Anyone feel like some sleuthing? I’ve been trying to figure out how rents are calculated in the CPI and hit a bit of a dead end. Reason for asking is the CPI numbers have never looked right to me and I’d like to know which is wrong – my intuition or the CPI
Background;
The CPI index for rents has gone from a base of 1000 in June 2006 to 1240 in June 2016. That’s an increase in rents of 24% over ten years. In inflation terms that’s annual rent inflation of about 2.2%. (That just isn’t believable to me, it’s too low.)
The Household Economic Survey also reports rents and those figures say rents have increased by 39% in only eight years (from 2007 to 2015) That’s annual rent inflation of about 4.2%. (That’s a little more believable.)
This link here explains rented dwellings in the CPI;
What I can’t work out is the bit about state housing. It seems to be saying they’re using income-related rents to calculate rent inflation on state houses and that surely can’t be right. Any clues?
Thanks but not really. It’s how state housing is affecting the CPI that I’m trying to work out. I understand income related rents, I just don’t understand its context in the CPI.
It’s kind of a paradox;
People in state houses pay rent as a (calculated) percentage of their income. If their income doesn’t go up then their rent doesn’t go up either.
Wages & benefits are linked to inflation. If rents don’t go up, because incomes haven’t gone up, then CPI inflation will be lower and therefore wages & benefits won’t go up much either.
I’m idly wondering if the inclusion of state housing is dragging down the CPI figures to paint a misleading picture of rent inflation.
with only around 68000 state rentals the feedback impact on CPI (which is weighted I believe) will be negligible….and thats assuming state rentals are included in the CPI.
Could be Pat, I looked for the weightings and they don’t have it there so I don’t know.
68,000 is 10-15% of the rental stock I believe so it would make a difference even with weightings applied. The thing is, state houses should not be included in the CPI at all and I wonder why they are.
around 12% (assuming 100% occupancy) but if the rents are only increasing in that stock by the rate of CPI then the impact is negligible….the movement in private rentals will be the driving stat for the following rental CPI
State house rents aren’t increasing by the CPI Pat, they’re set by income not inflation. Real inflation on income related rents would be close to zero so that 12% could drag down rent CPI by up to 12%.. if they are using income related rents to calculate the CPI there.
It will not drag it down by 12% absolutely though DH. Pat is right by saying that the State Housing impact is negligible.
Ie state housing rent does not increase at all 0% (12% of market)
Other housing increases by 33% (88% of market)
Yeah you’re right and it’s not enough of an anomaly to explain why the CPI is reporting half the inflation the household income survey is.
The HES report for 2009 says this;
“Results from the Household Economic Survey (Income) (HES (Income)) for the year ended June 2009 show no overall change in average weekly expenditure on housing costs from the previous year, Statistics New Zealand said today. This result was made up of an increase across all households in average weekly property and ground rent payments (up 8.1 percent), offset by decreases in average mortgage principal repayments (down 7.1 percent) and average mortgage interest payments (down 2.8 percent).
For those making rent payments, median (half pay more, half pay less) weekly rent payments increased from $220 in 2007/08 to $241 in 2008/09 (up 9.5 percent). ”
CPI for year ended June 2009 says rent inflation was 1.7%. So how does the HES get 8.1% and the CPI only 1.7% ?
The CPI used to include every house sale in the country – I know because I used to have to count it up and work out the average house price to 7 significant figures ( that was in 1967). There were no adding machines or computers available either. We converted the CPI from Pounds shillings and pence to dollars and cents manually. One electric calculator to the office of 12 was all there was. All done with pencil and paper. Standard deviations worked out to 7 sig figs. And not a word spoken the whole day! Muldoon would ring up and ask what would be the effect on the CPI if he raised the price of bread by 1 penny.
The govt decided (around 2000) to remove house prices from the CPI for the reason that people didn’t buy a house every year. (i.e. they wanted “underlying inflation”) – it also meant that the CPI increase would not be so great so incomes based on CPI increases (i.e. benefits and pensions) would not be affected so much……
OK I’ll wait for the Secret Service to arrest Trump for threatening a confirmed Presidential Candidate. When do you think it will happen, today or tomorrow?
Lanth, Hillary was actually guilty of committing multiple National Security felonies over a long period of time. You equating that to what Trump may or may not have meant in an offhand quip is ludicrous.
is that what the websites you follow are saying – I’m surprised you can regurgitate it with a straight face and pretend it is some original thought or insight from you.
You’re just a modern-day TV watcher – “look it is on the news it must be true” – so gullible – your thinking is in freefall and breaking the laws of physics bubby
Michael Hayden, former director of the CIA and National Security Agency, said on the same channel:
“Well, let me say, if someone had have said that outside the hall he’d be in the back of a police wagon now with the secret service questioning him.”
So it seems that it was where he said it is what prevents the police from arresting him. Even so – such dog whistling is highly irresponsible – and can you imagine how he and Rodrigo Duterte would get along?
The finest, truest, leftiest CV still trumpeting away for his finest, truest, leftiest Donald Trump I note. Sounds like there’s something wickedly wrong with your wiring CV. And as to your ‘if this’ and ‘if that’ the Secret Service ‘would do such’…….what master of the universe blow arse is that ? Excuse me for paralleling you with BM and Fisiani.
The problem with you supporting trump Colonial Viper and his oblique use of violence as a political tool is that you would be one of his victims. How long do you have to wait – till you turn around, and there is no one to support you? Think leftist, disabled, gypsies, gays, nonconformists, free thinkers, artist, poets, pacifist, pasifika, and asian. It’s a list because that is what facists do, they go down lists. Till there is no one left to oppose them.
How long will it be before trump comes for the Chinese, especially if he is elected and not doing well at home. How long before internment camps, so american chinese can be protected? How much pressure would it take for the same to happen here?
A fascist is a fascist. And I’m not seeing many left or right disagreeing trump is a fascist.
Yes h.r.c is a bloody awful alternative.
Guess what – you have a choice, Vote Green, and organise.
But supporting a fascist, come on, take a step back and do self interest for one bloody minute. Think of your family and friends who are leftist, disabled, gypsies, gays, nonconformists, free thinkers, artist, poets, pacifist, pasifika, and asian – and ask how long before they go under the economic bus which is fascism.
Because you are showing a serious lack of understanding how fascist economics works.
Go away Adam. Under both Bush’s and continuing under Obama, universities throughout the USA have been rapidly closing down liberal arts, humanities and fine arts programmes, as well as destroying the free press and investigative journalism; don’t presume to lecture me about how far the high finance corporate-government meld has progressed in the USA.
As for Trump coming after the Chinese and after other races, go ahead and buy into the Clinton establishment propaganda. Trump is very clear that he employs and supports LEGAL immigrants in the USA.
The Secret Service is aware of the comments made earlier this afternoon.— U.S. Secret Service (@SecretService) August 9, 2016
edit:
Katrina Pierson's long-awaited explanation: Trump was saying an assassination "could" happen, not that it "should" happen.— Laura Bassett (@LEBassett) August 9, 2016
TRUMP IS RIGHT AGAIN! IF HITLERY OR ANYONE ELSE ATTEMPTS TO REMOVE "WE THE PEOPLES" 2nd Amend RIGHT THEY'RE DEAD. https://t.co/cumvke6JfP— Butch Sargent (@ButchSargent) August 9, 2016
Trump's comment in NC today was a sign telling us to gear up for the civil war NOW instead of later in case #CrookedHillary wins— Art Motte (@Art_Motte) August 9, 2016
“How come Trump hasn’t been arrested by Clinton’s secret service detail then?”
For obvious reasons the threshhold for legal action against someone inciting violence is relatively high. I’m pretty sure Trump and his team know how to pitch dog whistles just below that.
Interesting that you would defend Trump on this, although I guess the elite are legit targets.
I’m not so much defending Trump as much as I am not falling for his year long tactic of trolling the liberal media with an ongoing stream of outrageous bullshit, everything from Megyn Kelly’s periods to this.
I am however totally mystified as to why Trump’s campaign has not changed gears into a serious fullbore general election campaign. As far as I can tell, he is still acting and speaking as if he is still running for the Republican Primaries in Texas and South Dakota.
“I am however totally mystified as to why Trump’s campaign has not changed gears into a serious fullbore general election campaign. As far as I can tell, he is still acting and speaking as if he is still running for the Republican Primaries in Texas and South Dakota.”
He has. This is what his ‘fullbore general election campaign’ looks like.
Hi Lanth, I’m not afraid to back candidates that others see as political losers. And, I still see a clear Trump win come November despite the latest polls having Trump 10 pts behind Hillary 🙂
“I’m not so much defending Trump as much as I am not falling for his year long tactic of trolling the liberal media with an ongoing stream of outrageous bullshit, everything from Megyn Kelly’s periods to this.”
Yeah, nah, I don’t think he is so stupid as to think that some of his constituents won’t hear the ralling cry to fight back. Or maybe he is and truly doesn’t see the potential for people to act on the call. That would make for a great Prez. You can call it trolling if you want, but it’s clear he has no regard for civil order and will undermine it to achieve his aims.
God that’s just sick. I just managed to get through the re-showing of Fahrenheit 9-11 on tv last night.
Even if only one thing about it is true in the film, backing the Saudis in anything let alone armaments is just sick no matter who is doing it as US President.
I support Trump ahead of Clinton because Trump won’t be seeking military confrontation with Russia and China in the Pacific, and because Trump will be shit canning the TPP asap.
You support Clinton because – who the fuck knows. Because she raised way more money from the financial sector and from Saudi ruling interests I guess.
“You support Clinton because – who the fuck knows. ”
Because the next POTUS is likely to appoint 2-3 supreme court justices, and if Trump gets in, he will appoint conservative ones that set back social progress in the US for decades to come.
“Because the next POTUS is likely to appoint 2-3 supreme court justices, and if Trump gets in, he will appoint conservative ones that set back social progress in the US for decades to come.”
So you are prepared to sacrifice the future of the world for…..identity politics?
Must be an amazingly large dead rat.
Everyone just take a look at who has donated millions to the Clinton Foundation in the last 10 years, and who is donating millions to her campaign every day now.
Everyone just take a look at who has donated millions to the Clinton Foundation in the last 10 years.
Just as a quick summary, which of those donors have demanded that South Korea and Japan build their own nuclear weapons?
Even someone who wishes to preserve the status quo (not that Clinton necessarily does) is better than someone whose impulsive idiocy would result in more fingers on nuclear triggers in potential global flashpoints.
Both Japan and South Korea already have nuclear break out times measured in single digit months.
Well, assuming their fuel refining equipment can be easily recalibrated to producing sufficient quantities of weapons-grade materials in that timeframe (and that you’re not just parroting important-sounding jargon that you’ve read on RT), it’s still a fuckload more stable than having a launch time measured in moments.
That’s assuming that NK won’t pre-emptively launch within that timeframe, of course. Because even the mention of nuclear proliferation in that region gives a narrow timeframe before the penalty for diplomatic failure dramatically increases. Trump is the sort of dickhead who goes on a jaunt through downtown Sarajevo in an open-top car. 10 million dead later…
All very interesting CV, but completely irrelevant to South Korea or Japan’s potential nuclear capabilities, the destabilising effects of development of those potential capabilities, and whether you are simply parroting important-sounding words with no real understanding of what they mean.
When you calculated the “nuclear break out times” for Japan and South Korea, were you factoring current stockpiles of various grades of enriched uranium as well as current enrichment capacity?
Tony Schwartz, the guy who wrote [Trump’s book] The Art of the Deal, says Trump never jokes.
“I fear that an unbalanced person hears that in this inflamed environment and, God forbid, thinks that was a threat. I certainly take it as a threat, I really do, and Trump needs to apologise.”
Exactly rhinocrates@11.05am, because Trump is nothing more than a showman. Heaven save us from such nitwits.
And I thought choosing a B grade movie actor was bizarre in times past.
So no comment on the previous hero of the left virtually accusing the DNC of murdering a staffer who leaked the DNC emails? Also, Wikileaks offerring a reward for information leading to his killer?
Selective – much?
Talk about playing the “Reds under the Bed” card! Coupled with his insufferable arrogance saying the Millibands leadership election reforms (one of the few decent things Milliband did for Labour) should be done away with and their should be a return to the Electoral College system of the Blairite New Labour Party.
