Labour leader David Shearer immediately called on police to seize Mr Dunne’s emails and put him under oath to swear his innocence.
That moral high ground should last about as long as it takes to extend the logic to Labour MP Phil Goff, who was leaked sensitive Cabinet documents relating to Foreign Affairs. Labour would scream constitutional outrage if his emails were seized and he was made to name the leaker.
Like journalists, MPs don’t reveal their sources. But if leaking was criminal, half the National Government and its Labour predecessor would be locked up. Helen Clark once famously declared that as prime minister, by definition, she couldn’t leak. In other words, everything was secret until she or her government decided it wasn’t.
This doesn’t bode well for David Shearer as the sole arbiter and gate keeper of SIS and GCSB wrongdoing.
In the interests of openess and transparancy in defence of our democracy the Labour opposition and should be encouraging all government MPs as Peter Dunne has done, to ‘blow the whistle’ on illegal and corrupt dealings that they come across in their parliamentary work.
The Labour Party need ta leader who is experienced, sure footed, principled and competent. Able to work with others without being an autocrat. And at the very least be able to string more than a few words together with out getting tongue tied.
If Labour are ever to manage a coalition government made up of disparate parties and viewpoints, they will need a leader who stops continually floundering completely out of his depth.
“In the interests of openess and transparancy in defence of our democracy the Labour opposition and should be encouraging all government MPs as Peter Dunne has done, to ‘blow the whistle’ on illegal and corrupt dealings that they come across in their parliamentary work.”
Dunne isn’t a whistleblower, the report was going to be released a few days later anyway. He’s just a sad, bored old man who let his little head do his thinking for him. Shearer is right, it’s now a matter for the cops to sort out.
Shearer should keep his head down and leave it to Peters to stalk the battlefield and bayonet the wounded.
Peters has all the ammunition, the emails will out one way or the other, the whole story segues pretty well into the US leaks story, so it has at least 5 months of media to run. More if there’s a Police investigation.
And with Banks functionally gone…
…Net result for Peters is he’s closer to being primary kingmaker against the Greens leading up to Nov 2014.
There has been talk of comparing Key to Muldoon which I agree with. I compare Shearer to Rowling.
There needs to be a commission of inquiry into Dunne and the terms of reference need to cover
Why the PM is not prepared to expose the Dunne emails? The reporter could be given immunity.
I think that Dunne is more of a threat to Key than Key losing Dunne’s vote in the House as Key is protecting Dunne. The threat could be exposing Key about his knowledge of Dotcom and Fletcher has protected Key.
Sir Ferguson is a friend of Dunne’s and resides in Dunne’s electorate. Either or both Vance and Ferguson know the truth because Dunne knows how treacherous Key can be and requires insurance.
I think that Dunne gets off on being a power vote in the house and that he got himself in too deep.
Combined the Labour Green vote 15,489 is only 3,275 behind national’s making Ohariu officially a marginal seat.
The Greens have not seriously contested electorate seats and instead have relied on the party vote to win seats..
The Greens have no chance of winning the Ohariu seat. By seriously contesting this seat, they would only achieve a greater defeat for the Labour candidate.
Nationally the Greens need to work with Labour to get National out. This is a given. In Ohariu Belmont, tactically, the best thing the Greens could do. Is to help their potential coalition partner gain the treasury benches.
This means that the Greens will need to stand in solidarity with the Labour candidate.
The Green Party should put up a candidate, but that candidate should endorse the Labour Candidate at every opportunity, and call on all Green Party supporters to tactically vote Labour.
Even the Green Party billboards should call on a tactical vote for the Labour candidate.
The justly famous Labour Party electoral machine should descend on Ohariu Belmont. Green and Labour members and supporters working together,.door knocking, canvassing, erecting billboards etc. could easily russle up the required extra three and a half thousand votes needed to achieve a comfortable win for the Labour candidate.
The Nacts are worried.
Hooton gives his spin:
…even though Ohariu is safely National’s, a by-election would be unwelcome as it would create uncertainty about the stability of the present government, which would have a “terrible impact” on economic confidence and certainty.
@ Jenny
“The Greens have not seriously contested electorate seats and instead have relied on the party vote to win seats.” That has been the case since Jeanette Fitzsimmons lost Coromandel – but she seemed pretty serious to me. I think we should start to seriously contest electorate seats once more; despite MMP, electorate seats seem to have greater mana than list in our political culture. If Chauvel was still around, or there was some quid pro quo on offer from Labour, then the scheme you propose might be worth the tarnishing of the Green party’s reputation that would come with pulling an Epsom.
Plus; really? You’re leading with a quote from Tracy Watkins?? I’m no fan of the modern Labour Party or Mr Mumblefuck, but please! I can’t be bothered wading through her article, but would just point out that Dunne is not PM, and her interpretation of Clarke’s “couldn’t leak” line is peculiar.
Should we have legal protection for whistle-blowers and leakers? Probably, though I imagine there’d have to be some limits on that (time of war, false information; to mention two). Should not politicians be accountable to the current law; even if I, or they, personally disagree with that law? Unequivocably yes!
Did Dunne leak the Kitteridge report, or is he being set up to take the fall for some one else? It seems to sit strangely with his stated intention of supporting the bill for GCSB expanded powers. If he leaked, I applaud his action; but he should still pay the price. If you or I were to break the law, and get caught; then there would be consequences.
If no law has been broken, then there is no need for police involvement. That’s one for the lawyers amongst us, and certainly; any emails that are irrelevant to the issue should not be made public. Dunne does have a right to privacy, despite what journalists and opposition MPs might wish.
The movement began in the late 19th century with reasonable goals. Both scientists and members of the general public were interested in using their newly acquired knowledge of inheritance to work toward making improvements in the human “stock.” But, with time, the eugenics movement became a tool for discriminating against and harming individuals and groups. By the end of World War II, the word “eugenics” was forever linked to acts of discrimination and extreme cruelty.
Godwin wasn’t implied. Andrew Mellon was the most visible connection between he eugenics movement and fluoridation.
Founded by Andrew and Richard Mellon, financiers of the aluminium giant Alcoa, the Mellon Institute specialised in conducting research for industry. For generations, it was a leading defender of the asbestos industry, producing research to show that mesothelioma was not caused by asbestos. Andrew Mellon was at the head of the Public Health Service when it dispatched dentist H. T. Dean (“the father of fluoridation”) to study fluoride’s dental effects. http://www.fannz.org.nz/history.php
It’s definitely a massive conspiracy that involves everyone in the medical and dental professions. They’ve even fooled the British Medical Journal.
Systematic review of water fluoridation…
Conclusions: The evidence of a beneficial reduction in caries should be considered together with the increased prevalence of dental fluorosis. There was no clear evidence of other potential adverse effects.
It’s definitely a massive conspiracy that involves everyone in the medical and dental professions. They’ve even fooled the British Medical Journal.
The good old “too big to be true” fallacy.
“If I were reincarnated I would wish to be returned to earth as a killer virus to lower human population levels.”
— Prince Phillip – Duke of Edinburgh, leader of the World Wildlife Fund – quoted in ‘Are You Ready For Our New Age Future?’, Insiders Report, American Policy Center, December ’95
“The United Nation’s goal is to reduce population selectively by encouraging abortion, forced sterilization, and control of human reproduction, and regards two-thirds of the human population as excess baggage, with 350,000 people to be eliminated per day.”
– Jacques Cousteau, UNESCO Courier, Nov. 1991
“reads like the Hail Mary from the religion of universal progress”
SIR FRANCIS GALTON, FATHER OF EUGENICS: “It must be introduced into the national conscience, like a new religion. It has, indeed, strong claims to become an orthodox religious, tenet of the future, for eugenics co-operate with the workings of nature by securing that humanity shall be represented by the fittest races…. I see no impossibility in Eugenics becoming a religious dogma among mankind.” (Eugenics: Its Definition Scope and Aims, 1904)
I know people will be shocked to hear this, but it turns out that Ugly Truth’s Cousteau “quote”, though regurgitated on a number of nutbar sites, is not actually correct. Check out page 13:
What should we do to eliminate suffering
and disease? It’s a wonderful idea but perhaps
not altogether a beneficial one in the long run.
If we try to implement it we may jeopardize
the future of our species.
It’s terrible to have to say this. World
population must be stabilized and to do that
we must eliminate 350,000 people per day.
This is so horrible to contemplate that we
shouldn’t even say it. But the general situa¬
tion in which we are involved is lamentable.
And yet solutions must exist. . . .
It’s a question of cost. We need $400 billion
a year for fifteen years. To provide people with
safe drinking water. To provide schooling
for girls and low pensions for the elderly.
With $4 billion over fifteen years we can not
only reduce demographic pressure but halt
population growth.
Cousteau was expressing ideas not entirely unfamiliar in this forum, e.g.:
Fifteen years ago, when I was in the United States, I tried to construct a mathematical model to find out how many people our planet could support with the income, purchasing power, and amenities enjoyed by the average American at that time. The data at my disposal were not very precise and right from the start I knew that the approximation would be of the order of 40 to 50 per cent. At that time I was friendly with the director of the Océanographie Laboratory of the University of Southern California, whose researchers served my colleagues and myself as advisers. With the parameters I had at my disposal, I came up with the figure of 700 million. Seven hundred million people enjoying a standard of living comparable to that of the average American!
Fifteen years ago our planet was unable to provide an agreeable life for more than 700 million people! World population was then four billion
He certainly wasn’t outlining or speaking for official UN policy at the time.
Ugly Truth is a idiot with a confirmation bias to the point of delusion.
come, come, OAK. I don’t think he was being intentionally deceitful.
I suspect UT is just an idiot – or still has many years in hand to learn that (as Abraham Lincoln once said) “nine out of ten attributed quotations on the internet are bunk”.
and Muzza
Your comments are very lively, interesting and provocative. Though they make me think of Shakespeare “it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
Nothing personal however.
What, haven’t you seen Dr Strangelove ? United States Air Force Strategic Air Command General Jack D. Ripper, no less, articulates a compelling argument.
I first became aware of it, Rhinocrates, during the physical act of love. A profound sense of fatigue, a feeling of emptiness followed. Luckily I was able to interpret these feelings correctly: loss of essence.
That means we can never talk about N@zi Germany in any argument ever, or even refer to a phenomenon that has connections with N@zi Germany. That’s not what Godwin’s law is about. Were UT to compare you to a N@zi or H1tler, that would be invoking Godwin’s law. Simply talking about N@zis doesn’t count (not that that was what UT was doing anyway).
It’s not a real law, and the fact that I called you moron doesn’t mean that I was angry. Calling you a moron is a way of drawing attention to your not-so-clever avoidance of the real issue, sort of like what you’re doing now.
“Actually, proving Godwin’s law is exactly what UT did. He replied to my comment by leaping angrily to eugenics. That’s a de facto Godwin right there”
No, eugenics has previously been raised in this debate, and someone made the connection between eugenics and fluoride within the fluoridation debate. Irrespective of whether the connection is valid within the debate, it’s not being used as a way of calling you or anyone else a N@zi (as part of approaching an endpoint of a long futile argument that has degenerated to that level).
It doesn’t matter how angry UT’s posts were or if they were having a go at you. You can disagree with UT’s side of the debate all you like, but your calling on Godwin’s law was false.
Fair call from where you’re sitting, Weka, but as I was unaware of the rest of the debate, leaping straight to eugenics after insulting me is very much a Godwin, as I understand the concept.
Remember, I was replying specifically to the link to KB that UT provided, not the wider debate about fluoride. I made a comment, and UT responded with an insult and a reference to something closely associated with 1930’s Germany. That’s a Godwin and a lightening fast one at that.
I haven’t been involved in the wider debate, but now that the link to eugenics has been made, I’m all the more convinced that fluoride in water is a good thing and removing it is an attack on the poor in particular.
Godwin’s law (also known as Godwin’s Rule of Nazi Analogies or Godwin’s Law of Nazi Analogies)is an assertion made by Mike Godwin in 1990 that has become an Internet adage. It states: “As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1.”In other words, Godwin said that, given enough time, in any online discussion—regardless of topic or scope—someone inevitably makes a comparison to Hitler or the Nazis.
Weka, the point of Godwin’s law was to realize when a debate no longer served any useful purpose. The argument was that everyday society was so far removed from Nazi Germany that any debate that involved making comparisons with the Nazi’s version of fascism was logically untenable.
But that was back when Homeland Security was a term that you would attribute to one of Hitler’s people.
“the point of Godwin’s law was to realize when a debate no longer served any useful purpose.”
Sure.
“The argument was that everyday society was so far removed from Nazi Germany that any debate that involved making comparisons with the Nazi’s version of fascism was logically untenable.”
Um, I thought the point was that eventually all arguments have the propensity to reach the point where someone can no longer argue reasonably and so calls someone a N@zi (and thus loses by default).
“But that was back when Homeland Security was a term that you would attribute to one of Hitler’s people.”
But it’s not like fascism hasn’t existed since WW2 until now. The point isn’t whether the analogy is close to being true, it’s that if someone needs to use the analogy in the first place they probably need to step away from the computer for a while.
You weren’t drawing an analogy, which is why I cried foul on invoking the law.
Nah, the point of ‘Godwin’s law’ was to test a hypothesis that memes could be countered with, err, counter memes.
Godwin was playing around with this idea, coined his ‘law’ and seeded it in vraious threads where N@zis were mentioned. And it took off, as we see here.
“Um, I thought the point was that eventually all arguments have the propensity to reach the point where someone can no longer argue reasonably and so calls someone a N@zi (and thus loses by default).”
That’s like saying that people are incapable or admitting defeat when debating, or always eventually resort to ad-hominems or abuse. It’s just an observation of ego in action, hopefully there are people out there who don’t have to validate their own sense of self-worth by always getting the last word in or throwing a hissy fit if they don’t.
“Nah, the point of ‘Godwin’s law’ was to test a hypothesis that memes could be countered with, err, counter memes.”
That’s an interesting interpretation.
At one end of the scale you’ve got Godwin’s original words and at the other you’ve got how his words have been interpreted as a means of deflecting attention away from a particular topic.
You can pretty much count on Wikipedia to be wrong about anything important relating to law and contemporary fascism.
A term that originated on Usenet, Godwin’s Law states that as an online argument grows longer and more heated, it becomes increasingly likely that somebody will bring up Adolf Hitler or the Nazis. When such an event occurs, the person guilty of invoking Godwin’s Law has effectively forfieted the argument.
Usenet There is a tradition in many groups that, once this occurs, that thread is over, and whoever mentioned the Nazis has automatically lost whatever argument was in progress. Godwin’s Law thus practically guarantees the existence of an upper bound on thread length in those groups. However there is also a widely- recognized codicil that any intentional triggering of Godwin’s Law in order to invoke its thread-ending effects will be unsuccessful.
Yes, because in practical terms the application of Godwin’s “law” meant that the argument was over. Wikipedia is seriously f****d up about these sort of issues.
Ugly Truth
Since you are the arbiter of what the truth is, you should not allow Wikipedia to continue in its confused, incomplete form. You should be correcting it and your communications indicate you have the knowledge and tools to do so as people are allowed to do I understand. Unless you have been banned for some good reason.
Try to argue with words of reason only Ugly Truth. Keep the sharp stick etc for when you have put a good argument and can’t win through. It’s too early in the process yet to let the language fly. Keep something in reserve can’t you.
Weka, Prism, thanks for the comments about my language. The reason I do it is to attract attention to issues of importance. I’d prefer not to see it in debate.
Since you regard Urban Dictionary as so superior to Wikipedia as a repository of human knowledge, you may be interested in knowing that their definition for “Ugly Truth” is:
“Finiding [sic] out after you picked a girl up at a strip club that she actually has a dick.”
Pasupial, on the other hand, isn’t defined yet. After today, I fully expect it to be; “some one who should be fucked with a sharp stick”. But given your evident propensities I suppose I should regard that as a compliment.
PS/ Apologies to any transgendered who may be offended – just a wee taste of their own medicine for a repugnant bigot.
Was in edit mode when timed out, and for some reason that wiped my nom de clave [which is now back above]. Should end:
PS/ Apologies to any transgendered who may be offended. The propensities line was about him (at least I assume Ugly is a male); picking someone up at a strip club (ew!), rather than her having a dick. Just a wee taste of their own medicine for a repugnant bigot.
Well there are a lot of ugly truths around. I would like to see them debated with the f word and other such strong language left for final shots of dissatisfaction not thrown around promiscuously. Or what about venting in acronym – so trendy – FFS.
What bitch fight? TC got his ass kicked and now he’s just running around in circles trying to make demands.
@TheContrarian
UT: You lied when you said: “So nothing. You have nothing. No facts, just assertion.”
TC: That is assertion.
UT: Facts are expressed as assertions.
UT: Do you deny the first fact, that fluoride is a poison which accumulates in the body?
TC: No.
let’s assume that your interpretation of events is correct (doubtful) and TC “got his ass kicked” (although I suggest someone should call the SPCA).
That suggests that you brought your gloating here from the sewer for approval/respect/awe.
So beneath all your bluster lies a scared little kid seeking validation from others. Well, you won’t get it from me: you’re a shallow little peon who thinks that parroting the few blogs that coincide with your egotistical bias is the same as profound philosophical thought. You are an ass’s arse, with similar results.
The BMJ article linked above is a good place to start. A taster:
“There were four analyses that indicated a significant increase in risk of fracture and five that indicated a significant decrease in risk at the 5% significance level.”
Oh noes! The conspirators are divided among themselves!!!
With the NSA situation finally coming to mainstream view, I think you might find, the likes of Alex Jones, grow their audience, accordingly!
Jones has been covering the NSA having access into telecoms providers networks, for years!
Why is it , Voice, you and people who share views such as yours, find Alex Jones so hard to ignore?
While not a fan of Jones, like all commentators, he has a place, and many of the subjects he has been leading on for many years, which people have, *blown off* are now coming out, as facts!
The real truth coming out doesn’t make fantasists like Jones any more credible. The reason I posted the clip is because it’s a visual example of how crazed he is. Anybody that can make Andrew Neil look sensible is not to be trusted.
Trust him or not, the fact that he is getting more media exposure is an indication that there is a growing interest in “conspiracy theory” type material. Blowing him off as a loon is too easy.
Voice, I do agree with the second half of your comment, in so much as Jones does not do himself any favours with the ranting, and such like. As always , it should not detract from the message, and information, being delivered!
If you believe, that subject matter Jones has been making information, public on for years, does not make him more credible, you’re as deluded, as you claim , the like of Jones are!
Simply, it comes down to a couple of key points
1: Fear, what else might people like Jones, be correct on, that people such as yourself have derided him over!
2: Ego, and the belief that such *conspiracy theorists*, are intellectually beneath you, because how could a *conspiracy theorist*, possibly know/understand/have access to more informed knowledge/information, that *thy self*!
These two points, sum up, more than adequately, the inability to allow people, such as Jones, their fair dues!
The problem with your analysis is that Jones is correct on nothing and I don’t sneer at him because he is intellectually my inferior. You may be right that he is, but it’s not for me to say.
This is from prisonplanet.com, Jones’ site. Is he wrong about it?
In 1907, more than a decade before Hitler began his ascent to power in Germany, the U.S. had already enacted its first eugenics sterilization law. According to historical accounts, then-Indiana Governor J. Frank Hanly approved a law mandating sterilization of certain individuals in state custody, building on systems of thought already covertly established in the late 1800s that alleged traits like criminality, mental problems, and even being poor were hereditary.
So what you’re saying is the fact relating to the US origin of eugenics (from his site) is correct, even though he is correct on nothing like you said before?
It would probably just be simpler if you admitted that he is sometimes right.
is that his assertion, as in something that he discovered? Or is it merely a restatement of previously known information rather than an analysis or prediction that is his, and that therefore goes straight to his credibility?
I’m sure Alex Jones has said that “two plus two equals four”. One could say that therefore “Jones is correct on nothing” is false. But this would be a trite piece of pedantry made to distract from the substantive truth.
There is a scene in Papillon where Henri Charrière, reflects that he may be innocent but he is guilty of a wasted life, a far greater crime. Reflecting on the years I have been aware of Peter Duune is also an exercise in waste. I cannot see what he has achieved other than steering with the tiller set directly to the bow, a grey unbending certainty.
