Open mike 11/04/2019

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, April 11th, 2019 - 133 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:

Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step up to the mike …

133 comments on “Open mike 11/04/2019 ”

  1. Jenny - How to get there? 1

    The roots of Islamophobia and fascism

    “You’re all terrorists”

    The words yelled outside a Christchurch mosque, with a “Trump for New Zealand” T shirt.

    https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2019/04/police-looking-for-man-who-yelled-abuse-outside-christchurch-mosque.html

    Also the words yelled at Syrian refugees protesting against the fall of Aleppo to the regime, by thugs in MAGA caps.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11769042

    The same sentiment expressed by Assad apologists Reason and Brigid on this site. 

    https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-06-04-2019/

    • vto 1.1

      Yes, I can’t help but feel that these extremists have been emboldened by the mosque attacks…

      These sorts of extreme attacks remain on the rise globally, Christchurch being the latest example. Until this begins to recede then we live a danger zone.

      It got worse with Christchurch, and continues to get worse right now. Adern’s lovely words at the time now have no impact imo. The gloves are off as far as these extremists are concerned.

      p.s. wtf were the Police doing standing around letting this arsehole mouth off like that? Poor form

      • marty mars 1.1.1

        I put this up yesterday – it offers some explanations

        It is also how this story captures, in such a wonderful and grotesque synecdoche, the full gamut of conditions that produce white supremacy: the bureaucratically minded public servant for whom quietude and complacency pass as public welfare; the white man whose entire life experience amounts to being reassured, in a million different quotidian ways, of his entitlement to other people’s bodies and lands; and, I imagine, innumerable bystanders, leading their daily existence according to that quintessentially kiwi principle – conflict aversion. Fantasise as we might about the changes to come in the wake of tragedy, the fact is that barely three days after the massacre, a white man sporting a swastika outside a mosque was met with nothing more than a polite ‘move on’.”

        https://www.pantograph-punch.com/post/post-massacre-reality

        • maggieinnz 1.1.1.1

          Exactly Marty. I can’t believe all this “potentially inflame the situation at that significant location” bullshit. It’s just another way of closing their eyes to it. Would they be silently standing by if the roles were reversed?

          The article said police were stationed at the mosque since the shooting so how come the guy got to kick shit around and yell abuse for 15 minutes until he was moved along?

          Just wait and watch, every one-eyed moron in a fucking trump shirt is gonna start parading their ignorance and flapping their gums in front of mosques so they can prove how fucking relevant they are.

        • Drowsy M. Kram 1.1.1.2

          “Move along, nothing to see here”, and ‘time to move on’ sentiments are BAU efforts ignoring the reality that there are many white supremacy adherents in NZ.

          Seems at least two individuals (the ‘protester’/’free speecher’, and his cognate police ‘handler’) heeded the calls to ‘move on’, albeit in the wrong direction.

          Official and community/societal responses to the mass murder of Muslims at prayer are putting pressure on white supremacists. Ideally these bigots should continue to be exposed/challenged at every turn; stay vigilant and don’t let them use this tragedy as propaganda for their ’causes’.

          https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/111956645/white-supremacists-going-unchallenged-at-auckland-university-students-say

    • reason 1.2

      The War Drums Beat goes on…

      Since NZs Islamophobic racist terrorist massacre in Christchurch …. I’ve confronted posters who have made comments like

      ‘ The shooter was a leftie eco terrorist ‘

      ‘Why should we be under Sharia law ?’

      ‘ Most Muslims are fundamentalists and incompatible to our western society’

      ‘The rise of Islamaphobic attacks against Muslims is due to their (small subset )of radical preachers.’

      The same bullshit diseased beliefs … and a whole lot of other bad crap motivated our mass murderer in Christchurch ….. a man I would describe as a subhuman supremacist.

      Yes our shooter was a human …. who believed he was superior and threatened by other humans …. ironically making him less than human … or subhuman.

      Lately One poster here …. Jenny …. has jumped the shark …. and walked off the reservation of what we know about the Christchurch tragedy ….. and into Alex Jones territory…..

      To quote ‘Jenny-how to be Alex?” …

      ” The attack in Christchurch was conducted on the anniversary of the beginning of the popular revolt against Assad, by a gunman who self describes as a fascist”…..
      … “The normalisation and acceptance of fascism in Syria has emboldened and empowered fascists everywhere.”