Apparently he no longer talks to Corbyn except by exchange of texts! A right little Iago (who will knife Owen Smith as Leader within 2 years I would predict).
her supporters are showing their real colours too…Trump may be a loose lips and a loud mouth and a menace …but Hillary and her advisers are f…king scarey
‘Kill Russians and Iranians, threaten Assad,’ says ex-CIA chief backing Clinton
Keiser Report: USA reduced to a one party state of the elites with corporates; bankers and billionaires lining up behind Hillary Clinton
Max Keiser and his partner Stacey Herbert do one of the best political economic shows anywhere, and its available on RT’s youtube channel.
Their latest show is a knock out.
– Warnings in 2007/2008 that opposing banker bailouts for the rich would lead to economic collapse, is now causing political collapse.
– Massive funds have been transferred from savers and pension funds to billionaire speculators.
– The Washington elite from billionaires to military industrial complex and neocon Republicans are all lining up to support Clinton.
– Corporate media a tool of the Washington elite to mock ‘ignorant’, ‘lazy’, ‘red neck’, ‘racists’.
– 16% of the 43M Americans with student debt are in long term default: ignoring letters, phone calls and debt collectors. This is one basis of political revolution.
– Clinton campaign recently raised US$120M from the financial sector. Trump campaign received $19,000.
– Putin now widely blamed for the political, economic and refugee woes of the west similar to Cold War days.
thanks for stereotyping criticising of Republicans, and so patronisingly too! ;-p
She forgot racists. I read an analysis a while back about during the Civil Rights era, the racists left the Democratic Party and joined the Republicans, which consolidated active racism there and changed the culture of the party. That some parts of the non-elite vote for the Republicans for a range of reasons doesn’t mean that the GOP doesn’t have serious bigotry issues.
They’re different bigotry issues though, and we should look at them in the respective parties, not try and pretend they don’t exist or aren’t important.
That’s exactly right. US politics is incredibly polarised. The constant is that the bottom 50% or more of people socioeconomically are totally disenfranchised by the establishment machine, whether that machine is wearing an elephant sticker or a donkey sticker.
And this is of course where Trump gets leverage.
There is a long time to go until November and I am still picking a clear win by Trump.
Does that mean we should not criticise h.r.c? I know some commentators here have fallen for the juvenile rhetoric that a criticism of of h.r.c. – is to support trump.
The politics of fear, is the politics of fear, both trump and h.r.c are engaged in it. If anything both help each other in that game.
We should not play, especially in NZ.
national are going to pull out the fear card at some stage, my guess over the green/labour memorandum, then terrorism of some sort, or some other schmuck lies and finally b.s. — all to put fear into the voting population.
I say vote morally, then fear won’t cloud your vision.
Obama has overseen the largest expansion of the security surveillance state and has just approved another US$1.5B of big corporate made military arms to be sold to the world’s leading misogynist, terrorist exporting, 9/11 facilitating dictatorial state, Saudi Arabia.
Clinton would continue the same track just on neocon steroids.
So keep preaching about fascism, you guys have no idea what it is.
Pull your head in CV I know very well what fascism is, I can list off my family members who died fighting it if you like. Or how about the German and Polish part of my family that was wiped out by the fascists. Or family and friends who lived and died through Franco’s fascist state.
It’s you who has no bloody idea, by supporting a fascist – because trump is one.I know a lot of liberals put proto in front because they can’t bear to think about it. But all my American friends left and right agree trump is a fascist. He want to suspend habeas corpus, and look at his last economic speech – that is handing power to the corporations. He may oppose the TPP but he will push through somthing worse.
Fascism has only one way to make an economy work – war external or internal – and he’s two damn steps away from that. Bombing ISIS to the stone age. Attacking Mexicans.
He is not an isolationist, you’re kidding yourself if you think he is.
And again there is an alternative – organise with americans and encourage them to vote Green and keep building a movement. Which by the way will be crushed if trump gets to power.
Fucking hell Adam, with the US plea bargaining system as it has been misused for over a decade now habeas corpus has been nothing more effective than theatre.
As for war, Killary Clinton is your neocon war master. She destroyed Libya, and cackled about it on TV, and then helped funnel arms to Islamists in Syria to take down Assad. She is in with the regime changing Russia/China sabre rattling neocon crowd up to her eye balls.
Forget it mate, I hope you get your dream, go organise for the US Greens and gift Killary, whom you seem to see as the lesser of two evils, the Oval Office.
Errr I’m pretty sure I didn’t say anything snide or otherwise. Nor did I say anything that could be considered “BS” as I was asking a question, not making a statement.
Ahhh no, I was asking a question because as I am a new commentator I had assumed you were, like most of us, a left winger. Then I saw you stumping for Trump so wanted to know if I had got my initial impression wrong and perhaps you were in fact in the same league as Pukish Rouge or Srylands.
Further, if you had a sincere bone in your body you would have directed your original question towards me and I would have answered you matter of factly.
The establishment left is utterly obsolete and irrelevant now. Only a radical departure from status quo economics will provide us with any genuine hope.
So Trump is the answer? You seriously think Trump will deviate from the current status quo? Please…have you seen his ‘economic’ plan which gives billions of tax breaks to the top earners?
You’re no left winger (or right winger). At least both left and right wingers have principles. Stumping for a misoginistic, racist, pig thick con-man because you hate Clinton with such a passion makes you all things trump is.
I’m sorry, I’m not sure as to what you’re referring to. Thorndon? Labour? Huh?
I’m guessing you also think woman should be punished for having abortions and that the US should build a huge wall to keep the Mexicans out. Is that right, racist?
“Then I saw you stumping for Trump so wanted to know if I had got my initial impression wrong and perhaps you were in fact in the same league as Pukish Rouge or Srylands.”
_________
What? I have never made any comment on Trump. For the record, Trump is a maniac.
i am not talking about the 60’s, i am talking about the current lot of republicans of the year 2016.
Am i that off?
Is Rubio not a forced birther by saying that he would not allow for an abortion should a women carry a baby with microcephaly and not letting a women take this decision with her husband/partner and her doctor?
It’s only a 1 party state, because the Republicans have, over the last 3 decades, deliberately lied to their supporters and kept them like mushrooms. This has culminated in the flawed candidate that their base rabidly support, while the party leaders themselves are aghast.
Not quite correct. What we see is a revolt by the faithful republican voters against the party elite. Trump’s message resonates with the American worker who has seen jobs destroyed by outsourcing to foreign countries. The Republican Party is becoming the “worker’s party” and the Democrats that of the banksters and monied elite. Quite a swap of position on the political spectrum.
The Left has split into “workers and jobs” to Trump and the “identity crowd” to Clinton.
And that’s what the American elites and MSM can’t tolerate.
… while Republican turnout has considerably increased overall from four years ago, there’s no sign of a particularly heavy turnout among “working-class” or lower-income Republicans. On average in states where exit polls were conducted both this year and in the Republican campaign four years ago, 29 percent of GOP voters have had household incomes below $50,000 this year, compared with 31 percent in 2012…
The working class vote being bigoted, reactionary groupthink has a similar ring ‘truthiness’ to it as much of the Brexit analysis
For goodness sake, give people some credit for being able to think about the wider implications of their vote, despite their lack of income, and choose accordingly.
if someone changes their political views over the years, and that can happen, it would behoove that person to leave the party that no longer represents them.
in Shearers case it seems that he is only at the Labour Party in order to pay his bills, this should not be good enough for anyone.
Leave, join National or Act, and get elected again on this platform. IF he can’t do that, I think it is fair of the Leader of the Party to ask to a. tow the line or b. get the heck outta dodge.
Labour is a big tent, and this past Saturday it was nice to see just how big a tent it is during our local little 100 year celebration. A nice cross section of the part of the country we live in. But we don’t need to keep people in that only stay to shit the bed but then refuse to wash the linnen.
It must be the heat here – but I sort of agree with CV.
According to a Westpac study many of the new migrants are international students who are looking to stay after completing their studies.
” The student boom began in late 2013, shortly after visa rules were relaxed to make it easier for foreign students to work. And study has historically been a popular first step on the path to settlement for Indian migrants, most of whom first arrive in New Zealand as international students.”
You have to wonder how many are genuine students and how many are using the “student” status to come in under the wire.
90% cut sounds about right – for a net of about 6-10,000 (with about 2000 of those places for refugees). Harsh but necessary.
This. Yet Blinglish today continues his line that student return home after studying.
It’s now well known that foreign ‘students’ are using our lax laws as a back door into the country for their families so why won’t the opposition call him on this bullshit?
Fuck you is what I say. I am a leftie and I am against cutting immigration numbers – although I would drastically change the criteria to be able to immigrate AND I think that refugee numbers should double and double again.
And guess what colonic biter I KNOW a lot of lefties and most nzers disagree with me on all or some of those points.
YOU have no issues – what a laugh – you are a nobody who gleans his massive insight via videos – clap. clap. clap.
You are a bullshit artist and not even very good at that
[Marty, I think the phrase ‘do not feed the troll’ is appropriate here. CV is a sad, bitter person with obvious anger issues towards pretty much the entire human race. However, ‘Fuck you’ isn’t the best response and comes pretty close to pointless abuse, which is not acceptable. The rest of your comment is spot on. TRP]
Really? In that case, feel free to tell me straight up your view on this weka.
Are too many immigrants part of the problem that Auckland is facing?
IMO the answer is yes – and I think Winston’s proposals to reduce immigration numbers by 90% plus are one way to sort this out.
So what say you?
I can’t comment on Auckland because I don’t know enough about it, but I’d guess yes that immigration is an issue. I know it certainly is in the South Island (worker visas being the main problem, but also permanent immigration from the UK and the US on good exchange rates and higher wages having bumped up land prices).
No idea what the reduction in numbers should be (90% seems over the top, and it depends on what kind of immigration we are talking about). I’d like to see big changes to the immigration criteria.
So in general, I’d say I’m a leftie who says immigrants aren’t the problem, but our immigration policy most definitely is. The only regular commenters I’ve seen who argue for open borders are marty and Bill. I would say that many commenters here are concerned about the impacts of the current immigration policy. Both Labour and the Greens have talked this year about reducing numbers.
That btw is not a new position from me, and I’ve said similar on ts in the past.
I was a little surprised to see the Australian government suspend aid so fast after this matter was announced. Reminds me of the effective blacklisting of CORSO internationally for their work in the Philippines during the leftist uprisings of the late 1970s when they were accused of supporting insurrection. Cheap unsubstantiated shots that continue to enable the status quo of suffering.
I am a strong Israel supporter, but I cannot for the life of me see what the point is of shutting out the last remaining dogged aid organizations who are still in there making a positive difference to suffering people.
Subsequent to the elimination of terror from Gaza, it will become part of sovereign Israel and will be populated by Jews. This will also serve to ease the housing crisis in Israel.
“For the past four years, Tel Aviv based civil rights center Shurat HaDin has been warning that funds provided to Gaza by the world’s largest evangelical charity World Vision were being utilized for terrorism, the organization said in a statement Thursday, following the indictment by Israel of Mohammed El Halabi, a Hamas terrorist and senior WV employee who is accused of transferring as much as $50 million in charity funds to support Hamas terrorist activities.”
“In 2012, Shurat HaDin notified the Australian government that its aid money administrated by World Vision was being transferred to front charities of Palestinian terror groups in Gaza. Both the Australian government and WV rejected Shurat HaDin’s warning.”
“In 2015, Shurat HaDin again cautioned the Australian government that WV was operating as an active arm of the PFLP and other terror groups. WV chief executive Tim Costello vehemently denied the charges and claimed that WV had “no interest in supporting terrorism.”
hmmmmmmm,
Quote” World Vision’s cumulative operating budget in Gaza for the past ten years was approximately US$22.5 million, which makes the alleged amount of up to US$50 million being diverted hard to reconcile. Mohammad El Halabi was the manager of our Gaza operations only since October 2014; before that time he managed only portions of the Gaza budget. World Vision’s accountability processes cap the amount individuals in management positions at his level to a signing authority of US$15,000.
” Quote end.
Well World Visions donations are about to dry up to a trickle I’d suggest
Oh, please – like the people likely to give a shit about this would have been happy to give money for aid to Gaza anyway. If anything will dry up World Vision’s donations from right-wingers, it’s the news that they’ve been helping people in Gaza.
The default assumption SHOULD be that it IS happening with onus on the developers/controllers/auditors of the electronic vote systems to prove that it is impossible
Far as I can tell there is years worth of experts breaking into and manipulating these systems, and little evidence from the companies or federal agencies to prove its not
The Minister of Education in the House today used the expression “best and brightest” when talking about those she wants to get into teaching.