I was first aware of Peter when he was President at Canterbury, very boring he was too, no beer chiller for student events on his agenda, a wowser par excellence. From there to Alcohol Liquor Advisory Council, maybe his only “real” job, maybe the only time I am aware of him standing for anything (old fashioned wowserism). To Labour, hand picked, and still you ask, what did he stand for? Who knows, Karori and Labour to their eternal shame allowed this man of no known meaning to flourish. Maybe his greyness reflected them.
Jumping ship to NZ Future, an amorphous blob congealing again around no real meaning or ideological direction, what did we learn apart from his ability to desert one party and sign up for the next. It becomes all about Peter and position, cabinet minister for two different parties. Still what does he stand for? Who and what is he?
What are we left with? Absolutely nothing. His legacy? A waste of our time.
Shakespeare and the death of Lady Macbeth comes to mind…”Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
have you seen the film Anonymous? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1521197/?ref_=sr_1
often I view a film so telling and profound, I do not need to watch another one for ages; this was one of those. I never studied Shakespeare at school, or Uni for that matter, but the Bard rocks, easier to follow than Chaucer, and some of the modern adaptations are excellent context translations. There is one with Ralph Fiennes, Coriolanus, that I would like to see.
The film of Onegin with Fiennes is excellent too.
So you read the dilemma of the candle in the wind, never knowing who to turn to when the rain sets in. As the ‘Spengler’ link from C.V yesterday identifies, all the artistic modes of cultural transmission just get re# 😉
“There are no indisputable truths
and there ain’t no fountain of youth…” http://www.lyricsfreak.com/o/ozzy+osbourne/i+just+want+you_20103963.html
although, been reflecting, I do not feel any different in age than before, strange that, Peter Pan, trapped in time; must be “something wrong” or right with us when our self-concept does not match our “social-clock” age.
Not seen Anonymous….will compare notes when I have. I ignored Shakespeare at school, started reading it when the internet bored me senseless. Corialanus, wonderful, also….liked the Richard the Third film too. Much good that does me with the world, lots of useless information handed down for me to spout…in the words of Morrissey..
I am the son and heir
Of nothing in particular
aren’t we all, ‘But Wait, There’s More’, Michelle Boag, the Suzanne Clip Massage Pillow of the National Party.
Takes a while to ‘master’ discerning use of the Internet yet we may have it down pat for now. What next? Like the half-eaten apple-worm, remains to be seen. Who would be a post-modern social archaeologist aye! Still, delays and distracts from excessive anaesthetization,zzzzzzzzzz.
Indeed! I’m also hoping that when we get PS Television back, she might feature prominently. It’ll take something like that to finally bury the ‘rent-a-commentator’ electronic media we see at the moment.
Yep – Face to Face apparently wasn’t a roaring success, however in the absence of anything similar, we might find something like that would have a better run today. But as you say, radio is her forte.
She is fiercely intelligent, and extremely well read. Many don’t like her manner, but at least she stands for the principles of the 4th Estate.
There are others of course – scattered around the spectrum and often parked up in off peak time slots.
I remember all those harsh angles and close ups. Really unnecessary, not only because they were distracting, but because Hill is enough of a drawcard herself and doesn’t need faux windowdressing.
My first impression of Kim Hill was watching her interview John Pilger on Face to Face. Thought she was an embarrassment to NZ journalism, and couldn’t bring myself to watch her again. Was inspired to read John Pilger though – so not a complete waste of time.
Part of the episode is on NZonScreen but I recall her being quite antagonistic from the get go – she really seemed to want him to admit that NZ should join the US in their War on Terror.
Was surprised to find out how many enjoy her interviews. After all this time, I may be able to listen again without prejudice and give it another go.
Do give her a go. It’s sad to realise that idols often have clay feet, and Pilger is one of them. He may be on the right side, but he seems to have a real problem with women who ask questions.
It’s perhaps epitomised by this series, Edward Said’s Reith Lectures “Gods that Always Fail”:
Tim
Do you honestly think we can get PS tv back? It would be a great example of having a vital left wing in politics again. But unlikely to happen. The user pays aspect of it predominates rather than the connected, informed citizen who can make good political decisions.
We won’t be able to afford it as we end up earning similar to the 1930s and go onto ever flatter tax rates. (Someone on radio talking about what we pay for prison meals – $4.50 a day per person I thought I heard.)
You’re probably going to regret you ever got me started, but “Do you honestly think we can get PS tv back?”
My answer is YES – with provisos of course.
[ Actually I’ll try and limit myself because my self imposed 1 week ban hasn’t been that successful, and (I THINK it is still in force until tomorrow).
I THINK I might have pissed Irish Bill off close to a week ago by becoming borderline personal (not sure) – I just have a certain disposition that coaxes a fight in me based on what is sauce for ganders is source for gooses .
The likes of Soimon Brudges and Labour’s old guard, (among many others, often lap up the sauce but can’t handle the kick-back). There are also certain contributors on here that are quick to accuse (and to assume – Popsicles, TC’s, other provocateurs and their ilk whose only desire is to exercise their egos) – who quite frankly PISS ME OFF. (There’s a popsicle, for example, that accused me of homophobia, sexism, and a number of other things – oh…. racism even, that doesn;t actually know me from the bar of soap he intentionally dropped in the shower)
AND in any event, I wouldn’t presume to impose on the owners, or ‘stakeholders’ of this site – I’d prefer to just observe, take it all in, and admire their gumption for making the whole thing possible. (I realise that sounds very Mora-esque, but I’m not the one that’s invested the time and effort in providing this platform – so it’s on their terms of course! In other words – I’m an anonymouse Guest – anonymouse for very good reason, and it’d be pretty damn crass of me to try and intentionally offend). Yep – the ban isn’t up, and I’m still in ‘simmer down mode’ ]
So …. YES – we can get PS TV (NOT ‘State Service’ TV) back.
It’ll require:
– A Curran to put her money where her mouth is (and/or any other of the alternative political parties spokesfolk on b’casting)
– Her parliamentary colleagues (from both sides of the aisle) to rediscover their souls.
– Her/Them (or whoever else) to devise a legal and political mechanism that ensures any future attempt to tamper is
a) difficult
b) politically embarrassing
It’s a challenge I know – because the lack of commitment to PSTV in recent times has been really fucking pathetic:
– Labour (last) made a bit of a fatal mistake in that they never really thought past the short term. (Funding issues; those in charge of what was supposed to be our TV PSB:
a) not really being THAT committed to it,
b) essentially being over-ambitious and egotistically driven;
c) putting the commercial imperative before the public interest;
d) being over-ambitious and egotistically driven;
e) being over-ambitious and egotistically driven;
f) being over-ambitious and egotistically driven;
g) not actually understanding the nature of PSB and what it is about.
– The issue of funding and how we might ensure it remains a viable proposition in an environment of various divergence AND convergence.
– A population/generation that’s never been given the opportunity to experience a media alternative
-etc., etc., etc.
DISTRACTION: (Oh GAWD ….. Jummy Jum is blaring in the background and dear old Rosie MacLeeUdd is ‘On the Panel’ – given my anonymouse background it’s hard to turn her off but I’ll continue (in the hope you’re interested in the opinion of moi that you asked for). Thankfully she’s alongside someone half decent!
Here’s an expose of my prejudices: HOW the fuck did she ever shack up with THAT?1)
She comes across as such a nice passive lady these days, and increasingly, her newsprint columns are lessening in the intensity of their offensiveness. (Oh sorry Darling)
BACK TO THE POINT – and given the above:
YES ….. PSTV is utterly possible in a population of 4 mill.
I’ve given the provisos.
Sure there are going to be difficulties.
– There are KORDIA’s, Munsteries of Culcha & Heritages that have completely fucked up.
– There are those (because of short term imperatives) that have undermined Freeviews; tried all sorts of unions for monetary gain (a la Heartlands, IGLOOS, protested intellectual property rights and whether or public interest and ownership rights might be an issue, etc., etc.). MOST – n fact ALL that I can see can be countered.
There are good, capable people still around that are ready, willing and able to get it all off the ground (and they aren’t ALL nasty ahrd lefties) either.
You know what…. (What?)!
The public in recent years feels alienated from government, AND many/most politicians have managed to alienate themselves from the public in some way.
They might consider the idea that a true electronic (because that’s the only way that it’s possible in 21C) public sphere, a 4th Estate that adheres AND actually understands the concept, and a media mix that incorporates PSB (radio.tv, internet, and whatever else emerges), commercial & non-commercial; risk taking and compliant, is THE ONLY way they might earn back some credibility.
Told ya you wouldb’t want to get me started ( and I’ve limited myself completely – it could have been much worse)
I could have gone on about HOW the system might be implemented (with due regard to the dominance of SKY; the disposition of Freeview and its intentional neutering; the neo-lib concern for exclusivity of the ownership of property – including intellectual property – ALL that kaka.
Yes indeed! At long last, someone has Key on the backfoot with him even using the Shearer-type ‘ums and ers’.
This is what real journalism is all about.
All power to Kim Hill!
– – – – and let’s give her support when the right-wing vultures descend on her. And they will.
Poor old John did not get a chance to use his trademark, “Um. Now let’s take a step back……” so that your question gets lost.
And “I wouldn’t agree with that proposition. I have plenty of experts who would say otherwise….”
Thanks Kim Hill. And fancy getting Mr Key to front for a serious issue on National Radio!!
“Who set the parameters for the enquiry which did not give the power to question under oath?”
“We did.”
“What a silly boy you are John.”
(Paraphrased.)
Yep, ShonKey sounded rather billious, but he also must have had a head set on direct to Crosby Textor HQ, because for someone with such bad recall he effortlessly tossed in references to two Labour MPs who got in tight spots. Yet as the supreme “Yes Minister” he can barely remember anything about the GCSB like appointing his mate and on and on.
Kim is a treasure, and while she has been pressed into service on Morning Report it would be great if she could stay around for another 12 months. She played a significant role in the 90s drilling into the Nats and NZ1.
TM I think that too many NACTs sound as if they were odious little bullies at school who managed to dominate with name calling and vituperation at annoying opposition. It suits Key to come out with a yah-boo about others – if they did it why shouldn’t we – is the argument. Even if ‘they’ actually didn’t do it, calling some mistake to the public’s mind with a lie of fact, just confuses past memories and obscures the present.
It is interesting that Labour used Trevor Mallard rather than Helen Clark doing the roasting in parliament, yet John Key has found his true calling as being the mocking voice for the NACTs.
She sure does. Key always sounds like a mildly-educated fool, but Kim makes him sound like a schoolboy trying to use the ‘dog ate my homework’ excuse for his first assignment.
Press Alert: Auckland mayoral Candidate Penny Bright:
PROTEST! Against the Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Bill , at Auckland,
TODAY Monday 10 June from 9.30am – 11am!
Social Services Select Committee are hearing verbal submissions IN AUCKLAND on this Bill, from 9am – 4.30pm, MONDAY 10 June 2013.
Requesting that Parliament declines to proceed with the Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Bill until the lawfulness of the reliance of Auckland Council on the New Zealand Department of Statistics”high”population growth projections, instead of their “medium” population growth projections for the Auckland Spatial Plan, has been properly and independently investigated, taking into consideration that both Auckland Transport and Watercare Services Ltd, have relied upon “medium” population growth projections for their infrastructural asset management plans.
Petition number: 2011/64
Presented by: Holly Walker
Date presented: 30 May 2013
Referred to: Social Services Committee
_________________________________________________________
Wow, I have listened to Kim Hill interviewing John Key, the PM just about over an hour ago, and what a breath of fresh air is she bringing to Morning Report on Radio NZ National!
I have not heard any journalist putting the hard questions to any politician like this for bloody years! It is impressive and revealing at the same time. It shows that most journalist and reporters out there are pathetic in their job these days, not up to it, or not interested in asking a Prime Minister or lesser ministers or other politicians the questions that deserve to be asked:
Check it out yourselves! This shows what a dodgy and insincere person John Key is, he is also presenting himself as a rather whimpish, weak PM now, and listening to his unconvincing answers to some question, it is clear, his days are numbered. Yes, Key is on his way out! He does not sound like he is much interested in doing a proper job and holding his ministers or support party “leaders” to account.
A laissez fair propagator displaying a very laissez faire attitude, letting Dunne off the hook too early and being short of answers. Key is showing to be a rather irresponsible, slack leader, who only acts resolutely and ruthlessly when rarely re-arranging cabinet or biting, shouting at and abusing disliked opposition members and leaders.
He may have been the smiling assassin in his business days, but hey, he does not sound like one as PM at present. Maybe it is all getting too much for him?
This is a must listen item! It could prove to be historic!
Again no edit allowed, why? I just tried to correct a grammar mistake and add a few words, but not authorised to edit with 4 minutes still left? Something seems wrong with the edit function at times.
Hi Xtasy
The current shower intend to copy the Tory Toffs in the U$K in the persecution of hapless bennies. here’s a link for you to follow what’s going on there and could come here! 🙂 🙁
Yes, it is disgusting, and it is clear, it is the increasing divide between a small lot at the top raking in millions or in some cases billions, and more and more slipping down the income ladder, which causes injustice.
But by using such tactics, the tories use undermining tactics to keep enough lulled into the belief, that it is the beneficiaries that are the problem. It is a major diversion tactic.
By the way, as I was told, Housing NZ tenants do already get statements sent regularly, telling them what the “market rental cost” is for the property they live in, and I believe one also told me he got the valuation (based on the Council’s valuation, or even market valuation) sent in it.
So Housing NZ are already “reminding” their tenants, how “much” they are being “subsidised” and thus supposedly “privileged” to suck of the states’ teats!
It is already underway there, and with the “investment approach” on welfare now to become the norm, I suspect that IRD will eventually send out information on how much tax payers subsidise WINZ and their “clients” for.
So that all shows, a third term of this lot must be stopped, absolutely! And Labour must be sent the message where NOT to go!
“Conspiracy theory becomes conspiracy fact yet again”
What this means undeniably of course, is that all statements from all authorities must be treated as lies and distortion as a default starting point. … a bit like conspiracy theories actually ……
What I am still trying to get my head around is that if the GCSB is able to get hold of my metadata will they then whisk it off to the US so that the NSA can add it to their accumulated data. Are we witnessing the growth of one big world wide metadatabase?
I always thought that the entire idea of Echelon was so that “allied” intelligence agencies could spy on other members’ citizens for each other and kick back useful data from an “undisclosed source”.
That and act as a permanent data suck for the US, of course.
More like the IT guy has a narcissistic personality disorder and fantasies of being James Bond, seeks international media martyrdom, and flees to – of all places – Hong Kong.
That’s a bit of a switch from when you used to accuse me of being a CIA agent, CV. But the fact of the matter is he’s a desk jockey of 10 years, not an actual operative, and that famous interview is full of alot of “I” and “me” and “my”.
Simply that it all adds up to a picture of him not being very credible or really that much of a spy. More likely this 29 year old high school and community college drop out and army wash out is working for another power. Oh look, Hong Kong….
There are lots of people in IT with few formal academic quals.
Some small names like Larry Ellison, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates might agree.
Basically P1 is pretending that Snowden’s “credibility” is an issue. The simple fact of the matter is: Snowden has delivered the goods, they are real and verifiable, and even the NSA and senior Congressmen agree.
P1 on the other hand…is just bitching about bullshit.
More likely this 29 year old high school and community college drop out and army wash out is working for another power.
lolz, sounds like envy just because P1 can’t score a US$200K pa job with Booz Allen Hamilton because he’s not up to it, but a 29 year old high school and community college drop out and army wash out can.
Don’t fret P1, you’re not that shit that you can’t complete with Mr Snowden-Dropout-Washout!
Ah, another demonstration of CV’s preternatural ability to psychoanalyse quasi-fictional personae at a distance by means of the the internet. How droll.
Show your working. It doesn’t add up at all. There are lots of people in IT with few formal academic quals
Yep. It is as much of a personality talent as exercise in knowledge. Some of the most knowing IT people I have known have had little more than a burning desire to be good at whatever they obsessed on.
Even more (like me) have few formal qualifications in anything IT related. My main academic quals are in earth sciences and management, with a smattering of mostly 3rd year comp sci tacked on after I’d already been working the field for years (deadly boring papers).
The numbers of people qualified in comp sci or business computing who continue to be active in actual IT after a decade or two are pretty minimal. They move off into management or business analysis. The field is full of people who just like doing it and who (like me) resist attempts to move them out of the hands-on IT.
It’s an interesting phenomenon yes?
In my experience, the best IT ‘professionals’ (specifically those that cut code, and who over time come to despise – or are at least cynical of – all those BS middle and snr management BS artists who shove their cost-accounting oars in at the most inappropriate of times, shove their ‘expertise’ in whilst projects are midway through, etc., etc.), are usually those that have ‘outside interests in the creative arts, or who have some sort of outlet completely divorced from ‘nerdism’.
I find it interesting that you moved from ‘management’ towards the more technical.
I shudda cudda wudda perhaps, but instead I opted for something TOTALLY divorced from IT/ITC – whatever other buzz acronym is in vogue these days. (Show me a Systems Development Life Cycle – I’ll show you Synchronous Data Link Control).
Jim (the sage) Mora has a guest on now – banging on about how small/NZ IT professionals aren’t getting a look in (AND THEY AREN’T). With all due deference to the impending IRD redevelopment. The small/ the NZ are of course completely correct – they’ve been consulted/middle & senior managed out of any sort of ‘look in’.
Fark!!! $1.5 Billion – I’d guarantee the govt and IRD success on pain of DEATH ffs!. In fact if I failed – I’d get my own son to pull the frikken trigger!
There are Joyce-like ilk who have a shit load to answer for
Yeah. From what I understand the existing systems are mostly cobol at the core with some wacking great big databases.
I mostly code highly threaded optimized c++ server style apps for tight spaces (sometimes tight hardware, sometimes massively multi-user) often with Qt/MFC and/or web front faces and/or anything else and just about any kind of data backend from old serial RS232 to wacking big databases or encrypted pipes over the net. And it keeps getting more technical the longer I stay learning because some of the older tech is still useful and keep showing up in newer tech. For instance I was surprised as hell to find stuff that I learnt back in the 80’s for doing EGA graphics screens works pretty damn well for frame buffered embedded devices.
But I avoid corporate because they never seem to manage to finish anything before some dumbarse does the new broom trick with assorted buzzwords (Telecom comes to mind) or some jerkoff “analyst” promises the customer stage 3 in stage 1 causing the inevitable stage 0 project collapse (INCIS comes to mind).
I’m afraid that I tend to agree with the IRD on this. The local IT corporate management tends to be a bit pisspoor and sloppy for anything that is system critical development. Hardly surprising when you look at the beaten down wrecks toiling with their heads low for the wage.
The problem is that the government doesn’t exactly have many people who could oversee a project at a sufficient technical depth (ie they don’t really know what their own systems really do now). So they’ll wind up spending far too much on overseas contracts and fail to bring in enough local companies on relatively minor segments to get them ready for the maintenance phases. Nett effect is that the system will be clumsy, stiff, and rigid and horrendously expensive to redevelop in the future.
Needless to say I will be avoiding the IRD project like the plague even if there were any bits of interest in there.
And the Sophie Scholl award for 2013 for extraordinary resistance surely goes to Edward Snowden.
“…I will be satisfied if the federation of secret law, unequal pardon and irresistible executive powers that rule the world that I love are revealed even for an instant.” The quote from the Guardian that ensures historians will forever remember him alongside the likes of Benjamin Franklin as a hero of liberty.
Um, no – Sophie Scholl was beheaded for holding to her simple truths. Snowden is a computer geek playing secret agent man from the safety of Chinese territory. Please don’t compare them – it makes me nauseous.
If I had leaked the sort of information he had I also would probably look for refuge under the umbrella of the most powerful ‘countervailing force’ on the planet. The US has shown repeatedly that the one country it is unable to push around is China – for obvious reasons.
“He chose the city because “they have a spirited commitment to free speech and the right of political dissent”, and because he believed that it was one of the few places in the world that both could and would resist the dictates of the US government.”