      So She claims that our Christchurch subhuman supremacist was an Assad fan boy …. and timed his shooting to protest . high-light the date of the Saudi and and western backed uprising in Syria ….

      https://a.disquscdn.com/uploads/mediaembed/images/4273/8695/original.jpg

      Syria ….the peaceful Libya Mrk II ….. which killed 75000 Syrian Army troops in quick time … wounding and maiming a couple of hundred thousand more

      Not only is Assad to blame for Christchurch …. but according to Jenny …… Nazis …. Everywhere

      Part of Alex Jones / jennys further proof ….. is that Jo Cox …. a British Labour Mp murdered by a British subhuman supremacist …. was also murdered because her attacker was a Syrian ? Assad fan
      Jenny …. “Jo Cox was assassinated by a fascist gunman because she supported the Syrian people against the regime.”

      But all reporting on the trial shows another racist subhuman … ie

      The judge at sentencing :” “It is evident from your internet searches that your inspiration is not love of country or your fellow citizens, it is an admiration for Nazis and similar anti-democratic white supremacist creeds” https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/nov/23/thomas-mair-found-guilty-of-jo-cox-murder

      “While attacking her he was saying: “This is for Britain”, “keep Britain independent”, and “Britain first”, the court heard.”

      “The following day he looked up Nazi Party material, political prisoners, serial killers, the human liver and vertebral column and the crime of matricide, or killing one’s mother”

      Jenny should explain her use of our christchurch Muslim victims for what seems to be Alex Jones like offensiveness and fantasy.

      https://theintercept.com/2016/06/17/far-right-britain-first-party-tries-avoid-blame-lawmakers-assassination/

      https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/jo-cox-mp-compassionate-road-to-war/

      https://www.mintpressnews.com/inside-the-humanitarian-regime-change-network-exploiting-jo-coxs-death/248209/

      • reason 1.2.1

        This is what fuels hate ….. and has the middle east burning

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgJAe7i-nAA

      • WeTheBleeple 1.2.2

        Jenny is an asshole.

        • Stuart Munro. 1.2.2.1

          Jenny merely doesn’t buy Assad’s false narrative.

        • reason 1.2.2.2

          What I notice WTB is the two posters …… Grumpy Stuart …. both ignoring Jennys offensive ‘ false narrative ‘ ….. two red herrings.

          Jenny .. : ” Jo Cox was assassinated by a fascist gunman because she supported the Syrian people against the regime.”

          “The attack in Christchurch was conducted on the anniversary of the beginning of the popular revolt against Assad, by a gunman who self describes as a fascist.”

          “The normalisation and acceptance of fascism in Syria has emboldened and empowered fascists everywhere.”

          Like Alwyn ….. when he claims Andrew Little is to blame for Pike River …. it’s abusing the dead …… even worse, it shows a complete disregard for the next lot of miners going into a dangerous mine …. as lies prevent lessons being learned.

          Jenny is the same with her ‘keep fighting’ rhetoric ,,,, ignoring the results so far ,,,, extending the death and destruction.

          Jenny should apologize or explain her use of our murdered Muslims for her Alex Jones like offensive fantasy ….

          Lastly here’s a informative video with which people can inform themselves and then judge Alwyns ‘ it’s Andrew Littles fault ‘ argument.

          I condemn Jenny and Alwyns abuse of dead people …. and lack of concern for future victims …. in wars , and at work.

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKlT0HLivyc

          Jenny-how to be Alex? ….

          • Stuart Munro. 1.2.2.2.1

            You know what Reason, I’d rather hear more of what Jenny has to say – at least she talks to actual Syrians, who, it might be supposed, are in a better position to understand the ins and outs of their country than what tend to be the shaped narratives of interfering superpowers.

            • reason 1.2.2.2.1.1

              Jenny is abusing the dead Muslim victims of christchurch …. pushing a Alex jones offensive conspiracy theory …

              You may want to hear more of her Stuart …. but it’s hard to know where her lies end and the truth begins with her posts.

              I also happen to know of a Syrian refugee family …. Or more specifically the wife / mother …. who I helped out a little bit after WINZ cut her off when she experienced a difficult birth and operation …. the hubby violent towards her and her older child ….. he does not like Assasd

              She is very upset as our Siege / Sanctions …. just like the ones used on Iraq and the current Venezuelan ones …. have made it very hard for her parents to access or afford their diabetic medication….. and food.

              Anyway it’s interesting that not just you stuart ,,,,, but many here at the standard …. are just going to let Jennys either cynical …. or deranged …. misuse of our Christchurch Muslim mass murder …. let her do that unchecked and unchallenged.

              Otherwise Jenny will use it again … and again …. and again.

              Is this really acceptable here ??? …..

              …. ” ” Jo Cox was assassinated by a fascist gunman because she supported the Syrian people against the regime.”

              “The attack in Christchurch was conducted on the anniversary of the beginning of the popular revolt against Assad, by a gunman who self describes as a fascist.” …..

              ….I’m not putting up with it ….. It’s a bit sad I’m one of the few …. but then who wants to be smeared an “Assasd Apologist” / fascist etc….as jenny … and others do.