The Minister of Education in the House today in talking about choices teachers made in doing what they do in schools said they (teachers) were professionals. The implication was that they would know best what needed to be done, and when and how..
The “best and brightest” have initiative and intelligence. She actually wants brainless cretins who will do the cretinous things she comes up with without question. Doing that automatically means they are not the “best and brightest.”
If they were professionals she would give them some credit, real credit, and trust, instead of another feigned fit of “teachers I love you, look NZ community, I love teachers and have faith in them.”
The Minister of Education shows the characteristics of a lying weasel.
ACT David Seymour position is that teachers are only concerned for themselves and not the children. Weird. My experience is that teachers are very non- militant. And have to be pretty riled to act. So to hold stop work meetings is a danger sign.
I agree.
The thing is Hekia Parata can determine that 3+4= 8, ask the teachers what 3+4 is, they say 7, she says they’re wrong but she says consulted them.
Then people say (like you), “They had their say, she listened to them, but she didn’t agree with their utterance, so she;s carrying on.”
Teachers have their their say but their voices are only heard to a very small point after the “real stuff” is heard. The important voices are those that pollsters report on. Her boss’ voice is important. The important voices to him are those of people like David Farrar. What teachers say about teaching and learning and education is pretty irrelevant.
if she wants the best and brightest, she has to pay them what they’re worth, and treat them like the rockstars they are.
Being a teacher should be limited to the cream of the crop of students; all too often people go into teaching because there’s nothing else they can productively do.
“all too often people go into teaching because there’s nothing else they can productively do.” – utter bullshit, there are a million other easier ways to earn a living than to teach children, it really is a calling not something you can phone in.
Treating them like the rockstars they are shouldn’t just be a demand of Parata and her political cobbers. It should apply to posters on here and other places who treat teachers with utter contempt, have no respect for them their experience or their willingness to do the crappy job that they have no interest in taking on*. A job which is vital to society.
*Not interested in taking it on but they want to do it from the sidelines with their remote controls beamed at the unfortunate ones who do take it up.
“The Government is refusing to make public a letter to Prime Minister John Key from the Saudi sheikh at the centre of a controversial farm deal.
The missive is mentioned in a May 2010 dispatch from diplomats in Riyadh. It was among hundreds of pages of official documents released by Foreign Minister Murray McCully earlier this week.
Fairfax Media asked Key’s office to release a copy of the letter. But a spokesman for McCully said it was withheld, citing various provisions of the Official Information Act.
These were “to avoid prejudicing the international relations of the New Zealand Government…to protect individuals’ privacy…[and] to protect the supply of confidential information by a third party.”
The Government has been under pressure for months to explain why it spent more than $11 million setting up a farm in the Saudi Arabian desert in a deal with Hamood Al Ali Al Khalaf.”
With the hopelessly out-of-date electronic vote capturing equipment used in the USA for elections, this mans services will come in handy for the biggest wallet.
John Noonan, a former nuclear launch officer and adviser to former GOP candidate Jeb Bush, painted a frightening picture of what might to happen if Trump were handed the nuclear codes; the president alone has final say over a nuclear launch.
“These duties are simply too grave to entrust to a man who has exhibited sociopathic and chronically narcissistic behavior throughout his checkered career,” he wrote in a Los Angeles Times op-ed published Tuesday.
When a former nuclear launch officer (whatever that is) describes someone using words like, ‘sociopathic’ & ‘chronically narcissistic’, words straight out of DSM-5 you know he’s inferring that the person is mentally ill.
by Daphna Whitmore Twitter and Facebook shutting down Trump’s accounts after his supporters stormed Capitol Hill is old news now but the debates continue over whether the actions against Trump are a good thing or not. Those in favour of banning Trump say Twitter and Facebook are private companies and ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Democrats now control the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives for the first time in a decade, albeit with razor thin Congressional majorities. The last time, in the 111th Congress (2009-2011), House Democrats passed a carbon cap and trade bill, but it died ...
Session thirty-three was highly abbreviated, via having to move house in a short space of time. Oh well. The party decided to ignore the tree-monster and continue the attack on the Giant Troll. Tarsin – flying on a giant summoned bat – dumped some high-grade oil over the ...
Last night I stayed up till 3am just to see then-President Donald Trump leave the White House, get on a plane, and fly off to Florida, hopefully never to return. And when I woke up this morning, America was different. Not perfect, because it never was. Probably not even good, ...
Watching today’s inauguration of Joe Biden as the United States’ 46th president, there’s not a lot in common with the inauguration of Donald Trump just four destructive years ago. Where Trump warned of carnage, Biden dared to hope for unity and decency. But the one place they converge is that ...
Dan FalkBritons who switched on their TVs to “Good Morning Britain” on the morning of Sept. 15, 2020, were greeted by news not from our own troubled world, but from neighboring Venus. Piers Morgan, one of the hosts, was talking about a major science story that had surfaced the ...
Sara LutermanGrowing up autistic in a non-autistic world can be very isolating. We are often strange and out of sync with peers, despite our best efforts. Autistic adults have, until very recently, been largely absent from media and the public sphere. Finding role models is difficult. Finding useful advice ...
Doug JohnsonThe alien-like blooms and putrid stench of Amorphophallus titanum, better known as the corpse flower, draw big crowds and media coverage to botanical gardens each year. In 2015, for instance, around 75,000 people visited the Chicago Botanic Garden to see one of their corpse flowers bloom. More than ...
Getting to Browser Tab Zero so I can reboot the computer is awfully hard when the one open tab is a Table of Contents for the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, and every issue has more stuff I want to read. A few highlights: Gugler et al demonstrating ...
Timothy Ford, University of Massachusetts Lowell and Charles M. Schweik, University of Massachusetts AmherstTo mitigate health inequities and promote social justice, coronavirus vaccines need to get to underserved populations and hard-to-reach communities. There are few places in the U.S. that are unreachable by road, but other factors – many ...
Israel chose to pay a bit over the odds for the Pfizer vaccine to get earlier access. Here’s The Times of Israel from 16 November. American government will be charged $39 for each two-shot dose, and the European bloc even less, but Jerusalem said to agree to pay $56. Israel ...
Orla is a gender critical Marxist in Ireland. She gave a presentation on 15 January 2021 on the connection between postmodern/transgender identity politics and the current attacks on democratic and free speech rights. Orla has been active previously in the Irish Socialist Workers Party and the People Before Profit electoral ...
. . America: The Empire Strikes Back (at itself) Further to my comments in the first part of 2020: The History That Was, the following should be considered regarding the current state of the US. They most likely will be by future historians pondering the critical decades of ...
Nathaniel ScharpingIn March, as the Covid-19 pandemic began to shut down major cities in the U.S., researchers were thinking about blood. In particular, they were worried about the U.S. blood supply — the millions of donations every year that help keep hospital patients alive when they need a transfusion. ...
Sarah L Caddy, University of CambridgeVaccines are a marvel of medicine. Few interventions can claim to have saved as many lives. But it may surprise you to know that not all vaccines provide the same level of protection. Some vaccines stop you getting symptomatic disease, but others stop you ...
Back in 2016, the Portuguese government announced plans to stop burning coal by 2030. But progress has come much quicker, and they're now scheduled to close their last coal plant by the end of this year: The Sines coal plant in Portugal went offline at midnight yesterday evening (14 ...
The Sincerest Form Of Flattery: As anybody with the intestinal fortitude to brave the commentary threads of local news-sites, large and small, will attest, the number of Trump-supporting New Zealanders is really quite astounding. IT’S SO DIFFICULT to resist the temptation to be smug. From the distant perspective of New Zealand, ...
RNZ reports on continued arbitrariness on decisions at the border. British comedian Russell Howard is about to tour New Zealand and other acts allowed in through managed isolation this summer include drag queen RuPaul and musicians at Northern Bass in Mangawhai and the Bay Dreams festival. The vice-president of the ...
As families around the world mourn more than two million people dead from Covid-19, the Plan B academics and their PR industry collaborator continue to argue that the New Zealand government should stop focusing on our managed isolation and quarantine system and instead protect the elderly so that they can ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 10, 2021 through Sat, Jan 16, 2021Editor's ChoiceNASA says 2020 tied for hottest year on record — here’s what you can do to helpPhoto by Michael Held on Unsplash ...
Health authorities in Norway are reporting some concerns about deaths in frail elderly after receiving their COVID-19 vaccine. Is this causally related to the vaccine? Probably not but here are the things to consider. According to the news there have been 23 deaths in Norway shortly after vaccine administration and ...
Happy New Year! No, experts are not concerned that “…one of New Zealand’s COIVD-1( vaccines will fail to protect the country” Here is why. But first I wish to issue an expletive about this journalism (First in Australia and then in NZ). It exhibits utter failure to actually truly consult ...
All nations have shadows; some acknowledge them. For others they shape their image in uncomfortable ways.The staunch Labour supporter was in despair at what her Rogernomics Government was doing. But she finished ‘at least, we got rid of Muldoon’, a response which tells us that then, and today, one’s views ...
Grigori GuitchountsIn November, Springer Nature, one of the world’s largest publishers of scientific journals, made an attention-grabbing announcement: More than 30 of its most prestigious journals, including the flagship Nature, will now allow authors to pay a fee of US$11,390 to make their papers freely available for anyone to read ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Gary Yohe, Henry Jacoby, Richard Richels, and Benjamin Santer Imagine a major climate change law passing the U.S. Congress unanimously? Don’t bother. It turns out that you don’t need to imagine it. Get this: The Global Change Research Act of 1990 was passed ...
“They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!”WHO CAN FORGET the penultimate scene of the 1956 movie classic, Invasion of the Body Snatchers? The wild-eyed doctor, stumbling down the highway, trying desperately to warn his fellow citizens: “They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!”Ostensibly science-fiction, the movie ...
TheOneRing.Net has got its paws on the official synopsis of the upcoming Amazon Tolkien TV series. It’s a development that brings to mind the line about Sauron deliberately releasing Gollum from the dungeons of Barad-dûr. Amazon knew exactly what they were doing here, in terms of drumming up publicity: ...
Since Dwight Eisenhower’s inauguration in 1953, US presidents have joined an informal club intended to provide support - and occasionally rivalry - between those few who have been ‘leaders of the free world’. Donald Trump, elected on a promise to ‘drain the swamp’ and a constant mocker of his predecessors, ...
For over a decade commentators have noted the rise of a new brand of explicitly ideological politics throughout the world. By this they usually refer to the re-emergence of national populism and avowedly illiberal approaches to governance throughout the “advanced” democratic community, but they also extend the thought to the ...
The US House of Representatives has just impeached Donald Trump, giving him the dubious honour of being the only US President to be impeached twice. Ten Republicans voted for impeachement, making it the most bipartisan impeachment ever. The question now is whether the Senate will rise to the occasion, and ...
Kieren Mitchell; Alice Mouton, Université de Liège; Angela Perri, Durham University, and Laurent Frantz, Ludwig Maximilian University of MunichThanks to the hit television series Game of Thrones, the dire wolf has gained a near-mythical status. But it was a real animal that roamed the Americas for at least 250,000 ...
Tide of tidal data rises Having cast our own fate to include rising sea level, there's a degree of urgency in learning the history of mean sea level in any given spot, beyond idle curiosity. Sea level rise (SLR) isn't equal from one place to another and even at a particular ...
Well, some of those chickens sure came home bigly, didn’t they… and proceeded to shit all over the nice carpet in the Capitol. What we were seeing here are societal forces that have long had difficulty trying to reconcile people to the “idea” of America and the reality of ...
In the wake of Donald Trump's incitement of an assault on the US capitol, Twitter finally enforced its terms of service and suspended his account. They've since followed that up with action against prominent QAnon accounts and Trumpers, including in New Zealand. I'm not unhappy with this: Trump regularly violated ...
Peter S. Ross, University of British ColumbiaThe Arctic has long proven to be a barometer of the health of our planet. This remote part of the world faces unprecedented environmental assaults, as climate change and industrial chemicals threaten a way of life for Inuit and other Indigenous and northern ...
Susan St John makes the case for taxing a deemed rate of return on excessive real estate holdings (after a family home exemption), to redirect scarce housing resources to where they are needed most. Read the full article here ...