The decision to hole up in Hong Kong therefore seems very rational – especially given that Hong Kong remains quite westernised and so is the part of China that would likely be most amenable (and welcoming?) to an American. It was also quite close to Hawaii.
You seem to be implying that he is part of a (Chinese?) conspiracy to make wrongful allegations against the NSA (why else would you talk about his lack of credibility – i.e., believability) – despite him having provided the documents. And despite Obama appearing to acknowledge that “these programmes” do, indeed, exist.
Yep, it will be titled like “red flag raised above Radio New Zealand National studios”, the bolsheviks have seized control of our media, or something similar, I suspect.
Time to have a word with RNZ’s CEO, he will advise John Key, about staffing matters.
I was wrong X (although he probably did a brief scan of TS this morning and realised Kim Hill has the respect of folk ACROSS the political spectrum). Instead, Mathew’s little hissy fit this morning was directed at Helen Kelley. It even seemed to embarrass Rinnie Ryan (though Mike Williams remained silent), and her calls to Mathew to repent met with defiance. Any Hail Mary’s were nowhere in sight. As predicted though, Mike was there as usual to clip the ticket and give a plug for the Ghost of Paul Holmes. What sages – the pair of them – the THREE of them in fact. I am in awe!
National Party mastermind Steven Joyce almost always refuses to let Key go on Morning Report—when it’s only the avuncular (and weak) Geoff Robinson and the even weaker Simon Mercep.
So why on EARTH would Joyce agree to let Key be interviewed by Kim Hill, who has eviscerated far sharper and far more powerful men than him?
I suspect Joyce is manipulating the prime minister, and not in a caring way.
Perhaps Joyce was this morning still in bed, trying to revive himself slowly, with a terrible hangover, after a dreadful Friday afternoon and too much “medication” for stressed out nerves over all of the weekend?
National Radio certainly delivered better programming prior to the Key government taking over the reign and placing some new personalities on the board and amongst staff.
Publicly funded broadcasting simply is not a priority for this lot.
But I am sure you do prefer Radio Live or 1ZB for early morning “stimulation” anyway, so you do not forget what to put on your daily shopping list.
I have absolutely revealing information now on Professor Mansel Aylward, director of the Centre for Psychosocial and Disability Research at Cardiff University, who has been one of the top “advisors” of Paula Bennett as Minister for Social Development, thus the government, and of the ‘Health and Disability Panel’ that is in charge of overseeing and assisting the implementation of the very radical, draconian, in part most likely illegal welfare changes in decades here in New Zealand.
Under the ‘Social Security (Benefit Categories and Work Focus) Amendment Act’ sickness beneficiaries will as of 15 July be turned into “jobseekers” (some with deferred status for work testing and work ability), and invalid’s beneficiaries (and some others caring for infirm) will come into the category called Supported Living Payment.
ALL will at some stage face work capacity assessments, which will be at the discretion of the Chief Executive of MSD And WINZ, thus can be repeated as they see fit, and the assessments will be designed along the ones already used by the Department of Work and Pension in the UK for years. The assessments have in part been developed with the involvement of Mansel Aylward and others, who has for his research had financial assistance by controversial private US insurance giant Unum, who changed their name repeatedly after having lost major court battles in the US about their handling of claims.
Now insiders know how bizarre and apparently controversial Professor Aylward’s interpretation of the so-called “bio psycho social model” for assessment and treatment of sick, disabled and incapacitated persons is, and how he has served UK governments and been involved in declaring many disabled and seriously ill as “fit for work”, while in fact they were not. Some indeed are known to have committed suicide due to not being able to handle pressures and facing loss of benefits.
While Aylward, a so-called “Sir” now, and also a “Dame” Carol Black are known propagators of pushing resolutely for getting sick into work, as they see the “benefits of work” being kind of the best medicine, a post on ACC Forum has just revealed to me that Aylward is nothing but a strong adherent of “pseudo sciences” of his own inventions. He claims that most that insist on having mental health conditions and physical health issues are merely suffering from “illness belief”.
He seems to be keen on serving government agencies and employers to save costs, by pushing sick and disabled to become tax paying workers, to avoid the economic costs of “worklessness”, but at the same time he has also hit out at people sticking around their work places longer than may seem necessary, thus creating additional costs in overtime, while just engaging in what he calls “presenteism”.
Have a read of the following:
“‘Presenteeism’ culture of long hours sweeps Welsh offices – an article in Wales Online from 24 April 2008”:
That man is a true danger in himself, being such a self-serving “scientist” with his own “inventions” of conditions, be this “illness belief” or “presenteism”. Is this for real, or is this a “nut case” of a “medical expert”, formerly even Chief Medical Officer for the DWP, now having major influence on how sick and disabled beneficiaries are going to be treated in New Zealand?!
He has had a major meeting with Paula Bennett last year, and appears to continue influencing her and senior MSD decision makers!
xtasy, the practice of creating dubious conditions goes back to at least Sigmund Freud .. this case seems to, be a case of prejudice .. if not business .. masquerading as science.
Snakeoil: I agree – and it shows again, the IQ level of Paula Bennett, for falling for the guy’s bizarre and nonsensical “findings” and theories.
While more and more people in the UK, those affected of course, but also increasingly medical experts and ordinary doctors, are realising what utter idiotic, distorted, largely unproved and indeed quite dangerous stuff Mansel Aylward and others are “teaching” and propagating, Bennett, many of her anyway biased government colleagues – and some at MSD here in New Zealand are sucking it up into their empty brain spaces as pure gospel from a “scientific” source.
I would put it down to inexperience and westie parochialism. IQ is another troublesome concept. As Textor might have put it, putting Paula in the job was all about the ‘optics’ .. it looked good and the media would buy it for a while .. but ignorance after two terms is no excuse. There are some very entrenched attitudes in some quarters ..
xtasy
You misunderstand Poorer Benefit. Her intelligence is high and is matched to her, and the other right wing politicians, low cunning. If only they could stop the welfare payments and have all that money available to them who knows what they could achieve? She has the power and not much moral fibre against its corrupting influence.
Mansel whatsname is another medical marvel, to some people, like Sir Robert Professor Winston. And they are so handy to appeal to for authority when wanting to move against the needy. A religious authority for the Right to believe in.
Are you sure you’re not Eric Cartman from South Park:
“Es Ist Zeit zu säubern! Wir müssen die Juden ausrotten!”
Nevermind sweetheart, you’re in good company with Mel Gibson and John Galliano. Carry on.
Why? Neither Mel Gibson or John Galliano are to my knowledge Nazis… (in any case the fairy that was supposed to bring you a sense of irony at your christening obviously got sidetracked)
Neither Mel Gibson or John Galliano are to my knowledge Nazis…
Whether or not they are, I have no doubt you would have functioned perfectly well in Nazi Germany.
Anyway, you have a job to do: get out there and pour scorn on Edward Snowden. See if he’s had dodgy sexual relations with a couple of Chinese girls over there, then lie your arse off like you did with Assange.
Why can’t you simply deal with the fact Assange is an arrogant git who has no respect for women? He’d hardly be the first popular hero to have feet of clay.
Why can’t you simply deal with the fact Assange is an arrogant git who has no respect for women?
Just like Martin Luther King was. The FBI had a huge dossier on him; they didn’t have to use it in the end, due to the fortunate events in Memphis in April 1968.
He’d hardly be the first popular hero to have feet of clay.
No. And he’s not the first popular hero to be vilified and persecuted either.
Jeez, what a naive twat you can be, Moz. MLK had affairs, the FBI regularly taped him and released the evidence to whoever they thought could bring him down. His weakness for consensual sex outside of marriage is not the same thing as sexually assaulting people, then running and hiding when called on it.
must say xtasy, even some of the mad amongst us would prefer something fulfilling and productive to do, but then…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………sigh.
ghostrider888 – of course, but you would want to be respected and be given a fair chance to have some say and input in what is best with certain health conditions, and what is not. Also would you expect that person’s own doctors would be given some credit, rather than some MSD “trained” and practically “hand picked” “designated doctor” or Regional Health Advisor paid for by WINZ.
But we know where it is all heading, dressed up as well-meant “support” and “sound measures” to empower and enable sick and disabled with incapacities. My experience tells me, apply a high measure of scrutiny and distrust, especially when anything comes from Paula Bennett, Key and their government.
from my experiences, for those clients lacking in self-advocacy and impression-management skills, dealing with government agencies, and The Legal System, can be a treacherous confidence course. As you identify, valuable to have medical / health professionals familiar with your journey and a well-documented history. 😉
Even current experiences of a family-member with an infant in hospital is not encouraging; child left with rising temperature until grandmother, a nurse advocates for intervention, mother on a mattress on a floor, ffs. Health System is beginning the predicted haemorrhage of funding and human resources.
just watched Matthew Hooten spinning for the Tories on Firstline; his “patriotic” advice that “Dunne should remain in Parliament, and let the government finish it’s 18 months (for the economy)” you understand, for the economy.
reading this thread, and watching the MSM, what other conclusion can one draw other than NAct, their backers and flunkies are shitting bricks; they do not want a by-election in Oh-who-rea.
do ghostrider with/ and/ or Rogue Trooper; play nice, seeing as you omitted the rider from that ‘media awards’ evening, and I had washed my best Nirvana tee-shirt and everything.
you’ll just encourage him. He’s oblivious to sarcasm.
Really? You think so?
If you don’t like our little sortie into anagram fun, why don’t you come out and say it, rather than posting sour little jibes that (as usual) fail to register?
You asked me why I didn’t make a more direct criticism of your infantile (and probably computer-assisted) “anagram fun”. The answer is “because it didn’t work when lanth did it”.
It’s good if we can keep our brains as active as when we were 12, with some mature input added. I think that brain maturity reaches its height at 25, so let’s keep trying to limit the decline I say.
“It is ridiculous to say that unions deliver higher wages! They don’t!”
—-Matthew Hooton, Radio NZ National, Monday 10 June 2013
Mike Williams, supposed to be “from the Left”, sat meekly through that rant and then, meekly, went out of his way to agree with him.
See also….
No. 18: Ant Strachan: “The All Blacks won the RWC 2011 because of outstanding defence!”
No. 17: Stephen Franks: “Peter has been such a level-headed, safe pair of hands.”
No. 16: Phil Kafcaloudes: “Tony Abbott…hasn’t made any mistakes over the past eighteen months”
No. 15: Donald Rumsfeld: “I did not lie… Colin Powell did not lie.”
No. 14: Colin Powell: “a post-9/11 nexus between Iraq and terrorist organizations…connections are now emerging…”
No.13: Barack Obama: “Simply put, these strikes have saved lives.” http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-27052013/#comment-638881
No. 12: U.K. Ministry of Defence: “Protecting the Afghan civilian population is one of ISAF and the UK’s top priorities.”
No. 11: Brendan O’Connor: “Australia’s approach to refugees is compassionate and generous.”
No. 10: Boris Johnson: “Londoners have… the best police in the world to look after us and keep us safe.”
No. 9: NewstalkZB PR dept: “News you NEED! Fast, fair, accurate!”
No. 8: Simon Bridges: “I don’t mean to duck the question”
No. 7: Nigel Morrison: “Quite frankly, they’ve been VERY tough.”
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-15052013/#comment-633295
No. 6: NZ Herald PR dept: “Congratulations—you’re reading New Zealand’s best newspaper.”
No. 5: Rawdon Christie: “…a FORMIDABLE replacement, it seems, is Claudette Hauiti.” http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-13052013/#comment-632594
No. 4: Willie and J.T.: “The X-Factor. Nah, nah, there’s some GREAT talent there!”
No. 3: John Key: “Yeah we hold MPs to a higher standard.”
No. 2: Colin Craig: “Oh, I have a GREAT sense of humour.”
No. 1: Barack Obama: “Margaret Thatcher was one of the great champions of freedom and liberty.”
Hooton is an ass, an utter ass. But the real problem here is Mike Williams. He is useless.
Why don’t they have someone principled and coherent to oppose Hooton? What has happened to Andrew Campbell? Or Laila Harre? Or Sue Bradford? Each of those people firmly put Hooton in his place; Williams on the other hand, like the timid Peter Harris and the dithering Josie Pagani, just concedes the floor to Hooton—almost every time.
Yep, it’s half an hour of squelchy sounds between Hoots and Williams. The host says “withdraw and apologise”, Wormtongue says “nope” and she lets it go. I appreciate that Ryan has principles, but she needs a backbone too.
The great difference has been that after asking a question, Kim Hill actually listens for the response and then accommodates the answer into the discussion. Thus reminding people that interviews are meant to extract information. Something almost every other media journalist in the country seems to have forgotten.
That’s why he’s invited. The token left, like Newstalk ZB with Josie Pagani.
Fox TV did it with Hannity ( deranged right winger) and Colmes ( ineffectual left wing stooge)
Then they can pretend they are ‘fair and balanced’ (Fox) or see both sides of the story (Newstalk ZB).
How many days before the Obama-surveillance stories start to connect with the GCSB stories here?
While we wait, here’s a preview of a relevant movie about the growth of the surveillance state and its consequenes both for liberty and for the United States globally:
Good news. Someone was claiming that housing was unaffordable for ordinary people in NZ and that was wrong. Then there was a plan to change this with the finger being pointed at the lack of available land because it was being tied up by ‘unreasonable’ councils.
Then I found that these thoughtful comments were being made by NZ Initiative, a branch of the Business Roundtable and were authored by Luke Malpass and Michael Bassett. What a surprise. What they care about is that a good reliable money earner for them is being stymied and that will not do.
Also involved are – AuthorDr Bryce WilkinsonSatyajit DasDr Oliver HartwichLuke MalpassRoger PartridgeDr John LeeCatherine HarlandLukas SchroeterJoseph JuddRachael http://nzinitiative.org.nz/About+Us/Membership.html
The recent comments carried forward those made by the Productivity Commission in April 2012. http://www.productivity.govt.nz/about-us/our-team-0 http://www.productivity.govt.nz/inquiry-content/1509?stage=4 Containment policies such as ‘Smart Growth’ and Auckland’s Metropolitan Urban Limit (MUL) were also found by the Commission to have an adverse effect on housing affordability by limiting the availability of land for housing.
“Pressure on land prices needs to be reduced and the Commission has recommended that there be an immediate release of new land for residential development in high demand areas such as Auckland and Christchurch”.
Does their self-interest meet the housing needs of NZs? What other means are available of stopping housing being an investment vehicle for everyone who doesn’t want to or can’t find employment
within other parts of the economy?
We have as many housing speculators it seems, as cats have fleas, feeding off us and forcing up the prices of housing, which they can then rent at a loss while they wait for inflation of housing, not measured by the CPI to rise and make them a capital profit. And with very little maintenance to keep the places liveable.
Another True American Hero Emerges
Edward Snowden will now be targeted by the US/UK defamation machine
Question: Will Populuxe1, McFlock, and the other Standard regulars who so perversely reiterated the official attacks on earlier whistleblowers now be grinding their axes to deal to this guy?….
From the initial face of it, he appears to be a genuine whistle-blower who was motivated by a genuine ethical quandary rather than ego, and who restricted his information distribution to information relating to the cause of his moral dilemma. In full knowledge of the significant personal sacrifice he would make.
Oh, and he seems to be sensible enough to avoid a sexual assault complaint.
Perfectly willing to change my mind if the facts change, though.
Moderately intrigued by his choice of Hong Kong, but what the hey. I suppose he’s betting that a US intelligence operation on Chinese soil might be more trouble than his scalp is worth.
[edit] although it does put him in the position of being a bargaining chip if the Chinese want to spend some diplo-credits with the US in the next couple of decades, a la Ramirez in Yemen.
…. motivated by a genuine ethical quandary rather than ego…
So it’s all about motivation, is it? You would have no doubt endorsed the German commentators who denounced Stauffenberg and his fellow bomb-plotters in 1944. Their “motivation” was suspect, too, seeing that they were all aristocrats—-and they were less than monkish in their sexual behaviour as well.
If only everybody was as perfect as you no doubt are.
Perfectly willing to change my mind if the facts change, though.
You’re like a commissar awaiting instructions from Moscow. And to think that YOU were upbraiding ME for apparently not getting your friend’s sarcasm.
McF is just another Tory who hasn’t come out of the closet yet. In the supposed interest of being “fair”, he’s making excuses for the right-wing authoritarians. You’ll find that he makes more and more excuses for them than he does for the real left and more and more criticisms of the left for being “unreasonable” and “not constructive”.
Godwin’s Law applies when the comparison is frivolous and can’t be argued convincingly. When I compare the behaviour of a “liberal” like McFlock to the behaviour of toadies in wartime Germany, I am not saying he was a Nazi, any more than I am saying he is a Soviet commissar by taking his lead from government spin doctors.
Of course, you can erroneously invoke Godwin’s Law if you want; it’s your credibility that’s being exposed when you refuse to engage.
As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1.
As you put it: When I compare the behaviour of a “liberal” like McFlock to the behaviour of toadies in wartime Germany[…]
You described your comment as a comparison with those chaps and thereby satisfying the requirements of Godwin’s law.
Wow, rewriting Godwin’s Law to suit yourself, now there’s a surprise.
Godwin’s Law applies when someone makes an analogy comparing the person they are arguing with to N@zis etc, because they can no longer make a coherent argument. It doesn’t matter how sophisticated you think your argument is, if it’s hyperbole (which it was) then Godwin’s applies.
You might want to look up “sarcasm” in the dictionary.
Don’t use rhino’s, though, because all the words in that edition have identical meanings.
But yes, motivation does count.
For example: “defending Naz1s” = “bad motivation”, so “being an arsehole” rather than “being a whistleblower”.
Another example: “exposing an institutional abuse of liberties to the public who have a right to know” = “good motivation” = “whistleblower”.
Is there any point to this little interchange (from 25 on)? Any?
As your befuddled contribution at 25.1.2.2.1 shows all too plainly, you are clearly out of your depth.
Yes, there IS a point to “this little interchange”, and it is a very important one. If you do not appreciate that, then you really need to get off the discussion boards and do some serious, sustained READING.
Classic non-answer from Morrisey to a rhetorical question lol.
“Non-answer”? Not only did I refute your lamely inadequate attempt to trivialize this discussion, but I trussed you and served you as an amuse bouche before we moved onto bigger, nastier fare.
Nah, all you did was take your inference that there is something wrong with me, and wrap it up in some pseudo-clever language. Nothing of substance. As usual.
Nah, all you did was take your inference that there is something wrong with me, and wrap it up in some pseudo-clever language. Nothing of substance. As usual.
I don’t like to say this, my friend, but someone needs to: you are out of your depth.
so the primary-sector exports (partic. sheep and beef) are gonna take a 1.3B hit in projected annual income due to the drought.
“Well we come with what was on our backs
Yeah, when the leaves had died and all turned black
Back when the wind was cold and blew them ’round
When we laid our blankets on the ground
Anything I want, some of us are different
It’s just something in our blood, there’s no need for explanations
We’re just dogs on the run,
“Labour leader David Shearer wants Parliament’s privileges committee to probe the Peter Dunne saga as Fairfax Media says it won’t be releasing emails between its journalist and the MP.”
Yes I agree the emails should be made public, of course in the interest of fairness theres some other emails I’d like to see released…Phil Goffs recent escapdes could prove interesting etc etc
Seriously though whos advising Shearer? Someone who wants him to fail??
I don’t know about that fender. I disliked Shearer’s condemning attitudes to beneficiaries, his unattractive willingness to join the put-downers. Under the exterior is there a left winger? Or just another RWNJ in drag? He might be just a different door but with the same keyhole.
Good point but I believe Key has a deep-seated hatred of beneficiaries whereas Shearer was saying what some (Pagani?) adviser told him to say. That doesn’t excuse Shearer from his error, just highlights his inexperience and naivety.
+1 fender.
When he (only) had certain members of the ABC club advising him then it was inevitable he would put a few feet wrong. I think (I hope) he’s widened his advisory horizons now.