              Her abuse of our dead Muslims …. is on line necrophilia.

              Don’t dishonor and fuck with our dead like that .

              https://twitter.com/MesutOzil1088/status/1110170205748187136

              • Stuart Munro.

                I didn’t notice her playing that card, but you certainly have been. Better to keep your politics out of Chch really; it is for the bereaved to determine what if any associations they would prefer.

                You and Brigid have been noticeably receptive to Lavrov’s propaganda, if you expect tolerance of that anomalous choice for a progressive, you’d do better to tolerate Jenny’s dissenting voice.

                • The Al1en

                  Yes, sickening to see the chch victims being used as a stick to beat another commenter here multiple times today.
                  That’s a total disrespect to the memory of those innocents.

        • Anne 1.2.2.3

          Jenny is nothing of the sort WTB.

          Being passionate about their cause does not make a person an asshole.

          • WeTheBleeple 1.2.2.3.1

            Ever since she adopted and refused to acknowledge she did it, the name of a solutions based thread several here organised, to which she adds her agressive incoherent rambles (4 parts incoherent, one part link that barely aligns with rantings) she is an asshole in my book. She will remain an asshole in my opinion for so long as she aligns that title with her name. A disrespectful asshole.

            Passionate? – incoherent garbage mostly.

      • Jenny - How to get there? 1.2.3

        Equating me with Alex Jones?

        Surely you must be aware, Reason; that Alex Jones (like all of the Fascist Far Right) is a rabid Assad supporter, probably even more so than you.

        And linking to Mint Press?

        Really?

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MintPress_News

        The other link you gave, was to another Assad apologist who on news of her assassination, attacked Jo Cox for her defence of the Syrian people. In particular in the face of Assad’s genocide, her demanding of the establishment of safe havens and the delivery of humanitarian aid.

        From your link:

        The most notable aspect of Jo Cox’s tragically short parliamentary career was her outspoken stance for escalating war in support of the so-called ‘moderate rebels’ in Syria. From the Blairite wing of the Labour party, she worked with neoconservatives and other Conservative hawks to use claims of genocide to support taking humanitarian intervention on the side of the moderate rebels by establishing safe havens, the delivery of humanitarian aid to rebel areas and support for the White Helmets.

        At the time of her death, Jo Cox was working on a report with the Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat (former principal adviser to the Chief of Defence Staff). This has been posthumously published by the Conservative think tank Policy Exchange as The Cost of Doing Nothing: The price of inaction in the face of mass atrocities (January 2017)……

        But what really drove the international Fascist Far Right into a white hot frenzy and marked her for death as a recognised hate figure, was Jo Cox nomination of the White Helmets for the Nobel Peace Prize.

        https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/15/late-jo-coxs-white-helmets-nobel-plea-heard/

        https://louisproyect.org/2016/06/20/jo-cox-the-white-helmets-and-the-baathist-amen-corner/

        The damage the bloggers do is immense. They attack anyone with an account of events that contradicts their own, but their chief target is the White Helmets. The bloggers’ work is repeated on the state-owned Russian news outlets RT and Sputnik; some of it has even been cited by Russian ambassadors at the United Nations. The bloggers resist being linked to the Kremlin, and there is no evidence of financial transactions other than the standard fees paid by RT for television appearances. But the Russian version of its own military strikes is amplified by bloggers like Beeley and Bartlett, who promote RT reports that push the Kremlin’s false narrative about the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

        Beeley, a former consultant to a waste management company in the Middle East with no journalistic background, has only about 42,000 followers on Twitter, but she appears regularly on RT and Sputnik. Her posts are retweeted by the Ron Paul Institute, by members of the “alt-right,” and by what Muhammad Idrees Ahmad, a lecturer at the University of Stirling and an expert on the Russian disinformation campaign in Syria, calls “the Red–Brown alliance,” an unlikely coalition of far-left and far-right extremists.

        https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2018/10/16/why-assad-and-russia-target-the-white-helmets/

        • reason 1.2.3.1

          Jenny you are as sick as Alwyn and his ‘ Andrew Little is to blame for pike river dishonesty.

          I am aware you have as much proof as mad Alex for your offensive statements about our murdered Muslim victims in Christchurch.

          From Jennys twisted pro war mind …. …. ” ” Jo Cox was assassinated by a fascist gunman because she supported the Syrian people against the regime.”

          “The attack in Christchurch was conducted on the anniversary of the beginning of the popular revolt against Assad, by a gunman who self describes as a fascist.” …..

          Jenny …. who also hates usa war veteran and anti war candidate Tulsi Gabbard.