I’m less than convinced by arguments that platforms like Twitter should be subject to common carrier regulation preventing them from being able to decide who to keep on as clients of their free services, and who they would not like to serve. It’s much easier to create competition for the ...
The hypocritical actions of political leaders throughout the global Covid pandemic have damaged public faith in institutions and governance. Liam Hehir chronicles the way in which contemporary politicians have let down the public, and explains how real leadership means walking the talk. During the Blitz, when German bombs were ...
Over the years, we've published many rebuttals, blog posts and graphics which came about due to direct interactions with the scientists actually carrying out the underlying research or being knowledgable about a topic in general. We'll highlight some of these interactions in this blog post. We'll start with two memorable ...
Yesterday we had the unseemly sight of a landleech threatening to keep his houses empty in response to better tenancy laws. Meanwhile in Catalonia they have a solution for that: nationalisation: Barcelona is deploying a new weapon in its quest to increase the city’s available rental housing: the power ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters, PhD The 2020 global wildfire season brought extreme fire activity to the western U.S., Australia, the Arctic, and Brazil, making it the fifth most expensive year for wildfire losses on record. The year began with an unprecedented fire event ...
NOTE: This is an excerpt from a digital story – read the full story here.Tess TuxfordKo te Kauri Ko Au, Ko te Au ko Kauri I am the kauri, the kauri is me Te Roroa proverb In Waipoua Forest, at the top of the North Island, New ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Coming attraction: IPCC's upcoming major climate assessmentLook for more emphasis on 'solutions,' efforts by cities, climate equity ... and outlook for emissions cuts in ...
Ringing A Clear Historical Bell: The extraordinary images captured in and around the US Capitol Building on 6 January 2021 mirror some of the worst images of America's past.THERE IS A SCENE in the 1982 movie Missing which has remained with me for nearly 40 years. Directed by the Greek-French ...
To impact or not to impeach? I understand why some of those who are justifiably aghast at Trump’s behaviour over recent days might still counsel against impeaching him for a second time. To impeach him, they argue, would run the risk of making him a martyr in the eyes of ...
The Capitol Building, Washington DC, Wednesday, 6 January 2021. Oh come, my little one, come.The day is almost done.Be at my side, behold the sightOf evening on the land.The life, my love, is hardAnd heavy is my heart.How should I live if you should leaveAnd we should be apart?Come, let me ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 3, 2021 through Sat, Jan 9, 2021Editor's ChoiceAfter the Insurrection: Accountability, Reform, and the Science of Democracy The poisonous lies and enablers of sedition--including Senator Hawley, pictured ...
This article, guest authored by Prof. Angela Gallego-Sala & Dr. Julie Loisel, was originally published on the Carbon Brief website on Dec 21, 2020. It is reposted below in its entirety. Click here to access the original article and comments. Peatlands Peatlands are ecosystems unlike any other. Perpetually saturated, their ...
The assault on the US Capitol and constitutional crisis that it has caused was telegraphed, predictable and yet unexpected and confusing. There are several subplots involved: whether the occupation of the Michigan State House in May was a trial run for the attacks on Congress; whether people involved in the ...
On Christmas Eve, child number 1 spotted a crack in a window. It’s a double-glazed window, and inspection showed that the small, horizontal crack was in the outermost pane. It was perpendicular to the frame, about three-quarters of the way up one side. The origins are a mystery. It MIGHT ...
Anne-Marie Broudehoux, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)Will the COVID-19 pandemic prompt a shift to healthier cities that focus on wellness rather than functional and economic concerns? This is a hypothesis that seems to be supported by several researchers around the world. In many ways, containment and physical distancing ...
Does the US need to strike a grand bargain with like-minded countries to pool their efforts? What does this tell us about today’s global politics? Perhaps the most remarkable editorial of last year was the cover leader of the London Economist on 19 November 2020. Shortly after Joe Biden was ...
Alexander Gillespie, University of Waikato and Valmaine Toki, University of WaikatoAotearoa New Zealand likes to think it punches above its weight internationally, but there is one area where we are conspicuously falling behind — the number of sites recognised by the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. Globally, there are 1,121 ...
An event organised by the Auckland PhilippinesSolidarity group Have a three-course lunch at Nanam Eatery with us! Help support the organic farming of our Lumad communities through the Mindanao Community School Agricultural Foundation. Each ticket is $50. Food will be served on shared plates. To purchase, please email phsolidarity@gmail.com or ...
"Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here." Prisons are places of unceasing emotional and physical violence, unrelieved despair and unforgivable human waste.IT WAS NATIONAL’S Bill English who accurately described New Zealand’s prisons as “fiscal and moral failures”. On the same subject, Labour’s Dr Martyn Findlay memorably suggested that no prison ...
This is a re-post from Inside Climate News by Ilana Cohen. Inside Climate News is a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for the ICN newsletter here. Whether or not people accept the science on Covid-19 and climate change, both global crises will have lasting impacts on health and ...
. . American Burlesque As I write this (Wednesday evening, 6 January), the US Presidential election is all but resolved, confirming Joe Biden as the next President of the (Dis-)United State of America. Trump’s turbulent political career has lasted just four years – one of the few single-term US presidents ...
The session started off so well. Annalax – suitably chastised – spent a pleasant morning with his new girlfriend (he would say paramour, of course, but for our purposes, girlfriend is easier*). He told her about Waking World Drow, and their worship of Her Ladyship. And he started ...
In a recent column I wrote for local newspapers, I ventured to suggest that Donald Trump – in addition to being a liar and a cheat, and sexist and racist – was a fascist in the making and would probably try, if he were to lose the election, to defy ...
A growing public housing waiting list and continued increase of house prices must be urgently addressed by Government, Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson said today. ...
The Government has released its Public Housing Plan 2021-2024 which outlines the intention of where 8,000 additional public and transitional housing places announced in Budget 2020, will go. “The Government is committed to continuing its public house build programme at pace and scale. The extra 8,000 homes – 6000 public ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has congratulated President Joe Biden on his inauguration as the 46th President of the United States of America. “I look forward to building a close relationship with President Biden and working with him on issues that matter to both our countries,” Jacinda Ardern said. “New Zealand ...
A major investment to tackle wilding pines in Mt Richmond will create jobs and help protect the area’s unique ecosystems, Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor says. The Mt Richmond Forest Park has unique ecosystems developed on mineral-rich geology, including taonga plant species found nowhere else in the country. “These special plant ...
To further protect New Zealand from COVID-19, the Government is extending pre-departure testing to all passengers to New Zealand except from Australia, Antarctica and most Pacific Islands, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “The change will come into force for all flights arriving in New Zealand after 11:59pm (NZT) on Monday ...
Bay Conservation Cadets launched with first intake Supported with $3.5 million grant Part of $1.245b Jobs for Nature programme to accelerate recover from Covid Cadets will learn skills to protect and enhance environment Environment Minister David Parker today welcomed the first intake of cadets at the launch of the Bay ...
The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Mark Brown have announced passengers from the Cook Islands can resume quarantine-free travel into New Zealand from 21 January, enabling access to essential services such as health. “Following confirmation of the Cook Islands’ COVID ...
Jobs for Nature funding is being made available to conservation groups and landowners to employ staff and contractors in a move aimed at boosting local biodiversity-focused projects, Conservation Minister Kiritapu Allan has announced. It is estimated some 400-plus jobs will be created with employment opportunities in ecology, restoration, trapping, ...
The Government has approved an exception class for 1000 international tertiary students, degree level and above, who began their study in New Zealand but were caught offshore when border restrictions began. The exception will allow students to return to New Zealand in stages from April 2021. “Our top priority continues ...
Today’s deal between Meridian and Rio Tinto for the Tiwai smelter to remain open another four years provides time for a managed transition for Southland. “The deal provides welcome certainty to the Southland community by protecting jobs and incomes as the region plans for the future. The Government is committed ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has appointed Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). The leader of each APEC economy appoints three private sector representatives to ABAC. ABAC provides advice to leaders annually on business priorities. “ABAC helps ensure that APEC’s work programme is informed by business community perspectives ...
The Government’s prudent fiscal management and strong policy programme in the face of the COVID-19 global pandemic have been acknowledged by the credit rating agency Fitch. Fitch has today affirmed New Zealand’s local currency rating at AA+ with a stable outlook and foreign currency rating at AA with a positive ...
The Government is putting in place a suite of additional actions to protect New Zealand from COVID-19, including new emerging variants, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “Given the high rates of infection in many countries and evidence of the global spread of more transmissible variants, it’s clear that ...
$36 million of Government funding alongside councils and others for 19 projects Investment will clean up and protect waterways and create local jobs Boots on the ground expected in Q2 of 2021 Funding part of the Jobs for Nature policy package A package of 19 projects will help clean up ...
The commemoration of the 175th anniversary of the Battle of Ruapekapeka represents an opportunity for all New Zealanders to reflect on the role these conflicts have had in creating our modern nation, says Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Kiri Allan. “The Battle at Te Ruapekapeka Pā, which took ...
Babies born with tongue-tie will be assessed and treated consistently under new guidelines released by the Ministry of Health, Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Around 5% to 10% of babies are born with a tongue-tie, or ankyloglossia, in New Zealand each year. At least half can ...
The prisoner disorder event at Waikeria Prison is over, with all remaining prisoners now safely and securely detained, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis says. The majority of those involved in the event are members of the Mongols and Comancheros. Five of the men are deportees from Australia, with three subject to ...
Travellers from the United Kingdom or the United States bound for New Zealand will be required to get a negative test result for COVID-19 before departing, and work is underway to extend the requirement to other long haul flights to New Zealand, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed today. “The new PCR test requirement, foreshadowed last ...
With criticism from National piling on over the property market, the prime minister has detailed when the government will make housing announcements. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marco Rizzi, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Western Australia Some Australians could be receiving a COVID-19 vaccine within weeks. Amid the continued spread of the virus and emergence of highly contagious variants, the federal government has accelerated the start of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Euan Ritchie, Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin University Australia’s Threatened Species Strategy — a five-year plan for protecting our imperilled species and ecosystems — fizzled to an end last year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Lecturer, General Dentist & PhD Candidate, The University of Queensland Baby teeth, or milk teeth, act like lighthouses to guide the adult ones to their correct destination. A baby tooth will become wobbly and fall out because the adult tooth ...
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he’s joined by Simon Coley, co-founder of All Good and Karma Drinks.Bananas are one of the ...
Tackling topics such as rugby and body image, Stuff’s latest podcast shines a much-needed light on Aotearoa’s complex relationship with masculinity, writes Trevor McKewen, author of the book Real Men Wear Black.I wasn’t sure what to think when two episodes of the new local podcast He’ll Be Right landed in ...
The Rainforest Alliance reveals that 68%* of Kiwis say the COVID-19 pandemic has made them more conscious about environmental and social sustainability issues. Seventy two percent* state that they have been trying to make more sustainable purchasing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tama Leaver, Professor of Internet Studies, Curtin University The inventor of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee, has raised concerns that Australia’s proposed News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code could fundamentally break the internet as we know it. His concerns ...
ANALYSIS:By Scott Lucas, University of Birmingham Politics doesn’t have to be a raging fire destroying everything in its path Two weeks after the storming of the US Capitol by the followers of his predecessor, in the middle of an out-of-control pandemic that has killed more than 400,000 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Cantrell, Lecturer, Creative Writing & English Literature, University of Southern Queensland Described as “the world’s greatest storyteller”, Roald Dahl is frequently ranked as the best children’s author of all time by teachers, authors and librarians. However, the new film adaptation of ...
Peak housing body, Community Housing Aotearoa (CHA) welcomes the updated Public Housing Plan announced today by Minister Woods, and the commitment by this Government to fix New Zealand’s housing crisis. The 8,000 additional homes are a significant ...
Having recently walked much of the South Island stretch of Te Araroa, Kirsten O’Regan reflects on the magnificent landscapes and interesting characters she encountered along the way.On our 36th day of walking, we climb through the fire-blackened hills above Ohau, stopping to examine heat-disfigured trail markers. Fresh green shoots have ...
Miss Torta in central Auckland is putting the spotlight on a snack that’s commonplace in Mexico, but until now relatively unknown in New Zealand.You’ve heard of a torta, but what is it, exactly? Well, depending on the cuisine it can mean a flatbread, cake, tart, sweet pie, savoury pie or ...
