be interested to see what shape the reshuffle takes.
Yeah but ….. Mickey …. (in reply 37) you know as well as I do sometimes those selections can be “rigged” by certain members of caucus/HO – and Tamihere WAS endorsed by Shearer – which speaks spades to me !
What I also found fascinating in the SST story is that Tamihere is going to ask Maori to change from their Maori vote ie Te Tai Tokerau – to a General vote. That’s pretty cheeky on his part.
“… it seems more likely Tamihere wil persuade Labour Maori members to swtich electoral rolls into the Waitakere seat, giving him enough clout to win selection and he hops, beat Bennett”
However, the story also mentions he’s popular out South Auckland way, so maybe he’ll have a tilt at Ross Robertson’s seat if RR decides he’s had enough !
I agree that you have a perfectly good MP Micky, I just do not trust the decision makers, and do not think I have good reason to trust them, to be honest.
I think the revolt would go beyond New Lynn Olwyn. In fact the party would be decimated and it would take years (if ever) for them to get back to it’s present state. They could kiss goodbye to the next election or failing that, they would be a one term govt. and that would be the end of Labour for a long time.
That’s why Hooton et al are working their butts off fomenting as much mischief as they can.
There are none so blind as those who will not see.
Oops Olwyn. I was grazing over my recent comments and I came across this one. My last sentence. I wasn’t referring to you when I said that. Rather the ABC club…
It’s OK Anne – I got what you meant. I notice that they never seem to distance themselves from Hooton’s comments. The fact that he supports Shearer appears to licence him to say what he likes. That headline in the NBR last week was simply outrageous.
I’d like to see JT take back a seat, none of this safe seat comfy stuff, he has to earn it.
Mangakiekie is winnable and has an ordinary and lazy candidate who got walked over in debates by slimy smiley Sam. Win that and you deserve a go, not as a minister just an MP.
I thought Brendan Who was imported into NZFirst to fulfill that particular role, shame He has been so efficiently kneecapped and dispatched to Siberia…
Interesting to read 3 columns about Waitangi Day especially relating to Titewhai Harawira.
Matt notes the pathos
When Key slunk back to the local flash hotel among his own, he huffed in a speech that he’d had enough of protesters ruining our national day.
In fact, the only protest at Waitangi this year was a peaceful march of several hundred against domestic violence.
But then Key’s also the man who can’t remember what he thought as a young man about protests against apartheid or nuclear ships – although he’s happy to take credit on the international stage for the reputation New Zealand now enjoys because of those stands.
Rodney Hide – that sad wanker reminds us all of why we can be thankful he’s out of parliament – he is so subtle not
The day could work if there was something big happening that would lift us and give us pause for thought. Like New Year’s Eve fireworks, only bigger, or Concert in the Park.
Instead, our political leaders all sweep up to the Bledisloe-gifted grounds, far away from most of us
It is very hard to argue against the line that Titewhai uses that, “We get benefits as a Treaty partner because we fight for them.” It seems to me to be very true and one of the major reasons that the fight will continue – because equality has not arrived in this country yet.
And these lines are exceptional from the Day interview
She resents the governments’ (past and current) financially based solutions to the issues of the Maori underclass.
Although Key says Treaty stimulants are the “biggest stimulus on the horizon” that will “financially empower iwi”, Harawira believes the approach neglects the real problems faced by Maori and the real obligations of the Treaty of Waitangi.
“The Treaty has been reduced to a document that we’ve got to give those Maoris a dollar for then it will all disappear. Well it won’t. The injustice continues.”
Money will not solve an education system, health statistics and housing situations that continue to be disastrous for Maori, Harawira said.
Oh dear that buggers up the bullshit memes put forward against tangata whenua.
The only way imo to sort these issues out is for some humbleness – and not from tangata whenua.
Titewhai hit the nail on the head when she said about Key – “he’s just talking to Pakeha……”.
Muttering conceived by spin doctors and calculated for throw-away line delivery at Waitangi.
The rationale – to tap the subliminal anti-Maori racism rampant in this country. And like the seasoned real estate agent talking heads (“we are part of the story”) Gower et al close on Key’s behalf.
These contributions encapsulates the situation of NZ quite well. Geoff and Karol’s : “the new extremism…” and a quote from Arundhati Roy vis a vis the statements from Titwhai Harawira. Given the landscape and situation of NZ – is was never so important to be “one people” and yet there is constant work on creating two nations. One wonders to whose benefit.
One people, eh? How about we all become Maori, or Polynesian. That would solve the perceived problem would it not? Or are you suggesting that the only option is for us all to be Pakeha?
So we should all accept being part of a political entity imposed by Europeans, and named after a mainland European Dutch province. Can’t help thinking that this is a little bit exclusionary. Why does this group get naming rights above anyone else? Are they more cleverer than everyone else? Are they more moral than everyone else? Are they more superior than everyone else? Two things are certain: They are more whiter, and they are more racist than everyone else.
Yeah, like I said, the only option is for us all to be one with the dominant culture ie Pakeha.
Of course we are already all NZers, all that is required for that is to either be born here or to jump certain citizenship hoops. Once you have a NZ passport or entitlement to one then you are a NZer. What you really mean is you want one people culturally. Which takes me back to my first point – which culture do you want us all to be? And why should Maori be assimilated into that when they have equal rights to their own sovereignty under Te Tiriti?
@ Colonial Weka
I think Foreign Waka was referring to something a whole lot wider than creating one dominant paradigm, rather seemed to be referring to asking NZers to unite and strengthen themselves against this (failing) dominant paradigm. I read FW’s comment as speaking to the need for the people of NZ to become less easily divided on important issues.
I don’t really follow that blue leopard. I feel solidarity with many Maori re the dominant paradigm. I also recognise that they have been thinking about this, and working hard, for generations in ways that my people haven’t. That counts for something. I don’t need to be ‘one’ with Maori in order to work with them against oppression. All we need to common ground and common purpose, and that exists to varying degrees, but I don’t beleive that we have to be the same or of one mind. In fact I think that lessens us in many ways.
FW specifically refers to two nations, and I took that to be about Maori and Pakeha. FW states it as a bad thing. I don’t see this divide you talk about. I see Maori issues continually being sidelined, or ignored, or not even recognised by the dominant culture. Hence Titewhai’s comment that they have to fight for their treaty rights. And when they do, they get accused of creating divisions. Sorry, but IMO it ain’t Maori that are causing this problem. It’s Pakeha unwillingness to deal with reality and other ways of understanding the world than their own that creates the problems. We WANT Maori to assimilate into Pakeha culture. They can keep their groovy cultural things that we like (haka, art, some te reo), but we will not tolerate them existing as a people in their own right and self-determination. Hence the fight and what you see as division (I think).
I used to think that Pakeha needed to change, but I don’t hold that hope so much any more, although I will still work for that. I think in reality
time will resolve the problem – eventually Polynesians will outnumber European descendants and NZ will become a Pacific Island once again instead of an outpost of the Queen of England.
btw, I find the notion of ‘one people’ pretty offensive. It takes me immediately to people like Pauline Hanson. I’m not sure that is where you are, but if you are going to use those terms then please understand the political context they exist within. Hanson’s ‘One Nation’ ideas are racist and exclusionary and in complete denial of the reality of Aboriginal people. She would get on well with John Ansell. These are not people who will join use in the fight against oppression.
@ Colonial Weka
Well perhaps I was misunderstanding Foreign Waka’s comment. I understood the message to be similar to what you write here. Waka’s comment referenced not only Titewhai’s comment, also Geoff’s, link, which I only had a quick scan of, however believed it to be about the divide and rule and distraction techniques being used on us nearly constantly. Therefore not specifically about race; that is only one division being used, there are many, low waged vs unemployed, middle income earners vs lower income earners, employers vs employees, gay vs straight the list is endless.
I understood the “two nations” to be simply “dividedness”; not as in race. It depends on what particular issue is being presented as in which way our nation is being split in two in any particular moment.
Your btw links in as an example of what Karol quoted Arundhati Roy as saying. (comment 2.1 above). Are you saying that we can’t use the word “one nation” anymore without bringing up the spin of exclusionary and racism that some bigot in Australia sold? Thats very sad. She doesn’t have exclusive rights to the concept of people uniting.
Yes, it’s possible that I have misunderstood FW too. Perhaps they can clarify.
“Are you saying that we can’t use the word “one nation” anymore without bringing up the spin of exclusionary and racism that some bigot in Australia sold? Thats very sad. She doesn’t have exclusive rights to the concept of people uniting.”
It’s not about the words so much as the concept. The words could be reclaimed. I just don’t agree with the basic premise of ‘one people’. We are NOT one people. We are a nation of many peoples, and the reasons we don’t have as much unity as we might want is because of lack of cultural awareness. Trying to merge all cultures won’t solve that.
Where the right or whoever are creating division as a way of gaining political power, then I agree this is a problem. I just don’t believe the ‘one people’ meme is the solution. Worse, it plays directly into their hands. Have you seen John Ansell’s rhetoric?
“Have you seen John Ansell’s rhetoric”?
Lol, no thank goodness!! Yet I can imagine….
Yes, I think there is not really any argument here. It ends up being what we associate words with. I have no problem with “One” being a concept involving uniting whilst still retaining diversity; yet I can see how you associate it with a concept involving a merging cultures.
I agree that merging cultures is not a positive way to go. Acknowledging and appreciating differences, to me is far less “ist”. We can’t all be exactly the same, and how horrid if we were!.
Seems that you have not cottoned on that these constant divisions amongst the races is giving advantage to someone. You figure out who that is and you might just see what the real game here is. It does not matter what race you are (really!) but it does matter whether the homophobic tendencies on anyone’s part is being used to undermine NZ as a whole.
OK – are you making the comment BECAUSE my synonym says FOREIGN or do you want to reinvent biology? You can replace the term if you want to with “ethnic group” or “different people”. Don’t politicize the word race, its perfectly legitimate in a scientific sense. Besides, you comment just shows exactly what my point was and thank you for demonstrating so vividly the issue at hand.
Not sure what you mean otherwise. Biologically, there is ONE human race (Homo sapiens). NZer is not a race. We are all the same species.
I think you are talking about ethnicity and culture. I don’t understand why you want that to be ‘one’. But as blue leopard and I were mentioning, perhaps you have been misunderstood. Would you care to clarify your point?
Pretty absurd responses to your accurate comment. I, too, would like to know to whose benefit actively dividing us is for? I sure as hell wish the majority would realize that its not to their benefit.
“One people” is an attitude of inclusiveness, the responses from CW & Jenny omit to acknowledge this. There can still be diversity and an attitude of “we’re all in this together”. We don’t have to become one colour, or clones. How foolish to even suggest that.
Britain after Stonehenge program on Choice TV relayed how the Romans gave a hoard of silver and gold to a “friendly” Scottish tribe to keep them onside and try and divide the clan loyalties. This was over 1000 years ago. Do we not learn anything
Please people, try and engage and see what games are being played on you. This is getting really serious. Look at what is going on overseas. Our paradigm is not working. We need collective force to shift toward a more positive direction.
I agree…Our biculturalism is Pakeha defined biculturalism and it is not working.
But I don’t see the problem as being that we are not “one people”. Biculturalism would work better if it was not within a neoliberal paradigm – that is the problem.
There would be nothing wrong if we had two cultural norms, so long as they were both given equal opportunity to exist. Currently, we have token Maori culture that gets further subjugated by our racist economic system.
We need to redefine biculturalism so that both cultures can exist. Promoting only eurocentric ideals failed us before, during the 1970s, and this was after 2 decades of an equity based economic system.
To ditch biculturalism now, we would be left with the worst possible combination of economic and cultural systems. – neoliberalism and mono-culturalism. Yuk.
An attitude of “we are all in it together” has nothing to do with colour, bi-culturalism, gender or any of these other ways of dividing us up.
Our dominant paradigm has been referred to as the “white male paradigm” by some. I will use this term to get my point across.
My observation is that the closer you are to a white male mentality the more likely you are to be “successful” in that hierarchy, I emphasize “mentality” because those who are “winning”, recieving accolades and value in the hierarchy and whom support and promulgate this dominant paradigm are not solely white nor male; we all know examples where some of the worst offenders are quite other than that physically. and those losing are not solely brown, pink, yellow, red. They are also white. And they are also white and male.
The more people who realize this the more we realize we are all in this together and the less prone we will be to being distracted and divided and ruled.
I need to add that I don’t believe many people are “winning” at all currently. Some might think they are, however there has to be some denial involved when the trends overseas are taken into account. It doesn’t matter whether you are “middle class” (what ever that means) and/or “non-political” and fairly “comfortable”; these groups of people are being affected by the state of chaos that our Western society has become. It doesn’t matter whether you are brown, black, white. It doesn’t matter what your gender is. Most peoples interests are being adversely affected.
There are problems that need to be dealt with and aren’t being, and one thing that would help is that we realize our similarities; we breathe, we love, we hurt, we all want what is best for ourselves.. If we could realize what unites us, we would start respecting one another, and one anothers’ different interests and start ensuring we were moving toward a better direction. This is not what is occurring at present. We are being more and more pitted against one another.
Yes, when I read those last two comments, and the one that I replied to, I have no idea what your point is…but I am interested
The problem is that the term ‘one people’ or ‘we are all in this together’ is usually a call to end biculturalism…that is how I read it.
Yes, I wondered whether that was the case re you referring to biculturalism, which wasn’t what I was talking about.
Basically I’m commenting on getting NZ people in a state of mind where they are not so damned dividable! (My comment was in response to Foreign Waka’s comment at (5) and the response FW got to that comment.)
If people see what they have in common with one another, they are more likely to work together and be less easily divided.
re There are problems that need to be dealt with
I guess I am being deliberately vague because I’m not in the mood for searching for links to substantiate my point!