Anyone remember the “Citizens for Rowling” campaign. It was initiated by a David Exel? He was, in fact, a rejected National Party candidate but he had a dislike for Muldoon and set up the aforementioned campaign. Went to hear him speak at a public meeting in Takapuna and he spouted all the things that a pseudo left winger would say. It was comical really. Shame though because he had a lot of good liberal minds signed up. Mmmm, now am I experiencing a form of deja-vu
If you haven’t looked at google today – I suggest you take a shifty at the great program they’ve done displaying Maurice Sendak’s art and characters. Remember it’s only on for the day.
“If Peters can’t put up any evidence one must assume he has been lying about having it.”
What he might have said is “If Dunne can’t put up any evidence of his innocence one must assume he has been lying about having it.” But he didn’t. Funny that.
Last to leave? If UF do manage to get 500 paid up members, I’m picking a fair percentage of the names will be along the lines of Pete R. George, George Peters, PG Tips etc., so you may be right.
I often wonder if cantabs, for example, should be growing olives and dates rather than cows. That’s if the standard grain crops don’t rock their world, of course.
But let’s learn from their successes, as well as their mistakes. Producing food is good, especially in times of food shortage. But running the land down and filling out waterways with shit is stupid. Can we do the first without doing the second or third?
they already grow a lot of cereal there.
RNZ just advises that the Morehu chap (RW having orgasms over it on WOBH) was Tazered twice before being shot twice. deep sigh.
“I often wonder if cantabs, for example, should be growing olives and dates rather than cows.”
Of course the most productive use of land (measured by how many families the land sustains) is horticultural.
New Zealand has moved from a hunter-gatherer approach (still seen today in various ancient fed farmer cultures) to an animals which eat the regrowth approach, and thence now slowly to this most productive form. There is no doubt that the water which has been stolen to wet the dry land for moo cows will instead quench plants of most exquisite return and flavour.
yep. Polycultures (with animals integrated into the system) are the most shock proof ways of growing food. That’s a different kete of fish than making money of course. Time to decide what you want NZ.
“Holed up in Hong Kong”
The project to criminalize whistle-blowing and dissent
Radio NZ National, Checkpoint, Monday 10 June 2013, 5:20 p.m.
Just heard Susie Ferguson parrot the line that Edward Snowden is “holed up” in Hong Kong. She was, perhaps unwittingly, referring to yet another dissenter as though he’s some desperado who pulled a bank heist.
It’s started. Expect sexual allegations in the next week, and a “request” for extradition.
Expect also some diligent reiteration in this normally excellent forum of whatever Obama’s drones say.
By the usual parrots.
UPDATE:
Suzy Ferguson has just repeated the “holed up” meme on the 5:30 news.
Damn – did they not rewrite the RNZ news script despite your helpful advice?
Golly, you’re onto it! I DID send them a hurry-up at 5:30 pm. Sound intuition there, my friend. I haven’t checked my email yet; I’ll let you know if and what they replied.
8:14 pm
Just checked my email. You’re right, she treated it with contempt. Not even a snarky one-liner, as Jim Mora or Michael Laws or Leighton Smith will at least bother to do.
Nothing. I am so lonely now. Ignored. Marginalized.
No. I don’t do sarcasm. I leave that to lower forms of life, like our friends Populuxe1, weka and Te Reo Putake.
Because you do sometimes apparently send RNZ emails that you republish here.
I do, and there’s nothing “apparent” about them; they are genuine. I’ll have another look to see if they’ve replied, then I’ll publish my letter (probably unanswered, I will bet) on today’s Open Mike (11 June).
Brit’s Haig? commented that their spying activity is not wide, enveloping and random it’s – ‘organised, targeted, appropriate’ and something else that has slipped my mind. Do we feel that the Brit govt is a bastion of freedom and respect for all citizens? Do we think that NZ is?
and Tom Sharpe.
anyway, the NZ Super Fund has been investing (only 2M) in five companies manufacturing nuclear weapons and / or their support platforms.
UK Police to guard selected Islamic sites, schools, mosques, etc around Greater London.
Oh well.
Parata apparently gave the go ahead to look at a ‘public-private partnership‘ for the Aranui ‘super school’. That was why she pushed back the date of closure, to give a PPP a chance.
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
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The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
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Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
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Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
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This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
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Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Asia Pacific Report About 500 people honoured Palestinian journalists in the heart of the New Zealand city of Auckland today for their brave coverage of Israel’s War on Gaza, now in its seventh month with almost 35,000 people killed, mostly women and children. Marking the annual May 3 World Press ...
The Government Communications Security Bureau denies hosting a foreign spying capability flagged by the watchdog, differentiating it from the system recently criticised. ...
RNZ News A group of academic staff at New Zealand’s largest university have expressed concern at the administration’s move to block a protest encampment that was planned to take place on campus calling for support for the rights of Palestinians. This week, the University of Auckland warned that while it ...
Genterwocky After a hard days marching, Sir Doocey calls in at the Village Tavern For a pint of ale and a pork pie. The grim villagers stare at him. “Do not be travelling on the forest road,” warns a crusty old beak. “And why is that, antique peasant?” Grins Sir ...
Political conferences after a party returns to power are usually a chance for some healthy, even unhealthy backslapping. Yet National Party president Sylvia Wood’s address to its mainland representatives on Saturday hardly contained the unalloyed delight that one might have expected following National’s escape from the wilderness of opposition. Yes, ...
Comment: Almost half the world is voting in national elections this year and artificial intelligence is the elephant in the room. There are genuine fears AI-generated or AI-edited deepfakes will potentially manipulate election outcomes not just in the US and UK, but critically in countries such as India. For that ...
Ahead of the reality franchise’s return to New Zealand, allow us to introduce the eight brides and grooms. Chuck on a veil and tie back your man bun, because it’s time to say “I do” to a new season of Married at First Sight NZ. The reality TV “social experiment” ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Norton, Professor in the Practice of Higher Education Policy, Australian National University Every year on June 1, student debt in Australia is indexed to inflation. In 2023, high inflation pushed the indexation rate to 7.1%, the highest since 1990. This ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Changes in the May 14 budget will cut the student debt of more than three million people, wiping more than $3 billion from what people owe. The government will cap the HELP indexation rate ...
Asia Pacific Report The prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has appealed for an end to what it calls intimidation of its staff, saying such threats could constitute an offence against the “administration of justice” by the world’s permanent war crimes court. The Hague-based office of ICC Prosecutor ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk A women’s union in New Caledonia has staged a sit-in protest this week to support senior Kanak indigenous journalist Thérèse Waia, who works for public broadcaster Nouvelle-Calédonie la Première, after a smear attack by critics. The peaceful demonstration was held on ...
New Zealand Food Safety is monitoring overseas recalls of Indian packaged spice products manufactured by MDH and Everest due to concerns over a cancer-causing pesticide. ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
Dame Susan Devoy takes us through her life in television, including late night ER debriefs, her proudest CTI moment and the show she watches in secret. Quite aside from her four world champion squash titles, Dame Susan Devoy will likely go down in history as one of the best Celebrity ...
Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard.Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
Introducing a new way to read The Spinoff every weekend. After nearly 10 years of being an online magazine, we’re finally embracing the weekend liftout. Despite our best efforts to convince you otherwise, writers and editors at The Spinoff don’t work weekend. It is through the sheer power of technology ...
Tip one: let yourself be nurtured by this big old man. Tip two: don’t ask him to adopt you. So, you’ve arrived at your first session with a new therapist. He tells you to make yourself comfortable and you opt for the tweed armchair, hoping it makes you look like ...
I didn’t know books could open you back up; that there were books that stayed with you, where reading was like a chemical event. I knew nothing.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Not too long ago, I was listening to the American ...
Everyone thinks he’s dead. Every day they expect his body to be washed up along the coast. Most likely up Karitane way, the way the tide’s running. But nobody’ll be too surprised if his body’s never found. Even in death he wouldn’t have wished for such attention. He would have ...
Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has already started training for the Enhanced games, though says he won’t start taking performance enhancing substances until about nine months out from the competition. The Australian world champion was the first athlete to be announced by Enhanced, but he says the organisation has had ...
Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University Shutterstock Following an emergency meeting of the National Cabinet this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a raft of measures to tackle the problem ...
Analysis - A poll showing the opposition is more popular than the government raises questions, politicians go through their 'trial by pay rise' and a Green MP loses her cool in the debating chamber. ...
The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Hall, Lecturer, Media & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University A longstanding feud between TikTok and Universal Music Group seems to have finally reached an end, with both parties signing a deal that will see Universal-backed music returned to the social media ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Siobhan O’Dean, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney After several highly publicised alleged murders of women in Australia, the Albanese government this week pledged more than A$925 million over five years ...
Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Political Historian and Administrator Officer, Australian Historical Association, Australian National University Australia has had its fair share of public record-keeping controversies in recent years. Some have been mere farce, as in the case of two formerly government-owned filing cabinets (containing ...
Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a United Nations-affiliated organization dedicated to fostering peace through civilian-led initiatives, has issued a statement in response to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. ...
A poem by Tessa Keenan, from AUP New Poets 10. Mātou These days we are a photograph; one of a farm strewn with cows that used to be bright harakeke or swamp. The kids point at it and say the sun sits behind a smudge (left by someone at Christmas); ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Faber & Faber, $25)The masterful Irish writer ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. Key facts Marriages and civil unions In ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lennon Y.C. Chang, Associate Professor of Cyber Risk and Policy, Deakin University Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat. In recent years, China has used a variety ...
In this excerpt from her new memoir, Dame Susan Devoy remembers her turn as star contestant on the 2022 season of Celebrity Treasure Island. The most anxious time of every day was pre-elimination, when you knew this could be your final day on the show. I felt such contradictory emotions, ...
A week that began in triumph ended in an all-too-familiar disaster for the Green Party. Duncan Greive asks if there’s something in the mission that breaks its best and brightest. A long, strange week for the Green party began with a fantastic poll result. On one level this is hardly ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Vanuatu’s former prime minister and opposition MP Ishmael Kalsakau has stepped down — just two days after he confirmed he was the rightful opposition leader. Kalsakau, MP for Port Vila, confirmed to ABC’s Pacific Beat, and the Vanuatu Daily Post on Thursday that he ...
What’s to blame for the coalition’s choppy start? Six months in, and the mojo meter is in the doldrums. A new poll would put National out of power and sees its leader, Chris Luxon, sliding in popularity. How much is it about policy, how much coalition management and a perception ...
The striking report goes far beyond the proposed repeal of the Oranga Tamariki Act’s Treaty of Waitangi provision, and its impact should be felt far beyond the unique circumstances of the claim it addresses. Earlier this week, the Waitangi Tribunal released an interim report on the government’s proposed repeal of ...
The world has been experiencing a productivity slowdown, from which New Zealand has not been exempt. COVID-19 temporarily boosted labour productivity, but more recently, productivity has retreated. The overall trend since 2007 has been one of slow productivity ...
What’s more wasteful than spending $315k on syrup and machine maintenance? Trying to drum up a controversy about it.Cast your mind back to the pre-pandemic idylls of 2019. A “rat” was a disgusting rodent and not a self-administered plague test; the sixth Labour government was in power; and the ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Henry Cutler, Professor and Director, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University Oleg Ivanov IL/Shutterstock Waiting times for public hospital elective surgery have been in the news ahead of this year’s federal budget. That’s the type of non-emergency surgery ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow, Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne Amna Artist/Shutterstock One of the earliest descriptions of someone with cancer comes from the fourth century BC. Satyrus, tyrant of the city of Heracleia on the Black Sea, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Rose, Professor of Sustainable Future Transport, University of Sydney LanaElcova/Shutterstock Electric vehicles are often seen as the panacea to cutting emissions – and air pollution – from transport. Is this view correct? Yes – but only once uptake accelerates. Despite the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giselle Natassia Woodley, Researcher and Phd Candidate, Edith Cowan University There is widespread agreement Australia needs to do better when it comes to gender-based violence. Anger and frustration at the numbers of women being killed saw national rallies over the weekend and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Graham, Lecturer in Economics, University of Sydney Mark and Anna Photography/Shutterstock As home ownership moves further out of reach for many Australians, “rentvesting” is being touted as a lifesaver. Rentvesting is the practice of renting one property to live ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sukhmani Khorana, Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, UNSW Sydney Netflix The new season of Heartbreak High is garnering mixed reviews. Critics are writing about the racy story lines, comparing it to other coming-of-age series about teenage relationships and ...
Bob Carr intends to launch legal action against Winston Peters and Julie Anne Genter is facing a second allegation of bullying. Both sucked the air out of an announcement on education, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in ...
Shearer wrong foots it again.
This doesn’t bode well for David Shearer as the sole arbiter and gate keeper of SIS and GCSB wrongdoing.
In the interests of openess and transparancy in defence of our democracy the Labour opposition and should be encouraging all government MPs as Peter Dunne has done, to ‘blow the whistle’ on illegal and corrupt dealings that they come across in their parliamentary work.
The Labour Party need ta leader who is experienced, sure footed, principled and competent. Able to work with others without being an autocrat. And at the very least be able to string more than a few words together with out getting tongue tied.
If Labour are ever to manage a coalition government made up of disparate parties and viewpoints, they will need a leader who stops continually floundering completely out of his depth.
“In the interests of openess and transparancy in defence of our democracy the Labour opposition and should be encouraging all government MPs as Peter Dunne has done, to ‘blow the whistle’ on illegal and corrupt dealings that they come across in their parliamentary work.”
Dunne isn’t a whistleblower, the report was going to be released a few days later anyway. He’s just a sad, bored old man who let his little head do his thinking for him. Shearer is right, it’s now a matter for the cops to sort out.
Shearer should keep his head down and leave it to Peters to stalk the battlefield and bayonet the wounded.
Peters has all the ammunition, the emails will out one way or the other, the whole story segues pretty well into the US leaks story, so it has at least 5 months of media to run. More if there’s a Police investigation.
And with Banks functionally gone…
…Net result for Peters is he’s closer to being primary kingmaker against the Greens leading up to Nov 2014.
Got it in one, Jenny. Check this for dismal reading…..
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8776490/Attempts-to-get-reporters-emails-will-be-fought
If ever NZ needed an effective opposition it is now. And the Greens can’t do it on their own.
And forget whingeing about the MSM meantime. They can’t make bricks without straw. And when they manage a real scoop, don’t sic the cops onto them.
There has been talk of comparing Key to Muldoon which I agree with. I compare Shearer to Rowling.
There needs to be a commission of inquiry into Dunne and the terms of reference need to cover
Why the PM is not prepared to expose the Dunne emails? The reporter could be given immunity.
I think that Dunne is more of a threat to Key than Key losing Dunne’s vote in the House as Key is protecting Dunne. The threat could be exposing Key about his knowledge of Dotcom and Fletcher has protected Key.
Sir Ferguson is a friend of Dunne’s and resides in Dunne’s electorate. Either or both Vance and Ferguson know the truth because Dunne knows how treacherous Key can be and requires insurance.
I think that Dunne gets off on being a power vote in the house and that he got himself in too deep.
If a by-election was called….
Could Labour win Ohariu?
The answer is YES!
Combined the Labour Green vote 15,489 is only 3,275 behind national’s making Ohariu officially a marginal seat.
The Greens have not seriously contested electorate seats and instead have relied on the party vote to win seats..
The Greens have no chance of winning the Ohariu seat. By seriously contesting this seat, they would only achieve a greater defeat for the Labour candidate.
Nationally the Greens need to work with Labour to get National out. This is a given. In Ohariu Belmont, tactically, the best thing the Greens could do. Is to help their potential coalition partner gain the treasury benches.
This means that the Greens will need to stand in solidarity with the Labour candidate.
The Green Party should put up a candidate, but that candidate should endorse the Labour Candidate at every opportunity, and call on all Green Party supporters to tactically vote Labour.
Even the Green Party billboards should call on a tactical vote for the Labour candidate.
The justly famous Labour Party electoral machine should descend on Ohariu Belmont. Green and Labour members and supporters working together,.door knocking, canvassing, erecting billboards etc. could easily russle up the required extra three and a half thousand votes needed to achieve a comfortable win for the Labour candidate.
The Nacts are worried.
Hooton gives his spin:
@ Jenny
“The Greens have not seriously contested electorate seats and instead have relied on the party vote to win seats.” That has been the case since Jeanette Fitzsimmons lost Coromandel – but she seemed pretty serious to me. I think we should start to seriously contest electorate seats once more; despite MMP, electorate seats seem to have greater mana than list in our political culture. If Chauvel was still around, or there was some quid pro quo on offer from Labour, then the scheme you propose might be worth the tarnishing of the Green party’s reputation that would come with pulling an Epsom.
Plus; really? You’re leading with a quote from Tracy Watkins?? I’m no fan of the modern Labour Party or Mr Mumblefuck, but please! I can’t be bothered wading through her article, but would just point out that Dunne is not PM, and her interpretation of Clarke’s “couldn’t leak” line is peculiar.
Should we have legal protection for whistle-blowers and leakers? Probably, though I imagine there’d have to be some limits on that (time of war, false information; to mention two). Should not politicians be accountable to the current law; even if I, or they, personally disagree with that law? Unequivocably yes!
Did Dunne leak the Kitteridge report, or is he being set up to take the fall for some one else? It seems to sit strangely with his stated intention of supporting the bill for GCSB expanded powers. If he leaked, I applaud his action; but he should still pay the price. If you or I were to break the law, and get caught; then there would be consequences.
If no law has been broken, then there is no need for police involvement. That’s one for the lawyers amongst us, and certainly; any emails that are irrelevant to the issue should not be made public. Dunne does have a right to privacy, despite what journalists and opposition MPs might wish.
“Plus; really? You’re leading with a quote from Tracy Watkins??”
Yesterday her main argument was based on John Armstrong’s spin about the GP.
Fuck you with a sharp stick, Contrarian.
You are a proven liar who argues for the poisoning of people’s water.
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2013/06/the_fluoridation_backlash.html/comment-page-1#comment-1155547
Oh dear, TC nails your inability to back up your fluoride fantasies and you can’t think of an answer. Fascinating stuff. Yawn.
Eugenics is no fantasy, moron.
EUGENICS
The movement began in the late 19th century with reasonable goals. Both scientists and members of the general public were interested in using their newly acquired knowledge of inheritance to work toward making improvements in the human “stock.” But, with time, the eugenics movement became a tool for discriminating against and harming individuals and groups. By the end of World War II, the word “eugenics” was forever linked to acts of discrimination and extreme cruelty.
http://highschoolbioethics.georgetown.edu/units/cases/unit4_i.html
Sorry, I thought you and TC were talking about fluoride, didn’t realise you’d moved on to Godwin.
Godwin wasn’t implied. Andrew Mellon was the most visible connection between he eugenics movement and fluoridation.
Founded by Andrew and Richard Mellon, financiers of the aluminium giant Alcoa, the Mellon Institute specialised in conducting research for industry. For generations, it was a leading defender of the asbestos industry, producing research to show that mesothelioma was not caused by asbestos. Andrew Mellon was at the head of the Public Health Service when it dispatched dentist H. T. Dean (“the father of fluoridation”) to study fluoride’s dental effects.
http://www.fannz.org.nz/history.php
It’s definitely a massive conspiracy that involves everyone in the medical and dental professions. They’ve even fooled the British Medical Journal.
But that’s not what it said though is it? The difference between “no evidence” and “no clear evidence” is small, but important.
And of course, dental fluorosis is a physical sign that the body is physiologically overloaded with fluoride.
It says considerably more than that – details on potential adverse effects from cancer to goitres. I just quoted the conclusion.
The good old “too big to be true” fallacy.
“If I were reincarnated I would wish to be returned to earth as a killer virus to lower human population levels.”
— Prince Phillip – Duke of Edinburgh, leader of the World Wildlife Fund – quoted in ‘Are You Ready For Our New Age Future?’, Insiders Report, American Policy Center, December ’95
“The United Nation’s goal is to reduce population selectively by encouraging abortion, forced sterilization, and control of human reproduction, and regards two-thirds of the human population as excess baggage, with 350,000 people to be eliminated per day.”
– Jacques Cousteau, UNESCO Courier, Nov. 1991
Jacques Cousteau was born in 1910, and died in 1997. During this time, global average life expectancy went from about thirty to about fifty-five.