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTHwOCDEDmc

          • Jenny - How to get there? 1.2.3.1.1

            Compare Tulsi Gabbard’s simplistic cartoonish take on Syria with that of Jo Cox.

            Jo Cox in her own words:

            Every decade or so, the world is tested by a crisis so grave that it breaks the mould: one so horrific and inhumane that the response of politicians to it becomes emblematic of their generation — their moral leadership or cowardice, their resolution or incompetence. It is how history judges us. We have been tested by the Second World War, the genocide in Rwanda and the slaughter in Bosnia, and I believe that Syria is our generation’s test…… 

            ….To date, neither side of the House has a record to be proud of. Let me start with my party. One of the reasons it is such an honour to be standing on this side of the House is the deep, deep pride that I have in Labour’s internationalist past. It is pride in the thousands of people from our movement who volunteered to fight tyranny alongside their fellow socialists and trade unionists in the Spanish civil war; pride in the leaders of our party—and Robin Cook in particular—who demanded action to stop the slaughter of Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica and elsewhere, in the face of outrageous
            intransigence from the then Conservative Government; and pride in the action we led in government to save countless lives in Kosovo and Sierra Leone. In recent years, however, that internationalism has first been distorted, and now risks being jettisoned altogether…..

            …..I understand, of course, where our reticence comes from. It comes from
            perhaps the darkest chapter in Labour’s history, when we led this country to
            war in Iraq. Many Members in all parts of the House have been scarred by that experience, and understandably so; but let us all be clear about the fact that Syria is not Iraq. I opposed the war in Iraq from the beginning because I believed that the risk to civilian lives was too high, and their protection was never the central objective. I knew, as we all knew, that President George Bush was motivated not by the need to protect civilians, but by supposed weapons of mass destruction and a misguided view of the United States’ strategic interest.
            I marched against that war, and have marched against many others in my time.
            Indeed, before I joined the House I was an aid worker for a decade with Oxfam. I have seen at first hand the horror of war and its brutal impact on civilian populations. I have met 10-year-old former child soldiers with memories that no child should have to live with. I have sat down with Afghan elders with battle-weary eyes. I have held the hands of Darfuri women, gang-raped because no one was there to protect them. From that experience, alongside a horror of conflict, I have the knowledge that there are times
            when the only way to protect civilians requires military force. I might wish that it were not so, but it is. That is why I firmly believe that the Labour Government were right to champion the adoption, in 2005, of a landmark global commitment to the best and most fundamental of our human ideals: the responsibility to protect civilians. I still firmly believe that a legitimate case can be made for intervention on humanitarian grounds when a Government is manifestly unwilling or unable to protect its own civilians. Sovereignty must not constitute a licence to kill with impunity.
            The history of Iraq hangs over us all, and it should, but its legacy is awful enough without supplementing it with a new one of ignoring the slaughter in Syria. We must not let it cloud our judgment or allow us to lose sight of our moral compass.
            The war in Iraq led to the deaths of thousands upon thousands of civilians. Its legacy must be to make us all put the protection of civilians at the centre of our foreign policy, not to make us sit on the sidelines while hundreds of thousands more are killed and millions flee for their lives. – Hansard, 12 October 2015

    • reason 1.4

      Not only does Jenny Bend Christchurch to suit her pro war objectives …. She churns out the genocide smear …. against people who want the war / killings to stop.

      This ugly tactic by Jenny …. is explained quite well … it is designed to intimidate …. and stop argument against her pro war / more killing objective .

      ” how often do we see ‘mainstream’ commentators describing US-UK sanctions on Iraq from 1990-2003 as ‘genocide’, as affirmed by senior UN diplomats?

      How often do journalists describe supporters of the devastating Bush-Blair war on Iraq, the Obama-Cameron war on Libya, or May’s war on Yemen as ‘genocide deniers’?

      Can we imagine someone who supported the war on Libya being called an ‘Obama apologist’?”
      http://www.medialens.org/index.php/alerts/alert-archive/2017/860-untouchable-the-uses-and-misuses-of-genocide-denial.html

      Jenny like Wayne Mapp has some peculiar posting habits which makes me doubt their sincerity or remorse over innocent people being killed…. that they have had a hand in.

      But even Wayne would not touch this garbage …. ” Jo Cox was assassinated by a fascist gunman because she supported the Syrian people against the regime.”

      “The attack in Christchurch was conducted on the anniversary of the beginning of the popular revolt against Assad, by a gunman who self describes as a fascist.”

      “The normalisation and acceptance of fascism in Syria has emboldened and empowered fascists everywhere.”