I’m referring to the type of problems illustrated out of the global financial crisis; how we are witnessing less and less morality and integrity from those in the upper echelons of our society (Western, not solely NZ), where people still appear to be giving our superiors credit for “knowing what they are doing” where its no longer due. I mean, these people such as bankers and politicians have been caught red-handed again and again and again, yet no real response or change to anything; not rectifying regulations, not the way things are reported and not how people vote. Just denial.
When a movement began that would have started getting the problems addressed, (Occupy Wall Street) here in NZ, it appeared people were more concerned over the state of our public lawns?? Our media, along with our lawn-valuing population, appear to have entirely checked out; I live amongst people of many different nationalities and I am constantly hearing how particularly dreadful New Zealand media is and how uninformed the people are (not surprising really).
I’ll make a short mention of the entirely illegal wars our Western society are involving themselves in, ones where there are war crimes committed and the initiators of which simply go on to get another, probably higher paid jobs, rather than be done for their crimes
Despite all these issues our media continues to push the lowest common denominator in attitudes. For what? Ratings? And in the meantime, it appears that people are still merely supporting a government because the main frontsperson “seems like a nice guy” despite oodles of dodgy, dodgy behaviour, incompetence and fiascos. And do I even bother to mention the approach our largest opposition party…is…taking…nah, I think you’ll probably get my point…
These are the types of problems I was referring to needed to be dealt with.
The issue with our media is a big one. We tend to have a bland and predictable media who perpetuate ignorance, but I think that is partly to do with the size of our population.
Mainstream sources of media – TV/newspapers/radio have such a limited amount of people to aim at, as a result they all sit in the middle and offer nothing. Compared with the UK – they have enough people to support left wing and right wing papers, as a result there are contrasting views and an environment is created where debate will occur…overcoming this is difficult.
This is compounded by the general agreement of most of our political parties. In a way, the demise of ACT has almost been a burden for the left…without them contrasting opinions also disappear. Nothing promotes true left policies more than an ACT supporter opening their mouth.
The population issue is a real one. But it pays to remember that in the UK you get the tabloids as well as the Times, The Gaurdian, and the Independent. While you do get more top notch stuff, you also get a lot more crap.
Hmm interesting . That gives me some insight thanks.
It is rather strange though, I was just considering how that we are a small nation, one might hope that spinning bigoted type attitudes wouldn’t “work” because we are only a few degrees separated and most of us must know plenty of others from different walks of life, therefore understand how different people’s needs and the issues they face are. This has certainly been what has caused me to open my attitudes up and pull my horns in and learn to consider a matter from different angles before drawing conclusions.. I would think we would be more understanding (and thus tolerant) toward one another’s different needs and issues for this reason. This does not appear to be the way it is working though.
Madoff would have arrived here in the nick of time to see the whole s**t-pile collapse as the likes of Sir Doug et al beat him by a long nose to suck all the cash out of the bloated upper-middle class with finance schemes that bore a remarkable resemblance to Madoff’s very own little money spinner…
2014, once again, will see politicians from all sides promising much,smiling and waving,
speeches that convince some, that’s the trickery,the hoodwinking of the political game,
once elected the hammer comes down,all bets are off,they are in office,why should
they care, or even stand by the words they uttered, prior to gaining office.
‘Democracy means government by discussion,but it is only effective if you can stop
people talking’ By Clement Atlee.
‘Democracy is the name we give the people, whenever we need them. By Robert,
Marquis de Flers and Arman de Caillavet L’habit vert.
Yes it works. Now for someone to explain to me – in laywoman’s language – how you create a link using your own words like “this” or “have a look at this” etc.
Umm… not layman enough for me. I will print a copy and find someone to explain what it all means and how it translates into practice. Thanks anyway joe90. It’s a start. 🙂
I can try in lay-person 🙂 In this example I’ll use square brackets [ ] so we can see what’s going on, but when you do it for real you’ll use angle brackets .
There are three bits to remember. The opening tag (which includes the address), the clickable text, and the closing tag.
————————-
The opening tag starts with a bracket, the letter a, and the phrase href=
Like so:
[a href=
That bit will always be the same for every link you make. The “a” means “this is a link”, and the href= means “this is the address the link takes us to”
We put quote marks around the address which mean “this is the beginning and end of the address”, and then a bracket, and that’s the end of the opening tag.
Like so:
[a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHRPmPn8pCY”]
————————-
Next is the text that you want to be able to click. This can be anything at all. It doesn’t need quote marks or anything, whatever you put here is exactly what you’ll see.
Like so:
[a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHRPmPn8pCY”]felix’s new band
————————–
The last bit is the closing tag. It’s just a bracket, a slash, another a, and another bracket. It means “this is the end of the link”.
Like so:
[a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHRPmPn8pCY”]felix’s new band[/a]
————————–
And that’s it! Replace the square brackets in the example with angle brackets and this is what you’ll get: felix’s new band
One of my younger incarnations in the sixties was as a bass and slide guitar player. Now play slide lapstyle and bottleneck- deeply satisfying music. Still raises my neck hairs when I hear a slide player…….
I was disappointed to hear that Phil Goff, Phil Twyford and others apparently supported John Tamihere’s return to the party; perhaps they could share their reasoning here at The Standard. In today’s newspaper article John sneers about ‘the sisterhood’, and his comments about Paula Bennett’s appearance are an absurd sideshow, a circus he would bring to Parliament should Labour be foolish enough to let him swan back. He asks whether instead of calling Paula fat he should describe her as morbidly obese. Why does he make any negative comment about a woman’s appearance? What does this say about his character, about him as a man, and about those who overlook his ugly proclivities to renew his footing in Labour? In light of recent party tensions, I find myself wondering what sort of government Labour would make with its current team; not, perhaps, one that ordinary party members might feel proud of, or part of. I find myself hanging back from this party, which wears the cloak of Labour, but whose heart may no longer be truly Labour. I watch with interest the jostling for list positions as we approach the next election. Shane Jones, like John Tamihere, has an overworked ego but has achieved little in Parliament; he flaps his lips at media moments but is not the thoughtful leader we hoped for (and thus does not warrant in my view a high list position). Other list MPs have accepted positions, or taken stances, for rewards that may be as illusory as their list rankings in the months to come. I do not personally care who is the leader of the Labour party. But I care very much about the heart of the Labour party, as one little cog that has kept it beating in the provinces. Attention seeking opportunists like John Tamihere and Shane Jones come and go. But I thought more of Phil; as a woman member of the party, I can’t overlook sexism which, like any other kind of ism, can only exist if good people condone it.
It would be good to read a response from a member of caucus to what you write here. When people express doubts about a party on The Standard, it would be interesting to know how many they represent. In this case, a lot I’m sure, which makes me view it a worthwhile activity for caucus members to respond.
I know Phil Twyford and it puzzles me too. I can only assume he was approached and he agreed to let him have another chance. I presume Tamihere’s negative personal comments re Paula Bennett is tied up with his desire to win the candidacy for the Waitakere seat. (I know he says he’s not interested but who believes a politician even a past one).
I suspect it’s an attempt to attract the red-neck, anti-female politicians brigade to support him in his cause. Remember the previous candidate was Carmel Sepuloni and she indicated her intention to run for the candidacy again some time ago.
As a happily hetero sport-loving beer-drinking bloke, I find Tamihere’s attitude infantile at best, offensive at worst. Worse still is this patronising notion that people like him and Shane Jones speak for a large chunk of society, and voters will return to Labour in droves if only Tamihere and Jones could be to the fore.
If these two “blokes” are such vote-magnets, how come they keep losing elections?
Are you meaning that these bloke-types are to appeal to the female vote?
Or that these bloke-types are bitches?
I guess I personally would agree with the second option, however, if you are meaning the first, I wonder whether this is true? Or is it that blokes don’t vote for chicks? I have wondered how the genders are split with regards to political views; whether there is a distinct trend amongst the genders. It was certainly mentioned during election-time that Act has a hard time appealing to the female voter.
From memory, I think he called certain women (was it women Labour MPs including Helen Clark?) bitches earlier in the 2000 decade when he was given the push. Something along those lines anyway. Someone will correct me if I’m wrong.
Yes, Virginia Linton, I – too – am seeing a much more sexist Labour caucus re-appearing with John Tamihere’s endorsement by so many of the rightwing blokes and their takeover of the caucus.
And I regret to say that I think we’ll see the so-called re-shuffle of front positions due to be announced
soon by the Leader reinforce this blokey-bent.
Hi lprent,
I posted a query a few Open Mikes ago, not realising you were away.
Its simply about the “notify me via email” function, which no longer works. Its no biggy really, yet I was wondering if there was some way to get this function back? If there was any setting I could change from my side? I am on Safari 5.something and gmail email.
I will go back and find my last query because there were a few others commenting in response.
Ah. Thanks for reminding me. I’m just fixing one of the backups that isn’t working too well. I’ll reconnect and start the mail server after that. It was simply an oversight when I shifted the server in Jan. Ummm people may get a pile of banked emails when that happens.
It was more that my brain was elsewhere. The code I was trying to build/fix was complicated and I had to kind of stretch to make it work at all well in the target platform.
As well as The Standard I was somewhat vague about really important things like sleep, Lyn, bills and taking pills.
Oh cool! Thanks lprent, and thanks for the work you do, its most appreciated.
(Hopefully you’ll address the really important things first, I’m sure none of us would begrudge you that 😯 )
Lynn,You have to take your medication, and get some sleep. The days of SysOp’s surviving on 4 hrs, and umpteen cups of corrosively strong coffee are long gone now lol. And never forget the better half! Mental note to self, don’t forget your pills!
Chris Laidlaw’s lame quip trivializes and undermines a serious point
Radio New Zealand National, Sunday 10 February 2013, 11:10 a.m.
Chris Laidlaw interviewed Seyed Majid Tafreshi Khameneh, the Iranian Ambassador to New Zealand.
LAIDLAW: Iran has supported Hezbollah, hasn’t it.
TAFRESHI: Hezbollah has not invaded any other territory. They are
defending their land. They are freedom fighters.
LAIDLAW:[guffaws nervously] Well, one man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist.
Disappointed in Laidlaw’s lapse into hard right propaganda, I sent him the following e-mail….
Dear Chris,
After the Iranian ambassador had pointed out that Hezbollah is an indigenous self-defence organization, and had never sent troops to invade any territory, you quipped that “one man’s freedom-fighter is another man’s terrorist.” That was not only a banal observation, it served to trivialize and undermine the point that the Ambassador had just made.
@Morrissey
I find this sort of thing really shameful. How rude and uninformed we can be.
It is probably beyond any “middle” NZ to grasp the concept that the word “freedom fighter” isn’t synonymous with terrorist The word “terrorist” can, thus be effectively used to stamp out any opposition to the status quo, and noone seems to mind that the status quo way of doing things is leading us to hell in a handbasket.
Its just shameful to be lumped in with this type of mentality (if you can even call it that).
NZ must not change as there is no alternative.
Meanwhile –
The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) has made it official: After its latest two day meeting, it announced its goal to devalue the dollar by 33% over the next 20 years.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
If Key and Gillard in Queenstown are supposed to signify the ‘ANZAC Spurrut’ at play, then I want no part of it.
Yet another Key venture in self-aggrandisement, sucking up and selling out.
It’s interesting when you look at the definition of a psychopath available on the internet. I think it’s Wikipaedia that has some interesting characteristics. You could provide a match with the various categories more precisely than you coud with the likes of Bainimarama or Mugabe.
Yet – still the populace worships! – aided and abetted by an uncritical MSM.
As they say though – the harder they rise, the harder they fall!
(and if EVER there was a travesty to an OZ Labor Party it would be Joolya – I keep wondering if NZ’s equivalent are an ABC club and a Shearer).
Hey! – btw (as they say amongst the connected) – what’s happened to that noice little boi FanClub, or FanBoi – or whatever the fuck he pops up as? AND – WHERE lately is the Hataitai pacifier that not only now wants to review the ‘used by’ label expiry date, but also the ‘RRP’ [or recommended retail price]. Bugger! I forget her name just at the moment – hold on – for the benefit of precision, I’ll just Google her shall I? ………
Oh fuck – it seems she’s become irrelevant to GOOGLE too!
Anyway – you fellas should know who I mean – she’s a foreskin in the ABC club along with the Mallardy bovver boy and a host of other amusements
Didn’t you get the memo? Drinking to excess is only bad when it’s Yoof (i.e. anyone who looks “young” to a Campbell Live producer) doing it. Grown-ups can do whatever they like, it’s not like they set examples or contribute to drinking culture or anything.
So the future isn’t a boot stamping on a human face, forever. It’s a person in a beige business outfit advocating beige policies that nobody wants (but nobody can quite articulate a coherent alternative to) with a false mandate obtained by performing rituals of representative democracy that offer as much actual choice as a Stalinist one-party state. And resistance is futile, because if you succeed in overthrowing the beige dictatorship, you will become that which you opposed.
Despite being hypocritical and increasingly a parody of shit sensationalism and faux community concern, it looks like the Campbell live team just keep getting lucky breaks.
Someone at TVNZ made something much much worse.
It’s called lose lose for those who watch rather than ‘make’ TV.
“it’s not like they set examples or contribute ”
Not one reply, not even a nibble.
Someone get me a two headed tortoise and JC’s extension number.
Someone should tell David Shearer to stop listening to what He is saying when speaking in front of a camera,
Shearer i noticed on the news tonight has a bad habit of self editing in the middle of making a comment, this also brings in the aaah as He searches for the words He wants to use as a clarification in the middle of a comment to the media…
I think I might have mentioned it before, but I doubt very much it’s searching for words, just making sure he remembers to use the ones he’s been told to.
Speak from the same sleeve you wear your heart on, or learn to fake it better.
He should just stop speaking and get someone competent doing it. If I were fixing my car and reached the limit of my incompetence, I’d get hold of someone who knew what they were doing. I wouldn’t burn down the closest workshop and carry on.