Obviously the vast UN conspiracy he uncovered wasn’t very effective.
Or perhaps it’s the good old “divergence from reality” fallacy.
Maybe they weren’t following your game plan.
Reality: Life expectancy on the up, public health getting better, population continues to rise etc etc etc.
UglyTruth: I don’t have to provide evidence.
You have lost the argument.
[lprent: pwned argument. Please desist – especially since it looks like deliberate baiting. ]
Got nothing so fall back on cryptic vacuity much?
lol that’s funny, reads like the Hail Mary from the religion of universal progress
“reads like the Hail Mary from the religion of universal progress”
SIR FRANCIS GALTON, FATHER OF EUGENICS: “It must be introduced into the national conscience, like a new religion. It has, indeed, strong claims to become an orthodox religious, tenet of the future, for eugenics co-operate with the workings of nature by securing that humanity shall be represented by the fittest races…. I see no impossibility in Eugenics becoming a religious dogma among mankind.” (Eugenics: Its Definition Scope and Aims, 1904)
http://www.infowars.com/religion-of-eugenics-the-state-is-god/
Quote mining dead people makes you feel special?
I know people will be shocked to hear this, but it turns out that Ugly Truth’s Cousteau “quote”, though regurgitated on a number of nutbar sites, is not actually correct. Check out page 13:
Cousteau was expressing ideas not entirely unfamiliar in this forum, e.g.:
He certainly wasn’t outlining or speaking for official UN policy at the time.
Ugly Truth is a idiot with a confirmation bias to the point of delusion.
Tell about me how I was wrong about The Contrarian lying to defend the use of fluoride, fool.
Tell me how accusing TC of lying defends your own deceitful behaviour, wretch.
come, come, OAK. I don’t think he was being intentionally deceitful.
I suspect UT is just an idiot – or still has many years in hand to learn that (as Abraham Lincoln once said) “nine out of ten attributed quotations on the internet are bunk”.
Not a particularly flattering distinction.
Silly old Phillip was more ambitious than Charles, who would have settled for coming back as a tampon. Hmmm, I do remember toxic shock syndrome…….
I think Charles should be honoured with respect by letting that ‘quirky’ little comment vanish for good.
Don’t you believe in Karma Prism?
“If I were reincarnated I would wish to be returned to earth as a killer virus to lower human population levels.”
― H.R.H. Prince Philip
A quite disgusting family, not even British, should always remain the brunt of ridicule!
WHAT!
Clockie
Was that something sung by Boy George?
and Muzza
Your comments are very lively, interesting and provocative. Though they make me think of Shakespeare “it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
Nothing personal however.
Provide evidence that fluoride in the water supply has created public health problems.
What, a writ of prejudice and suspicion from The People’s Court isn’t good enough for you?
What, haven’t you seen Dr Strangelove ? United States Air Force Strategic Air Command General Jack D. Ripper, no less, articulates a compelling argument.
I first became aware of it, Rhinocrates, during the physical act of love. A profound sense of fatigue, a feeling of emptiness followed. Luckily I was able to interpret these feelings correctly: loss of essence.
DMT is also associated with the pineal gland.
need to learn to retain your qi.
You’re gonna have to answer to the Coca-Cola company.
False invocations of Godwin’s law, you’re sinking a bit low TRP.
Nope, eugenics is directly linked to you know who, so I think it’s a fair call to say that linking fluoride in water to that philosophy is a Godwin.
That means we can never talk about N@zi Germany in any argument ever, or even refer to a phenomenon that has connections with N@zi Germany. That’s not what Godwin’s law is about. Were UT to compare you to a N@zi or H1tler, that would be invoking Godwin’s law. Simply talking about N@zis doesn’t count (not that that was what UT was doing anyway).
“That’s not what Godwin’s law is about.”
Actually, proving Godwin’s law is exactly what UT did. He replied to my comment by leaping angrily to eugenics. That’s a de facto Godwin right there.
It’s not a real law, and the fact that I called you moron doesn’t mean that I was angry. Calling you a moron is a way of drawing attention to your not-so-clever avoidance of the real issue, sort of like what you’re doing now.
but it was approved by a de facto court of the Hundred on the interwebz, it MUST be a real law!
Provide evidence that fluoride in the water supply has created public health problems.
Provide evidence that fluoride in the water supply has created public health problems.
“Actually, proving Godwin’s law is exactly what UT did. He replied to my comment by leaping angrily to eugenics. That’s a de facto Godwin right there”
No, eugenics has previously been raised in this debate, and someone made the connection between eugenics and fluoride within the fluoridation debate. Irrespective of whether the connection is valid within the debate, it’s not being used as a way of calling you or anyone else a N@zi (as part of approaching an endpoint of a long futile argument that has degenerated to that level).
It doesn’t matter how angry UT’s posts were or if they were having a go at you. You can disagree with UT’s side of the debate all you like, but your calling on Godwin’s law was false.
Fair call from where you’re sitting, Weka, but as I was unaware of the rest of the debate, leaping straight to eugenics after insulting me is very much a Godwin, as I understand the concept.
Remember, I was replying specifically to the link to KB that UT provided, not the wider debate about fluoride. I made a comment, and UT responded with an insult and a reference to something closely associated with 1930’s Germany. That’s a Godwin and a lightening fast one at that.
I haven’t been involved in the wider debate, but now that the link to eugenics has been made, I’m all the more convinced that fluoride in water is a good thing and removing it is an attack on the poor in particular.
May I invoke a meta-Godwin based on observation of this sub-thread?:
“Once Godwin’s Rule has been mentioned, all discussion will revolve about whether it applies – and at that point, it has definitely become pointless.”
Of course that suggests a para-meta-Godwin:
“Even saying the G-word is an attempt to invoke the meta-G-word is a conversational grenade, designed to end discussion.”
Furthermore, there is the hyper-para-meta-G…
Why yes, and I believe it was UT who made that particular connection. Does that make it a meta-Godwin?
maybe Galton
It doesn’t matter anyway, it’s not like it is areal law, it’s just a convention based on the assumption that nothing today is like Nazi Germany.
No that’s not what Godwin’s law is either.
Godwin’s law (also known as Godwin’s Rule of Nazi Analogies or Godwin’s Law of Nazi Analogies)is an assertion made by Mike Godwin in 1990 that has become an Internet adage. It states: “As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1.”In other words, Godwin said that, given enough time, in any online discussion—regardless of topic or scope—someone inevitably makes a comparison to Hitler or the Nazis.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_law
Exactly, which renders the discussion here pointless. It simply doesn’t matter when, or by whom, a thread confirms Godwin’s law.
The point is that the Godwin’s argument is based on an assumption that no longer holds true.
Or, as urbandictionary puts it:
Made obsolete by the Neocons.
Thanks to the Neocons, Godwin’s law is now obsolete.
What?
Weka, the point of Godwin’s law was to realize when a debate no longer served any useful purpose. The argument was that everyday society was so far removed from Nazi Germany that any debate that involved making comparisons with the Nazi’s version of fascism was logically untenable.
But that was back when Homeland Security was a term that you would attribute to one of Hitler’s people.
“the point of Godwin’s law was to realize when a debate no longer served any useful purpose.”
Sure.
“The argument was that everyday society was so far removed from Nazi Germany that any debate that involved making comparisons with the Nazi’s version of fascism was logically untenable.”
Um, I thought the point was that eventually all arguments have the propensity to reach the point where someone can no longer argue reasonably and so calls someone a N@zi (and thus loses by default).
“But that was back when Homeland Security was a term that you would attribute to one of Hitler’s people.”
But it’s not like fascism hasn’t existed since WW2 until now. The point isn’t whether the analogy is close to being true, it’s that if someone needs to use the analogy in the first place they probably need to step away from the computer for a while.
You weren’t drawing an analogy, which is why I cried foul on invoking the law.
Nah, the point of ‘Godwin’s law’ was to test a hypothesis that memes could be countered with, err, counter memes.
Godwin was playing around with this idea, coined his ‘law’ and seeded it in vraious threads where N@zis were mentioned. And it took off, as we see here.
“Um, I thought the point was that eventually all arguments have the propensity to reach the point where someone can no longer argue reasonably and so calls someone a N@zi (and thus loses by default).”
That’s like saying that people are incapable or admitting defeat when debating, or always eventually resort to ad-hominems or abuse. It’s just an observation of ego in action, hopefully there are people out there who don’t have to validate their own sense of self-worth by always getting the last word in or throwing a hissy fit if they don’t.
“Nah, the point of ‘Godwin’s law’ was to test a hypothesis that memes could be countered with, err, counter memes.”
That’s an interesting interpretation.
At one end of the scale you’ve got Godwin’s original words and at the other you’ve got how his words have been interpreted as a means of deflecting attention away from a particular topic.
Here’s some of Mike Godwin’s actual words for you UT:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.10/godwin.if.html
You can pretty much count on Wikipedia to be wrong about anything important relating to law and contemporary fascism.
A term that originated on Usenet, Godwin’s Law states that as an online argument grows longer and more heated, it becomes increasingly likely that somebody will bring up Adolf Hitler or the Nazis. When such an event occurs, the person guilty of invoking Godwin’s Law has effectively forfieted the argument.
Usenet There is a tradition in many groups that, once this occurs, that thread is over, and whoever mentioned the Nazis has automatically lost whatever argument was in progress. Godwin’s Law thus practically guarantees the existence of an upper bound on thread length in those groups. However there is also a widely- recognized codicil that any intentional triggering of Godwin’s Law in order to invoke its thread-ending effects will be unsuccessful.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Godwin%27s%20law
“You can pretty much count on Wikipedia to be wrong about anything important relating to law and contemporary fascism.”
Are you saying that the piece I quoted is incorrect?
Yes, because in practical terms the application of Godwin’s “law” meant that the argument was over. Wikipedia is seriously f****d up about these sort of issues.
But the bit I quoted doesn’t say anything about the argument being over or not. Please point to the exact part of what I quoted that is wrong.
Weka, the problem was that it was incomplete. Wikipedia failed to include the idea of limiting the field of debate.
Ugly Truth
Since you are the arbiter of what the truth is, you should not allow Wikipedia to continue in its confused, incomplete form. You should be correcting it and your communications indicate you have the knowledge and tools to do so as people are allowed to do I understand. Unless you have been banned for some good reason.
“Fuck you with a sharp stick, Contrarian.”
I think you’re crossing a line there UT, enough with the sexual violence please.
Try to argue with words of reason only Ugly Truth. Keep the sharp stick etc for when you have put a good argument and can’t win through. It’s too early in the process yet to let the language fly. Keep something in reserve can’t you.
Weka, Prism, thanks for the comments about my language. The reason I do it is to attract attention to issues of importance. I’d prefer not to see it in debate.
ends justify the pointy means, eh?
O Ugly one!
Since you regard Urban Dictionary as so superior to Wikipedia as a repository of human knowledge, you may be interested in knowing that their definition for “Ugly Truth” is:
“Finiding [sic] out after you picked a girl up at a strip club that she actually has a dick.”
Pasupial, on the other hand, isn’t defined yet. After today, I fully expect it to be; “some one who should be fucked with a sharp stick”. But given your evident propensities I suppose I should regard that as a compliment.
PS/ Apologies to any transgendered who may be offended – just a wee taste of their own medicine for a repugnant bigot.
Was in edit mode when timed out, and for some reason that wiped my nom de clave [which is now back above]. Should end:
PS/ Apologies to any transgendered who may be offended. The propensities line was about him (at least I assume Ugly is a male); picking someone up at a strip club (ew!), rather than her having a dick. Just a wee taste of their own medicine for a repugnant bigot.
Well there are a lot of ugly truths around. I would like to see them debated with the f word and other such strong language left for final shots of dissatisfaction not thrown around promiscuously. Or what about venting in acronym – so trendy – FFS.
lol
Why did you bring a bitch-fight you two had in the sewer here? Too much lead in your bloodstream?
What bitch fight? TC got his ass kicked and now he’s just running around in circles trying to make demands.
@TheContrarian
UT: You lied when you said: “So nothing. You have nothing. No facts, just assertion.”
TC: That is assertion.
UT: Facts are expressed as assertions.
UT: Do you deny the first fact, that fluoride is a poison which accumulates in the body?
TC: No.
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2013/06/the_fluoridation_backlash.html/comment-page-1#comment-1155761
Provide evidence that fluoride in the water supply has created public health problems.
Contrarian: do you deny the fact that pure water is a poison that accumulates in the body?
accumulation of some body fluids require the emptying of dirty water from time to time 😉
Paging Dr. Dunning-Kruger.
let’s assume that your interpretation of events is correct (doubtful) and TC “got his ass kicked” (although I suggest someone should call the SPCA).
That suggests that you brought your gloating here from the sewer for approval/respect/awe.
So beneath all your bluster lies a scared little kid seeking validation from others. Well, you won’t get it from me: you’re a shallow little peon who thinks that parroting the few blogs that coincide with your egotistical bias is the same as profound philosophical thought. You are an ass’s arse, with similar results.
The alternative position is that the public interest is served by people becoming more aware of the issues surrounding the fluoridation debate.
… and that you’re projecting your own mean-spirited nature, McFlock.
Provide evidence that fluoride in the water supply has created public health problems.
The BMJ article linked above is a good place to start. A taster:
“There were four analyses that indicated a significant increase in risk of fracture and five that indicated a significant decrease in risk at the 5% significance level.”
Oh noes! The conspirators are divided among themselves!!!
“…the public interest is served by people becoming more aware of the issues surrounding the fluoridation debate.”
The “issues” about the “debate”?
This cartoon is as good an illustration of the “debate” as any. Medical science is the one in the ring with the gloves on.
“…the public interest is served by people becoming more aware of the issues surrounding the fluoridation debate.”
Pretty hard to make people aware when you refuse to show any evidence that fluoridation of the water supply has lead to any public health problems.
Oh, I dunno, the alternative method is way more entertaining.
Yes, your inability to support your claims is highly entertaining. But for the reasons you think.
Why won’t you tell the truth about it, liar?
I guess fluoride does accumulate in the teeth, the purpose for imbibing it. What does a miniscule amount do in the body that has caused alarm to you?
Am I bovvered? Does my face look bovvered?
UT
That sounds like one of my favourite Monty Python skits – the Argument. You should pay The Standard for letting you joust here.
Alex Jones is nutter shock: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/jun/09/andrew-neil-alex-jones-sunday-politics
Alex Jones got called an idiot. Convincing stuff there, TRP.
With the NSA situation finally coming to mainstream view, I think you might find, the likes of Alex Jones, grow their audience, accordingly!
Jones has been covering the NSA having access into telecoms providers networks, for years!
Why is it , Voice, you and people who share views such as yours, find Alex Jones so hard to ignore?
While not a fan of Jones, like all commentators, he has a place, and many of the subjects he has been leading on for many years, which people have, *blown off* are now coming out, as facts!
The real truth coming out doesn’t make fantasists like Jones any more credible. The reason I posted the clip is because it’s a visual example of how crazed he is. Anybody that can make Andrew Neil look sensible is not to be trusted.
Trust him or not, the fact that he is getting more media exposure is an indication that there is a growing interest in “conspiracy theory” type material. Blowing him off as a loon is too easy.
“Blowing him off as a loon is too easy”
he should try and make it harder by not being such an obvious loon.
Voice, I do agree with the second half of your comment, in so much as Jones does not do himself any favours with the ranting, and such like. As always , it should not detract from the message, and information, being delivered!
If you believe, that subject matter Jones has been making information, public on for years, does not make him more credible, you’re as deluded, as you claim , the like of Jones are!
Simply, it comes down to a couple of key points
1: Fear, what else might people like Jones, be correct on, that people such as yourself have derided him over!
2: Ego, and the belief that such *conspiracy theorists*, are intellectually beneath you, because how could a *conspiracy theorist*, possibly know/understand/have access to more informed knowledge/information, that *thy self*!
These two points, sum up, more than adequately, the inability to allow people, such as Jones, their fair dues!
The problem with your analysis is that Jones is correct on nothing and I don’t sneer at him because he is intellectually my inferior. You may be right that he is, but it’s not for me to say.
This is from prisonplanet.com, Jones’ site. Is he wrong about it?
In 1907, more than a decade before Hitler began his ascent to power in Germany, the U.S. had already enacted its first eugenics sterilization law. According to historical accounts, then-Indiana Governor J. Frank Hanly approved a law mandating sterilization of certain individuals in state custody, building on systems of thought already covertly established in the late 1800s that alleged traits like criminality, mental problems, and even being poor were hereditary.
http://www.prisonplanet.com/what-does-americas-dark-history-of-eugenics-mean-for-society-today.html
Probably, yes. It depends on what conclusion he draws from the historical fact.
So what you’re saying is the fact relating to the US origin of eugenics (from his site) is correct, even though he is correct on nothing like you said before?
It would probably just be simpler if you admitted that he is sometimes right.
is that his assertion, as in something that he discovered? Or is it merely a restatement of previously known information rather than an analysis or prediction that is his, and that therefore goes straight to his credibility?
I’m sure Alex Jones has said that “two plus two equals four”. One could say that therefore “Jones is correct on nothing” is false. But this would be a trite piece of pedantry made to distract from the substantive truth.
could save me money on condoms.
It’s the elves.
http://archive.org/details/GlobalistElite-GuidanceByMachineElvesContactedThorughDmt
http://dangerousminds.net/comments/alex_jones_dmt_elves_want_the_elites_to_kill_us_all
There is a scene in Papillon where Henri Charrière, reflects that he may be innocent but he is guilty of a wasted life, a far greater crime. Reflecting on the years I have been aware of Peter Duune is also an exercise in waste. I cannot see what he has achieved other than steering with the tiller set directly to the bow, a grey unbending certainty.
I was first aware of Peter when he was President at Canterbury, very boring he was too, no beer chiller for student events on his agenda, a wowser par excellence. From there to Alcohol Liquor Advisory Council, maybe his only “real” job, maybe the only time I am aware of him standing for anything (old fashioned wowserism). To Labour, hand picked, and still you ask, what did he stand for? Who knows, Karori and Labour to their eternal shame allowed this man of no known meaning to flourish. Maybe his greyness reflected them.
Jumping ship to NZ Future, an amorphous blob congealing again around no real meaning or ideological direction, what did we learn apart from his ability to desert one party and sign up for the next. It becomes all about Peter and position, cabinet minister for two different parties. Still what does he stand for? Who and what is he?
What are we left with? Absolutely nothing. His legacy? A waste of our time.
you got that right!
Shakespeare and the death of Lady Macbeth comes to mind…”Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
have you seen the film Anonymous?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1521197/?ref_=sr_1
often I view a film so telling and profound, I do not need to watch another one for ages; this was one of those. I never studied Shakespeare at school, or Uni for that matter, but the Bard rocks, easier to follow than Chaucer, and some of the modern adaptations are excellent context translations. There is one with Ralph Fiennes, Coriolanus, that I would like to see.
The film of Onegin with Fiennes is excellent too.
So you read the dilemma of the candle in the wind, never knowing who to turn to when the rain sets in. As the ‘Spengler’ link from C.V yesterday identifies, all the artistic modes of cultural transmission just get re# 😉
“There are no indisputable truths
and there ain’t no fountain of youth…”
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/o/ozzy+osbourne/i+just+want+you_20103963.html
although, been reflecting, I do not feel any different in age than before, strange that, Peter Pan, trapped in time; must be “something wrong” or right with us when our self-concept does not match our “social-clock” age.
Not seen Anonymous….will compare notes when I have. I ignored Shakespeare at school, started reading it when the internet bored me senseless. Corialanus, wonderful, also….liked the Richard the Third film too. Much good that does me with the world, lots of useless information handed down for me to spout…in the words of Morrissey..
I am the son and heir
Of nothing in particular
aren’t we all, ‘But Wait, There’s More’, Michelle Boag, the Suzanne Clip Massage Pillow of the National Party.
Takes a while to ‘master’ discerning use of the Internet yet we may have it down pat for now. What next? Like the half-eaten apple-worm, remains to be seen. Who would be a post-modern social archaeologist aye! Still, delays and distracts from excessive anaesthetization,zzzzzzzzzz.