Two of three ministerial statements from the Beehive have been released in the name of the PM over the past two days. The more important, insofar as it involves political action that will affect the wellbeing of significant numbers of Kiwis, was the release of the government’s Public Housing Plan ...
Jacinda Ardern has reminded Labour MPs "ongoing vigilance" will be required in 2021 to avoid another Covid outbreak, admitting she held her breath over the summer break. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Zareh Ghazarian, Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, Monash University Despite many young Australians having a deep interest in political issues, most teenagers have a limited understanding about their nation’s democratic system. Results from the 2019 National Assessment Program – Civics and ...
Pinged $65 for overstaying 10 minutes in a parking block? Put away your hard-earned cash and read this first.Hopefully, by now, I’ve already established myself at The Spinoff as the resident tightarse, determined to avoid all unfair and unnecessary punishments (see: oversize baggage charges). Today, I’m focusing my attention on ...
Nuclear weapons states and their allies risk reputational ruin if they flout a new UN Treaty, Carolina Panico argues The United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons will come into force this month, on January 22, 2021, turning nuclear weapons into illegal objects. It is an achievement that ...
How does one turn into a rabid extremist over the description of a children’s bike? Emily Writes looks at Facebook comments so you don’t have to.You’ve been there, I know it. You’re scrolling along, trying to avoid QAnon conspiracy theories and Trump apocalypse memes when a story catches your eye. ...
Joe Biden is now the President of the United States and many people across America and throughout the world will consequently be breathing more easily. But while the erratic, unpredictable and irresponsible years of the Trump Presidency may be over, ...
Tough border testing for New Zealand honey imports to Japan is re-igniting the conversation about the use of the weed killer glypohsate in New Zealand. ...
The Taxpayers Union should be aware of the law and of the history of ACC. The ACC is a legal system introduced in 1974 to replace the common law right of accident victims to sue for damages for personal injury sustained as a result of negligence ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Denis Muller, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Advancing Journalism, University of Melbourne Terrorism, political extremism, Donald Trump, social media and the phenomenon of “cancel culture” are confronting journalists with a range of agonising free-speech dilemmas to which there are no easy answers. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nial Wheate, Associate Professor of the Sydney Pharmacy School, University of Sydney You’ve just come from your monthly GP appointment with a new script for your ongoing medical condition. But your local pharmacy is out of stock of your usual medicine. Your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deanna D’Alessandro, Professor & ARC Future Fellow, University of Sydney On Wednesday this week, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was measured at at 415 parts per million (ppm). The level is the highest in human history, and is growing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Renwick, Professor, Physical Geography (climate science), Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington It might be summer in New Zealand but we’re in for some wild weather this week with forecasts of heavy wind and rain, and a plunge in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Zareh Ghazarian, Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, Monash University Despite many young Australians having a deep interest in political issues, most teenagers have a limited understanding about their nation’s democratic system. Results from the 2019 National Assessment Program – Civics and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle O’Shea, Senior Lecturer, School of Business, Western Sydney University Last week, the McIver’s Ladies Baths in Sydney came under fire for their (since removed) policy stating “only transgender women who’ve undergone a gender reassignment surgery are allowed entry”. The policy was ...
There are good grounds for optimism after the guardrails of American democracy held firm through to Joe Biden's inauguration today as President, writes Stephen Hoadley Pessimism abounds about the perilous condition of American democracy. Commentators and headline writers proffer memes such as ‘broken and divided nation’, ‘the threat from within’. ...
*This article was originally appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. Donald Trump will forever be remembered as the president who was impeached twice - and for his rhetoric that struck a chord so deep in America that it will take years to dissipate. Donald Trump leaves Washington with the lowest approval ...
A new plan shows how and where the Government will build 8,000 new state housing places it funded in Budget 2020, Marc Daalder reports Jacinda Ardern has kicked off the political year with a major announcement, promising hundreds of new state housing places in regional centres across the country. With ...
This is the full transcript of President Joe Biden's speech after being sworn in at his inauguration this morning in Washington DC Chief Justice Roberts, Vice President Harris, Speaker Pelosi, Leader Schumer, Leader McConnell, Vice President Pence, and my distinguished guests, my fellow Americans, this is America's day. This ...
Analysis: President Donald Trump has left the White House, and his deputy chief of staff confirms he is withdrawing his candidacy to lead the OECD. New Zealander Christopher Liddell withdrew his nomination to be Secretary-General of the powerful 37-member OECD and was one of the last members of the Trump Administration to depart ...
Kate Wills is facing stage four cancer with the same fierce approach she takes into her ocean swimming - never say can't. Even on the mornings Kate Wills feels wretched from her fortnightly chemotherapy treatment, she drags herself up at 5am and goes swimming. “I have to. It’s my job – to ...
Some costs associated with meetings speak for themselves, others are less conspicuous. Victoria University of Wellington's Val Hooper lays those costs out, making suggestions on where we can rein them in. Meetings – when last did we count the costs? And so it’s back to work and one of the ...
Andrew Paul Wood assesses the best-selling picture book by Grahame Sydney It's no great secret the commercially very successful Grahame Sydney has a long-standing beef that his work doesn’t receive more critical and institutional approval. I sympathise about the lack of critical attention, but I can understand why. The Discourse™ ...
This story was produced in collaboration with the Center for Public Integrity and Columbia Journalism Investigations. It was originally published by Public Integrity, Mother Jones, The Arizona Republic and Orlando Sentinel. It is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the ...
Analysis: It has been easy to ignore anyone daring to criticise or even question any aspect of the government’s Covid-19 response. Their voices have rarely been heard, and when they have been raised they have been quickly and decisively howled down by the favoured coterie of academics. ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s US presidential inauguration live blog: inauguration news, analysis and reaction, updated through Wednesday and Thursday. The inauguration ceremony begins at 5.15am Thursday, NZ time, and Joe Biden takes the oath of office around 6am. 7.25am: And what about Trump?In the early hours of this morning, NZ ...
In 10 x 100, we survey a group of 100 people via Stickybeak and ask them 10 questions. Last month we quizzed Wellingtonians. Today, we ask NZ drivers how they’ve found a holiday period without international tourists, and what they get up to while they’re on the road.Across Aotearoa roads ...
Emmanuel Macron's anti-separatist policies have garnered backlash from the international Muslim community. Now, a global coalition has complained to the UN. ...
Summer reissue: Join Michèle A’Court, Alex Casey and Leonie Hayden as they go on an odyssey of women’s rage, and find out how we can channel our anger into good. First published September 15, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by ...
By Lorraine Ecarma in Cebu City The University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) will continue to stand against any threats to human rights, chancellor Clement Camposano has declared in response to the termination of a long-standing accord preventing military incursion on campus. In a Facebook post, Camposano said the academic ...
ANALYSIS:By Jennifer S. Hunt, Australian National University Every four years on January 20, the US exercises a key tenant of democratic government: the peaceful transfer of power. This year, the scene looks a bit different. If the last US presidential inauguration in 2017 debuted the phrase “alternative facts”, the ...
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Looks like Canada has some of the same issues as us.
Out of control house prices.
Capital flight from China.
https://news.vice.com/article/canada-is-seizing-more-suspect-money-from-chinese-travellers-than-ever-before
Anyone feel like some sleuthing? I’ve been trying to figure out how rents are calculated in the CPI and hit a bit of a dead end. Reason for asking is the CPI numbers have never looked right to me and I’d like to know which is wrong – my intuition or the CPI
Background;
The CPI index for rents has gone from a base of 1000 in June 2006 to 1240 in June 2016. That’s an increase in rents of 24% over ten years. In inflation terms that’s annual rent inflation of about 2.2%. (That just isn’t believable to me, it’s too low.)
The Household Economic Survey also reports rents and those figures say rents have increased by 39% in only eight years (from 2007 to 2015) That’s annual rent inflation of about 4.2%. (That’s a little more believable.)
This link here explains rented dwellings in the CPI;
http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/economic_indicators/CPI_inflation/rented-dwellings-in-the-cpi.aspx
What I can’t work out is the bit about state housing. It seems to be saying they’re using income-related rents to calculate rent inflation on state houses and that surely can’t be right. Any clues?
Source data here;
http://www.stats.govt.nz/~/media/Statistics/Browse%20for%20stats/HouseholdEconomicSurvey/HOTPYeJun15/hesi-yejun15-tables.xls
http://www.stats.govt.nz/~/media/Statistics/Browse%20for%20stats/ConsumersPriceIndex/HOTPJun16qtr/cpi-jun16-all-tables.xls
Will this help?
Housing Restructuring (Income-Related Rents) Amendment Act 2000
See Section 46: Calculating income-related rents, but it’s a swamp of clauses.
Thanks but not really. It’s how state housing is affecting the CPI that I’m trying to work out. I understand income related rents, I just don’t understand its context in the CPI.
It’s kind of a paradox;
People in state houses pay rent as a (calculated) percentage of their income. If their income doesn’t go up then their rent doesn’t go up either.
Wages & benefits are linked to inflation. If rents don’t go up, because incomes haven’t gone up, then CPI inflation will be lower and therefore wages & benefits won’t go up much either.
I’m idly wondering if the inclusion of state housing is dragging down the CPI figures to paint a misleading picture of rent inflation.
with only around 68000 state rentals the feedback impact on CPI (which is weighted I believe) will be negligible….and thats assuming state rentals are included in the CPI.
Could be Pat, I looked for the weightings and they don’t have it there so I don’t know.
68,000 is 10-15% of the rental stock I believe so it would make a difference even with weightings applied. The thing is, state houses should not be included in the CPI at all and I wonder why they are.
around 12% (assuming 100% occupancy) but if the rents are only increasing in that stock by the rate of CPI then the impact is negligible….the movement in private rentals will be the driving stat for the following rental CPI
State house rents aren’t increasing by the CPI Pat, they’re set by income not inflation. Real inflation on income related rents would be close to zero so that 12% could drag down rent CPI by up to 12%.. if they are using income related rents to calculate the CPI there.
It will not drag it down by 12% absolutely though DH. Pat is right by saying that the State Housing impact is negligible.
Ie state housing rent does not increase at all 0% (12% of market)
Other housing increases by 33% (88% of market)
Overall increase in rent CPI = 29.04%
Yeah you’re right and it’s not enough of an anomaly to explain why the CPI is reporting half the inflation the household income survey is.
The HES report for 2009 says this;
“Results from the Household Economic Survey (Income) (HES (Income)) for the year ended June 2009 show no overall change in average weekly expenditure on housing costs from the previous year, Statistics New Zealand said today. This result was made up of an increase across all households in average weekly property and ground rent payments (up 8.1 percent), offset by decreases in average mortgage principal repayments (down 7.1 percent) and average mortgage interest payments (down 2.8 percent).
For those making rent payments, median (half pay more, half pay less) weekly rent payments increased from $220 in 2007/08 to $241 in 2008/09 (up 9.5 percent). ”
CPI for year ended June 2009 says rent inflation was 1.7%. So how does the HES get 8.1% and the CPI only 1.7% ?
SNAFU, probably. It’s still worth asking the question. An OIA request for the formula?
The CPI used to include every house sale in the country – I know because I used to have to count it up and work out the average house price to 7 significant figures ( that was in 1967). There were no adding machines or computers available either. We converted the CPI from Pounds shillings and pence to dollars and cents manually. One electric calculator to the office of 12 was all there was. All done with pencil and paper. Standard deviations worked out to 7 sig figs. And not a word spoken the whole day! Muldoon would ring up and ask what would be the effect on the CPI if he raised the price of bread by 1 penny.
The govt decided (around 2000) to remove house prices from the CPI for the reason that people didn’t buy a house every year. (i.e. they wanted “underlying inflation”) – it also meant that the CPI increase would not be so great so incomes based on CPI increases (i.e. benefits and pensions) would not be affected so much……
well of course shooting the opponent is always an option.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-clinton-shoot_us_57aa2f6de4b0ba7ed23dd652?vvtsl5nxgzmyujtt9
Ahhh, the hysterical, irrational left.
If it was truly believed that Trump was inciting violence against Clinton, his own Secret Service detail would arrest him and take him down.
yes the hysterically irrational left indeed
https://twitter.com/LEBassett/status/763110016152928258
frankly i think it is time that you go into your time out corner and start thinking about what you are actually standing for.
OK I’ll wait for the Secret Service to arrest Trump for threatening a confirmed Presidential Candidate. When do you think it will happen, today or tomorrow?
Yes Mummy, whatever you say.