      …. The video I’ve linked too shows what keeps the middle east in flames…. Wayne was a player …
      https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-revolutionary-distemper-in-syria-that-wasnt-us-nato-sponsored-al-qaeda-insurgency-since-the-outset-in-march-2011/5552358

      • Jenny - How to get there? 1.4.1

        reason 1.4
        11 April 2019 at 12:15 pm
        Not only does Jenny Bend Christchurch to suit her pro war objectives …. She churns out the genocide smear …. against people who want the war / killings to stop.

        This ugly tactic by Jenny …. is explained quite well … it is designed to intimidate …. and stop argument against her pro war / more killing objective ….

        You cannot be anti-war, Reason, if you are not anti-Assad’s war.

        It is you Reason who are supporting the continuation of the genocidal slaughter, by repeating the regime’s propaganda, smearing Syria’s opposition as all terrorists. Which is not far removed from the fascist view , ‘all Muslims are terrorists’.

        The biggest terrorist of all is the Assad regime.

        Do you really claim that the Assad regime is not guilty of genocide? That I churn out ‘the genocide smear.’

        As Louis Proyect puts it:

        The problem with Beeley, Bartlett, Sterling and company is that they are simply not capable of sweeping the evidence under the rug of cities blown to smithereens. The images of Aleppo, Homs, and other pro-revolution strongholds being reduced to the rubble that require volunteers to dig through in search of survivors is the proverbial 800 pound gorilla…..

        https://louisproyect.org/2016/06/20/jo-cox-the-white-helmets-and-the-baathist-amen-corner/

        Many times now I have put this question, and never, not even once has one of you, Author or Commenter, ever had the courage or decency to address it.

        Who did this, and is it not evidence of genocide?

        https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2016/feb/04/drone-footage-homs-syria-utter-devastation-video

      • Jenny - How to get there? 1.4.2

        Reason lays out a number of contesting conjectures side by side:

        Which ones are fact? Which ones are not?

        Jenny like Wayne Mapp has some peculiar posting habits which makes me doubt their sincerity or remorse over innocent people being killed…. that they have had a hand in.

        But even Wayne would not touch this garbage …. ” Jo Cox was assassinated by a fascist gunman because she supported the Syrian people against the regime.”

        “The attack in Christchurch was conducted on the anniversary of the beginning of the popular revolt against Assad, by a gunman who self describes as a fascist.”

        “The normalisation and acceptance of fascism in Syria has emboldened and empowered fascists everywhere.” ……

        Reason

        Jenny like Wayne Mapp has some peculiar posting habits which makes me doubt their sincerity or remorse over innocent people being killed…. that they have had a hand in.

        In no way can it be imagined that I have had a hand in innocent people being killed, so that obviously is a smear, not a fact.

        ” Jo Cox was assassinated by a fascist gunman because she supported the Syrian people against the regime.”

        Jo Cox supported the Syrian people’s revolt against Assad, that is a verifiable fact.

        That fascists world wide support Assad’s genocidal war against his own people, is a verifiable fact.

        That the attack in Christchurch was carried out on the internationally recognised anniversary of the start of the Syrian revolt against Assad, is a verifiable fact.

        That the killer of Jo Cox and Heather Heyer and the killer in Christchurch and Norway all self identified as “fascists” is a verifiable fact.

        “The normalisation and acceptance of fascism in Syria has emboldened and empowered fascists everywhere.”

        Possibly this last by me, could be termed a judgment call, but it is more than backed upby a mass of evidence that indicates this.

        http://www.amateinitiative.com/new_wave_of_neo_nazis_take_inspiration_from_russia_and_assad_not_nazi_germany

        New Wave of Neo-Nazis Take Inspiration from Russia and Assad, not Nazi Germany

        The recent wave of neo-Nazism, most prominently evident in North America, has adopted traditional Nazi symbolism such as swastikas and Nazi salutes like “blood and soil.” Yet this movement has less to do with Nazi Germany, and much more to do with current political players such as Russia, Bashar al-Assad, and even ISIS….

        The Facebook page of James Alex Fields, the white nationalist charged with the murder of Heather Hayer after he rammed a car into demonstrators in Charlottesville, is a dystopian microcosm of the kind of propaganda that populates the minds of these neo-Nazis. Among the plethora of images of swastikas, memes of Trump, and Pepe the Frog, Assad had a seemingly out of place presence on the white supremacist’s social media page. In one photo, Assad is depicted in full military uniform with the caption “UNDEFEATED.”

        Yet Fields is not alone in his admiration for Assad in the growing neo-Nazi movement. In a video posted on Buzzfeed reporter Brandon Wall’s Twitter feed, three other men who took part in the Charlottesville hate rally are shown proudly affirming their support for Assad. One of them wears a t-shirt with the slogan “Bashar’s Barrel Delivery Co”, and says “support the Syrian Arab army and [expletive] fight against the globalists”, while the man filming replies with “Assad did nothing wrong” and “barrel bombs, hell yeah!”