Wow. Key is on Radio New Zealand and Kim Hill is giving him heaps. What has happened to inquisitorial journalism. More please.
I’ve waited a long time to hear that interview.
I miss Kim Hill Please please come back.
Indeed! I’m also hoping that when we get PS Television back, she might feature prominently. It’ll take something like that to finally bury the ‘rent-a-commentator’ electronic media we see at the moment.
She did do a stint on TV in the 90’s??
But she is better on Radio
Yep – Face to Face apparently wasn’t a roaring success, however in the absence of anything similar, we might find something like that would have a better run today. But as you say, radio is her forte.
She is fiercely intelligent, and extremely well read. Many don’t like her manner, but at least she stands for the principles of the 4th Estate.
There are others of course – scattered around the spectrum and often parked up in off peak time slots.
NZ On Screen has some clips.
I remember all those harsh angles and close ups. Really unnecessary, not only because they were distracting, but because Hill is enough of a drawcard herself and doesn’t need faux windowdressing.
My first impression of Kim Hill was watching her interview John Pilger on Face to Face. Thought she was an embarrassment to NZ journalism, and couldn’t bring myself to watch her again. Was inspired to read John Pilger though – so not a complete waste of time.
Part of the episode is on NZonScreen but I recall her being quite antagonistic from the get go – she really seemed to want him to admit that NZ should join the US in their War on Terror.
Was surprised to find out how many enjoy her interviews. After all this time, I may be able to listen again without prejudice and give it another go.
Do give her a go. It’s sad to realise that idols often have clay feet, and Pilger is one of them. He may be on the right side, but he seems to have a real problem with women who ask questions.
It’s perhaps epitomised by this series, Edward Said’s Reith Lectures “Gods that Always Fail”:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00gxqwn
Tim
Do you honestly think we can get PS tv back? It would be a great example of having a vital left wing in politics again. But unlikely to happen. The user pays aspect of it predominates rather than the connected, informed citizen who can make good political decisions.
We won’t be able to afford it as we end up earning similar to the 1930s and go onto ever flatter tax rates. (Someone on radio talking about what we pay for prison meals – $4.50 a day per person I thought I heard.)
@ Prism.
You’re probably going to regret you ever got me started, but “Do you honestly think we can get PS tv back?”
My answer is YES – with provisos of course.
[ Actually I’ll try and limit myself because my self imposed 1 week ban hasn’t been that successful, and (I THINK it is still in force until tomorrow).
I THINK I might have pissed Irish Bill off close to a week ago by becoming borderline personal (not sure) – I just have a certain disposition that coaxes a fight in me based on what is sauce for ganders is source for gooses .
The likes of Soimon Brudges and Labour’s old guard, (among many others, often lap up the sauce but can’t handle the kick-back). There are also certain contributors on here that are quick to accuse (and to assume – Popsicles, TC’s, other provocateurs and their ilk whose only desire is to exercise their egos) – who quite frankly PISS ME OFF. (There’s a popsicle, for example, that accused me of homophobia, sexism, and a number of other things – oh…. racism even, that doesn;t actually know me from the bar of soap he intentionally dropped in the shower)
AND in any event, I wouldn’t presume to impose on the owners, or ‘stakeholders’ of this site – I’d prefer to just observe, take it all in, and admire their gumption for making the whole thing possible. (I realise that sounds very Mora-esque, but I’m not the one that’s invested the time and effort in providing this platform – so it’s on their terms of course! In other words – I’m an anonymouse Guest – anonymouse for very good reason, and it’d be pretty damn crass of me to try and intentionally offend). Yep – the ban isn’t up, and I’m still in ‘simmer down mode’ ]
So …. YES – we can get PS TV (NOT ‘State Service’ TV) back.
It’ll require:
– A Curran to put her money where her mouth is (and/or any other of the alternative political parties spokesfolk on b’casting)
– Her parliamentary colleagues (from both sides of the aisle) to rediscover their souls.
– Her/Them (or whoever else) to devise a legal and political mechanism that ensures any future attempt to tamper is
a) difficult
b) politically embarrassing
It’s a challenge I know – because the lack of commitment to PSTV in recent times has been really fucking pathetic:
– Labour (last) made a bit of a fatal mistake in that they never really thought past the short term. (Funding issues; those in charge of what was supposed to be our TV PSB:
a) not really being THAT committed to it,
b) essentially being over-ambitious and egotistically driven;
c) putting the commercial imperative before the public interest;
d) being over-ambitious and egotistically driven;
e) being over-ambitious and egotistically driven;
f) being over-ambitious and egotistically driven;
g) not actually understanding the nature of PSB and what it is about.
– The issue of funding and how we might ensure it remains a viable proposition in an environment of various divergence AND convergence.
– A population/generation that’s never been given the opportunity to experience a media alternative
-etc., etc., etc.
DISTRACTION: (Oh GAWD ….. Jummy Jum is blaring in the background and dear old Rosie MacLeeUdd is ‘On the Panel’ – given my anonymouse background it’s hard to turn her off but I’ll continue (in the hope you’re interested in the opinion of moi that you asked for). Thankfully she’s alongside someone half decent!
Here’s an expose of my prejudices: HOW the fuck did she ever shack up with THAT?1)
She comes across as such a nice passive lady these days, and increasingly, her newsprint columns are lessening in the intensity of their offensiveness. (Oh sorry Darling)
BACK TO THE POINT – and given the above:
YES ….. PSTV is utterly possible in a population of 4 mill.
I’ve given the provisos.
Sure there are going to be difficulties.
– There are KORDIA’s, Munsteries of Culcha & Heritages that have completely fucked up.
– There are those (because of short term imperatives) that have undermined Freeviews; tried all sorts of unions for monetary gain (a la Heartlands, IGLOOS, protested intellectual property rights and whether or public interest and ownership rights might be an issue, etc., etc.). MOST – n fact ALL that I can see can be countered.
There are good, capable people still around that are ready, willing and able to get it all off the ground (and they aren’t ALL nasty ahrd lefties) either.
You know what…. (What?)!
The public in recent years feels alienated from government, AND many/most politicians have managed to alienate themselves from the public in some way.
They might consider the idea that a true electronic (because that’s the only way that it’s possible in 21C) public sphere, a 4th Estate that adheres AND actually understands the concept, and a media mix that incorporates PSB (radio.tv, internet, and whatever else emerges), commercial & non-commercial; risk taking and compliant, is THE ONLY way they might earn back some credibility.
Told ya you wouldb’t want to get me started ( and I’ve limited myself completely – it could have been much worse)
I could have gone on about HOW the system might be implemented (with due regard to the dominance of SKY; the disposition of Freeview and its intentional neutering; the neo-lib concern for exclusivity of the ownership of property – including intellectual property – ALL that kaka.
PS – let me know if you want my opinion of the WHO and HOW – they’re not all nasty lefties
Yes indeed! At long last, someone has Key on the backfoot with him even using the Shearer-type ‘ums and ers’.
This is what real journalism is all about.
All power to Kim Hill!
– – – – and let’s give her support when the right-wing vultures descend on her. And they will.
And here is the audio.
Enjoy!
http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/mnr/mnr-20130610-0735-john_key_responds_to_claims_from_winston_peters-048.mp3
or the download http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2558021/john-key-responds-to-claims-from-winston-peters
Wonderful stuff…methinks of rats and sinking ships, maybe sensing the winds of change. Who next will follow, who will be left?
Quite amazing to hear what John Key is like. It is fantastic that he is being interviewed. More please.
“Three people were identified as having access to the report, two were eliminated…”
Perhaps as head of our security services John Key could use alternative wording next time 😈
“Three people were identified as having access to the report, two were eliminated…”
Oh dear.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/08/intelligence-officials-nsa-leak_n_3409726.html
He pronounced Ohariu as “Oh-hur-ia” too.
CV
LOL.
Oh, no .. I think he meant *exactly* what he said ..
Kim Hill is the closest thing to a goddess New Zealand broadcasting has, although, she can be a little vague and presumptious at times, imho. 😉
ghostr888 +1 – and she reveals herself as a human, as well as a goddess.
Poor old John did not get a chance to use his trademark, “Um. Now let’s take a step back……” so that your question gets lost.
And “I wouldn’t agree with that proposition. I have plenty of experts who would say otherwise….”
Thanks Kim Hill. And fancy getting Mr Key to front for a serious issue on National Radio!!
“Who set the parameters for the enquiry which did not give the power to question under oath?”
“We did.”
“What a silly boy you are John.”
(Paraphrased.)
Kim Hill ROCKS!!
Yep, ShonKey sounded rather billious, but he also must have had a head set on direct to Crosby Textor HQ, because for someone with such bad recall he effortlessly tossed in references to two Labour MPs who got in tight spots. Yet as the supreme “Yes Minister” he can barely remember anything about the GCSB like appointing his mate and on and on.
Kim is a treasure, and while she has been pressed into service on Morning Report it would be great if she could stay around for another 12 months. She played a significant role in the 90s drilling into the Nats and NZ1.
TM I think that too many NACTs sound as if they were odious little bullies at school who managed to dominate with name calling and vituperation at annoying opposition. It suits Key to come out with a yah-boo about others – if they did it why shouldn’t we – is the argument. Even if ‘they’ actually didn’t do it, calling some mistake to the public’s mind with a lie of fact, just confuses past memories and obscures the present.
It is interesting that Labour used Trevor Mallard rather than Helen Clark doing the roasting in parliament, yet John Key has found his true calling as being the mocking voice for the NACTs.
“Kim Hill ROCKS!!”
She sure does. Key always sounds like a mildly-educated fool, but Kim makes him sound like a schoolboy trying to use the ‘dog ate my homework’ excuse for his first assignment.
Kim Hill for PM!!!!!!!!
In case you missed this yesterday?
FYI
Press Alert: Auckland mayoral Candidate Penny Bright:
PROTEST! Against the Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Bill , at Auckland,
TODAY Monday 10 June from 9.30am – 11am!
Social Services Select Committee are hearing verbal submissions IN AUCKLAND on this Bill, from 9am – 4.30pm, MONDAY 10 June 2013.
WHERE? At the Ellerslie Novotel Hotel 72 – 112 Greenlane East, Ellerslie.
http://www.novotel.com/gb/hotel-3060-novotel-auckland-ellerslie/location.shtml
WHY? Only 13 days were allowed for submissions!
This bill will allow government to override communities and councils if they don’t agree with decisions.
The bill also supports non-notification and no right of appeal.
***PLEASE COME IF YOU OBJECT TO THESE UNDEMOCRATIC PRACTICES***
I will be giving my submission from 4.10pm – 4.20pm, then giving EVIDENCE to support the following petition, from 4.20pm – 4.30pm.
http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/Presented/Petitions/5/0/5/50DBHOH_PET3157_1-Petition-of-Penelope-Mary-Bright-requesting-that.htm
Petition of Penelope Mary Bright
Requesting that Parliament declines to proceed with the Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Bill until the lawfulness of the reliance of Auckland Council on the New Zealand Department of Statistics”high”population growth projections, instead of their “medium” population growth projections for the Auckland Spatial Plan, has been properly and independently investigated, taking into consideration that both Auckland Transport and Watercare Services Ltd, have relied upon “medium” population growth projections for their infrastructural asset management plans.
Petition number: 2011/64
Presented by: Holly Walker
Date presented: 30 May 2013
Referred to: Social Services Committee
_________________________________________________________
MORE BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
http://www.occupyaucklandvsaucklandcouncilappeal.org.nz/?page_id=137
Penny Bright
2013 Auckland Mayoral candidate
Wow, I have listened to Kim Hill interviewing John Key, the PM just about over an hour ago, and what a breath of fresh air is she bringing to Morning Report on Radio NZ National!
I have not heard any journalist putting the hard questions to any politician like this for bloody years! It is impressive and revealing at the same time. It shows that most journalist and reporters out there are pathetic in their job these days, not up to it, or not interested in asking a Prime Minister or lesser ministers or other politicians the questions that deserve to be asked:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2558021/john-key-responds-to-claims-from-winston-peters
Check it out yourselves! This shows what a dodgy and insincere person John Key is, he is also presenting himself as a rather whimpish, weak PM now, and listening to his unconvincing answers to some question, it is clear, his days are numbered. Yes, Key is on his way out! He does not sound like he is much interested in doing a proper job and holding his ministers or support party “leaders” to account.
A laissez fair propagator displaying a very laissez faire attitude, letting Dunne off the hook too early and being short of answers. Key is showing to be a rather irresponsible, slack leader, who only acts resolutely and ruthlessly when rarely re-arranging cabinet or biting, shouting at and abusing disliked opposition members and leaders.
He may have been the smiling assassin in his business days, but hey, he does not sound like one as PM at present. Maybe it is all getting too much for him?
This is a must listen item! It could prove to be historic!
Again no edit allowed, why? I just tried to correct a grammar mistake and add a few words, but not authorised to edit with 4 minutes still left? Something seems wrong with the edit function at times.
Xtasy
What a shame it wasn’t a televised interview.Would have been compulsive viewing..He must be nuts to think he could talk/walk all over Kim Hill.
Hi Xtasy
The current shower intend to copy the Tory Toffs in the U$K in the persecution of hapless bennies. here’s a link for you to follow what’s going on there and could come here! 🙂 🙁
http://johnnyvoid.wordpress.com/
Thanks johnm!
Yes, it is disgusting, and it is clear, it is the increasing divide between a small lot at the top raking in millions or in some cases billions, and more and more slipping down the income ladder, which causes injustice.
But by using such tactics, the tories use undermining tactics to keep enough lulled into the belief, that it is the beneficiaries that are the problem. It is a major diversion tactic.
By the way, as I was told, Housing NZ tenants do already get statements sent regularly, telling them what the “market rental cost” is for the property they live in, and I believe one also told me he got the valuation (based on the Council’s valuation, or even market valuation) sent in it.
So Housing NZ are already “reminding” their tenants, how “much” they are being “subsidised” and thus supposedly “privileged” to suck of the states’ teats!
It is already underway there, and with the “investment approach” on welfare now to become the norm, I suspect that IRD will eventually send out information on how much tax payers subsidise WINZ and their “clients” for.
So that all shows, a third term of this lot must be stopped, absolutely! And Labour must be sent the message where NOT to go!
.. is the mp3 downloadable ?
Thanks, Xtasy ..
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2558021/john-key-responds-to-claims-from-winston-peters
29 year old NSA employee outs himself to media as Prism leaker
If you’re interested in the deteriorating balance between civil rights, democracy and the surveillance state, read this.
Conspiracy theory becomes conspiracy fact yet again.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-06-09/nsa-whistleblower-reveals-himself
“Conspiracy theory becomes conspiracy fact yet again”
No. Surely that cannot be right.
You mean JFK was not actually shot by a lone gunman? That is was……. somebodies else? …….. but what would this mean?
“Conspiracy theory becomes conspiracy fact yet again”
What this means undeniably of course, is that all statements from all authorities must be treated as lies and distortion as a default starting point. … a bit like conspiracy theories actually ……
What I am still trying to get my head around is that if the GCSB is able to get hold of my metadata will they then whisk it off to the US so that the NSA can add it to their accumulated data. Are we witnessing the growth of one big world wide metadatabase?
Should we be concerned?
Clare Curran has (ahem) also raised concerns …
http://blog.labour.org.nz/2013/06/09/too-close-for-comfort-is-the-gcsb-spying-on-us/
I always thought that the entire idea of Echelon was so that “allied” intelligence agencies could spy on other members’ citizens for each other and kick back useful data from an “undisclosed source”.
That and act as a permanent data suck for the US, of course.
Try EMC Israel for data warehousing.
It fits the 9/11 Israel espionage event fairly well.
🙄
holed up in a Hong Kong hotel, awaiting rendition to Gitmo.
More like the IT guy has a narcissistic personality disorder and fantasies of being James Bond, seeks international media martyrdom, and flees to – of all places – Hong Kong.
He knows what he’s doing, mate. He’s been in this game for almost 10 years now. You on the other hand, have no idea.
That’s a bit of a switch from when you used to accuse me of being a CIA agent, CV. But the fact of the matter is he’s a desk jockey of 10 years, not an actual operative, and that famous interview is full of alot of “I” and “me” and “my”.
Did someone say he was ‘an operative’? And what would that mean in relation to what we are talking about anyway? Why would it matter?
Did Daniel Ellsberg being a ‘desk jockey’ change anything about what he did?
And why is it tellling that an interview explaining his motives for leaking what he leaked contained “I”, “me”, and “my” statements?
What is your point, exactly?
Simply that it all adds up to a picture of him not being very credible or really that much of a spy. More likely this 29 year old high school and community college drop out and army wash out is working for another power. Oh look, Hong Kong….
Show your working. It doesn’t add up at all. There are lots of people in IT with few formal academic quals.
It’s ‘more likely’ that he is working for China than what? That he is a whistleblower?
And who said he was a ‘spy’?
Some small names like Larry Ellison, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates might agree.
Basically P1 is pretending that Snowden’s “credibility” is an issue. The simple fact of the matter is: Snowden has delivered the goods, they are real and verifiable, and even the NSA and senior Congressmen agree.
P1 on the other hand…is just bitching about bullshit.
lolz, sounds like envy just because P1 can’t score a US$200K pa job with Booz Allen Hamilton because he’s not up to it, but a 29 year old high school and community college drop out and army wash out can.
Don’t fret P1, you’re not that shit that you can’t complete with Mr Snowden-Dropout-Washout!
Ah, another demonstration of CV’s preternatural ability to psychoanalyse quasi-fictional personae at a distance by means of the the internet. How droll.
So you admit that your bringing up of Snowden being a dropout and a washout was an irrelevant distraction then?
Yep. It is as much of a personality talent as exercise in knowledge. Some of the most knowing IT people I have known have had little more than a burning desire to be good at whatever they obsessed on.
Even more (like me) have few formal qualifications in anything IT related. My main academic quals are in earth sciences and management, with a smattering of mostly 3rd year comp sci tacked on after I’d already been working the field for years (deadly boring papers).
The numbers of people qualified in comp sci or business computing who continue to be active in actual IT after a decade or two are pretty minimal. They move off into management or business analysis. The field is full of people who just like doing it and who (like me) resist attempts to move them out of the hands-on IT.
It’s an interesting phenomenon yes?
In my experience, the best IT ‘professionals’ (specifically those that cut code, and who over time come to despise – or are at least cynical of – all those BS middle and snr management BS artists who shove their cost-accounting oars in at the most inappropriate of times, shove their ‘expertise’ in whilst projects are midway through, etc., etc.), are usually those that have ‘outside interests in the creative arts, or who have some sort of outlet completely divorced from ‘nerdism’.
I find it interesting that you moved from ‘management’ towards the more technical.
I shudda cudda wudda perhaps, but instead I opted for something TOTALLY divorced from IT/ITC – whatever other buzz acronym is in vogue these days. (Show me a Systems Development Life Cycle – I’ll show you Synchronous Data Link Control).
Jim (the sage) Mora has a guest on now – banging on about how small/NZ IT professionals aren’t getting a look in (AND THEY AREN’T). With all due deference to the impending IRD redevelopment. The small/ the NZ are of course completely correct – they’ve been consulted/middle & senior managed out of any sort of ‘look in’.
Fark!!! $1.5 Billion – I’d guarantee the govt and IRD success on pain of DEATH ffs!. In fact if I failed – I’d get my own son to pull the frikken trigger!
There are Joyce-like ilk who have a shit load to answer for
Yeah. From what I understand the existing systems are mostly cobol at the core with some wacking great big databases.
I mostly code highly threaded optimized c++ server style apps for tight spaces (sometimes tight hardware, sometimes massively multi-user) often with Qt/MFC and/or web front faces and/or anything else and just about any kind of data backend from old serial RS232 to wacking big databases or encrypted pipes over the net. And it keeps getting more technical the longer I stay learning because some of the older tech is still useful and keep showing up in newer tech. For instance I was surprised as hell to find stuff that I learnt back in the 80’s for doing EGA graphics screens works pretty damn well for frame buffered embedded devices.