Labour voter??? Labour Party member???, rather have Slippery leading the National Party to victory in 2014???,
The vote has been had, is there another in February 2014???, if not such denigration of those the Labour Caucus voted for as Leader is pretty pointless and it’s only possible out-come is to increase the chances of Slippery being the Prime Minister until 2017,
Myself, i would rather work toward not having the worst case scenario occur and would suggest that if you are a Labour Party member your energies would better be spent ensuring the Party Members have the ability to ‘trigger’ the scheduled leadership votes under the ‘new’ rules into the future,
Shearer may have made that abhorrent bene-bashing speech and His ‘worker in the pub’ one wasn’t something to cheer about either,
Compare this tho to another Labour Leader as Prime Minister, ”Beneficiaries will not be included in Working for Families as this will encourage them to get a job”-Helen Clark,
Who was Prime Minister when income tax was applied to welfare benefits,none other than David Lange,
Or is every one still imbibing sour grapes about the other Dave’s failure to topple Shearer…
“Labour voter???” – Nope. Not any more.
“Labour Party member???” – Nope. Never joined any political party.
“rather have Slippery leading the National Party to victory in 2014???” – Nope. that doesn’t sound like me at all. Besides, I reckon you’ll need many more than just my vote for that not to occur. Good luck, best get your lucky red socks out of the bottom drawer, bless.
And none of those answers above discredit or give less validity to me stating opinion in any way shape or form, Comrade. Do feel free to prove they do if you’re bothered.
As for the rest of your post, all I can give you is a bit of a shrug, apart from
“Or is every one still imbibing sour grapes about the other Dave’s failure to topple Shearer…”
As opposed to you sipping the dregs of the sweet nectar of success dripping off the bottom of Mallard’s poisoned chalice.
You were doing alright until the spurious final comment, my feelings on Mallard are pretty plain in the comments on the post on that subject,
Spoze the likes of Trev and Shane with their open attacks on the Green Party are a bit like the anti-Shearer crew here on the Standard, Trev might have caught it by being entangled with McCully’s ex and Shane well wanker’s never really stop themselves from gushing,
Lolz i should really just scroll past the ‘i hate Shearer comments’ but even that’s damn hard as i found out today reading one interesting comment on an entirely unrelated subject that ended with a ‘i hate Shearer’,
Hate on, but, unless there is a vote in February 2014 and a willingness of caucus to put that vote to the wider Party which considering everything is a small flight of fancy then Shearer we are all stuck with and no amount of venting will change that,
Nah not red socks, my feet are Green from having roamed my patch to often without any on…
John key got a mixed reception at the Big Gay Out today, according to Stuff:\\
Today at the Big Gay Out he donned a yellow polo shirt and chatted convivially with drag queens, gay men and women and almost nude couples painted in tiger stripes. But when he took to the stage at the invitation of Miss Ribena, a drag queen with a penchant for purple, there was a slight shift in mood.
“F*** you John Key,” several voices in the crowd called.
“Don’t worry they must be from West Auckland,” Miss Ribena said.
“That’s alright,” Key replied. …
And then, Auckland local Andy Lawrie attempted to reinforce the point that Key might not be as progressive as he purported. Lawrie was seen lowering a coat hanger affixed to a bamboo pole over the head of the Prime Minister.
“It’s just a little reminder,” he said.
On the coat hanger was a “gay” red shirt.
“It’s just to make people remember.”
The Greens seemed to be more in tune with the event. Loiusa Wall got various mentions because of her marriage equality amendment bill. But the rest of Labour MPs seem to have been MIA.
Meanwhile, Lucy Lawless turned up to do a little Community Service, and probably mingled today:
Lucy Lawless will be among the thousands at today’s Big Gay Out in Auckland.
“BigGayOut this weekend. Could life be more colourful? Hooray for everything!” she has tweeted.
GayNZ.com Daily News hears the actress, who has a global following, particularly among lesbians, even helped out by pitching in to erect tents yesterday.
Long term plan for NZ’s move to Charter or Partnership Schools might go like this.
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Mark White from the Left free speech organisation Plebity looks at the disturbing trend of ‘book burning’ on US campuses In the abstract, people mostly agree that book banning is a bad thing. The Nazis did us the favor of being very clear about it and literally burning books, but ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has undergone a stern baptisim of fire in his first week in his new job, but it doesn’t get any easier. Next week, he has a vital meeting in Canberra with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese, where he has to establish ...
As PM Chris Hipkins says, it’s a “no brainer” to extend the fuel tax cut, half price public subsidy and the cut to the road user levy until mid-year. A no braoner if the prime purpose is to ease the burden on people struggling to cope with the cost of ...
Buzz from the Beehive Cost-of-living pressures loomed large in Beehive announcements over the past 24 hours. The PM was obviously keen to announce further measures to keep those costs in check and demonstrate he means business when he talks of focusing his government on bread-and-butter issues. His statement was headed ...
Poor Mike Hosking. He has revealed himself in his most recent diatribe to be one of those public figures who is defined, not by who he is, but by who he isn’t, or at least not by what he is for, but by what he is against. Jacinda’s departure has ...
New Zealand is the second least corrupt country on earth according to the latest Corruption Perception Index published yesterday by Transparency International. But how much does this reflect reality? The problem with being continually feted for world-leading political integrity – which the Beehive and government departments love to boast about ...
TLDR: Including my pick of the news and other links in my checks around the news sites since 4am. Paying subscribers can see them all below the fold.In Aotearoa’s political economyBrown vs Fish Read more ...
TLDR: Including my pick of the news and other links in my checks around the news sites since 4am. Paying subscribers can see them all below the fold.In Aotearoa’s political economyBrown vs Fish Read more ...
In other countries, the target-rich cohorts of swinging voters are given labels such as ‘Mondeo Man’, ‘White Van Man,’ ‘Soccer Moms’ and ‘Little Aussie Battlers.’ Here, the easiest shorthand is ‘Ford Ranger Man’ – as seen here parked outside a Herne Bay restaurant, inbetween two SUVs. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / ...
In other countries, the target-rich cohorts of swinging voters are given labels such as ‘Mondeo Man’, ‘White Van Man,’ ‘Soccer Moms’ and ‘Little Aussie Battlers.’ Here, the easiest shorthand is ‘Ford Ranger Man’ – as seen here parked outside a Herne Bay restaurant, inbetween two SUVs. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / ...
Transport Minister and now also Minister for Auckland, Michael Wood has confirmed that the light rail project is part of the government’s policy refocus. Wood said the light rail project was under review as part of a ministerial refocus on key Government projects. “We are undertaking a stocktake about how ...
Sometime before the new Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced that this year would be about “bread and butter issues”, National’s finance spokesperson Nicola Willis decided to move from Wellington Central and stand for Ohariu, which spreads across north Wellington from the central city to Johnsonville and Tawa. It’s an ...
They say a week is a long time in politics. For Mayor Wayne Brown, turns out 24 hours was long enough for many of us to see, quite obviously, “something isn’t right here…”. That in fact, a lot was going wrong. Very wrong indeed.Mainly because it turns ...
One of the most effective, and successful, graphics developed by Skeptical Science is the escalator. The escalator shows how global surface temperature anomalies vary with time, and illustrates how "contrarians" tend to cherry-pick short time intervals so as to argue that there has been no recent warming, while "realists" recognise ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: Here’s a quick roundup of the news today for paying subscribers on a slightly frantic, very wet, and then very warm day. In Aotearoa’s political economy today Read more ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: Here’s a quick roundup of the news today for paying subscribers on a slightly frantic, very wet, and then very warm day. In Aotearoa’s political economy today Read more ...
Tomorrow we have a funeral, and thank you all of you for your very kind words and thoughts — flowers, even.Our friend Michèle messaged: we never get to feel one thing at a time, us grownups, and oh boy is that ever the truth. Tomorrow we have the funeral, and ...
Lynn and I have just returned from a news conference where Hipkins, fresh from visiting a relief centre in Mangere, was repeatedly challenged to justify the extension of subsidies to create more climate emissions when the effects of climate change had just proved so disastrous. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The ...
Lynn and I have just returned from a news conference where Hipkins, fresh from visiting a relief centre in Mangere, was repeatedly challenged to justify the extension of subsidies to create more climate emissions when the effects of climate change had just proved so disastrous. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The ...
A new Prime Minister, a revitalised Cabinet, and possibly revised priorities – but is the political and, importantly, economic landscape much different? Certainly some within the news media were excited by the changes which Chris Hipkins announced yesterday or – before the announcement – by the prospect of changes in ...
Currently the government's strategy for reducing transport emissions hinges on boosting vehicle fuel-efficiency, via the clean car standard and clean car discount, and some improvements to public transport. The former has been hugely successful, and has clearly set us on the right path, but its also not enough, and will ...
Buzz from the Beehive Before he announced his Cabinet yesterday, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced he would be flying to Australia next week to meet that country’s Prime Minister. And before Kieran McAnulty had time to say “Three Waters” after his promotion to the Local Government portfolio, he was dishing ...
The quarterly labour market statistics were released this morning, showing that unemployment has risen slightly to 3.4%. There are now 99,000 people unemployed - 24,000 fewer than when Labour took office. So, I guess the Reserve Bank's plan to throw people out of work to stop wage rises "inflation", and ...
Another night of heavy rain, flooding, damage to homes, and people worried about where the hell all this water is going to go as we enter day twenty two of rain this year.Honestly if the government can’t sell Three Waters on the back of what has happened with storm water ...
* Dr Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Chris Hipkins continues to be the new broom in Government, re-setting his Government away from its problem areas in his Cabinet reshuffle yesterday, and trying to convince voters that Labour is focused on “bread and butter” issues. The ministers responsible for unpopular ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins continues to be the new broom in Government, re-setting his Government away from its problem areas in his Cabinet reshuffle yesterday, and trying to convince voters that Labour is focused on “bread and butter” issues. The ministers responsible for unpopular reforms in water and DHB centralisation ...
Hi,It’s weird to me that in 2023 we still have people falling for multi-level marketing schemes (MLMs for short). There are Netflix documentaries about them, countless articles, and last year we did an Armchaired and Dangerous episode on them.Then you check a ticketing website like EventBrite and see this shit ...
Nanaia Mahuta fell the furthest in the Cabinet reshuffle. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: PM Chris Hipkins unveiled a Cabinet this afternoon he hopes will show wavering voters that a refreshed Labour Government is focused on ‘bread and butter cost of living’ issues, rather than the unpopular, unwieldy and massively centralising ...
Nanaia Mahuta fell the furthest in the Cabinet reshuffle. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: PM Chris Hipkins unveiled a Cabinet this afternoon he hopes will show wavering voters that a refreshed Labour Government is focused on ‘bread and butter cost of living’ issues, rather than the unpopular, unwieldy and massively centralising ...
Shortly, the absolute state of Wayne Brown. But before that, something I wrote four years ago for the council’s own media machine. It was a day-in-the-life profile of their many and varied and quite possibly unnoticed vital services. We went all over Auckland in 48 hours for the story, the ...
Completed reads for January Lilith, by George MacDonald The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (poem), by Samuel Taylor Coleridge Christabel (poem), by Samuel Taylor Coleridge The Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok, by Anonymous The Lay of Kraka (poem), by Anonymous 1066 and All That, by W.C. Sellar and R.J. ...
Pity the poor Brits. They just can’t catch a break. After years of reporting of lying Boris Johnson, a change to a less colourful PM in Rishi Sunak has resulted in a smooth media pivot to an end-of-empire narrative. The New York Times, no less, amplifies suggestions that Blighty ...
On that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth.Genesis 6:11-12THE TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS that dumped a record-breaking amount of rain on Auckland this anniversary weekend will reoccur with ever-increasing frequency. The planet’s atmosphere is ...
Buzz from the Beehive There has been plenty to keep the relevant Ministers busy in flood-stricken Auckland over the past day or two. But New Zealand, last time we looked, extends north of Auckland into Northland and south of the Bombay Hills all the way to the bottom of the ...
Kia ora e te whānau. Today, we mark the anniversary of the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi - and our commitment to working in partnership with Māori to deliver better outcomes and tackle the big issues, together. ...
We’ve just announced a massive infrastructure investment to kick-start new housing developments across New Zealand. Through our Infrastructure Acceleration Fund, we’re making sure that critical infrastructure - like pipes, roads and wastewater connections - is in place, so thousands more homes can be built. ...
The Green Party is joining more than 20 community organisations to call for an immediate rent freeze in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, after reports of landlords intending to hike rents after flooding. ...
When Chris Hipkins took on the job of Prime Minister, he said bread and butter issues like the cost of living would be the Government’s top priority – and this week, we’ve set out extra support for families and businesses. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to provide direct support to low-income households and to stop subsidising fossil fuels during a climate crisis. ...
The tools exist to help families with surging costs – and as costs continue to rise it is more urgent than ever that we use them, the Green Party says. ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese today held their first bilateral meeting in Canberra. It was Chris Hipkins’ first overseas visit since he took office, reflecting the close relationship between New Zealand and Australia. “New Zealand has no closer partner than Australia. I was pleased to ...
New Zealand will immediately provide humanitarian support to those affected by the earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. “Aotearoa New Zealand is deeply saddened by the loss of life and devastation caused by these earthquakes. Our thoughts are with the families and loved ones affected,” ...
An historic Northland pā site with links to Ngāpuhi chief Hongi Hika is to be handed back to iwi, after collaboration by government, private landowners and local hapū. “It is fitting that the ceremony for the return of the Pākinga Pā site is during Waitangi weekend,” said Regional Development Minister ...
The Government is investing in a suite of initiatives to unlock Māori and Pacific resources, talent and knowledge across the science and research sector, Research, Science and Innovation Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Two new funds – He tipu ka hua and He aka ka toro – set to ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta departs for India tomorrow as she continues to reconnect Aotearoa New Zealand to the world. The visit will begin in New Delhi where the Foreign Minister will meet with the Vice President Hon Jagdeep Dhankar and her Indian Government counterparts, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and ...