        Assad’s rise to popularity among America’s neo-Nazis perhaps began when David Duke tweeted in support of the Syrian president, describing him as an “amazing leader” and “a modern day hero standing up to demonic forces seeking to destroy his people and nation.” The series of tweets was accompanied by an image of Assad, in dark glasses and military apparel, similar to the one shared by Fields….

    • Brigid 1.5

      Jenny
      The Syrian flag shows two red stars
      The Al Nusra/ISIS flag flown by your headchopping Syrian terrorist friends shows 3 red stars.
      You stupid ignorant fool.
      You should be ashamed to be supporting such a group.

      Incidentally, you moron, Syrians from all over the ME are returning to Syria, near on a million to Aleppo.

      And this:
      ” besieged Aleppo, where there’s a hundred thousand people trapped where all the hospitals have been bombarded, all the schools have been bombarded, all the bakeries have been bombarded, there’s no food left, no medicines left, no power”
      is laughable. Really. It’s so god damned ridiculously false it’s not even offensive.

      It’s time you went to Syria Jenny because in spite of the vile propaganda you spew, the Syrians will welcome you. They’ll show you their beautiful country with pride, now that it’s mostly free of your foul child murdering, headchopping thugs.

      By the way, they’ll tell you they’re quite fond of their President.

  2. Cinny 2

    Grey was it you talking about the living wood fair?

    I let the reporter at our local paper know about the fair and she did a story to promote it, was in this weeks issue which came out yesterday, here is the link 🙂

    It’s on page 3 🙂

    https://issuu.com/guardian-motueka/docs/10_april_2019

    • greywarshark 2.1

      Yay Cinny. Good news. Double yay! On 14-15 April. I won’t be going – I feel wrung out with things that are happening and just managing with my own ‘environmental’ green disaster. So lots to do before my personal target of end of June. Less time here as little moving-forward thinking, and time spent on my needs would be 100% more effective.

  3. adam 3

    Isn’t it odd we can’t call groups like ISIS and al qaeda far right, or indeed a fascist take on Islam.

    Insted we stuck once again with the white nationalist and useful idiots telling us it’s somthing different. That it’s not a radical conservative backlash to modernity.

    If we want the twenty first century to be shaped by the far right, then carry on calling this radical, conservative, and violent Islam fringe anything but what it is – far right lunacy.

    • vto 3.1

      agreed

    • Muttonbird 3.2

      I was thinking exactly this on my way home. The common denominator in the extremism of the east and the west which has bedevilled the world recently is conservatism.

      Conservatism leads to extremism and extremism is born of conservatism. It is conservatism which is intolerant of others and it breeds violent radicals like no other.

      It must be said that conservatism is the root of all evil in today’s world.

  4. cleangreen 4

    And please put this one in with them; – Kate Hawkesby is a rich wannabee, and an insufferable troll, that is the mouth-piece of the rich and idle,- a good fit for John Key no doubt, she should be in Hawaii to shouldn’t she?.

  5. Herodotus 5

    On a lighter note
    How to write a tune – and a classic one at that
    Sheer genius is natural
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDQ2jkDcOO8

  6. cleangreen 6

    Brilliant Randy is as good as Burton Cummings is of ‘Guess who’, those guys were my idols in the Canadian music scene as I settled in Toronto in 1968.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1ZZgG3dbsU&list=PL484CDA7155E09310&index=39&t=0s

  7. Paaparakauta 7

    Brexit is not a game like sudoku which focuses on immediate short-term solutions which May is addicted to and could be her biggest weakness.

    There is a large literature on the game theory of Brexit. One person who has been there before is Yanis Varoufakis in Grexit negotiations described in “Adults in the Room”, (2017)

    Are there any constructive strategic thinkers in the UK parliament ?

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudoku-
    https://www.wikihow.com/Solve-a-Sudoku
    https://www.yanisvaroufakis.eu/books/game-theory-a-critical-text
    https://www.yanisvaroufakis.eu/books/adults-in-the-room-
    theconversation.com/…vive-game-theory-has-an-answer-107532
    https://www.independent.co.uk/…ll-be-a-greek-tragedy-a7784936.html
    https://www.theguardian.com/…ku-relaxation-brexit-political-crisis-
    http://yippy.com/search/?v%3Aproject=clusty-new&query=brexit+%27game+theory%27&xtoken=19672819835cae4d344907

    • AB 8.1

      Ha ha – ‘wellbeing’ – how piss arse weak eh?
      Let’s just keep the existing shit-show going without ever asking what its underlying purpose might be. It’s all good after all. Never waste time asking silly questions like “what’s an economy for?” Go to go now – got some plebs to exploit.