Haven’t we already established that the elites aren’t treated the same way as the peasants, eg Hillary got away with her email system without charge?
If it’s good enough for HIllary to avoid a charge, then surely it’s good enough for Trump.
Good point Lanthanide.
Lanth, Hillary was actually guilty of committing multiple National Security felonies over a long period of time. You equating that to what Trump may or may not have meant in an offhand quip is ludicrous.
And Adam, you’re smarter than that.
sooooo – as a billionaire committing a more minor offence, wouldn’t trump be less likely to be arrested than Clinton?
“Hillary was actually guilty of committing multiple National Security felonies over a long period of time”
when does she get out of jail – oh that’s right…
And then there’s Hillary taking vast $$$$$ from Russians and Saudis when she was Sec State signing off on Russian and Saudi business deals.
Pretty sure there are national security implications all through that.
yep. Incitement to kill a candidate seems trivial compared to all that. Not a chance the secret service will arrest him.
“Pretty sure there are national security implications all through that.”
yeahnah
your ‘pretty sure’ ain’t sure or even near sure – just a guess from an outsider reading the net.
hey marty mars, turn your brain back on: if the Sec State is receiving massive monetary sums from foreign donors she is totally compromised.
is that what the websites you follow are saying – I’m surprised you can regurgitate it with a straight face and pretend it is some original thought or insight from you.
You’re just a modern-day TV watcher – “look it is on the news it must be true” – so gullible – your thinking is in freefall and breaking the laws of physics bubby
So it seems that it was where he said it is what prevents the police from arresting him. Even so – such dog whistling is highly irresponsible – and can you imagine how he and Rodrigo Duterte would get along?
The finest, truest, leftiest CV still trumpeting away for his finest, truest, leftiest Donald Trump I note. Sounds like there’s something wickedly wrong with your wiring CV. And as to your ‘if this’ and ‘if that’ the Secret Service ‘would do such’…….what master of the universe blow arse is that ? Excuse me for paralleling you with BM and Fisiani.
Not interested in having your approval North. Sneer away.
The problem with you supporting trump Colonial Viper and his oblique use of violence as a political tool is that you would be one of his victims. How long do you have to wait – till you turn around, and there is no one to support you? Think leftist, disabled, gypsies, gays, nonconformists, free thinkers, artist, poets, pacifist, pasifika, and asian. It’s a list because that is what facists do, they go down lists. Till there is no one left to oppose them.
How long will it be before trump comes for the Chinese, especially if he is elected and not doing well at home. How long before internment camps, so american chinese can be protected? How much pressure would it take for the same to happen here?
A fascist is a fascist. And I’m not seeing many left or right disagreeing trump is a fascist.
Yes h.r.c is a bloody awful alternative.
Guess what – you have a choice, Vote Green, and organise.
But supporting a fascist, come on, take a step back and do self interest for one bloody minute. Think of your family and friends who are leftist, disabled, gypsies, gays, nonconformists, free thinkers, artist, poets, pacifist, pasifika, and asian – and ask how long before they go under the economic bus which is fascism.
Because you are showing a serious lack of understanding how fascist economics works.
Go away Adam. Under both Bush’s and continuing under Obama, universities throughout the USA have been rapidly closing down liberal arts, humanities and fine arts programmes, as well as destroying the free press and investigative journalism; don’t presume to lecture me about how far the high finance corporate-government meld has progressed in the USA.
As for Trump coming after the Chinese and after other races, go ahead and buy into the Clinton establishment propaganda. Trump is very clear that he employs and supports LEGAL immigrants in the USA.
Pretty clear statement from the Donny. No doubt he’ll run like a coward from it when he is cornered.
How come Trump hasn’t been arrested by Clinton’s secret service detail then?
So he didn’t say it – shit this is fucken big – hope the MiB are onto it.
edit:
The Secret Service is also aware of what Trump had for lunch. Will be waiting for the arrest.
Compulsive liar isn’t sure because he hasn’t heard this question….backpedals….
This is what the Trumpkins heard –
edit: they’re fucking lapping it up
https://storify.com/5thCircAppeals/on-trump-just-joking
“How come Trump hasn’t been arrested by Clinton’s secret service detail then?”
For obvious reasons the threshhold for legal action against someone inciting violence is relatively high. I’m pretty sure Trump and his team know how to pitch dog whistles just below that.
Interesting that you would defend Trump on this, although I guess the elite are legit targets.
I’m not so much defending Trump as much as I am not falling for his year long tactic of trolling the liberal media with an ongoing stream of outrageous bullshit, everything from Megyn Kelly’s periods to this.
I am however totally mystified as to why Trump’s campaign has not changed gears into a serious fullbore general election campaign. As far as I can tell, he is still acting and speaking as if he is still running for the Republican Primaries in Texas and South Dakota.
“I am however totally mystified as to why Trump’s campaign has not changed gears into a serious fullbore general election campaign. As far as I can tell, he is still acting and speaking as if he is still running for the Republican Primaries in Texas and South Dakota.”
He has. This is what his ‘fullbore general election campaign’ looks like.
Just now realising that you’re backing a dud?
Hi Lanth, I’m not afraid to back candidates that others see as political losers. And, I still see a clear Trump win come November despite the latest polls having Trump 10 pts behind Hillary 🙂
So you’re unskewing the polls?
The outrageous bullshit comes from trump – he keeps saying stuff – he wont stop either cos he is terrific at listening to his own viice.
“I’m not so much defending Trump as much as I am not falling for his year long tactic of trolling the liberal media with an ongoing stream of outrageous bullshit, everything from Megyn Kelly’s periods to this.”
Yeah, nah, I don’t think he is so stupid as to think that some of his constituents won’t hear the ralling cry to fight back. Or maybe he is and truly doesn’t see the potential for people to act on the call. That would make for a great Prez. You can call it trolling if you want, but it’s clear he has no regard for civil order and will undermine it to achieve his aims.
Obama has just approved the sale of $1.5B in armaments to misogynist Islamic extremist terror exporting dictatorial Saudi Arabia.
Thats the real way you keep law and order in the world.
God that’s just sick. I just managed to get through the re-showing of Fahrenheit 9-11 on tv last night.
Even if only one thing about it is true in the film, backing the Saudis in anything let alone armaments is just sick no matter who is doing it as US President.
Come on now, they gave the Clintons $US100m. They only gotb what they paid for!
Saudis have been either the biggest or second biggest donors to the Clinton Foundation over the years.
Neither main US party comes out clean in their dealings with the Saudis, over many decades.
nice deflection from Trump’s latest offence. Nobody noticed. Fuck you’re awesome.
0oh but you know that Trump will save the world and of course not do anything like it.
and here, have a pony
I support Trump ahead of Clinton because Trump won’t be seeking military confrontation with Russia and China in the Pacific, and because Trump will be shit canning the TPP asap.
You support Clinton because – who the fuck knows. Because she raised way more money from the financial sector and from Saudi ruling interests I guess.
“You support Clinton because – who the fuck knows. ”
Because the next POTUS is likely to appoint 2-3 supreme court justices, and if Trump gets in, he will appoint conservative ones that set back social progress in the US for decades to come.
“Because the next POTUS is likely to appoint 2-3 supreme court justices, and if Trump gets in, he will appoint conservative ones that set back social progress in the US for decades to come.”
So you are prepared to sacrifice the future of the world for…..identity politics?
Must be an amazingly large dead rat.
Because she doesn’t see nuclear proliferation as a substitute for US military expenditure.
Because she knows the difference between bombing a city and nuking it.
Because she doesn’t think “I’ve been very successful” is a “sacrifice” comparable to having a child die in military service.
Because she can see the problem with government databases of everyone who is of a particular religion.
Everyone just take a look at who has donated millions to the Clinton Foundation in the last 10 years, and who is donating millions to her campaign every day now.
Just as a quick summary, which of those donors have demanded that South Korea and Japan build their own nuclear weapons?
Even someone who wishes to preserve the status quo (not that Clinton necessarily does) is better than someone whose impulsive idiocy would result in more fingers on nuclear triggers in potential global flashpoints.
Get real. Both Japan and South Korea already have nuclear break out times measured in single digit months.
Well, assuming their fuel refining equipment can be easily recalibrated to producing sufficient quantities of weapons-grade materials in that timeframe (and that you’re not just parroting important-sounding jargon that you’ve read on RT), it’s still a fuckload more stable than having a launch time measured in moments.
That’s assuming that NK won’t pre-emptively launch within that timeframe, of course. Because even the mention of nuclear proliferation in that region gives a narrow timeframe before the penalty for diplomatic failure dramatically increases. Trump is the sort of dickhead who goes on a jaunt through downtown Sarajevo in an open-top car. 10 million dead later…
NATO and the US wanted Yugoslavia dismembered and ‘balkanized’ in their determination to move western military bases eastwards. They got their wish.
You can say thank you to Bill Clinton.
Here is a link to RT’s youtube page. RT is youtube’s most popular news channel by far.
https://www.youtube.com/user/RussiaToday
RT is as trustworthy as Fox
All very interesting CV, but completely irrelevant to South Korea or Japan’s potential nuclear capabilities, the destabilising effects of development of those potential capabilities, and whether you are simply parroting important-sounding words with no real understanding of what they mean.
When you calculated the “nuclear break out times” for Japan and South Korea, were you factoring current stockpiles of various grades of enriched uranium as well as current enrichment capacity?
Just in time for the new air offensive in Yemen.
France has also just signed a deal for €1 billion with Kuwait for 30 Airbus Caracal Helicopters.
Yemen, the poorest country in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia with the most advanced, most expensive military technology on the planet.
Yet, notice how the Sauds have failed to lock Yemen down…those Yemeni tribesmen are like the Fremen from Arrakis.
@CV
Yes – some of the Gulf States are withdrawing forces from the Coalition. It doesn’t get a lot of attention in the West but it is a nasty little war.
I should also add the UK is up to it’s neck supplying weapons to the Saudis – £3.3 billion last year and £500 million in Q1 so far this year.
http://oneworld.org/2016/07/27/uk-arms-sales-to-saudi-arabia-top-33bn-in-year-of-yemen-bombing/
Blair was (is) a big champion of UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
This is doubly interesting as Saudi Arabia is the very well funded base of wahhabi extremism.
Tony Schwartz, the guy who wrote [Trump’s book] The Art of the Deal, says Trump never jokes.
“I fear that an unbalanced person hears that in this inflamed environment and, God forbid, thinks that was a threat. I certainly take it as a threat, I really do, and Trump needs to apologise.”
Trump’s perfectly aware that he’s shouting “Fire!” in a crowded theatre.
Exactly rhinocrates@11.05am, because Trump is nothing more than a showman. Heaven save us from such nitwits.
And I thought choosing a B grade movie actor was bizarre in times past.
Speaking of murder
http://christiantimesnewspaper.com/breaking-murdered-dnc-staffer-was-wikileaks-source-assange-admits-in-interview/
i would like to know when Assange will leak Trumps Tax Returns. 🙂
So no comment on the previous hero of the left virtually accusing the DNC of murdering a staffer who leaked the DNC emails? Also, Wikileaks offerring a reward for information leading to his killer?
Selective – much?
Geeezus. Recently, a prominent anti-Clinton former UN official was found dead with his throat crushed in a “gym training accident.”
Now Clinton (or her team on her behalf) are murdering people.
No offence, but you’re fucked in the head right?
One death is a random. Two deaths is a coincidence.
all the journalists and opposition politicians dropping dead in Russia must be bloody bad luck…
Russia has an extremely vibrant pro-Kremlin and anti-Kremlin news media and mass media.
However these days, even the anti-Putin crowd has to admit that the west has it in for Russia.
What McFlock said.
I’m sure RT is telling you about how rosy it is to be in opposition in Russia at the moment.
Putin and May discuss normalising future relations.
https://www.rt.com/news/355335-putin-may-meeting-relations/
You might as well cite Fox News. RT is pure propaganda
Boris Johnson’s sister reveals his history as a Kibbutz volunteer
https://www.rt.com/uk/355223-boris-johnson-kibbutz-israel/
UK Labour Deputy Leader Tom Watson says the party membership has been taken over by pro-Corbyn revolutionary Trotskyites who do not wish Labour well.
https://www.rt.com/uk/355279-watson-labour-trotsky-corbyn/
@ CV re Watson
I read his comments in The Guardian yesterday.