Over $10 million infrastructure funding to unlock housing in Whangārei The purchase of a 3.279 hectare site in Kerikeri to enable 56 new homes Northland becomes eligible for $100 million scheme for affordable rentals Multiple Northland communities will benefit from multiple Government housing investments, delivering thousands of new homes for ...
The Government is supporting one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most significant historic sites, the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, as it continues to recover from the impacts of COVID-19. “The Waitangi Treaty Grounds are a taonga that we should protect and look after. This additional support will mean people can continue to ...
A memorial event at a key battle site in the New Zealand land wars is an important event to mark the progress in relations between Māori and the Crown as we head towards Waitangi Day, Minister for Te Arawhiti Kelvin Davis said. The Battle of Ohaeawai in June 1845 saw ...
More Police officers are being deployed to the frontline with the graduation of 54 new constables from the Royal New Zealand Police College today. The graduation ceremony for Recruit Wing 362 at Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua was the first official event for Stuart Nash since his reappointment as Police ...
The Government is unlocking an additional $700,000 in support for regions that have been badly hit by the recent flooding and storm damage in the upper North Island. “We’re supporting the response and recovery of Auckland, Waikato, Coromandel, Northland, and Bay of Plenty regions, through activating Enhanced Taskforce Green to ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has welcomed the announcement that Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, will visit New Zealand this month. “Princess Anne is travelling to Aotearoa at the request of the NZ Army’s Royal New Zealand Corps of Signals, of which she is Colonel in Chief, to ...
A new Government and industry strategy launched today has its sights on growing the value of New Zealand’s horticultural production to $12 billion by 2035, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said. “Our food and fibre exports are vital to New Zealand’s economic security. We’re focussed on long-term strategies that build on ...
25 cents per litre petrol excise duty cut extended to 30 June 2023 – reducing an average 60 litre tank of petrol by $17.25 Road User Charge discount will be re-introduced and continue through until 30 June Half price public transport fares extended to the end of June 2023 saving ...
The strong economy has attracted more people into the workforce, with a record number of New Zealanders in paid work and wages rising to help with cost of living pressures. “The Government’s economic plan is delivering on more better-paid jobs, growing wages and creating more opportunities for more New Zealanders,” ...
The Government is providing a further $1 million to the Mayoral Relief Fund to help communities in Auckland following flooding, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced today. “Cabinet today agreed that, given the severity of the event, a further $1 million contribution be made. Cabinet wishes to be proactive ...
The new Cabinet will be focused on core bread and butter issues like the cost of living, education, health, housing and keeping communities and businesses safe, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has announced. “We need a greater focus on what’s in front of New Zealanders right now. The new Cabinet line ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins will travel to Canberra next week for an in person meeting with Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. “The trans-Tasman relationship is New Zealand’s closest and most important, and it was crucial to me that my first overseas trip as Prime Minister was to Australia,” Chris Hipkins ...
The Government is providing establishment funding of $100,000 to the Mayoral Relief Fund to help communities in Auckland following flooding, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced. “We moved quickly to make available this funding to support Aucklanders while the full extent of the damage is being assessed,” Kieran McAnulty ...
As the Mayor of Auckland has announced a state of emergency, the Government, through NEMA, is able to step up support for those affected by flooding in Auckland. “I’d urge people to follow the advice of authorities and check Auckland Emergency Management for the latest information. As always, the Government ...
Ka papā te whatitiri, Hikohiko ana te uira, wāhi rua mai ana rā runga mai o Huruiki maunga Kua hinga te māreikura o te Nota, a Titewhai Harawira Nā reira, e te kahurangi, takoto, e moe Ka mōwai koa a Whakapara, kua uhia te Tai Tokerau e te kapua pōuri ...
Carmel Sepuloni, Minister for Social Development and Employment, has activated Enhanced Taskforce Green (ETFG) in response to flooding and damaged caused by Cyclone Hale in the Tairāwhiti region. Up to $500,000 will be made available to employ job seekers to support the clean-up. We are still investigating whether other parts ...
The 2023 General Election will be held on Saturday 14 October 2023, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. “Announcing the election date early in the year provides New Zealanders with certainty and has become the practice of this Government and the previous one, and I believe is best practice,” Jacinda ...
Jacinda Ardern has announced she will step down as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party. Her resignation will take effect on the appointment of a new Prime Minister. A caucus vote to elect a new Party Leader will occur in 3 days’ time on Sunday the 22nd of ...
The money the health system has to fight Covid-19 in the first half of 2023 is less than half of what it had in the second half of 2022, Marc Daalder reports Staff on the Covid-19 response have been terminated or quietly reassigned to other health issues as funding to ...
Bow and arrow hunting There was a certain time of year I really used to live for: camping over the Christmas break. I was 15 in the Christmas of 1976 and up to that point I'd shot a heap of goats and smaller game, but the thought of maybe getting ...
International education used to be a massive earner for New Zealand. With the borders finally open, are foreign students returning? Macleans College in East Auckland used to have more international students than any other school in the country. Then, the pandemic hit and turned it upside down. Principal Steve Hargreaves doesn't ...
Meg Parsons and Iresh Jayawardena explain why managing climate risk is a complex social justice issue Commentary and coverage of the floods in Auckland has so far focused on the severity of the flood, loss of life and injuries, damage to buildings, homes, roads and other infrastructure, on the number of people ...
A successful Minister for Auckland could foreshadow a substantially revised Cities and Regions government focusOpinion: There’s little doubt Auckland is in need of substantial ministering. It’s not just the biblical-scale deluge and resulting significant damage the region has experienced. It’s the historical sins of omission and some of commission ...
Chris Hipkins’ first offshore trip as leader went without a hitch, albeit with a low bar to clear. The challenge now is ensuring that Australian rhetoric around expat rights becomes reality, while Hipkins himself needs to figure out his own foreign policy agenda. Sam Sachdeva reports, in Canberra. Given the ...
Felicity Goodyear-Smith looks back at just how political the issue of abortion was in New Zealand On Wednesday March 25, 2020 New Zealand moved to nationwide self-isolation in response to the Covid 19 pandemic. Unless essential, there were to be no face-to-face primary care consultations. I work full-time as a professor of general ...
From purging possums and saving kiwi, to leading the Tui and turning out for the Blues, rugby record breaker Krysten Cottrell has a fascinating combination of careers, Suzanne McFadden discovers. Krysten Cottrell spends her week deep in the bush of the Kaweka Range, searching for dead rats and possums - and then ...
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By Ian Chute in Suva Fijian Broadcasting Corporation (FBC) board chairman Ajay Bhai Amrit says he has receipts to prove former FBC chief executive officer Riyaz Sayed-Khaiyum received an annual package of $387,790 including benefits and entitlements. He said this worked out to $32,315 a month and that the board ...
PNG Post-Courier PNG Defence Force Commander Major-General Mark Goina says “appropriate force” will be dealt to the gunmen who ambushed and wounded two soldiers in Saugurap, Enga Province, last week. In a statement Major-General Goina said: “A section from the PNGDF contingent deployed in Enga Province were on routine duty, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra As well as her interviews with politicians and experts, Politics with Michelle Grattan includes “Word from The Hill”, where she discusses the news with members of The Conversation’s politics team. In this podcast Michelle and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe.Lukas Coch/AAP Australia’s cash rate has hit 3.35%, after the Reserve Bank raised interest rates for the ninth time in a row – and signalled ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hannah Della Bosca, PhD Candidate and Research Assistant at Sydney Environment Institute, University of Sydney Shutterstock While the days of overt climate denial are mostly over, there’s a distinct form of denial emerging in its stead. You may have experienced ...
A potential cyclone that could bring more severe wet weather to the upper North Island is now forecast to form a day earlier, Stuff reports. Due to ideal cyclone-formation conditions over the Coral Sea, a low south of the Solomon Islands has a high chance of turning into a cyclone ...
Author I.S. Belle reveals the top five influences on her debut LGBT horror/paranormal YA novel, Zombabe.Zombabe is a LGBT found family horror/paranormal YA about a group of friends putting down an ancient evil inextricably linked to their sleepy town of Bulldeen, Maine. Does all of that bring anything to ...
New Zealand prime minister Chris Hipkins and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese are holding a joint press conference in Canberra. Watch live here. ...
The New Zealand government is providing $1.5 million in humanitarian support to those affected by destructive earthquakes in Turkey and Syria last night, foreign minister Nanaia Mahuta has announced. The contribution of $1m to Turkey and $500,000 to Syria will be made via the International Federation of Red Cross and ...
In a state-of-the-nation-style lunchtime speech in Auckland today, the leader of the Act Party has taken aim at both major party leaders. “Throughout this speech,” David Seymour told supporters at the Maritime Museum, “I will do my best to differentiate between the Chrisses, but it may not be easy.” Seymour ...
In Canberra Chris Hipkins has met with Australia’s Anthony Albanese in Canberra, exchanging a few brief words to gathered reporters before heading inside for a closed doors meeting. Hipkins was driven into the courtyard of Parliament House, where he was greeted by Albanese in person. “Welcome prime minister,” said Albanese. A beaming ...
The acclaimed fashion designer has been crowned the ‘undisputed king of the frock’ – but with identical dresses widely available on fast fashion outlets, questions are being asked about his design practices.This story was first published on Stuff. He has been described as the “knight of New Zealand fashion”, his ...
In Canberra New Zealand’s media pack has arrived at Australia’s parliament ahead of this afternoon’s visit from prime minister Chris Hipkins. The PM will be met by his counterpart Anthony Albanese in the courtyard of parliament house, before heading inside for a closed doors meeting. Following the 45 minute meeting, ...
Two new funding initiatives, totalling $22 million, have been approved by Cabinet today to help ensure the cultural sector has the “certainty and support to thrive”, announced Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. $10 million of Covid-19 recovery funding will support established arts, cultural and diversity festivals, while $12 ...
New Zealand Politics Daily is a collation of the most prominent issues being discussed in New Zealand. It is edited by Dr Bryce Edwards of The Democracy Project. Items of interest and importance todayWAITANGI, CO-GOVERNANCE, THREE WATERS Thomas Cranmer: Waitangi Day and the quiet revolution Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Waitangi in 2023: Plenty ...
ACT leader David Seymour has delivered a speech painting National and Labour as two sides of the same coin, and calling co-governance a "culture war". ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Quigley, Associate Professor of Earthquake Science, The University of Melbourne Mustafa Karali / AP A pair of huge earthquakes have struck in Turkey, leaving more than 3,000 people dead and unknown numbers injured or displaced. The first quake, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kalinda Griffiths, Scientia lecturer, UNSW Sydney Getty/Marianne Purdie Cancer figures provide stark evidence of the gap between the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous people in Australia. The difference is confronting – and it’s increasing over ...
NZ Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have used a joint media conference to affirm the nations' relationship is that of "family". ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Alcohol bans are being reimposed on Northern Territory Indigenous communities, as the federal and territory governments grapple with intractable problems in Alice Springs and elsewhere in the NT. The situation in Alice Springs and the ...
I was told to avoid gluten. I was told it was all in my head. When 10% of women experience endometriosis, why does it take so long for its classic symptoms to be recognised? It was 2011 when I had my first period. It felt like a very exciting moment ...
In Canberra Chris Hipkins has touched down in Australia’s capital – his first overseas visit since becoming prime minister just three weeks ago. After disembarking from the Airforce Boeing, Hipkins was greeted by his former caucus colleague and current high commissioner to Australia, Dame Annette King. The pair hugged on ...
The rise of TikTok-inspired ‘algospeak’ is making online communication even more of a nightmare, writes SYSCA‘s Lucy Blakiston.This is an excerpt from the Shit You Should Care About daily newsletter – sign up here.Content warning: sexual assault The other day I was chatting with a friend about algospeak – ...
School, finally, is back this week in the nation’s largest city to howls of relief from many parents and (one hopes) some students also. Yet the resumption of normal service shouldn’t obscure a curious inconsistency. The past few weeks have shown ...
MediaRoom column: On the eve of a Cabinet decision on the fate of the proposed public broadcasting merger, questions emerge over the engagement by the TVNZ chief executive of two former National government aides to change the narrative and push TVNZ's view on the Government's plan Within weeks of taking over ...
Olivia Sisson performs a good old-fashioned cost comparison – and it might change the way you buy your veges.The price of food in New Zealand is shocking. So, how to cope? The recommendations are starting to feel like the avo-toast-flat-white trope. Cut those items out and there it is, ...
An early morning fire at an egg-laying farm in Orini, Waikato yesterday has claimed the lives of at least 50,000 hens. The farm is operated by New Zealand’s largest egg producer Zeagold, the country’s biggest egg producer, whose eggs are sold under ...
The Natural and Built Environment Bill and Spatial Planning Bill will make resource management issues worse and should be withdrawn, Federated Farmers has told the Environment Select Committee. "Farmers agree the costly, slow and unpredictable processes ...
New police minister Stuart Nash has met with new health minister Ayesha Verrall to talk about the issue with the aim of preventing ram raids. Nash wants to speed up the scheduled reduction of dairies that can sell cigarettes. Nash made the comments at a police graduation ceremony in Porirua last ...
It’s Tuesday, February 7 and welcome to a special edition of The Spinoff’s live updates. Stewart Sowman-Lund will be on the ground in Canberra today as PM Chris Hipkins meets with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese. What you need to know Chris Hipkins will meet Australian PM ...
Politicking by politicians was less overt but whether there was less politics probably depends on your definition of the word and what lay beneath the optics, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Why is it becoming harder to achieve debt-free status? Money Sweetspot is a new company that uses compassion and incentives to help people pay off their debts. Co-founder Sasha Lockley talks to Simon about using gamification to increase financial literacy, breaking the cycle of poverty, and how she intends to ...