But I avoid corporate because they never seem to manage to finish anything before some dumbarse does the new broom trick with assorted buzzwords (Telecom comes to mind) or some jerkoff “analyst” promises the customer stage 3 in stage 1 causing the inevitable stage 0 project collapse (INCIS comes to mind).
I’m afraid that I tend to agree with the IRD on this. The local IT corporate management tends to be a bit pisspoor and sloppy for anything that is system critical development. Hardly surprising when you look at the beaten down wrecks toiling with their heads low for the wage.
The problem is that the government doesn’t exactly have many people who could oversee a project at a sufficient technical depth (ie they don’t really know what their own systems really do now). So they’ll wind up spending far too much on overseas contracts and fail to bring in enough local companies on relatively minor segments to get them ready for the maintenance phases. Nett effect is that the system will be clumsy, stiff, and rigid and horrendously expensive to redevelop in the future.
Needless to say I will be avoiding the IRD project like the plague even if there were any bits of interest in there.
Also he’s 29. Are you saying he was an agent at age 19 having never even finished high school?
No one said he was any sort of ‘agent’.
I ask again, what do you mean by that in relation to the areas he has been working in?
And the Sophie Scholl award for 2013 for extraordinary resistance surely goes to Edward Snowden.
“…I will be satisfied if the federation of secret law, unequal pardon and irresistible executive powers that rule the world that I love are revealed even for an instant.” The quote from the Guardian that ensures historians will forever remember him alongside the likes of Benjamin Franklin as a hero of liberty.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/09/edward-snowden-nsa-whistleblower-surveillance
Over the next month they are going to vilify the poor bastard through every media channel and he knows it.
holed up in a Hong Kong hotel awaiting rendition to Gitmo.
Duplicity
I forgot about that one
Um, no – Sophie Scholl was beheaded for holding to her simple truths. Snowden is a computer geek playing secret agent man from the safety of Chinese territory. Please don’t compare them – it makes me nauseous.
The state of your gut is rather irrelevant to the state of the union.
You should write a novel. Preferably from a Hong Kong hotel with a well-stocked mini bar
Snowden is a computer geek….
Ha! Not even one day since the revelation, and he’s parroting the official line of denigration.
Make no mistake: Populuxe1 would have condemned Sophie Scholl with the same sneering malice that he uses for her modern equivalents.
Given I have made pilgrmage to Geschwister-Scholl-Platz in Munich, I somehow doubt that, you ridiculous pustulating fistula on the anus of humanity
I admire your use of language 🙂
Cheers McFlock, you’re no slouch either 😉
Given I have made pilgrmage to Geschwister-Scholl-Platz in Munich…
That settles it, of course. You’re a real champion of the dissenter.
Really you are.
Bovvered?
I’m not sure why you seem to be.
If I had leaked the sort of information he had I also would probably look for refuge under the umbrella of the most powerful ‘countervailing force’ on the planet. The US has shown repeatedly that the one country it is unable to push around is China – for obvious reasons.
And, in fact, that is the reason given:
“He chose the city because “they have a spirited commitment to free speech and the right of political dissent”, and because he believed that it was one of the few places in the world that both could and would resist the dictates of the US government.”
The decision to hole up in Hong Kong therefore seems very rational – especially given that Hong Kong remains quite westernised and so is the part of China that would likely be most amenable (and welcoming?) to an American. It was also quite close to Hawaii.
You seem to be implying that he is part of a (Chinese?) conspiracy to make wrongful allegations against the NSA (why else would you talk about his lack of credibility – i.e., believability) – despite him having provided the documents. And despite Obama appearing to acknowledge that “these programmes” do, indeed, exist.
Welcome back Kim ! Your country needs you to keep mediocrity at bay in these ‘interesting’ times.
Kim is wonderful but how would Shearer go if he was on the receiving end of one of her tough interviews, too scary to contemplate.
The time will come .. it could be cathartic for us all.
Better he get put in the spotlight now, rather than 16 months from now.
Between Kim Hill and Kim Dotcom, it’s turning into an inauspicious name for the Nats.
Here’s a freebie for Mathew:
Kim ‘Ill-san
no doubt it’ll be along those lines
OFGS
Wyndham is correct! http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-10062013/#comment-646204 above .
“– – – – and let’s give her support when the right-wing vultures descend on her. And they will”
Watch ‘the right’ try and spin Kim Hill’s interview with Key this morning.
Mummy mummy Radio NZ is being mean to me!
I expect it to begin around 1105AM today on Radio NZ if it hasn’t already elsewhere.
Yep, it will be titled like “red flag raised above Radio New Zealand National studios”, the bolsheviks have seized control of our media, or something similar, I suspect.
Time to have a word with RNZ’s CEO, he will advise John Key, about staffing matters.
I was wrong X (although he probably did a brief scan of TS this morning and realised Kim Hill has the respect of folk ACROSS the political spectrum). Instead, Mathew’s little hissy fit this morning was directed at Helen Kelley. It even seemed to embarrass Rinnie Ryan (though Mike Williams remained silent), and her calls to Mathew to repent met with defiance. Any Hail Mary’s were nowhere in sight. As predicted though, Mike was there as usual to clip the ticket and give a plug for the Ghost of Paul Holmes. What sages – the pair of them – the THREE of them in fact. I am in awe!
Tim – I suspect they (all three) meet for a social afternoon tea together, at least one afternoon per week, having a great chattering time.
National Party mastermind Steven Joyce almost always refuses to let Key go on Morning Report—when it’s only the avuncular (and weak) Geoff Robinson and the even weaker Simon Mercep.
So why on EARTH would Joyce agree to let Key be interviewed by Kim Hill, who has eviscerated far sharper and far more powerful men than him?
I suspect Joyce is manipulating the prime minister, and not in a caring way.
Perhaps Joyce was this morning still in bed, trying to revive himself slowly, with a terrible hangover, after a dreadful Friday afternoon and too much “medication” for stressed out nerves over all of the weekend?
I have been boycotting RadioNZ because I felt the quality has dropped in recent years.
Accidentally hit the bedside radio-clock on this morning and it was lovely to hear the PM being interviewed by Kim Hill.
I am a real fan of the PM now and reckon he should really give it back to Kim Hill next time 🙂
National Radio certainly delivered better programming prior to the Key government taking over the reign and placing some new personalities on the board and amongst staff.
Publicly funded broadcasting simply is not a priority for this lot.
But I am sure you do prefer Radio Live or 1ZB for early morning “stimulation” anyway, so you do not forget what to put on your daily shopping list.
I have absolutely revealing information now on Professor Mansel Aylward, director of the Centre for Psychosocial and Disability Research at Cardiff University, who has been one of the top “advisors” of Paula Bennett as Minister for Social Development, thus the government, and of the ‘Health and Disability Panel’ that is in charge of overseeing and assisting the implementation of the very radical, draconian, in part most likely illegal welfare changes in decades here in New Zealand.
Under the ‘Social Security (Benefit Categories and Work Focus) Amendment Act’ sickness beneficiaries will as of 15 July be turned into “jobseekers” (some with deferred status for work testing and work ability), and invalid’s beneficiaries (and some others caring for infirm) will come into the category called Supported Living Payment.
ALL will at some stage face work capacity assessments, which will be at the discretion of the Chief Executive of MSD And WINZ, thus can be repeated as they see fit, and the assessments will be designed along the ones already used by the Department of Work and Pension in the UK for years. The assessments have in part been developed with the involvement of Mansel Aylward and others, who has for his research had financial assistance by controversial private US insurance giant Unum, who changed their name repeatedly after having lost major court battles in the US about their handling of claims.
Now insiders know how bizarre and apparently controversial Professor Aylward’s interpretation of the so-called “bio psycho social model” for assessment and treatment of sick, disabled and incapacitated persons is, and how he has served UK governments and been involved in declaring many disabled and seriously ill as “fit for work”, while in fact they were not. Some indeed are known to have committed suicide due to not being able to handle pressures and facing loss of benefits.
While Aylward, a so-called “Sir” now, and also a “Dame” Carol Black are known propagators of pushing resolutely for getting sick into work, as they see the “benefits of work” being kind of the best medicine, a post on ACC Forum has just revealed to me that Aylward is nothing but a strong adherent of “pseudo sciences” of his own inventions. He claims that most that insist on having mental health conditions and physical health issues are merely suffering from “illness belief”.
He seems to be keen on serving government agencies and employers to save costs, by pushing sick and disabled to become tax paying workers, to avoid the economic costs of “worklessness”, but at the same time he has also hit out at people sticking around their work places longer than may seem necessary, thus creating additional costs in overtime, while just engaging in what he calls “presenteism”.
Have a read of the following:
“‘Presenteeism’ culture of long hours sweeps Welsh offices – an article in Wales Online from 24 April 2008”:
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/presenteeism-culture-long-hours-sweeps-2185349
That man is a true danger in himself, being such a self-serving “scientist” with his own “inventions” of conditions, be this “illness belief” or “presenteism”. Is this for real, or is this a “nut case” of a “medical expert”, formerly even Chief Medical Officer for the DWP, now having major influence on how sick and disabled beneficiaries are going to be treated in New Zealand?!
He has had a major meeting with Paula Bennett last year, and appears to continue influencing her and senior MSD decision makers!
xtasy, the practice of creating dubious conditions goes back to at least Sigmund Freud .. this case seems to, be a case of prejudice .. if not business .. masquerading as science.
http://www.whywaitforever.com/dwpatosbusinessunum.html
http://labourlist.org/2012/06/ids-isnt-just-out-of-touch-hes-in-la-la-land/
http://dpac.uk.net/tag/work-capability-assessment-wca/
http://www.whywaitforever.com/dwpatosveterans.html
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:7kNVk5qA1pQJ:iiac.independent.gov.uk
http://ki.se/ki/jsp/polopoly.jsp?a=149952&d=42687&l=sv
http://angliameaction.org.uk/docs/corporate-drift-net.pdf.
http://iiac.independent.gov.uk/pdf/reports/IIAC60_anniversary_mtg_notes.pdf.
http://iiac.independent.gov.uk/pdf/annrep/annrep0506.pdf
http://ki.se/content/1/c6/14/99/67/Mansel%20Aylward%20Dec%2001%2008.pdf.
http://downwithallthat.wordpress.com/2011/07/31/a-very-tangled-web/
http://readmeukevents.wordpress.com/2008/05/26/prof-mansel-aylward-and-the-rsm/
http://downwithallthat.wordpress.com/2011/07/14/22/
http://yourpaljohnny.blogspot.co.nz/2008/05/damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-dont.html
Enjoy ..
Snakeoil: I agree – and it shows again, the IQ level of Paula Bennett, for falling for the guy’s bizarre and nonsensical “findings” and theories.
While more and more people in the UK, those affected of course, but also increasingly medical experts and ordinary doctors, are realising what utter idiotic, distorted, largely unproved and indeed quite dangerous stuff Mansel Aylward and others are “teaching” and propagating, Bennett, many of her anyway biased government colleagues – and some at MSD here in New Zealand are sucking it up into their empty brain spaces as pure gospel from a “scientific” source.
I would put it down to inexperience and westie parochialism. IQ is another troublesome concept. As Textor might have put it, putting Paula in the job was all about the ‘optics’ .. it looked good and the media would buy it for a while .. but ignorance after two terms is no excuse. There are some very entrenched attitudes in some quarters ..
xtasy
You misunderstand Poorer Benefit. Her intelligence is high and is matched to her, and the other right wing politicians, low cunning. If only they could stop the welfare payments and have all that money available to them who knows what they could achieve? She has the power and not much moral fibre against its corrupting influence.
Mansel whatsname is another medical marvel, to some people, like Sir Robert Professor Winston. And they are so handy to appeal to for authority when wanting to move against the needy. A religious authority for the Right to believe in.
….another medical marvel, to some people, like Sir Robert Professor Winston.
Lord Winston is a moral reprobate, a supporter of mass murder and a liar…. http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-01082011/#comment-358776
Are you sure you’re not Eric Cartman from South Park:
“Es Ist Zeit zu säubern! Wir müssen die Juden ausrotten!”
Nevermind sweetheart, you’re in good company with Mel Gibson and John Galliano. Carry on.
That’s a Godwin’s, you halfwit!
Why? Neither Mel Gibson or John Galliano are to my knowledge Nazis… (in any case the fairy that was supposed to bring you a sense of irony at your christening obviously got sidetracked)
Neither Mel Gibson or John Galliano are to my knowledge Nazis…
Whether or not they are, I have no doubt you would have functioned perfectly well in Nazi Germany.
Anyway, you have a job to do: get out there and pour scorn on Edward Snowden. See if he’s had dodgy sexual relations with a couple of Chinese girls over there, then lie your arse off like you did with Assange.
Snowden deserves the same, no doubt!
Why can’t you simply deal with the fact Assange is an arrogant git who has no respect for women? He’d hardly be the first popular hero to have feet of clay.
Why can’t you simply deal with the fact Assange is an arrogant git who has no respect for women?
Just like Martin Luther King was. The FBI had a huge dossier on him; they didn’t have to use it in the end, due to the fortunate events in Memphis in April 1968.
He’d hardly be the first popular hero to have feet of clay.
No. And he’s not the first popular hero to be vilified and persecuted either.
Jeez, what a naive twat you can be, Moz. MLK had affairs, the FBI regularly taped him and released the evidence to whoever they thought could bring him down. His weakness for consensual sex outside of marriage is not the same thing as sexually assaulting people, then running and hiding when called on it.
He’s not naive TRP, he’s self-serving.
must say xtasy, even some of the mad amongst us would prefer something fulfilling and productive to do, but then…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………sigh.
ghostrider888 – of course, but you would want to be respected and be given a fair chance to have some say and input in what is best with certain health conditions, and what is not. Also would you expect that person’s own doctors would be given some credit, rather than some MSD “trained” and practically “hand picked” “designated doctor” or Regional Health Advisor paid for by WINZ.
But we know where it is all heading, dressed up as well-meant “support” and “sound measures” to empower and enable sick and disabled with incapacities. My experience tells me, apply a high measure of scrutiny and distrust, especially when anything comes from Paula Bennett, Key and their government.
from my experiences, for those clients lacking in self-advocacy and impression-management skills, dealing with government agencies, and The Legal System, can be a treacherous confidence course. As you identify, valuable to have medical / health professionals familiar with your journey and a well-documented history. 😉
Even current experiences of a family-member with an infant in hospital is not encouraging; child left with rising temperature until grandmother, a nurse advocates for intervention, mother on a mattress on a floor, ffs. Health System is beginning the predicted haemorrhage of funding and human resources.
Employer theft.
http://www.alternet.org/labor/when-your-boss-steals-your-wages-invisible-epidemic-thats-sweeping-america
http://www.equalvoiceforfamilies.org/wage-war-employers-stealing-millions-from-us-workers/
http://www.legalcheek.com/2013/05/westminster-school-auctions-a-mini-pupillage/
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/03/fashion/for-20-somethings-ambition-at-a-cost.html?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/joris-luyendijk-banking-blog/2012/jan/27/banking-intern-voices-of-finance
smelt The Posies; like a rose. Hear the Song to the Siren.
just watched Matthew Hooten spinning for the Tories on Firstline; his “patriotic” advice that “Dunne should remain in Parliament, and let the government finish it’s 18 months (for the economy)” you understand, for the economy.
freakin’ Tories are Running Scared.
Our sovereign economy depends on Peter Dunne? Yeah, right.
reading this thread, and watching the MSM, what other conclusion can one draw other than NAct, their backers and flunkies are shitting bricks; they do not want a by-election in Oh-who-rea.
You should know that “Matthew Hooton, Nats’ spin doctor” is an anagram of….
“Satanist; not topnotch whoredom.”
Morrissey You are on a roll. Brain revved up like a Harley-Davidson?
Morrissey You are on a roll. Brain revved up like a Harley-Davidson?
Not according to our resident grinch, McFlock.
My god, M -nailed it again. Superb!
You are doing great work for beneficiaries Xstasy, keep up the good job.
ANAGRAM TIME
No. 2: Peters stymies Dunne’s legover
Dottiness revenges supremely.
See also….
No. 1: John and Bronwyn Key ===> Now handy, bonny jerk.
Hey Morrisey, this is a family show ..
Hey Morrissey, this is a family show
anagrams as….
“I am a smothery sissy, if whoreishly.”
How apt.
How apt.
anagrammizes into….
Hot paw.
And “childish monomania” comes out as “a machismo hind loin”, which also seems somewhat apt.
And “childish monomania” comes out as “a machismo hind loin”…
Nope, doesn’t quite get there, buddy.
Not as easy as it looks, is it?
GIGO.
Am I bovvered?
Am I bovvered?
Judging by your desperate, moronic attempts to smear me, I would say you are extremely “bovvered”.
Are you calling my dad a pikie?
ANAGRAM TIME
No. 3: Te Reo Putake, activist blogger
Brave, goatlike, cutest ego-trip.
do ghostrider with/ and/ or Rogue Trooper; play nice, seeing as you omitted the rider from that ‘media awards’ evening, and I had washed my best Nirvana tee-shirt and everything.
ghostrider not wanted at party
anagrammizes to….
Witty, transparent hatred—good!
🙄
This is literally the thing I did and found funny when I was 12.
“Lanthanide: Christchurch’s finest”
becomes….
Sluttish arch-fiend enchants rich.
Oh, you got me. Good one.
you’ll just encourage him. He’s oblivious to sarcasm.
you’ll just encourage him. He’s oblivious to sarcasm.
Really? You think so?
If you don’t like our little sortie into anagram fun, why don’t you come out and say it, rather than posting sour little jibes that (as usual) fail to register?
because it didn’t work when lanth did it?
because it didn’t work when lanth did it?
So now you are the arbiter of what’s funny, are you?
I would trust your judgement on that about as much as I’d trust Gordon MacLauchlan’s or Tom Frewen’s.
Or Colin Craig’s.
No.
You asked me why I didn’t make a more direct criticism of your infantile (and probably computer-assisted) “anagram fun”. The answer is “because it didn’t work when lanth did it”.
You asked me why I didn’t make a more direct criticism of your infantile
“Infantile”? Well, fu—–, ah, yes, I guess you’re right.
(and probably computer-assisted) “anagram fun”.
Dammit! You got me! How the hell did you work out that it was computer-assisted?
Some people find more fun in actually developing the anagrams themselves, rather than pressing “enter” until something tickles their fancy.
“Dammit! You got me!”
Anagramatic translation: Me Is Sorry!
Morrissey
Do me. Do me! prism in Nelson, south island.
Morrissey
Do me. Do me! prism in Nelson, south island.
“Our good friend prism of Nelson—begging for it”
renders down into….
Boggles in front of do-gooder—run if simpering!
It’s good if we can keep our brains as active as when we were 12, with some mature input added. I think that brain maturity reaches its height at 25, so let’s keep trying to limit the decline I say.
Too late for some…
Thanks for the kind words, my friend. I guess you already know that “prism, a Standard regular” renders down into….
Retards snarl up diagram.
Morrisey Hey I’ve begged to get done over further down the thread, and here you are ahead of me. I’ll treasure it like pollies treasure cartoons.
LIARS OF OUR TIME
No. 19: Matthew Hooton
“It is ridiculous to say that unions deliver higher wages! They don’t!”
—-Matthew Hooton, Radio NZ National, Monday 10 June 2013
Mike Williams, supposed to be “from the Left”, sat meekly through that rant and then, meekly, went out of his way to agree with him.
See also….
No. 18: Ant Strachan: “The All Blacks won the RWC 2011 because of outstanding defence!”
No. 17: Stephen Franks: “Peter has been such a level-headed, safe pair of hands.”
No. 16: Phil Kafcaloudes: “Tony Abbott…hasn’t made any mistakes over the past eighteen months”
No. 15: Donald Rumsfeld: “I did not lie… Colin Powell did not lie.”
No. 14: Colin Powell: “a post-9/11 nexus between Iraq and terrorist organizations…connections are now emerging…”
No.13: Barack Obama: “Simply put, these strikes have saved lives.”
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-27052013/#comment-638881
No. 12: U.K. Ministry of Defence: “Protecting the Afghan civilian population is one of ISAF and the UK’s top priorities.”