Talk about playing the “Reds under the Bed” card! Coupled with his insufferable arrogance saying the Millibands leadership election reforms (one of the few decent things Milliband did for Labour) should be done away with and their should be a return to the Electoral College system of the Blairite New Labour Party.
Apparently he no longer talks to Corbyn except by exchange of texts! A right little Iago (who will knife Owen Smith as Leader within 2 years I would predict).
Now that you mention it
http://www.thepoliticalinsider.com/another-clinton-associate-found-dead-bill-hillarys-body-count-increases/
her supporters are showing their real colours too…Trump may be a loose lips and a loud mouth and a menace …but Hillary and her advisers are f…king scarey
‘Kill Russians and Iranians, threaten Assad,’ says ex-CIA chief backing Clinton
https://www.rt.com/usa/355291-morrell-kill-russians-clinton/
and from Zero Hedge
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-05/lead-attorney-anti-clinton-dnc-fraud-case-mysteriously-found-dead
Why we say TPPA No Way
Court rules for Chevron against Ecuadorians in $9bn rainforest damage case
https://www.rt.com/usa/355161-court-chevron-ecudorians-rainforest/
Also on that link a video with
Gulf of Mexico suffers third oil spill in two weeks
+100 save nz…exactly why we need to oppose the TPPA!
Lucky this poor tourist did not get his wallet stollen in Australia… no one would care in Nauru…
Chinese tourist who lost wallet in Germany ends up in refugee shelter
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/08/chinese-tourist-who-lost-wallet-in-germany-ends-up-in-refugee-shelter
oh my goodness the poor man. When it comes to bureaucracy only France is better then Germany.
Keiser Report: USA reduced to a one party state of the elites with corporates; bankers and billionaires lining up behind Hillary Clinton
Max Keiser and his partner Stacey Herbert do one of the best political economic shows anywhere, and its available on RT’s youtube channel.
Their latest show is a knock out.
– Warnings in 2007/2008 that opposing banker bailouts for the rich would lead to economic collapse, is now causing political collapse.
– Massive funds have been transferred from savers and pension funds to billionaire speculators.
– The Washington elite from billionaires to military industrial complex and neocon Republicans are all lining up to support Clinton.
– Corporate media a tool of the Washington elite to mock ‘ignorant’, ‘lazy’, ‘red neck’, ‘racists’.
– 16% of the 43M Americans with student debt are in long term default: ignoring letters, phone calls and debt collectors. This is one basis of political revolution.
– Clinton campaign recently raised US$120M from the financial sector. Trump campaign received $19,000.
– Putin now widely blamed for the political, economic and refugee woes of the west similar to Cold War days.
nothing to do with the republicans turning into a party of fuckwits, forced birthers, anti science and religious nuts.
ey, nothing to do at all…..never saw that one coming ey?
Hi Sabine, thanks for expressing the hatefulness and disdain of the elite well educated intellectual classes.
thanks for stereotyping criticising of Republicans, and so patronisingly too! ;-p
She forgot racists. I read an analysis a while back about during the Civil Rights era, the racists left the Democratic Party and joined the Republicans, which consolidated active racism there and changed the culture of the party. That some parts of the non-elite vote for the Republicans for a range of reasons doesn’t mean that the GOP doesn’t have serious bigotry issues.
I doubt they are any more serious than the bigotry issues of the Democrats and their billionaire hedgefund backers.
They’re different bigotry issues though, and we should look at them in the respective parties, not try and pretend they don’t exist or aren’t important.
That’s exactly right. US politics is incredibly polarised. The constant is that the bottom 50% or more of people socioeconomically are totally disenfranchised by the establishment machine, whether that machine is wearing an elephant sticker or a donkey sticker.
And this is of course where Trump gets leverage.
There is a long time to go until November and I am still picking a clear win by Trump.
And in the meantime the lefties you despise will keep naming bigotry because it’s the right thing to do.
Of course we should pull up bigotry weka.
Does that mean we should not criticise h.r.c? I know some commentators here have fallen for the juvenile rhetoric that a criticism of of h.r.c. – is to support trump.
The politics of fear, is the politics of fear, both trump and h.r.c are engaged in it. If anything both help each other in that game.
We should not play, especially in NZ.
national are going to pull out the fear card at some stage, my guess over the green/labour memorandum, then terrorism of some sort, or some other schmuck lies and finally b.s. — all to put fear into the voting population.
I say vote morally, then fear won’t cloud your vision.
I guess the problem that you have there adam is that CV would actually vote for Trump.
I wouldn’t see myself or Sabine (who responded in this thread) as saying that Clinton is above criticism. That’s would just be weird.
I did not mean you or Sabine by my comment, not my intent.
I agree on C.V though he needs to get his head around what a fascist is. Which trump is.
He also needs to realise any totalitarian be they left or right is somthing to be opposed, not voted for.
Obama has overseen the largest expansion of the security surveillance state and has just approved another US$1.5B of big corporate made military arms to be sold to the world’s leading misogynist, terrorist exporting, 9/11 facilitating dictatorial state, Saudi Arabia.
Clinton would continue the same track just on neocon steroids.
So keep preaching about fascism, you guys have no idea what it is.
Pull your head in CV I know very well what fascism is, I can list off my family members who died fighting it if you like. Or how about the German and Polish part of my family that was wiped out by the fascists. Or family and friends who lived and died through Franco’s fascist state.
It’s you who has no bloody idea, by supporting a fascist – because trump is one.I know a lot of liberals put proto in front because they can’t bear to think about it. But all my American friends left and right agree trump is a fascist. He want to suspend habeas corpus, and look at his last economic speech – that is handing power to the corporations. He may oppose the TPP but he will push through somthing worse.
Fascism has only one way to make an economy work – war external or internal – and he’s two damn steps away from that. Bombing ISIS to the stone age. Attacking Mexicans.
He is not an isolationist, you’re kidding yourself if you think he is.
And again there is an alternative – organise with americans and encourage them to vote Green and keep building a movement. Which by the way will be crushed if trump gets to power.
tautoko that adam, thanks for the context.
Fucking hell Adam, with the US plea bargaining system as it has been misused for over a decade now habeas corpus has been nothing more effective than theatre.
As for war, Killary Clinton is your neocon war master. She destroyed Libya, and cackled about it on TV, and then helped funnel arms to Islamists in Syria to take down Assad. She is in with the regime changing Russia/China sabre rattling neocon crowd up to her eye balls.
Forget it mate, I hope you get your dream, go organise for the US Greens and gift Killary, whom you seem to see as the lesser of two evils, the Oval Office.
Come on CV you know I’m no fan of h.r.c. but must see trump is not an option either.
h.r.c is evil and terrible, trump is evil and terrible for the love of God man. It’s two evils and I won’t support either.
I’m worried you seem to think it is OK to support one of them.
to quote Jeff Davies “well, civilisation it’s had a good run…”
Wait, Viper is actually a Trump supporter? Really? Wow. I thought s/he was a leftie.
I’m definitely not a warmongering bankster paid for neocon Clinton supporter like you appear to be.
Wow. Really?
Not liking Trump =/= supporting Clinton.
I have never made a supporting comment about Clinton anywhere. What do you base my “support” of Clinton on?
Are you so thin-skinned regarding your support of Trump that you sneer “Boo! Clinton Shill!” to anyone who questions it?
Just returning your snide BS with the same mate, don’t take it personally.
Errr I’m pretty sure I didn’t say anything snide or otherwise. Nor did I say anything that could be considered “BS” as I was asking a question, not making a statement.
You weren’t asking a question. You were being a smartarse.
Ahhh no, I was asking a question because as I am a new commentator I had assumed you were, like most of us, a left winger. Then I saw you stumping for Trump so wanted to know if I had got my initial impression wrong and perhaps you were in fact in the same league as Pukish Rouge or Srylands.
Jesus man, you are thin-skinned.
Yeah, a snide shit, as I thought.
Unbelievable
Further, if you had a sincere bone in your body you would have directed your original question towards me and I would have answered you matter of factly.
The establishment left is utterly obsolete and irrelevant now. Only a radical departure from status quo economics will provide us with any genuine hope.
So Trump is the answer? You seriously think Trump will deviate from the current status quo? Please…have you seen his ‘economic’ plan which gives billions of tax breaks to the top earners?
You’re no left winger (or right winger). At least both left and right wingers have principles. Stumping for a misoginistic, racist, pig thick con-man because you hate Clinton with such a passion makes you all things trump is.
Begone stupid fellow. You’re wasting everyone’s time.
Insincere and snide. With a foul mouthed mind as well. Read you right up front.
From now on I can only assume you’re as racist nd misoginistic as Trump.
Poor form.
Ahhh, a Thorndon Bubble type.
Sorry, you’ve lost me, racist
Use your Thorndon Bubble Labourite sneers all you want.
[Adding Thorndon Bubble to the spam filter. Abusive language is not welcome here. Lift your game CV. TRP]
I’m sorry, I’m not sure as to what you’re referring to. Thorndon? Labour? Huh?
I’m guessing you also think woman should be punished for having abortions and that the US should build a huge wall to keep the Mexicans out. Is that right, racist?
*Shrug* Keep it up. I figured you out from your very first comment.
Completely lost me I’m afraid. Racist.
Wow! I’m really glad that I’ve stopped drinking and take my fluoxetine these days!
“Then I saw you stumping for Trump so wanted to know if I had got my initial impression wrong and perhaps you were in fact in the same league as Pukish Rouge or Srylands.”
_________
What? I have never made any comment on Trump. For the record, Trump is a maniac.
I ask that you withdraw and apologise.
I meant it as in “not left wing” rather than “pro Trump”
i am not talking about the 60’s, i am talking about the current lot of republicans of the year 2016.
Am i that off?
Is Rubio not a forced birther by saying that he would not allow for an abortion should a women carry a baby with microcephaly and not letting a women take this decision with her husband/partner and her doctor?
Is Pence who introduces himself as a ‘Christian’ not anti-science and a religious nut when refusing to do the simplest thing in order to prevent a health crisis in the State that he runs?
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/under-pences-leadership-response-to-heroin-epidemic-criticized-as-ineffective-226759
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/aug/07/marco-rubio-zika-virus-abortions-florida
is kasich not someone who fits the description of a bit of a sexits?
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/02/22/politics/john-kasich-women-kitchen/
or cruz? Not a bit of a wanker here with this statement?
http://www.washingtonblade.com/2016/04/25/cruz-indicates-trans-women-should-only-use-bathroom-at-home/
i don’t think i am out of order when saying that the republican party has only itself to blame for the issues it currently has.
Sabine is completely correct.
It’s only a 1 party state, because the Republicans have, over the last 3 decades, deliberately lied to their supporters and kept them like mushrooms. This has culminated in the flawed candidate that their base rabidly support, while the party leaders themselves are aghast.
They’re reaping their own whirlwind.
Not quite correct. What we see is a revolt by the faithful republican voters against the party elite. Trump’s message resonates with the American worker who has seen jobs destroyed by outsourcing to foreign countries. The Republican Party is becoming the “worker’s party” and the Democrats that of the banksters and monied elite. Quite a swap of position on the political spectrum.
The Left has split into “workers and jobs” to Trump and the “identity crowd” to Clinton.
And that’s what the American elites and MSM can’t tolerate.
Yeah, nah.
Well, yes, it appears so.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/a-republican-workers-party-w433295
Thanks grumpy, that summarises it nicely.
and yet…
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-mythology-of-trumps-working-class-support/?ex_cid=story-twitter
The working class vote being bigoted, reactionary groupthink has a similar ring ‘truthiness’ to it as much of the Brexit analysis
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/07/north-poor-brexit-myths
For goodness sake, give people some credit for being able to think about the wider implications of their vote, despite their lack of income, and choose accordingly.
thanx CV…must watch!
welcome welcome
Are you now or have you ever been a right winger!
http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/politics/labour-mps-forbidden-from-associating-with-right-ring-wellington-mayoral-candidate/
Comrade Little says NO to any right wing fraternization.
There is a whole post on that, http://thestandard.org.nz/leggett-in-parkins-pocket/
and it’s called party discipline somthing both you and BM have criticised labour for not having.
Apart from Shearer attending that is 😉
Which puts a bit of a kibosh on you first argument 🙂
No surprise there. Shearer has ‘crossed the floor’ once already this year.
Labours a broad church remember…or is it! 🙂
that is a really stupid comment.
if someone changes their political views over the years, and that can happen, it would behoove that person to leave the party that no longer represents them.
in Shearers case it seems that he is only at the Labour Party in order to pay his bills, this should not be good enough for anyone.