Prime minister Chris Hipkins is heading to Australia today for his first face-to-face meeting with an international leader. He’ll be meeting with Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese during his single-day visit to Canberra. The Spinoff live updates will be on the ground in Australia as the meeting takes place and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By C Raina MacIntyre, Professor of Global Biosecurity, NHMRC Principal Research Fellow, Head, Biosecurity Program, Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney Pexels/Uriel Mont The question of whether and to what extent face masks work to prevent respiratory infections such as COVID and influenza ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Mackinnon, Professor and Director, Centre for Clean Energy Technologies and Practices, Queensland University of Technology Superconducting cables transmit electicity without lossesShutterstock For most of us, transmitting power is an invisible part of modern life. You flick the switch and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Munro, Professor, Faculty of Education and Arts, Australian Catholic University Shutterstock Many students are returning to school this year face a renewed focus on grammar. Just before Christmas, the NSW curriculum was overhauled to include the “explicit teaching of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Debra Dudek, Associate professor, School of Arts and Humanities, Edith Cowan University Universal Life is full of surprises – some pleasant and some painful – but there can be no surprises without expectations. We expect the sun to come up ...
News stories have honed in on the fact Wayne Brown and his staff were left off a ‘vital’ email distribution list on the night of the Auckland floods. But internal emails from the mayor’s chief of staff show he was getting regular briefings from officials.Internal council emails obtained by ...
In a reality shaped by climate crisis, how do you think and feel about the changed present – and the changing future – without spiralling into despair?In the midst of a flood there’s not much time to think about the future. But when the water recedes, the reality of ...
06 Feb The news today of the death of 75,000 chickens at an egg farm in Waikato is yet another outrageous and avoidable tragedy. “The fact that so many hens died in this fire in the Waikato is a testament to the systemic neglect and disregard ...
Lawmakers are being urged to bridge the legal and scientific divide over braided rivers. David Williams reports What is a river? More particularly, what is a braided river? An expert group known as The Land The Law Forgot is urging politicians considering the Natural and Built Environment Bill – one ...
The first of the air force's new Poseidon aircraft has landed in New Zealand. But is this the sort of workhorse the military needs? Our old heroes of the Air Force, the P-3 Orions, have retired after 56 years of service - and the first of the flash new Poseidon ...
Chris Hipkins’ first overseas trip as Prime Minister comes on relatively friendly territory. But while there have been marked improvements in the trans-Tasman relationship since a change in Canberra, there is still plenty to discuss, as Sam Sachdeva writes In many ways, it is fitting Chris Hipkins should make Australia the ...
Fiordland National Park is the crowning jewel of our national parks and arguably our greatest tourist magnet. But conservationists warn that marine life has been put at risk because the park’s waters are unprotected. Heidi Bendikson’s investigation shows they are right. Tourists on the 'M.V Sinbad' clamber to the bow to ...
As Auckland copes with unprecedented flooding, Mairi Jay points to lessons from extreme weather events in British Columbia that could be vitally important for policy-makers and administrators here “Expect extreme weather events” the climate scientists tell us. But sometimes the extreme is beyond our imagining. On Thursday January 26, New Zealand’s Met Service predicted ...
UK and US deals for NZ novels Three of the best New Zealand novels of recent years are about to be published in the UK and the US. All three books – She's a Killer by Kirsten McDougall, Greta and Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly, and The New Animals ...
Confidence from US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell kept markets buoyant. But mortgage payments and job losses could dampen consumer spending in NZ ...
Someone left the Swift out in the rain - insurance agents are overloaded with calls about flood-damaged vehicles It’s been a big week for testing the submarining abilities of the family station wagon. Thousands of cars around the upper North Island have been written off following the devastating floods of ...
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It’s really bugging me. Is John Key our Richard III ?
He seems weighed down by the cares of office, his hair
increasingly tinted white at the temples.
I saw no hint of his goofy ‘youf’ persona around Julia Gillard.
Like Ric, he might find his own troops deserting him.
Would the real John Key please stand up ?
He does, all the time, the whole 4 or 5 of Him, depending upon the scene that is set Slippery can transform Himself from Dances with transvestites to discussing issues upon the world stage with international leaders in the blink of an eye,
He is after all Slippery…
Richard III is a bag of bones – true, there may be some similarity there!
The reshuffle was one such rare moment.
No-one saw the knives go in, everyone was surprised, the new order settled in seconds.
“I can smile, and murder while I smile.”
Interestingly, that line is only in the McKellen movie adaptation of Richard III, not the play – it’s originally from Henry VI Part 3.
Interesting and valid article on the demise or dismantling of democracy and the rise of authoritarian..
http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/13998-the-new-extremism-and-politics-of-distraction-in-the-age-of-austerity
Thanks. Read the first bit. Will read the rest after work today.
This quote from Arundhati Roy, is very relevant at home and abroad:
But according to you Karol as a Deconstructionist, language is meaningless anyway, so what does it matter, language and words are only good for “deploying…like weapons”?
According to Deconstructionism, isn’t Roy’s world view, just that, a purely subjective experience, there is no objective reality out there for it to attache to, its no more truthful or valid or evil than Hitler’s world view?
Still pigeonholing people, k_p? Interesting.
Can’t Karol stick up for herself?
Does she really need her girl pal QofT to rush in snarling and biting?
QofT, you repeatedly avoids stating what intellectual school she subscribes to.
What are you afraid of?
For the record, QofT, your girl pal has admitted she is a Deconstructionist, with a small qualification interestingly enough – ‘for the most part’ was it if I remember correctly – a failed attempt to hedge her bet I think.
What are you afraid of?
Some of us get bored with your fixation.
You tried this ages ago, then never replied to Karol when she explained herself.
It was either sniper shots at Karol, or sniper shots at those troublemakers born on another patch of dirt. Got stats yet?
I remember Karol saying she was a bit of this a bit of that.
It’s BS of course.
Acting like you are scouring a rubbish tip of discarded and broken ideologies you don’t actually have a clue about, picking up fragments that you think are ‘useful’ to your vested interests is called creating propaganda.
Marxism, neo or whatever, Deconstructionism/Postmodernism or whatever those flaky followers like to call it, are ideologies which make truth claims about the way the world is. Claims that are easily disprovable.
You build your world view/argument on these failed ideologies as Feminists do, then you are exposed to the same failures.
Wailing that you are being “pigeon holed” doesn’t change that.
Ditto for neo-liberalism/neo conservatism and those scrambling to defend it in the wake of 2008.
Oh my god, k_p, do you mean you don’t actually get why people keep using the word “pigeonholed”?
I’ve only linked to the reason a few dozen hilarious times now.
Just because you do it doesn’t mean that everyone does. Karol certainly doesn’t share your attitude toward “thinking”. Perhaps if you gave the rather pathetic misogynist stroking a rest some time, maybe the blood will flood back to the organ that is responsible for actual thought.
In case that was too subtle for you…
Most people think about things before they spew it out on the rest of us… You just seem to wank a lot when you get excited. Your keyboard must have a sticky problem whenever you reply to a female commentator.
Lol, I’ll leave the rest of your ignorant absurdities to others, but seeing you are so hung up on labels, please enlighten me on what happened with regard to neo-Conservatism in 2008.
Pretty strong suggestion in that comment that you don’t know anything about Neo-Conservatism.
k_p: I remember Karol saying she was a bit of this a bit of that.
It’s BS of course.
Acting like you are scouring a rubbish tip of discarded and broken ideologies you don’t actually have a clue about, picking up fragments that you think are ‘useful’ to your vested interests is called creating propaganda.
Gee, you sure do show your superficial understanding of the umbrella terms you are referring to. I assume you mean that comment fatty helpfully linked to, of which I associated myself with bits of poststructuralism and neo-Marxism, etc. Do you understand the meaning of “heterogeneous” as used at the link?
Note in the second line the reference to “critical theorists” as being included in the general collection of post-structuralists theories. Click on the link and you will see that neo-Marxism is included there.
ie I was referring to an eclectic mix of related theories all included under very general terms that you don’t really seem to understand.
I don’t know how anyone can do anything but pick out various bits of each, as ones they most agree with.
Scouring rubbish tips for discarded and broken ideologies about and picking up fragments that you think are ‘useful’.
That’s not creating propaganda.
That’s bricolage!
I don’t have any subscriptions, it’s just too difficult keeping my address and direct debits up-to-date.
I am sure that Karol can and will reply to you in due course.
Perhaps you need to read her comment at 2.1 again – in particular the first line.
“Thanks. Read the first bit. Will read the rest after work today.”
Note the bit about “‘after work today”.
Come on, you don’t really expect k_p to read what people actually write do you?
Especially when it’s women writing, because our ladybrains can’t come up with awesome arguments about deconstructionist marxist neo-anarcho-eco-feminism like k_p’s.
Edit – reply to CW
LOL – no!
Just could not help myself – I usually try to ignore idiots.
k_p: your girl pal has admitted she is a Deconstructionist, [citation please.
Why do you continue to insist that people are what they’re not?
k_p: But according to you Karol as a Deconstructionist, [citation needed] language is meaningless [citation needed] anyway, so what does it matter, language and words are only good for “deploying…like weapons”? [citation needed]
For an objectivist, you make a lot of loose claims based on little evidence.
Do you have anything to contribute about the significant article GeoffC linked to, or are you just trying to divert his thread?
This “theft of language” is being most effectively deployed by the coal industry to hide the dirty nature of their business, using words to mask intent and to mean exactly the opposite of what they have traditionally meant. For example Fonterra say they plan to excavate a major “Escarpment Mine” Just south of Auckland, that looks likely to become the ground zero in the fight against climate change in the Auckland area. Fonterra facing unexpectedly stiff opposition from local residents and Auckland based environmentalists, hoped an “Escarpment Mine” wouldn’t get the same emotional response from Aucklanders that “Open Cast Mine” might.
Everyone knows what an open cast mine looks like, from unpleasant pictures seen on television and in books.
“Escarpment” in geology means a natural feature of the landscape, either a very steep natural slope, or slanting cliff face. The coal mining industry have subverted the original meaning of this word, for their own uses. Using the word ‘Escarpment’ avoids the unpleasant mental pictures that automatically form in people’s minds on hearing the words ‘Open Cast Mine’. ‘Escarpment Mine’, much more pleasant.
<blockquote.Dairy juggernaut Fonterra is planning a major new coal mine in north Waikato, saying that will be cheaper than buying coal from Solid Energy, the state-owned enterprise axing 120 jobs at Huntly, blaming falling prices.
Fonterra's coal mining company Glencoal is about to apply for resource consents to develop an open cast coalmine on 30ha of farmland it has owned for 10 years between Mangatawhiri Rd and the new State Highway 2 at Maramarua.
ANDREA FOX AND MATT BOWEN http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/business/7759938/Coal-costs-force-Fonterras-hand
The name Mangatangi is more familiar to Aucklanders as being the location of the Mangatangi Dam, Auckland’s largest water-storage dam. With a capacity of 39 million cubic metres, it supplies nearly a quarter of the city’s bulk water.
Aucklanders are not too happy to learn that it will also be the location of the regions biggest opencast coal mine. Oops, pardon me ‘escarpment mine’.
PS. This proposed mine was originally going to be publicy notified with a chance for public submissions. But on meeting unexpectedly stiff resistance from locals and environmentalitst, this is now in doubt with Fonterra considering seeking fast track permission. (Maybe the language trick didn’t work).
The Truth-Out.Org article – the politics of disconnect. And we wonder why the polls read as they do. “Mr Key’s a ‘nice man’……..honourably doing all he can in the circumstances. Very well. Kia Ora……”
Deliberate is what it is………brought here to do the business.
Not an easy article to read being so very very American, but quite unnerving with a clear echo with what’s happening here in NZ. Makes one wonder where the brief is coming from?
Thanks GeoffC, very interesting. A lot of parallels between US and NZ.
There is an interview with John Tamihere in the SST this morning (http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8279775/Tamihere-wants-to-return-to-politics/). The headline says it all, he wants to get back into Parliament.
He is his usual aggressive obnoxious self but amongst the abuse and self obsessed diatribe are a couple of pearlers. About Paula Bennett he says “I can’t stand what she is doing to beneficiaries, I just won’t tolerate taking a stick to the most vulnerable, who, by and large, don’t want to be there.”
And about the distribution of wealth he says “[i]n this government, the few get rich in the name of the many. That just can’t continue.” So government, he says, has to become far more involved.
If only he learned to be more civilised and circumspect he could become a very good politician.
Yes. I read it and thought he was very good on the class/beneficiaries/anti-wealthy elites stuff. But his prejudices against people/qualities outside of various socially constructed “norms” undo all the good stuff he says.
There you go with that Deconstructionist nonsense again, Karol.
“various socially constructed “norms””
What about your socially constructed feminist ideas, values, attitudes? Can’t they be deconstructed as well, aren’t they also just another set of self serving formulae, Karol?
It’s like that nonsensewith gay “marriage’, you were banging on about “binary opposites” – that’s just pure academic pedantry.
Ditto with the “essentialism” cry that goes up around here to dismiss any opinion you lot don’t like. It’s a bit of jargon made up by the Academic Left, premised on the same old flaky, 1970’s French philosophy, Deconstructionist/Feminist nonsense.
Oh, k_p. It’s seriously cute how you keep popping up whenever a woman has an opinion to try and score some pseudoacademic point about what you think the term “social construct” means.
Do you not know what Deconstructionism is?
Ooooh, yeah, k_p, educate the feminist, that’ll show her, oooooh you’re such a master debater!!! *orgasm*
hahaha K_P needs some aloe vera for that burn! It would seem he lets the dictionary do the thinking for him.
@Kiwi Prometheus
Having looked it up, it appears that Deconstructionism is about finding meaning in texts by uncovering underlying assumptions. The Basics of
Philosophy pages. point out that it is “notoriously difficult to define” and that some critics have “gone so far as to claim it is a dangerous form of Nihilism”.