    • WeTheBleeple 8.2

      A perfect example of the right’s straw clutching nothing response. Attacking a word, gee, how awesome they are, wellbeing hawhaw hippie shit.

      Show us more, that was simply pathetic.

    • McFlock 8.3

      heh

      one manager I had used a roller coaster diagram, where everyone was supposed to place their token where they felt was appropriate.

      Can’t remember the wording, but when everyone had shifted their tokens to the “argh shit I’m going to die here while working behind schedule” bit, she informed the clients that the deadline needed to be pushed back a bit lol

    • maggieinnz 8.4

      Yeah “feelings” right! The Ford Institute of Learning has empathy as a corner stone of learning and leadership because without it nobody would care enough to change anything.
      And FYI, every single decision people make is an emotional one and businesses that promote good culture and employee well-being are more productive and profitable. You should be glad that the treasury is taking their role so seriously.

      https://hbr.org/2015/12/proof-that-positive-work-cultures-are-more-productive
      https://www.glassdoor.com/research/satisfied-employees-drive-business-results/

  8. Amazing that the Hosk is still channeling the ‘All Kiwis are lazy ‘ of little Billy Double Dipper English again…

    They are still trying this load of crap out on the public.

    Lazy Kiwis refuse to work in orchards for good money – NZ Herald
    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12220861

    I think Mikey and Katie should lead the way and go work there themselves. Permanently.

    • Jilly Bee 9.1

      Agree WK, but I nearly choked on my morning toast a while ago when I came upon this – I thought it was worth a read and then thought what are the repercussions of this going to be on the marital front! Blunderbusses at dawn no doubt. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12221221

      • WeTheBleeple 9.1.1

        Creating the illusion of being balanced. Almost a carbon copy of my post on the subject yesterday.

      • ianmac 9.1.2

        Not so dumb really. The real intent of Kate/Mikey is that because of changes like the 90 day rule, and the increase to min wage, employers are laying off workers. So it is a clever way of criticising the Government.
        Credible? Nah!

    • vto 9.2

      The so-called lazy generation were born into, and raised under, the policies and governments of Bill English and the turdy Hosking in the 1990’s…

      … they are responsible for this generation

    • Would love to see how many bins of apples Iron Mike Hoskins would pick in a day, and doing the 60-70 hours per week which is required at this time of year, man is he full of B/S, it is hard yakka climbing up and down ladders with a 20kg bag of apples until you get fit on the job ?

  9. And hes still at it,- this time attacking MMP.

    Yet we all know hes doing this because it now puts National on the back foot because they can no longer manipulate FPP.

    Still, you’ve got to admire the muppet for trying, I guess.

    Mike Hosking: New Zealand needs to learn from Israel’s MMP disaster …
    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12221216

  10. ScottGN 11

    Scott Morrison is on his way to see the GG at Yarralumla. Looks like Australians will head to polls on May 18th.

    • SPC 11.1

      A Wallaby, Israel Folau, has spent some time considering criticism of his oposition that gay people were going to hell, and concluded that they will not be the only ones – also drunks, adulterers, liars, fornicators, thieves, atheists and idolators are all going to hell unless they repent.

      The Rugby Australia Integrity Unit has since been been actitivated by this and is actively observing media for the responses of Rugby Australia’s corporate sponsors and sighing with gratitude he did not include those of greed and mammon in the hell bound list.

      The boss of Rugby Australia said that she was delighted he had not included Jews, Moslems Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, agnostics or deists in the hell bound list …but if he did not stop attacking his team-mates through the social media account she would have to have another talk with the self-righteous asshole. She added he would make a wonderful candidate for some of the political parties now infesting the Australian federal parliament.

      • Grumpy 11.1.1

        One of your better posts……

      • Gabby 11.1.2

        Izzie Foul should bone up on biblical thoughts about tatts.

      • gsays 11.1.3

        Making it even harder for Rugby Australia is that he is one of the few talented wallabies that could make it in the All Blacks.

      • millsy 11.1.4

        Sorry Folau, but there is no hell, and no God.

        Just science.

        Though, I guess it’s hard when you have had that crap beaten into you with your mother’s jandal since you were in nappies.

  11. WeTheBleeple 12

    New Humanoids.

    “The evolution of our evolutionary group, Homo, is getting weirder and weirder,” said paleoanthropologist Rick Potts, who directs the Smithsonian’s Human Origins Programme and was not involved with this research. Like Homo naledi, these fossils show a jumble of old and new traits, Potts said. Their particular combination suggests these humans were “unknown previously to science.”

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/science/111952134/bones-found-in-an-island-cave-may-be-a-new-human-species–homo-luzonensis

    Curved digits indicate climbers – form matches function in nature.