No. 11: Brendan O’Connor: “Australia’s approach to refugees is compassionate and generous.”
No. 10: Boris Johnson: “Londoners have… the best police in the world to look after us and keep us safe.”
No. 9: NewstalkZB PR dept: “News you NEED! Fast, fair, accurate!”
No. 8: Simon Bridges: “I don’t mean to duck the question”
No. 7: Nigel Morrison: “Quite frankly, they’ve been VERY tough.”
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-15052013/#comment-633295
No. 6: NZ Herald PR dept: “Congratulations—you’re reading New Zealand’s best newspaper.”
No. 5: Rawdon Christie: “…a FORMIDABLE replacement, it seems, is Claudette Hauiti.” http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-13052013/#comment-632594
No. 4: Willie and J.T.: “The X-Factor. Nah, nah, there’s some GREAT talent there!”
No. 3: John Key: “Yeah we hold MPs to a higher standard.”
No. 2: Colin Craig: “Oh, I have a GREAT sense of humour.”
No. 1: Barack Obama: “Margaret Thatcher was one of the great champions of freedom and liberty.”
Considering what comes out of Hooton’s mouth, he must eat through his arse.
Whoops, are children reading this?
Hooton is an ass, an utter ass. But the real problem here is Mike Williams. He is useless.
Why don’t they have someone principled and coherent to oppose Hooton? What has happened to Andrew Campbell? Or Laila Harre? Or Sue Bradford? Each of those people firmly put Hooton in his place; Williams on the other hand, like the timid Peter Harris and the dithering Josie Pagani, just concedes the floor to Hooton—almost every time.
Yep, it’s half an hour of squelchy sounds between Hoots and Williams. The host says “withdraw and apologise”, Wormtongue says “nope” and she lets it go. I appreciate that Ryan has principles, but she needs a backbone too.
Listening to Kim Hill has been a delight.
The great difference has been that after asking a question, Kim Hill actually listens for the response and then accommodates the answer into the discussion. Thus reminding people that interviews are meant to extract information. Something almost every other media journalist in the country seems to have forgotten.
Like Clockwork; no need for a watch.
That’s why he’s invited. The token left, like Newstalk ZB with Josie Pagani.
Fox TV did it with Hannity ( deranged right winger) and Colmes ( ineffectual left wing stooge)
Then they can pretend they are ‘fair and balanced’ (Fox) or see both sides of the story (Newstalk ZB).
Yes got to like Laila a lot.
and Rhinocrates Kathryn I think feels like an animal wrangler with scrapping dogs. She has to let them speak – that’s what they are there for.
ANAGRAM TIME
No. 4: Peter Dunne’s legover thwarted
Down-hearted splutter. Revenge!
How many days before the Obama-surveillance stories start to connect with the GCSB stories here?
While we wait, here’s a preview of a relevant movie about the growth of the surveillance state and its consequenes both for liberty and for the United States globally:
http://www.salon.com/2013/06/09/obamas_dirty_wars_and_a_soiled_presidency/
Enemy of the State.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enemy_of_the_State_(film)
“How many days before the Obama-surveillance stories start to connect with the GCSB stories
here?”
Dunne already on April first, thanks to Dotcom and the Old Mole
http://redrave.blogspot.co.nz/2013/04/mega-dotcom-war.html
Good news. Someone was claiming that housing was unaffordable for ordinary people in NZ and that was wrong. Then there was a plan to change this with the finger being pointed at the lack of available land because it was being tied up by ‘unreasonable’ councils.
Then I found that these thoughtful comments were being made by NZ Initiative, a branch of the Business Roundtable and were authored by Luke Malpass and Michael Bassett. What a surprise. What they care about is that a good reliable money earner for them is being stymied and that will not do.
Also involved are – AuthorDr Bryce WilkinsonSatyajit DasDr Oliver HartwichLuke MalpassRoger PartridgeDr John LeeCatherine HarlandLukas SchroeterJoseph JuddRachael
http://nzinitiative.org.nz/About+Us/Membership.html
The recent comments carried forward those made by the Productivity Commission in April 2012.
http://www.productivity.govt.nz/about-us/our-team-0
http://www.productivity.govt.nz/inquiry-content/1509?stage=4
Containment policies such as ‘Smart Growth’ and Auckland’s Metropolitan Urban Limit (MUL) were also found by the Commission to have an adverse effect on housing affordability by limiting the availability of land for housing.
“Pressure on land prices needs to be reduced and the Commission has recommended that there be an immediate release of new land for residential development in high demand areas such as Auckland and Christchurch”.
Does their self-interest meet the housing needs of NZs? What other means are available of stopping housing being an investment vehicle for everyone who doesn’t want to or can’t find employment
within other parts of the economy?
We have as many housing speculators it seems, as cats have fleas, feeding off us and forcing up the prices of housing, which they can then rent at a loss while they wait for inflation of housing, not measured by the CPI to rise and make them a capital profit. And with very little maintenance to keep the places liveable.
Hey PRISM. Are the fella who has been accessing and filing the World Internet for the USA?
ianmac Who me? There is no such thing as prism – just a bunch of coloured lights.
Another True American Hero Emerges
Edward Snowden will now be targeted by the US/UK defamation machine
Question: Will Populuxe1, McFlock, and the other Standard regulars who so perversely reiterated the official attacks on earlier whistleblowers now be grinding their axes to deal to this guy?….
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2013/jun/09/nsa-whistleblower-edward-snowden-interview-video
Since you’re active on the board right now, it might be a good time to tell us, McFlock. What is it to be: defending the whistleblower?
Or the usual?
From the initial face of it, he appears to be a genuine whistle-blower who was motivated by a genuine ethical quandary rather than ego, and who restricted his information distribution to information relating to the cause of his moral dilemma. In full knowledge of the significant personal sacrifice he would make.
Oh, and he seems to be sensible enough to avoid a sexual assault complaint.
Perfectly willing to change my mind if the facts change, though.
Moderately intrigued by his choice of Hong Kong, but what the hey. I suppose he’s betting that a US intelligence operation on Chinese soil might be more trouble than his scalp is worth.
[edit] although it does put him in the position of being a bargaining chip if the Chinese want to spend some diplo-credits with the US in the next couple of decades, a la Ramirez in Yemen.
and you seemed in such a curmudgeonly mood such a short time ago.
…. motivated by a genuine ethical quandary rather than ego…
So it’s all about motivation, is it? You would have no doubt endorsed the German commentators who denounced Stauffenberg and his fellow bomb-plotters in 1944. Their “motivation” was suspect, too, seeing that they were all aristocrats—-and they were less than monkish in their sexual behaviour as well.
If only everybody was as perfect as you no doubt are.
Perfectly willing to change my mind if the facts change, though.
You’re like a commissar awaiting instructions from Moscow. And to think that YOU were upbraiding ME for apparently not getting your friend’s sarcasm.
McF is just another Tory who hasn’t come out of the closet yet. In the supposed interest of being “fair”, he’s making excuses for the right-wing authoritarians. You’ll find that he makes more and more excuses for them than he does for the real left and more and more criticisms of the left for being “unreasonable” and “not constructive”.
Godw … Nah, can’t be bothered.
‘cept this time you were right 🙂
‘cept this time you were right.
No he was not, you hapless clot.
Godw … Nah, can’t be bothered.
Godwin’s Law applies when the comparison is frivolous and can’t be argued convincingly. When I compare the behaviour of a “liberal” like McFlock to the behaviour of toadies in wartime Germany, I am not saying he was a Nazi, any more than I am saying he is a Soviet commissar by taking his lead from government spin doctors.
Of course, you can erroneously invoke Godwin’s Law if you want; it’s your credibility that’s being exposed when you refuse to engage.
sigh.
It wasn’t erroneous:
As you put it: When I compare the behaviour of a “liberal” like McFlock to the behaviour of toadies in wartime Germany[…]
You described your comment as a comparison with those chaps and thereby satisfying the requirements of Godwin’s law.
You’re funny.
You’re funny.
I know I am. I work hard at it.
However, I don’t think you’re particularly amused by—to employ one of John Banks’ favorite metaphors—having your wings torn off like this.
Now I’m left with a new appreciation for the communication gulf that exists between people.
The proof-readers at work would approve of your use of the em-dash, though. I can never be bothered.
Wow, rewriting Godwin’s Law to suit yourself, now there’s a surprise.
Godwin’s Law applies when someone makes an analogy comparing the person they are arguing with to N@zis etc, because they can no longer make a coherent argument. It doesn’t matter how sophisticated you think your argument is, if it’s hyperbole (which it was) then Godwin’s applies.
You might want to look up “sarcasm” in the dictionary.
Don’t use rhino’s, though, because all the words in that edition have identical meanings.
But yes, motivation does count.
For example: “defending Naz1s” = “bad motivation”, so “being an arsehole” rather than “being a whistleblower”.
Another example: “exposing an institutional abuse of liberties to the public who have a right to know” = “good motivation” = “whistleblower”.
are you a bespoke closet collaborateur Flockie? 😉
Apparently so.
I suspect, however, that my accusers’ world-views are the complete opposite to that attributed to Key.
Methinks a bored IT drone with a narcissisting personality dissorder wanting to play 007 more like
Is there any point to this little interchange (from 25 on)? Any?
Is there any point to this little interchange (from 25 on)? Any?
As your befuddled contribution at 25.1.2.2.1 shows all too plainly, you are clearly out of your depth.
Yes, there IS a point to “this little interchange”, and it is a very important one. If you do not appreciate that, then you really need to get off the discussion boards and do some serious, sustained READING.
Classic non-answer from Morrisey to a rhetorical question lol.
Classic non-answer from Morrisey to a rhetorical question lol.
“Non-answer”? Not only did I refute your lamely inadequate attempt to trivialize this discussion, but I trussed you and served you as an amuse bouche before we moved onto bigger, nastier fare.
Nah, all you did was take your inference that there is something wrong with me, and wrap it up in some pseudo-clever language. Nothing of substance. As usual.
Nah, all you did was take your inference that there is something wrong with me, and wrap it up in some pseudo-clever language. Nothing of substance. As usual.
I don’t like to say this, my friend, but someone needs to: you are out of your depth.
so the primary-sector exports (partic. sheep and beef) are gonna take a 1.3B hit in projected annual income due to the drought.
“Well we come with what was on our backs
Yeah, when the leaves had died and all turned black
Back when the wind was cold and blew them ’round
When we laid our blankets on the ground
Anything I want, some of us are different
It’s just something in our blood, there’s no need for explanations
We’re just dogs on the run,
Oh she would laugh, and light my cigarettes”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2o06pAyXLJo
It Ain’t Nothing To Me.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8776490/Attempts-to-get-reporters-emails-will-be-fought
“Labour leader David Shearer wants Parliament’s privileges committee to probe the Peter Dunne saga as Fairfax Media says it won’t be releasing emails between its journalist and the MP.”
Yes I agree the emails should be made public, of course in the interest of fairness theres some other emails I’d like to see released…Phil Goffs recent escapdes could prove interesting etc etc
Seriously though whos advising Shearer? Someone who wants him to fail??
Failure is inevitable for Shearer unfortunately, or fortunately.
He may be dim and unable to convey his thoughts (if they exist), but he will never be the complete asshole that John Key is.
I don’t know about that fender. I disliked Shearer’s condemning attitudes to beneficiaries, his unattractive willingness to join the put-downers. Under the exterior is there a left winger? Or just another RWNJ in drag? He might be just a different door but with the same keyhole.
Good point but I believe Key has a deep-seated hatred of beneficiaries whereas Shearer was saying what some (Pagani?) adviser told him to say. That doesn’t excuse Shearer from his error, just highlights his inexperience and naivety.
+1 fender.
When he (only) had certain members of the ABC club advising him then it was inevitable he would put a few feet wrong. I think (I hope) he’s widened his advisory horizons now.
fender
Does that mean Shearer is just a hand puppet or ventriloquist’s dummy? Not a nice mental picture of someone’s hand up his back bumps.
Yeah it seems that way, the abc team picked a malleable rookie they could make dance to their tune, missteps and all!
Bad pictures have been more than mental ones!
Anyone remember the “Citizens for Rowling” campaign. It was initiated by a David Exel? He was, in fact, a rejected National Party candidate but he had a dislike for Muldoon and set up the aforementioned campaign. Went to hear him speak at a public meeting in Takapuna and he spouted all the things that a pseudo left winger would say. It was comical really. Shame though because he had a lot of good liberal minds signed up. Mmmm, now am I experiencing a form of deja-vu
If you haven’t looked at google today – I suggest you take a shifty at the great program they’ve done displaying Maurice Sendak’s art and characters. Remember it’s only on for the day.
thanks prism, that was fun,
here is a video of it for the fans, with not the worst soundtrack ever
freedom
Where was that video?
There are heaps of copies on youtube. Try this one (although I prefer to watch it on google.com). Beautiful animation.
Thanks weka
But I have to find out what Adobe Flash is and get it into my computer and my head. Till then I can’t see a lot of things on youtube.
On googlecom where to go – images? I haven’t used that site.
so much for Ryall and “ED waiting times”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10889483
further increases in consumption; takeaways; credit cards at twice the rate of debit cards.sigh
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10889568
Employers wincing out on Kiwisaver contributions
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10889444
“Oh Good Morning Mr Tyler, going down?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10889461
Quote of the Day from Pooter George:
“If Peters can’t put up any evidence one must assume he has been lying about having it.”
What he might have said is “If Dunne can’t put up any evidence of his innocence one must assume he has been lying about having it.” But he didn’t. Funny that.
I always thought PG was first to bed so he could be first up to post on Open mike, but it looks like he will be the last to leave Dunnes’ party.
Last to leave? If UF do manage to get 500 paid up members, I’m picking a fair percentage of the names will be along the lines of Pete R. George, George Peters, PG Tips etc., so you may be right.
fender 😀
oooh, NATO under attack near Kabul airport
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/10/kabul-airport-under-attack
oooh, Oil in the River Coca
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-22836975
heading towards the Brazilian Amazon.
The Middle East; Inter-Sunni, Sunni-Shia and “political entrepreneurs”.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/08/middle-east-full-blown-religious-war
(another US foreign policy balls-up).
DROUGHT: The most devastating disasters; all over the world in increasing frequency and location from now on.
http://reliefweb.int/report/world/droughts-%E2%80%98most-devastating%E2%80%99-disasters-set-increase-warn-climate-change-experts
“every 1 degree rise in temp = 20-fold increase in conflicts”.
Water and land conservation essential, oh, that’s right, NZ has based it’s economic future in dairying which is land and water intensive. Yep.
I often wonder if cantabs, for example, should be growing olives and dates rather than cows. That’s if the standard grain crops don’t rock their world, of course.
Lets model ourselves on Greece.
Nope.
But let’s learn from their successes, as well as their mistakes. Producing food is good, especially in times of food shortage. But running the land down and filling out waterways with shit is stupid. Can we do the first without doing the second or third?
How would you get on there. Do they have gorillas, or is it guerillas.
they already grow a lot of cereal there.
RNZ just advises that the Morehu chap (RW having orgasms over it on WOBH) was Tazered twice before being shot twice. deep sigh.
“I often wonder if cantabs, for example, should be growing olives and dates rather than cows.”
Of course the most productive use of land (measured by how many families the land sustains) is horticultural.
New Zealand has moved from a hunter-gatherer approach (still seen today in various ancient fed farmer cultures) to an animals which eat the regrowth approach, and thence now slowly to this most productive form. There is no doubt that the water which has been stolen to wet the dry land for moo cows will instead quench plants of most exquisite return and flavour.
This is as it has always been.
yep. Polycultures (with animals integrated into the system) are the most shock proof ways of growing food. That’s a different kete of fish than making money of course. Time to decide what you want NZ.
And NZ given 35 year concessions on irrigation which I think renewable. And the rights saleable.
Without water, Revolution
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/19/opinion/sunday/friedman-without-water-revolution.html
Eurozone debt-revenue ratios
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/jun/09/eurozone-crisis-debt-income-ratios
Three countries at 300%
Hits Italian manufacturing
http://rinf.com/alt-news/breaking-news/europe-crisis-hits-italy-manufacturing/40362/
Neo-liberalism has created a financial elite holding governments to ransom
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/08/neoliberalism-financial-elite-governments-ransom
Markets very reliant on QE
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/premium/singapore-markets/others/markets-very-reliant-quantitative-easing-20130610
“Holed up in Hong Kong”
The project to criminalize whistle-blowing and dissent
Radio NZ National, Checkpoint, Monday 10 June 2013, 5:20 p.m.
Just heard Susie Ferguson parrot the line that Edward Snowden is “holed up” in Hong Kong. She was, perhaps unwittingly, referring to yet another dissenter as though he’s some desperado who pulled a bank heist.
It’s started. Expect sexual allegations in the next week, and a “request” for extradition.
Expect also some diligent reiteration in this normally excellent forum of whatever Obama’s drones say.
By the usual parrots.
UPDATE:
Suzy Ferguson has just repeated the “holed up” meme on the 5:30 news.
He’s going to have taken money from his employer, I predict revelations of false expense claims and other employment irregularities
Also I feel sorry for the Missus he left behind, she’s she’ll be in shit street solitary, they’ll be trawling all through her + family’s background
FURTHER UPDATE:
On the 8 p.m. news, Catriona McLeod has just repeated the meme: “Edward Snowden is holed up in Hong Kong.”
Damn – did they not rewrite the RNZ news script despite your helpful advice?
Damn – did they not rewrite the RNZ news script despite your helpful advice?
Golly, you’re onto it! I DID send them a hurry-up at 5:30 pm. Sound intuition there, my friend. I haven’t checked my email yet; I’ll let you know if and what they replied.
8:14 pm
Just checked my email. You’re right, she treated it with contempt. Not even a snarky one-liner, as Jim Mora or Michael Laws or Leighton Smith will at least bother to do.
Nothing. I am so lonely now. Ignored. Marginalized.
Now what’s on down the tavern tonight?
Was that sarcasm? Because you do sometimes apparently send RNZ emails that you republish here.
Was that sarcasm?
No. I don’t do sarcasm. I leave that to lower forms of life, like our friends Populuxe1, weka and Te Reo Putake.
Because you do sometimes apparently send RNZ emails that you republish here.
I do, and there’s nothing “apparent” about them; they are genuine. I’ll have another look to see if they’ve replied, then I’ll publish my letter (probably unanswered, I will bet) on today’s Open Mike (11 June).
I think you are making a mistake grouping Te Reo Putake and Weka with Pompouslux1 Mr. Breen.
Yep I agree with fender – think again about this line of attack/defence Morrissey it does you no credit.
fender: I think you are making a mistake grouping Te Reo Putake and Weka with Pompouslux1 Mr. Breen.
Morrissey: Yeah, you’re right. I thought as I posted it off I was being a bit harsh on those two scallywags.
marty mars Yep I agree with fender – think again about this line of attack/defence Morrissey it does you no credit.
Morrissey: You’re right, marty, you’re right.
MORRISSEY walks over to TE REO PUTAKE and WEKA, hugs them.
Iain (M) Banks is dead.
Fuck.
“Iain (M) Banks is dead.
Fuck.”
Yeah agree with that.
Double fuck :'(
Double fuck :’(
Aha! He actually fancies himself as Julian Assange.
All this crap over the last year is some Freudian denial thing going on.
Brit’s Haig? commented that their spying activity is not wide, enveloping and random it’s – ‘organised, targeted, appropriate’ and something else that has slipped my mind. Do we feel that the Brit govt is a bastion of freedom and respect for all citizens? Do we think that NZ is?
likely been some “reciprocal spying” going on amongst Echelon partners”. -Paul Brislen.
Key- Nah! (to paraphrase briefly).
and Tom Sharpe.
anyway, the NZ Super Fund has been investing (only 2M) in five companies manufacturing nuclear weapons and / or their support platforms.
UK Police to guard selected Islamic sites, schools, mosques, etc around Greater London.
Oh well.
Parata apparently gave the go ahead to look at a ‘public-private partnership‘ for the Aranui ‘super school’. That was why she pushed back the date of closure, to give a PPP a chance.
This is all so in keeping …