Nihilism appears to be where K.P is pushing it.
You can push any philosophy or analytical approach to extremes and it will be…well…extreme. Keeping an eye on a wider perspective, therefore is required with any philosophy or analytical approach.
With regard to deconstructionism, it appears useful; if we don’t check up on our basic assumptions from time to time we really will deviate from our aims and ideals. I believe doing this “checking” is part of what is commonly called “thinking”.
I can imagine that those who are “winning” under the basic assumptions going by unquestioned would not like this form of analytical approach.
I would question those who think they are “winning” under basic assumptions going by unquestioned. I really don’t think there are many people at all who are currently “winning” at present. That is, not unless you thrive in living in a divided, unhappy and stressed society that is heading for financial, social and environmental meltdown.
Yeah, as I understand it deconstructionism of more of an analytic tool than a philosophy.
Interesting that there is no reply from K.P. One could be forgiven for thinking that this “deconstructionism” argument was a poorly thought out faux intellectual comment that was in actuality simply trying to get someone to STFU.
My money’s on copy-pasta/reworking of something k_p saw on a men’s rights forum, probably Reddit-based.
Good points there, bl @1.28pm. And after a day at work, I am not that interested in untangling all of k_p’s off-target claims, unsubstantiated and loose assumptions, and poor understanding of theory/ies. I have other more useful things I’d rather be doing.
kiwi_prometheus – do you know what ‘stalking’ is?
k_p: There you go with that Deconstructionist nonsense again, Karol. How did you decide that I was deconstructing and not doing an older form of semiotic (structuralist) analysis, or some discourse analysis, or applying critical theory, or just doing what most folks do here when they critically read a newspaper article?
Where did I mention “binary opposites” on open mike today?
Tamihere has an image in his head of the good deserving worker (generally male) that Labour should go into bat for. It’s a cloth cap vision that was not even entirely relevant in the 1930s. As far as I’m concerned, he’s far too much like Shane Jones, and can shove his political aspirations up his back pussy. In today’s world he would do far more harm than good.
The fact that he can say something that sounds militant and left wing only serves to show how far to the right Shearer and the ABC have remained. Instead of complaining about a male beneficiary on a roof, Tamihere would complain if they weren’t driving a ute. I thought the left in general had moved well past his sort of blokiness, but maybe not.
What a hypocrite. He was waving his own stick around years before Paula even thought about picking hers up.
And it is all well and good saying “So government, he says, has to become far more involved”, he really needs to spell out that policies he would adopt.
And didn’t he take the side of the POA against their workers in that dispute?
Well he’s got the right level of arrogance and double standards to be back in parliament amongst like minded characters and he’d know all about diversion of public monies for personal gain.
What DS needs to realise is he’d stab him in the back given half the chance and is not a team player so it’s a major judgement call, if JT can take a seat off the nat’s why not I say as they’ve got plenty of candidates who can’t do that so far.
Agreed. The Labour caucus would be benefit from his energy and passion. However JT’s unrestrained “bull in the china shop” manner during his previous term as a MP lost him a lot of friends on his own side (and continues to alienate to this day). Without wise mentoring I suspect JT would stumble back into his familiar form and serve as a liability rather than an asset to the caucus.
So he gets your cooing approval if its an enemy target he hits, but squeal in outrage when you come under friendly fire, LOL.
Duh!? What a pointless comment, [email protected]. When you strip way your emotive, subjective sneer, all you are doing is outlining my comment in general terms: i.e. I agree with some things Tamihere says and not others. And that is unusual or wrong,…. how?
Why not try engaging with the substance of my or others comments, instead of such pointless general sneers?
lol
Even if the military analogy stood, why would that be wrong?
Or do you believe that the appropriate response to being struck by so-called “friendly” fire is “thank you, sir, may I have another”?
If only he learned to be more civilised and circumspect he could become a very good politician.
Yeah, unlikely, micky, given he says:
“Tamihere reckons it’s not what he says, but how he says it that gets him into trouble. He reckons people know he’s saying the right thing, “but they might be far more genteel or academic [how they say it]. I’m not”.”
Because you know, he’s clearly just saying what we’re all thinking, he just doesn’t sugar-coat it, man. Just like Paul Henry.
“Just like Paul Henry.”
A left arse cheek to match the one on the right.
Any volunteers to occupy the centre ground?
Well … not if we’re going to keep running with that analogy … 😛
Ba dum tish 😆
I greet this new “positioning” from a man who is interested in charter schools with some caution. It looks as if he is shaping himself up for one of the West Auckland seats; either Carmel’s, or if they take Hooton’s advice, New Lynn. Hooton, who seems to take “left” and “sinister” as across the board synonyms, was earlier this week suggesting that they metaphorically “cut Cunliffe’s throat,” as well as making oblique remarks about his family.
I agree with you, Olwyn. I’ve just read the story in SST re Tamihere, and I don’t think he’s changed one little bit. What I find interesting is that Shearer has endorsed his re-entry into Labour membership, and it sounds as if he (Tamihere) is going after the Waitakere seat. Which, after the hard yards put in by Carmel Sepuloni to get in behind with only nine votes to win it, is cheeky to say the least. I hope the Waitakere Labour people can see behind the cheeky grin and charm to the self-interested, egotistical rightwing boy who wants another “go” at Parliament.
It is hard to tell just how much influence Hooton has, but it seems as if there are certain quarters that are not content to bury the hatchet now that Shearer has been endorsed by his colleagues, but instead want to continue to sideline the centre-left of the party while tacking rightwards. Not only that, they seem to favour right wingers on that ground alone, with competence, hard work and even the ability to win seats coming a distant second. I will be interested to see what shape the reshuffle takes.
There is no way he would succeed in Waitakere and New Lynn would revolt rather than support him. We have a perfectly good electorate MP right now …
Yeah but ….. Mickey …. (in reply 37) you know as well as I do sometimes those selections can be “rigged” by certain members of caucus/HO – and Tamihere WAS endorsed by Shearer – which speaks spades to me !
What I also found fascinating in the SST story is that Tamihere is going to ask Maori to change from their Maori vote ie Te Tai Tokerau – to a General vote. That’s pretty cheeky on his part.
“… it seems more likely Tamihere wil persuade Labour Maori members to swtich electoral rolls into the Waitakere seat, giving him enough clout to win selection and he hops, beat Bennett”
However, the story also mentions he’s popular out South Auckland way, so maybe he’ll have a tilt at Ross Robertson’s seat if RR decides he’s had enough !
I agree that you have a perfectly good MP Micky, I just do not trust the decision makers, and do not think I have good reason to trust them, to be honest.
I think the revolt would go beyond New Lynn Olwyn. In fact the party would be decimated and it would take years (if ever) for them to get back to it’s present state. They could kiss goodbye to the next election or failing that, they would be a one term govt. and that would be the end of Labour for a long time.
That’s why Hooton et al are working their butts off fomenting as much mischief as they can.
There are none so blind as those who will not see.
Oops Olwyn. I was grazing over my recent comments and I came across this one. My last sentence. I wasn’t referring to you when I said that. Rather the ABC club…
It’s OK Anne – I got what you meant. I notice that they never seem to distance themselves from Hooton’s comments. The fact that he supports Shearer appears to licence him to say what he likes. That headline in the NBR last week was simply outrageous.
I’d like to see JT take back a seat, none of this safe seat comfy stuff, he has to earn it.
Mangakiekie is winnable and has an ordinary and lazy candidate who got walked over in debates by slimy smiley Sam. Win that and you deserve a go, not as a minister just an MP.
Tamihere already stood for mayor of Waitakere City and he lost. What makes him think the Waitakere electorate would be any more keen on him?
It does not matter what Tamihere says under any circumstances.
There have been too many examples of his lack of judgement for him to e treated with any respect.
The count of sins commences at the figure 192,000 and goes upwards rapidly.
When he last ran in Tamaki he never once thanked the electorate workers who canvassed and erected signs for him.
I’ve never met a west Auckland labour volunteer worker who would piss on him if they found him on fire.
Yep. I put up billboards for him once. You could tell my ones, they were the ones with two extra staples – one through each of his nasty piggy eyes.
You know JT would make a great heir apparent to lead New Zealand First – if his ego and Winston’s could work with the other’s!
I thought Brendan Who was imported into NZFirst to fulfill that particular role, shame He has been so efficiently kneecapped and dispatched to Siberia…
quod erat demonstrandum 🙂
Interesting to read 3 columns about Waitangi Day especially relating to Titewhai Harawira.
Matt notes the pathos
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10864403
Rodney Hide – that sad wanker reminds us all of why we can be thankful he’s out of parliament – he is so subtle not
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10864396
And a very nice article from Simon Day
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8283238/A-tete-a-tete-with-Titewhai
It is very hard to argue against the line that Titewhai uses that, “We get benefits as a Treaty partner because we fight for them.” It seems to me to be very true and one of the major reasons that the fight will continue – because equality has not arrived in this country yet.
And these lines are exceptional from the Day interview
Oh dear that buggers up the bullshit memes put forward against tangata whenua.
The only way imo to sort these issues out is for some humbleness – and not from tangata whenua.
Titewhai hit the nail on the head when she said about Key – “he’s just talking to Pakeha……”.
Muttering conceived by spin doctors and calculated for throw-away line delivery at Waitangi.
The rationale – to tap the subliminal anti-Maori racism rampant in this country. And like the seasoned real estate agent talking heads (“we are part of the story”) Gower et al close on Key’s behalf.
No Key only talks to RICH Pakeha, the rest of us are ignored.
These contributions encapsulates the situation of NZ quite well. Geoff and Karol’s : “the new extremism…” and a quote from Arundhati Roy vis a vis the statements from Titwhai Harawira. Given the landscape and situation of NZ – is was never so important to be “one people” and yet there is constant work on creating two nations. One wonders to whose benefit.
One people, eh? How about we all become Maori, or Polynesian. That would solve the perceived problem would it not? Or are you suggesting that the only option is for us all to be Pakeha?
Just all New Zealanders would be a good start.
So we should all accept being part of a political entity imposed by Europeans, and named after a mainland European Dutch province. Can’t help thinking that this is a little bit exclusionary. Why does this group get naming rights above anyone else? Are they more cleverer than everyone else? Are they more moral than everyone else? Are they more superior than everyone else? Two things are certain: They are more whiter, and they are more racist than everyone else.
“Just all New Zealanders would be a good start.”
Yeah, like I said, the only option is for us all to be one with the dominant culture ie Pakeha.
Of course we are already all NZers, all that is required for that is to either be born here or to jump certain citizenship hoops. Once you have a NZ passport or entitlement to one then you are a NZer. What you really mean is you want one people culturally. Which takes me back to my first point – which culture do you want us all to be? And why should Maori be assimilated into that when they have equal rights to their own sovereignty under Te Tiriti?
@ Colonial Weka
I think Foreign Waka was referring to something a whole lot wider than creating one dominant paradigm, rather seemed to be referring to asking NZers to unite and strengthen themselves against this (failing) dominant paradigm. I read FW’s comment as speaking to the need for the people of NZ to become less easily divided on important issues.
I don’t really follow that blue leopard. I feel solidarity with many Maori re the dominant paradigm. I also recognise that they have been thinking about this, and working hard, for generations in ways that my people haven’t. That counts for something. I don’t need to be ‘one’ with Maori in order to work with them against oppression. All we need to common ground and common purpose, and that exists to varying degrees, but I don’t beleive that we have to be the same or of one mind. In fact I think that lessens us in many ways.
FW specifically refers to two nations, and I took that to be about Maori and Pakeha. FW states it as a bad thing. I don’t see this divide you talk about. I see Maori issues continually being sidelined, or ignored, or not even recognised by the dominant culture. Hence Titewhai’s comment that they have to fight for their treaty rights. And when they do, they get accused of creating divisions. Sorry, but IMO it ain’t Maori that are causing this problem. It’s Pakeha unwillingness to deal with reality and other ways of understanding the world than their own that creates the problems. We WANT Maori to assimilate into Pakeha culture. They can keep their groovy cultural things that we like (haka, art, some te reo), but we will not tolerate them existing as a people in their own right and self-determination. Hence the fight and what you see as division (I think).
I used to think that Pakeha needed to change, but I don’t hold that hope so much any more, although I will still work for that. I think in reality
time will resolve the problem – eventually Polynesians will outnumber European descendants and NZ will become a Pacific Island once again instead of an outpost of the Queen of England.
btw, I find the notion of ‘one people’ pretty offensive. It takes me immediately to people like Pauline Hanson. I’m not sure that is where you are, but if you are going to use those terms then please understand the political context they exist within. Hanson’s ‘One Nation’ ideas are racist and exclusionary and in complete denial of the reality of Aboriginal people. She would get on well with John Ansell. These are not people who will join use in the fight against oppression.
@ Colonial Weka
Well perhaps I was misunderstanding Foreign Waka’s comment. I understood the message to be similar to what you write here. Waka’s comment referenced not only Titewhai’s comment, also Geoff’s, link, which I only had a quick scan of, however believed it to be about the divide and rule and distraction techniques being used on us nearly constantly. Therefore not specifically about race; that is only one division being used, there are many, low waged vs unemployed, middle income earners vs lower income earners, employers vs employees, gay vs straight the list is endless.
I understood the “two nations” to be simply “dividedness”; not as in race. It depends on what particular issue is being presented as in which way our nation is being split in two in any particular moment.
Your btw links in as an example of what Karol quoted Arundhati Roy as saying. (comment 2.1 above). Are you saying that we can’t use the word “one nation” anymore without bringing up the spin of exclusionary and racism that some bigot in Australia sold? Thats very sad. She doesn’t have exclusive rights to the concept of people uniting.
Yes, it’s possible that I have misunderstood FW too. Perhaps they can clarify.
“Are you saying that we can’t use the word “one nation” anymore without bringing up the spin of exclusionary and racism that some bigot in Australia sold? Thats very sad. She doesn’t have exclusive rights to the concept of people uniting.”