Leave, join National or Act, and get elected again on this platform. IF he can’t do that, I think it is fair of the Leader of the Party to ask to a. tow the line or b. get the heck outta dodge.
Labour is a big tent, and this past Saturday it was nice to see just how big a tent it is during our local little 100 year celebration. A nice cross section of the part of the country we live in. But we don’t need to keep people in that only stay to shit the bed but then refuse to wash the linnen.
Oh please theres any number of politicians, both left and right, that are just hanging on for a paycheck
yes, and they should all be told to go and retire, irrespective of party affiliation.
Well on that I do agree
he could leave the Labour Party and join National or Act. No biggie. Free choice and shit.
The membership might not be particularly impressed with his use of their franchise.
Naah that’s ok you can keep him 🙂
He ain’t one of mine.
This looks promising.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/politics/labours-plan-to-wipe-student-debt-2016081010#axzz4GsOdPvez
Jesus! This, a day after a Reid poll showed that 60% of people think too many are coming in.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/310591/nz-visa-numbers-reach-'staggering'-record-high
Immigrants aren’t the problem so the lefties keep saying on this site.
I’m with Winston, time to chop back immigration numbers by at least 90%.
Really??
No problem at all?
https://news.vice.com/article/canada-is-seizing-more-suspect-money-from-chinese-travellers-than-ever-before
That’s what I’m saying. We need to severely cut back immigration, as well as banning foreign ownership of NZ property. Including existing ownership.
It must be the heat here – but I sort of agree with CV.
According to a Westpac study many of the new migrants are international students who are looking to stay after completing their studies.
” The student boom began in late 2013, shortly after visa rules were relaxed to make it easier for foreign students to work. And study has historically been a popular first step on the path to settlement for Indian migrants, most of whom first arrive in New Zealand as international students.”
You have to wonder how many are genuine students and how many are using the “student” status to come in under the wire.
90% cut sounds about right – for a net of about 6-10,000 (with about 2000 of those places for refugees). Harsh but necessary.
This. Yet Blinglish today continues his line that student return home after studying.
It’s now well known that foreign ‘students’ are using our lax laws as a back door into the country for their families so why won’t the opposition call him on this bullshit?
I have no issues with increasing refugee numbers by 1000 to 2000 for every 10,000 standard immigrant numbers slashed.
Fuck you is what I say. I am a leftie and I am against cutting immigration numbers – although I would drastically change the criteria to be able to immigrate AND I think that refugee numbers should double and double again.
And guess what colonic biter I KNOW a lot of lefties and most nzers disagree with me on all or some of those points.
YOU have no issues – what a laugh – you are a nobody who gleans his massive insight via videos – clap. clap. clap.
You are a bullshit artist and not even very good at that
[Marty, I think the phrase ‘do not feed the troll’ is appropriate here. CV is a sad, bitter person with obvious anger issues towards pretty much the entire human race. However, ‘Fuck you’ isn’t the best response and comes pretty close to pointless abuse, which is not acceptable. The rest of your comment is spot on. TRP]
I would be happy with your tightening up immigration criteria, as long as the end result is a massive slashing of immigration numbers.
???
I don’t want to reduce immigration numbers but would like to adjust the criteria for being an immigrant.
Oh look, TRP’s moderation of personal abuse itself includes personal abuse. So classy.
[Challenging moderation. Take a week off. TRP]
“Immigrants aren’t the problem so the lefties keep saying on this site.”
Enough with the lies CV, you’re way past what is ok here.
Really? In that case, feel free to tell me straight up your view on this weka.
Are too many immigrants part of the problem that Auckland is facing?
IMO the answer is yes – and I think Winston’s proposals to reduce immigration numbers by 90% plus are one way to sort this out.
So what say you?
I agree with you and Winston CV…but not weka
Really? In that case, feel free to tell me straight up your view on this weka.
Are too many immigrants part of the problem that Auckland is facing?
IMO the answer is yes – and I think Winston’s proposals to reduce immigration numbers by 90% plus are one way to sort this out.
So what say you?
I can’t comment on Auckland because I don’t know enough about it, but I’d guess yes that immigration is an issue. I know it certainly is in the South Island (worker visas being the main problem, but also permanent immigration from the UK and the US on good exchange rates and higher wages having bumped up land prices).
No idea what the reduction in numbers should be (90% seems over the top, and it depends on what kind of immigration we are talking about). I’d like to see big changes to the immigration criteria.
So in general, I’d say I’m a leftie who says immigrants aren’t the problem, but our immigration policy most definitely is. The only regular commenters I’ve seen who argue for open borders are marty and Bill. I would say that many commenters here are concerned about the impacts of the current immigration policy. Both Labour and the Greens have talked this year about reducing numbers.
That btw is not a new position from me, and I’ve said similar on ts in the past.
http://www.wvi.org/pressrelease/update-statement-world-vision-international-ceo-wake-staff-arrest
Well, well , well
Surprise surprise, Hamas have their very own sayanim.
/
I was a little surprised to see the Australian government suspend aid so fast after this matter was announced. Reminds me of the effective blacklisting of CORSO internationally for their work in the Philippines during the leftist uprisings of the late 1970s when they were accused of supporting insurrection. Cheap unsubstantiated shots that continue to enable the status quo of suffering.
I am a strong Israel supporter, but I cannot for the life of me see what the point is of shutting out the last remaining dogged aid organizations who are still in there making a positive difference to suffering people.
Moshe Feiglin, former Likud MKN –
Subsequent to the elimination of terror from Gaza, it will become part of sovereign Israel and will be populated by Jews. This will also serve to ease the housing crisis in Israel.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/15326
I’m going to go with embarrassment causing the Aussies to suspend aid so quickly
https://donaldelley.wordpress.com/2016/08/05/the-jewish-press-world-vision-rejected-our-warnings-about-funding-hamas-terrorism/
“For the past four years, Tel Aviv based civil rights center Shurat HaDin has been warning that funds provided to Gaza by the world’s largest evangelical charity World Vision were being utilized for terrorism, the organization said in a statement Thursday, following the indictment by Israel of Mohammed El Halabi, a Hamas terrorist and senior WV employee who is accused of transferring as much as $50 million in charity funds to support Hamas terrorist activities.”
“In 2012, Shurat HaDin notified the Australian government that its aid money administrated by World Vision was being transferred to front charities of Palestinian terror groups in Gaza. Both the Australian government and WV rejected Shurat HaDin’s warning.”
“In 2015, Shurat HaDin again cautioned the Australian government that WV was operating as an active arm of the PFLP and other terror groups. WV chief executive Tim Costello vehemently denied the charges and claimed that WV had “no interest in supporting terrorism.”
history, repeating itself my be the answer
Australian authorities were no doubt already well briefed before the allegations were made public.
hmmmmmmm,
Quote” World Vision’s cumulative operating budget in Gaza for the past ten years was approximately US$22.5 million, which makes the alleged amount of up to US$50 million being diverted hard to reconcile. Mohammad El Halabi was the manager of our Gaza operations only since October 2014; before that time he managed only portions of the Gaza budget. World Vision’s accountability processes cap the amount individuals in management positions at his level to a signing authority of US$15,000.
” Quote end.
oh well
Well World Visions donations are about to dry up to a trickle I’d suggest
nothing else to add?
hmm, i might just have to donate.
If you want to donate and you specifically want to donate to World Vision then maybe wait and see what happens with the allegations
Or donate to another charity instead
nah, after all i am donating in your name 🙂
Hey its your money and you can spend it any way you like
Well World Visions donations are about to dry up to a trickle I’d suggest
Oh, please – like the people likely to give a shit about this would have been happy to give money for aid to Gaza anyway. If anything will dry up World Vision’s donations from right-wingers, it’s the news that they’ve been helping people in Gaza.
http://blackboxvoting.org/fraction-magic-1/
Everything is rigged!
The woman writing that claims to be in possession of the source code. If so, she should release it.
Since she has failed to do so, I can’t take her claims seriously.
The default assumption SHOULD be that it IS happening with onus on the developers/controllers/auditors of the electronic vote systems to prove that it is impossible
Far as I can tell there is years worth of experts breaking into and manipulating these systems, and little evidence from the companies or federal agencies to prove its not
The Minister of Education in the House today used the expression “best and brightest” when talking about those she wants to get into teaching.
The Minister of Education in the House today in talking about choices teachers made in doing what they do in schools said they (teachers) were professionals. The implication was that they would know best what needed to be done, and when and how..
The “best and brightest” have initiative and intelligence. She actually wants brainless cretins who will do the cretinous things she comes up with without question. Doing that automatically means they are not the “best and brightest.”
If they were professionals she would give them some credit, real credit, and trust, instead of another feigned fit of “teachers I love you, look NZ community, I love teachers and have faith in them.”
The Minister of Education shows the characteristics of a lying weasel.
Since when did teachers not have their say or their voice heard, this does not mean you need to agree with their every utterance
ACT David Seymour position is that teachers are only concerned for themselves and not the children. Weird. My experience is that teachers are very non- militant. And have to be pretty riled to act. So to hold stop work meetings is a danger sign.
I agree.
The thing is Hekia Parata can determine that 3+4= 8, ask the teachers what 3+4 is, they say 7, she says they’re wrong but she says consulted them.
Then people say (like you), “They had their say, she listened to them, but she didn’t agree with their utterance, so she;s carrying on.”
Teachers have their their say but their voices are only heard to a very small point after the “real stuff” is heard. The important voices are those that pollsters report on. Her boss’ voice is important. The important voices to him are those of people like David Farrar. What teachers say about teaching and learning and education is pretty irrelevant.
Agree? You have difficulty understanding them.
if she wants the best and brightest, she has to pay them what they’re worth, and treat them like the rockstars they are.
Being a teacher should be limited to the cream of the crop of students; all too often people go into teaching because there’s nothing else they can productively do.
What’s the point of hiring the cream of the crop to implement notional standards and high-stakes testing?
Yeah, so the minister would need to treat them like the rockstars they are.
“all too often people go into teaching because there’s nothing else they can productively do.” – utter bullshit, there are a million other easier ways to earn a living than to teach children, it really is a calling not something you can phone in.
And yet there are a lot of bad teachers out there.
[citation needed]
50% of MPs are below average too.
Treating them like the rockstars they are shouldn’t just be a demand of Parata and her political cobbers. It should apply to posters on here and other places who treat teachers with utter contempt, have no respect for them their experience or their willingness to do the crappy job that they have no interest in taking on*. A job which is vital to society.
*Not interested in taking it on but they want to do it from the sidelines with their remote controls beamed at the unfortunate ones who do take it up.
nothing to see here, really,
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/sheep/70904289/government-withholds-letter-from-saudi-sheikh
“The Government is refusing to make public a letter to Prime Minister John Key from the Saudi sheikh at the centre of a controversial farm deal.
The missive is mentioned in a May 2010 dispatch from diplomats in Riyadh. It was among hundreds of pages of official documents released by Foreign Minister Murray McCully earlier this week.
Fairfax Media asked Key’s office to release a copy of the letter. But a spokesman for McCully said it was withheld, citing various provisions of the Official Information Act.
These were “to avoid prejudicing the international relations of the New Zealand Government…to protect individuals’ privacy…[and] to protect the supply of confidential information by a third party.”
The Government has been under pressure for months to explain why it spent more than $11 million setting up a farm in the Saudi Arabian desert in a deal with Hamood Al Ali Al Khalaf.”
An article critical of Govt hidden away in farming news, lovely.
Fairfax Media is owned by a billionaire.
What do you expect?
Bypass the MSM.
With the hopelessly out-of-date electronic vote capturing equipment used in the USA for elections, this mans services will come in handy for the biggest wallet.
http://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-how-to-hack-an-election/
John Noonan, a former nuclear launch officer and adviser to former GOP candidate Jeb Bush, painted a frightening picture of what might to happen if Trump were handed the nuclear codes; the president alone has final say over a nuclear launch.
“These duties are simply too grave to entrust to a man who has exhibited sociopathic and chronically narcissistic behavior throughout his checkered career,” he wrote in a Los Angeles Times op-ed published Tuesday.
When a former nuclear launch officer (whatever that is) describes someone using words like, ‘sociopathic’ & ‘chronically narcissistic’, words straight out of DSM-5 you know he’s inferring that the person is mentally ill.