It’s not about the words so much as the concept. The words could be reclaimed. I just don’t agree with the basic premise of ‘one people’. We are NOT one people. We are a nation of many peoples, and the reasons we don’t have as much unity as we might want is because of lack of cultural awareness. Trying to merge all cultures won’t solve that.
Where the right or whoever are creating division as a way of gaining political power, then I agree this is a problem. I just don’t believe the ‘one people’ meme is the solution. Worse, it plays directly into their hands. Have you seen John Ansell’s rhetoric?
“Have you seen John Ansell’s rhetoric”?
Lol, no thank goodness!! Yet I can imagine….
Yes, I think there is not really any argument here. It ends up being what we associate words with. I have no problem with “One” being a concept involving uniting whilst still retaining diversity; yet I can see how you associate it with a concept involving a merging cultures.
I agree that merging cultures is not a positive way to go. Acknowledging and appreciating differences, to me is far less “ist”. We can’t all be exactly the same, and how horrid if we were!.
very quaint and naive otv
Seems that you have not cottoned on that these constant divisions amongst the races is giving advantage to someone. You figure out who that is and you might just see what the real game here is. It does not matter what race you are (really!) but it does matter whether the homophobic tendencies on anyone’s part is being used to undermine NZ as a whole.
Foreign Waka, there is no such thing as race. We are all one species. It’s the belief in race that is one of the causes of racism.
OK – are you making the comment BECAUSE my synonym says FOREIGN or do you want to reinvent biology? You can replace the term if you want to with “ethnic group” or “different people”. Don’t politicize the word race, its perfectly legitimate in a scientific sense. Besides, you comment just shows exactly what my point was and thank you for demonstrating so vividly the issue at hand.
No, nothing to do with your name.
Not sure what you mean otherwise. Biologically, there is ONE human race (Homo sapiens). NZer is not a race. We are all the same species.
I think you are talking about ethnicity and culture. I don’t understand why you want that to be ‘one’. But as blue leopard and I were mentioning, perhaps you have been misunderstood. Would you care to clarify your point?
We are supposed to ALL be New Zealanders.
Quite right.
David, what makes you think that all New Zealanders are not ALL New Zealanders?
+1 Foreign Waka,
Pretty absurd responses to your accurate comment. I, too, would like to know to whose benefit actively dividing us is for? I sure as hell wish the majority would realize that its not to their benefit.
“One people” is an attitude of inclusiveness, the responses from CW & Jenny omit to acknowledge this. There can still be diversity and an attitude of “we’re all in this together”. We don’t have to become one colour, or clones. How foolish to even suggest that.
Britain after Stonehenge program on Choice TV relayed how the Romans gave a hoard of silver and gold to a “friendly” Scottish tribe to keep them onside and try and divide the clan loyalties. This was over 1000 years ago. Do we not learn anything
Please people, try and engage and see what games are being played on you. This is getting really serious. Look at what is going on overseas. Our paradigm is not working. We need collective force to shift toward a more positive direction.
Our paradigm is not working.
I agree…Our biculturalism is Pakeha defined biculturalism and it is not working.
But I don’t see the problem as being that we are not “one people”. Biculturalism would work better if it was not within a neoliberal paradigm – that is the problem.
There would be nothing wrong if we had two cultural norms, so long as they were both given equal opportunity to exist. Currently, we have token Maori culture that gets further subjugated by our racist economic system.
We need to redefine biculturalism so that both cultures can exist. Promoting only eurocentric ideals failed us before, during the 1970s, and this was after 2 decades of an equity based economic system.
To ditch biculturalism now, we would be left with the worst possible combination of economic and cultural systems. – neoliberalism and mono-culturalism. Yuk.
I think you miss the point here, Fatty.
An attitude of “we are all in it together” has nothing to do with colour, bi-culturalism, gender or any of these other ways of dividing us up.
Our dominant paradigm has been referred to as the “white male paradigm” by some. I will use this term to get my point across.
My observation is that the closer you are to a white male mentality the more likely you are to be “successful” in that hierarchy, I emphasize “mentality” because those who are “winning”, recieving accolades and value in the hierarchy and whom support and promulgate this dominant paradigm are not solely white nor male; we all know examples where some of the worst offenders are quite other than that physically. and those losing are not solely brown, pink, yellow, red. They are also white. And they are also white and male.
The more people who realize this the more we realize we are all in this together and the less prone we will be to being distracted and divided and ruled.
I need to add that I don’t believe many people are “winning” at all currently. Some might think they are, however there has to be some denial involved when the trends overseas are taken into account. It doesn’t matter whether you are “middle class” (what ever that means) and/or “non-political” and fairly “comfortable”; these groups of people are being affected by the state of chaos that our Western society has become. It doesn’t matter whether you are brown, black, white. It doesn’t matter what your gender is. Most peoples interests are being adversely affected.
There are problems that need to be dealt with and aren’t being, and one thing that would help is that we realize our similarities; we breathe, we love, we hurt, we all want what is best for ourselves.. If we could realize what unites us, we would start respecting one another, and one anothers’ different interests and start ensuring we were moving toward a better direction. This is not what is occurring at present. We are being more and more pitted against one another.
I think you miss the point here, Fatty.
Yes, when I read those last two comments, and the one that I replied to, I have no idea what your point is…but I am interested
The problem is that the term ‘one people’ or ‘we are all in this together’ is usually a call to end biculturalism…that is how I read it.
There are problems that need to be dealt with
Can you be more specific? I am confused
Yes, I wondered whether that was the case re you referring to biculturalism, which wasn’t what I was talking about.
Basically I’m commenting on getting NZ people in a state of mind where they are not so damned dividable! (My comment was in response to Foreign Waka’s comment at (5) and the response FW got to that comment.)
If people see what they have in common with one another, they are more likely to work together and be less easily divided.
re There are problems that need to be dealt with
I guess I am being deliberately vague because I’m not in the mood for searching for links to substantiate my point!
I’m referring to the type of problems illustrated out of the global financial crisis; how we are witnessing less and less morality and integrity from those in the upper echelons of our society (Western, not solely NZ), where people still appear to be giving our superiors credit for “knowing what they are doing” where its no longer due. I mean, these people such as bankers and politicians have been caught red-handed again and again and again, yet no real response or change to anything; not rectifying regulations, not the way things are reported and not how people vote. Just denial.
When a movement began that would have started getting the problems addressed, (Occupy Wall Street) here in NZ, it appeared people were more concerned over the state of our public lawns?? Our media, along with our lawn-valuing population, appear to have entirely checked out; I live amongst people of many different nationalities and I am constantly hearing how particularly dreadful New Zealand media is and how uninformed the people are (not surprising really).
I’ll make a short mention of the entirely illegal wars our Western society are involving themselves in, ones where there are war crimes committed and the initiators of which simply go on to get another, probably higher paid jobs, rather than be done for their crimes
Despite all these issues our media continues to push the lowest common denominator in attitudes. For what? Ratings? And in the meantime, it appears that people are still merely supporting a government because the main frontsperson “seems like a nice guy” despite oodles of dodgy, dodgy behaviour, incompetence and fiascos. And do I even bother to mention the approach our largest opposition party…is…taking…nah, I think you’ll probably get my point…
These are the types of problems I was referring to needed to be dealt with.
well said, I get your point and agree with you.
The issue with our media is a big one. We tend to have a bland and predictable media who perpetuate ignorance, but I think that is partly to do with the size of our population.
Mainstream sources of media – TV/newspapers/radio have such a limited amount of people to aim at, as a result they all sit in the middle and offer nothing. Compared with the UK – they have enough people to support left wing and right wing papers, as a result there are contrasting views and an environment is created where debate will occur…overcoming this is difficult.
This is compounded by the general agreement of most of our political parties. In a way, the demise of ACT has almost been a burden for the left…without them contrasting opinions also disappear. Nothing promotes true left policies more than an ACT supporter opening their mouth.
The population issue is a real one. But it pays to remember that in the UK you get the tabloids as well as the Times, The Gaurdian, and the Independent. While you do get more top notch stuff, you also get a lot more crap.
Thanks Fatty,
Hmm interesting . That gives me some insight thanks.
It is rather strange though, I was just considering how that we are a small nation, one might hope that spinning bigoted type attitudes wouldn’t “work” because we are only a few degrees separated and most of us must know plenty of others from different walks of life, therefore understand how different people’s needs and the issues they face are. This has certainly been what has caused me to open my attitudes up and pull my horns in and learn to consider a matter from different angles before drawing conclusions.. I would think we would be more understanding (and thus tolerant) toward one another’s different needs and issues for this reason. This does not appear to be the way it is working though.
Your Conspiracies Today Breaking News!
No. 94: Christpher Dorner.
http://www.scpr.org/blogs/news/2013/02/08/12476/lapd-manhunt-some-cheer-on-fugitive-christopher-do/
How is that a conspiracy?
It’s not, but that won’t stop the wackjobs. The first facebook link:
We Are All Chris Dorner
Christopher John Dorner is the victim of a manhunt and smear campaign. 5 years ago he was fired…
For many his allegations about police conduct ring true hence the support.
Great Bernard Hickey interview with the guy who spent a decade trying to get peoples attention about Madoff’s ponzi scheme.
He even got a couple of guns and sent his wife to shooting school, it was getting that hairy.
He reckons Madoff was burning through the world markets and clients and would have reached NZ eventually if it hadn’t crashed.
Now he makes a fortune detecting and alerting US authorities about ponzi schemes.
He describes the clues that give a ponzi schemer away.
http://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/63049/double-shot-interview-harry-markopolos-how-i-found-worlds-biggest-ponzi-scheme-8-years
Madoff would have arrived here in the nick of time to see the whole s**t-pile collapse as the likes of Sir Doug et al beat him by a long nose to suck all the cash out of the bloated upper-middle class with finance schemes that bore a remarkable resemblance to Madoff’s very own little money spinner…
2014, once again, will see politicians from all sides promising much,smiling and waving,
speeches that convince some, that’s the trickery,the hoodwinking of the political game,
once elected the hammer comes down,all bets are off,they are in office,why should
they care, or even stand by the words they uttered, prior to gaining office.
‘Democracy means government by discussion,but it is only effective if you can stop
people talking’ By Clement Atlee.
‘Democracy is the name we give the people, whenever we need them. By Robert,
Marquis de Flers and Arman de Caillavet L’habit vert.
Above quotes sourced from the Collins Thesaurus.
Record snow in a warming world: The science is clear.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8283594/King-find-recalls-Savage-mystery
Hi Anne, success, i hope the above link works,
thanks for your help. 🙂
Savage was one of our ‘truly great’ PM’s
He was indeed.
Yes it works. Now for someone to explain to me – in laywoman’s language – how you create a link using your own words like “this” or “have a look at this” etc.
Anne.
http://www.ironspider.ca/format_text/hyperlinks.htm
Thanks joe90…. Mystery solved, I’m a bit ashamed to say.
Umm… not layman enough for me. I will print a copy and find someone to explain what it all means and how it translates into practice. Thanks anyway joe90. It’s a start. 🙂
I can try in lay-person 🙂 In this example I’ll use square brackets [ ] so we can see what’s going on, but when you do it for real you’ll use angle brackets .
There are three bits to remember. The opening tag (which includes the address), the clickable text, and the closing tag.
————————-
The opening tag starts with a bracket, the letter a, and the phrase href=
Like so:
[a href=
That bit will always be the same for every link you make. The “a” means “this is a link”, and the href= means “this is the address the link takes us to”
The next bit of the opening tag is the address you want the link take us to. In this example it’s a youtube video address: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHRPmPn8pCY
We put quote marks around the address which mean “this is the beginning and end of the address”, and then a bracket, and that’s the end of the opening tag.
Like so:
[a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHRPmPn8pCY”]
————————-
Next is the text that you want to be able to click. This can be anything at all. It doesn’t need quote marks or anything, whatever you put here is exactly what you’ll see.
Like so:
[a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHRPmPn8pCY”]felix’s new band
————————–
The last bit is the closing tag. It’s just a bracket, a slash, another a, and another bracket. It means “this is the end of the link”.
Like so:
[a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHRPmPn8pCY”]felix’s new band[/a]
————————–
And that’s it! Replace the square brackets in the example with angle brackets and this is what you’ll get: felix’s new band
Your turn…
Testing:
(ahref=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjQimIWClEw”) If you like Patti Smith You Might Like This(/a)
Many thanks Felix. I’ve been wanting to learn how to do this for ages
edit – bugger!
You need to use angle brackets, like < >
Also put a space between the “a” and the “href”
Apart from that you’re golden
second time lucky
edit: yes!
Ta Felix
Riverdance
Here goes
edit: She’s done it. She’s so clever. 🙂
Thanks felixviper.
Yay!
That you with the white hat and the slide guitar, felix?
could be…
One of my younger incarnations in the sixties was as a bass and slide guitar player. Now play slide lapstyle and bottleneck- deeply satisfying music. Still raises my neck hairs when I hear a slide player…….
I hear you. Something primal about slide that you don’t get from regular guitar.
Sonny Landreth: Almost Everybody Slides.
Probably drilled by him spinning in his grave.
I was disappointed to hear that Phil Goff, Phil Twyford and others apparently supported John Tamihere’s return to the party; perhaps they could share their reasoning here at The Standard. In today’s newspaper article John sneers about ‘the sisterhood’, and his comments about Paula Bennett’s appearance are an absurd sideshow, a circus he would bring to Parliament should Labour be foolish enough to let him swan back. He asks whether instead of calling Paula fat he should describe her as morbidly obese. Why does he make any negative comment about a woman’s appearance? What does this say about his character, about him as a man, and about those who overlook his ugly proclivities to renew his footing in Labour? In light of recent party tensions, I find myself wondering what sort of government Labour would make with its current team; not, perhaps, one that ordinary party members might feel proud of, or part of. I find myself hanging back from this party, which wears the cloak of Labour, but whose heart may no longer be truly Labour. I watch with interest the jostling for list positions as we approach the next election. Shane Jones, like John Tamihere, has an overworked ego but has achieved little in Parliament; he flaps his lips at media moments but is not the thoughtful leader we hoped for (and thus does not warrant in my view a high list position). Other list MPs have accepted positions, or taken stances, for rewards that may be as illusory as their list rankings in the months to come. I do not personally care who is the leader of the Labour party. But I care very much about the heart of the Labour party, as one little cog that has kept it beating in the provinces. Attention seeking opportunists like John Tamihere and Shane Jones come and go. But I thought more of Phil; as a woman member of the party, I can’t overlook sexism which, like any other kind of ism, can only exist if good people condone it.
Well said, Virginia Linton.
It would be good to read a response from a member of caucus to what you write here. When people express doubts about a party on The Standard, it would be interesting to know how many they represent. In this case, a lot I’m sure, which makes me view it a worthwhile activity for caucus members to respond.
+1 to Virginia Linton.
I know Phil Twyford and it puzzles me too. I can only assume he was approached and he agreed to let him have another chance. I presume Tamihere’s negative personal comments re Paula Bennett is tied up with his desire to win the candidacy for the Waitakere seat. (I know he says he’s not interested but who believes a politician even a past one).
I suspect it’s an attempt to attract the red-neck, anti-female politicians brigade to support him in his cause. Remember the previous candidate was Carmel Sepuloni and she indicated her intention to run for the candidacy again some time ago.
Virginia +1.
As a happily hetero sport-loving beer-drinking bloke, I find Tamihere’s attitude infantile at best, offensive at worst. Worse still is this patronising notion that people like him and Shane Jones speak for a large chunk of society, and voters will return to Labour in droves if only Tamihere and Jones could be to the fore.
If these two “blokes” are such vote-magnets, how come they keep losing elections?
If these two “blokes” are such vote-magnets, how come they keep losing elections?
Because bitches, that’s why.
@Pascal’s Bookie
I don’t understand?
Are you meaning that these bloke-types are to appeal to the female vote?
Or that these bloke-types are bitches?
I guess I personally would agree with the second option, however, if you are meaning the first, I wonder whether this is true? Or is it that blokes don’t vote for chicks? I have wondered how the genders are split with regards to political views; whether there is a distinct trend amongst the genders. It was certainly mentioned during election-time that Act has a hard time appealing to the female voter.
From memory, I think he called certain women (was it women Labour MPs including Helen Clark?) bitches earlier in the 2000 decade when he was given the push. Something along those lines anyway. Someone will correct me if I’m wrong.
Ah cheers Anne,
A case of projection I would conclude 🙂
Yes, Virginia Linton, I – too – am seeing a much more sexist Labour caucus re-appearing with John Tamihere’s endorsement by so many of the rightwing blokes and their takeover of the caucus.
And I regret to say that I think we’ll see the so-called re-shuffle of front positions due to be announced
soon by the Leader reinforce this blokey-bent.
Twyford and Goff are all part of the Mallfaria, see where this is going out west. They just can’t help themselves.
Watch that space and DC and CS better watch their backs, even more so now.
watch Labour do it all in public whereas the NACT do the deals, sort out the spin and everyone then gets on with it.
A really well-composed comment, Virginia.
Sorry about that brief outage. Didn’t notice a mysql update amongst the security fixes.
Hi lprent,
I posted a query a few Open Mikes ago, not realising you were away.
Its simply about the “notify me via email” function, which no longer works. Its no biggy really, yet I was wondering if there was some way to get this function back? If there was any setting I could change from my side? I am on Safari 5.something and gmail email.
I will go back and find my last query because there were a few others commenting in response.
(There was also another query to you at post 19 on the same Open Mike.
Thank you
Ah. Thanks for reminding me. I’m just fixing one of the backups that isn’t working too well. I’ll reconnect and start the mail server after that. It was simply an oversight when I shifted the server in Jan. Ummm people may get a pile of banked emails when that happens.
It was more that my brain was elsewhere. The code I was trying to build/fix was complicated and I had to kind of stretch to make it work at all well in the target platform.
As well as The Standard I was somewhat vague about really important things like sleep, Lyn, bills and taking pills.
Oh cool! Thanks lprent, and thanks for the work you do, its most appreciated.
(Hopefully you’ll address the really important things first, I’m sure none of us would begrudge you that 😯 )
Lynn,You have to take your medication, and get some sleep. The days of SysOp’s surviving on 4 hrs, and umpteen cups of corrosively strong coffee are long gone now lol. And never forget the better half! Mental note to self, don’t forget your pills!
Thank you, and thanks for the work you put in. It lets us write and perhaps even be heard now and then.
Chris Laidlaw’s lame quip trivializes and undermines a serious point
Radio New Zealand National, Sunday 10 February 2013, 11:10 a.m.
Chris Laidlaw interviewed Seyed Majid Tafreshi Khameneh, the Iranian Ambassador to New Zealand.
LAIDLAW: Iran has supported Hezbollah, hasn’t it.
TAFRESHI: Hezbollah has not invaded any other territory. They are
defending their land. They are freedom fighters.
LAIDLAW: [guffaws nervously] Well, one man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist.
Disappointed in Laidlaw’s lapse into hard right propaganda, I sent him the following e-mail….
Dear Chris,
After the Iranian ambassador had pointed out that Hezbollah is an indigenous self-defence organization, and had never sent troops to invade any territory, you quipped that “one man’s freedom-fighter is another man’s terrorist.” That was not only a banal observation, it served to trivialize and undermine the point that the Ambassador had just made.
Your interview was otherwise fair and thorough.
Yours sincerely,
Morrissey Breen
Northcote Point
@Morrissey
I find this sort of thing really shameful. How rude and uninformed we can be.
It is probably beyond any “middle” NZ to grasp the concept that the word “freedom fighter” isn’t synonymous with terrorist The word “terrorist” can, thus be effectively used to stamp out any opposition to the status quo, and noone seems to mind that the status quo way of doing things is leading us to hell in a handbasket.
Its just shameful to be lumped in with this type of mentality (if you can even call it that).
NZ must not change as there is no alternative.
Meanwhile –
The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) has made it official: After its latest two day meeting, it announced its goal to devalue the dollar by 33% over the next 20 years.
If you have even the remotest interest in public broadcasting, I cannot recommend the following link enough. Truly inspiring!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXEuEUQIP3Q
frackin’ hell
http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130209/OPINION/130209230/1119
…and you thought Atlantis was a disaster
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/feb/09/lawless-high-seas-threaten-the-planet
growing a clam-shell economy
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/02/09/1563101/national-journal-warns-the-economic-price-of-climate-change-is-already-here-and-growing/?mobile=nc
“oh my gully goodness gracious me”
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/02/09/bangladesh_faces_mass_migration_loss_of_land_from_climate_change.html
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
If Key and Gillard in Queenstown are supposed to signify the ‘ANZAC Spurrut’ at play, then I want no part of it.
Yet another Key venture in self-aggrandisement, sucking up and selling out.
It’s interesting when you look at the definition of a psychopath available on the internet. I think it’s Wikipaedia that has some interesting characteristics. You could provide a match with the various categories more precisely than you coud with the likes of Bainimarama or Mugabe.
Yet – still the populace worships! – aided and abetted by an uncritical MSM.
As they say though – the harder they rise, the harder they fall!
(and if EVER there was a travesty to an OZ Labor Party it would be Joolya – I keep wondering if NZ’s equivalent are an ABC club and a Shearer).
Hey! – btw (as they say amongst the connected) – what’s happened to that noice little boi FanClub, or FanBoi – or whatever the fuck he pops up as? AND – WHERE lately is the Hataitai pacifier that not only now wants to review the ‘used by’ label expiry date, but also the ‘RRP’ [or recommended retail price]. Bugger! I forget her name just at the moment – hold on – for the benefit of precision, I’ll just Google her shall I? ………
Oh fuck – it seems she’s become irrelevant to GOOGLE too!
Anyway – you fellas should know who I mean – she’s a foreskin in the ABC club along with the Mallardy bovver boy and a host of other amusements
Just saw Key on the News playing a drinking game, and sculling a glass of beer. Nice to see he supports safe drinking habits.
Didn’t you get the memo? Drinking to excess is only bad when it’s Yoof (i.e. anyone who looks “young” to a Campbell Live producer) doing it. Grown-ups can do whatever they like, it’s not like they set examples or contribute to drinking culture or anything.
Missed that memo. Thanx for the heads up. A case of do as he says, not as he does huh?
Charlie Stross on the beige dictatorship. …sigh…
http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2013/02/political-failure-modes-and-th.html
So the future isn’t a boot stamping on a human face, forever. It’s a person in a beige business outfit advocating beige policies that nobody wants (but nobody can quite articulate a coherent alternative to) with a false mandate obtained by performing rituals of representative democracy that offer as much actual choice as a Stalinist one-party state. And resistance is futile, because if you succeed in overthrowing the beige dictatorship, you will become that which you opposed.
Thoughts?
“a Campbell Live producer”
Despite being hypocritical and increasingly a parody of shit sensationalism and faux community concern, it looks like the Campbell live team just keep getting lucky breaks.
Someone at TVNZ made something much much worse.
It’s called lose lose for those who watch rather than ‘make’ TV.
“it’s not like they set examples or contribute ”
Not one reply, not even a nibble.
Someone get me a two headed tortoise and JC’s extension number.
Someone should tell David Shearer to stop listening to what He is saying when speaking in front of a camera,
Shearer i noticed on the news tonight has a bad habit of self editing in the middle of making a comment, this also brings in the aaah as He searches for the words He wants to use as a clarification in the middle of a comment to the media…
I think I might have mentioned it before, but I doubt very much it’s searching for words, just making sure he remembers to use the ones he’s been told to.
Speak from the same sleeve you wear your heart on, or learn to fake it better.
I pity the Hansard editor.
He should just stop speaking and get someone competent doing it. If I were fixing my car and reached the limit of my incompetence, I’d get hold of someone who knew what they were doing. I wouldn’t burn down the closest workshop and carry on.
Labour voter??? Labour Party member???, rather have Slippery leading the National Party to victory in 2014???,
The vote has been had, is there another in February 2014???, if not such denigration of those the Labour Caucus voted for as Leader is pretty pointless and it’s only possible out-come is to increase the chances of Slippery being the Prime Minister until 2017,
Myself, i would rather work toward not having the worst case scenario occur and would suggest that if you are a Labour Party member your energies would better be spent ensuring the Party Members have the ability to ‘trigger’ the scheduled leadership votes under the ‘new’ rules into the future,
Shearer may have made that abhorrent bene-bashing speech and His ‘worker in the pub’ one wasn’t something to cheer about either,
Compare this tho to another Labour Leader as Prime Minister, ”Beneficiaries will not be included in Working for Families as this will encourage them to get a job”-Helen Clark,
Who was Prime Minister when income tax was applied to welfare benefits,none other than David Lange,
Or is every one still imbibing sour grapes about the other Dave’s failure to topple Shearer…
“Labour voter???” – Nope. Not any more.
“Labour Party member???” – Nope. Never joined any political party.
“rather have Slippery leading the National Party to victory in 2014???” – Nope. that doesn’t sound like me at all. Besides, I reckon you’ll need many more than just my vote for that not to occur. Good luck, best get your lucky red socks out of the bottom drawer, bless.
And none of those answers above discredit or give less validity to me stating opinion in any way shape or form, Comrade. Do feel free to prove they do if you’re bothered.
As for the rest of your post, all I can give you is a bit of a shrug, apart from
“Or is every one still imbibing sour grapes about the other Dave’s failure to topple Shearer…”
As opposed to you sipping the dregs of the sweet nectar of success dripping off the bottom of Mallard’s poisoned chalice.
You were doing alright until the spurious final comment, my feelings on Mallard are pretty plain in the comments on the post on that subject,
Spoze the likes of Trev and Shane with their open attacks on the Green Party are a bit like the anti-Shearer crew here on the Standard, Trev might have caught it by being entangled with McCully’s ex and Shane well wanker’s never really stop themselves from gushing,
Lolz i should really just scroll past the ‘i hate Shearer comments’ but even that’s damn hard as i found out today reading one interesting comment on an entirely unrelated subject that ended with a ‘i hate Shearer’,
Hate on, but, unless there is a vote in February 2014 and a willingness of caucus to put that vote to the wider Party which considering everything is a small flight of fancy then Shearer we are all stuck with and no amount of venting will change that,
Nah not red socks, my feet are Green from having roamed my patch to often without any on…
John key got a mixed reception at the Big Gay Out today, according to Stuff:\\
The Greens seemed to be more in tune with the event. Loiusa Wall got various mentions because of her marriage equality amendment bill. But the rest of Labour MPs seem to have been MIA.
Meanwhile, Lucy Lawless turned up to do a little Community Service, and probably mingled today:
Lolz dances with transvestites, Slippery gets the first comment of the day and maybe the last of the night,
Imagine the Gordon Brown type comments that must flow from the mouth of that chameleon as the limo whisks Him off from such events…
Long term plan for NZ’s move to Charter or Partnership Schools might go like this.
The full extent of Michael Gove’s (UK Sec Education) plans to revolutionise education are revealed today in a secret memo showing he is considering outright privatisation of academies and free schools. All academies and free schools in England, which are the Education Secretary’s personal obsession, would be free to become profit-making for the first time, and be entirely decoupled from Whitehall control. ……Mr Gove is considering the radical step because massive expansion of academies and free schools is costing government too much money.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/secret-memo-shows-michael-goves-plan-for-privatisation-of-academies-8488552.html
That’s the point they’ve reached in the United States, thus allowing the far-right Republicans to argue for voucher schools. Fortunately the latest effort in Louisiana was overturned late last year: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324705104578151570134436156.html