    The idea of early earth resembling middle earth seems ever more likely as new hominids come to light. Fascinating stuff.

    • Paaparakauta 12.1

      But Tolkien’s middle earth was fantasy ..

      • greywarshark 12.1.1

        But where does fantasy arise? In our brains which are a mix of the stuff we are made of, and a sponge-like recipient of uncountable influential observations, conscious and subconscious. Don’t ideas taken forward often turn a fantasy into reality? Where does the protean brain pause and say this is how it is – this is defined as reality as at this point in time. What is analogy in this process but a use of fantasy to describe, illustrate and explain reality?

        One example that springs to mind is the fantasy of science fiction and that of satellites.
        https://www.quora.com/Who-came-up-with-the-idea-of-satellites-first

  12. greywarshark 13

    Didn’t National cancel one census. And ignore statistics that didn’t suit its
    goals, like not having an official poverty line, and how many builders had built leaky roof and other shoddy-build houses?

    Now they have cornered the Stats Dept to find fault with.
    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1904/S00052/govt-statistician-finally-reveals-census-details.htm

    In Opposition they become champions of good government. Hypocrites beneath contempt.

    • Gabby 13.1

      Maybe James Shaw could have been a tad less blandly reassuring and nonchalant about it. Minister of not giving a shit about no steenkin census.

      • greywarshark 13.1.1

        Maybe he thought he could get it improved while continuing on with BAU. He does have other concerns. Also I saw that Ms McPherson is working to the requirements of NZ and also to match with overseas so our figures are comparative. I can’t believe anything that Nats say.

  13. joe90 14

    During Easter 1995 my grom friend tried acid. He was 16 years old and in the days following it became apparent that the experience had induced a psychosis from which he never recovered.

    After a long and difficult struggle, he was found dead this morning.

    Rest quietly little bro, it’s over.

    • marty mars 14.1

      Sad news mate – arohanui to whānau and friends.

      • joe90 14.1.1

        Thanks marty.

        The second our small surf community has lost this past few months. But young and old, we’re tight and the tribe will gather to commiserate and celebrate.

    • Andre 14.2

      So sorry to hear that.

    • WeTheBleeple 14.3

      I am in no ways being disrespectful, but I believe the acid was probably laced with something or your friend had a pre-existing condition.

      “Psychedelic drugs like phencyclidine (PCP) and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) affect the user in a way that mimics actual psychosis, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine. These drugs, however, are not shown to induce psychosis with the first use. The symptoms are more prevalent after repeated use of the drug over a period of time.”

      https://www.dualdiagnosis.org/drug-addiction/psychosis/

      I’m really sorry this happened to your friend. I’ve a friend who’s entire life was derailed by one large dose of mushrooms and the choices he made on them. Another came within a hairs breadth of losing everything with acid. Others took a trip and found religion.

      Part of the argument for legalization is the removal of dodgy operators selling god knows what to the public. I’ve only had decent acid in NZ once around 1980. Stopped bothering since then only janky nasty crap meth/coke and barb combos and kids not knowing the difference.

      • joe90 14.3.1

        Nah, first and last and well sourced.

        But with a familial disposition, it was going to happen.

    • A 14.4

      Love and light x

    • McFlock 14.5

      That sucks. Take care of yourself, joe.

    • ankerawshark 14.6

      So sorry Joe90. Really sad.

    • Ad 14.7

      Keep all your good people real close tonight.
      Arohanui.

  14. WeTheBleeple 15

    Just a heads up for mushroom pickers.

    This season should be really good. Why? The drought left the ground dry so fungi that eat dead stuff (saprobes) couldn’t operate on litterfall etc at the ground surface. As things get damp all the excess will finally be utilised under Autumn conditions perfect for fungi.

    Am seeing more variety (of ground saprobes) on just my section than I’ve seen in a long time. It will be worth keeping an eye on your favorite fields.

    The local soccer field yields so well I get a years (frozen) supply in a morning.

    Fresh fried in butter with garlic. Oh my!

  15. Rosemary McDonald 16

    Puff piece from Stuff if anyone can spare the time….

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/parenting/111954531/raising-a-child-when-you-have-a-disability-a-mum-with-cerebral-palsy-speaks-out-against-discrimination

    “If there’s one thing Renata would do differently if she could rewind the clock, it would be to reach out to others with disabilities sooner than she has.

    “When I was younger I felt it was important to be as normal as possible so I didn’t talk to people with disabilities.

    “If I had, I would probably have met others who’d been told the same things as me and found ways to overcome them. Like the man who had no limbs who could drive. After meeting him I rang a driving school and found a guy who was willing to teach me.

    “I did myself a big disservice by not acknowledging my disability, but it has taken me a long, long time to accept it – and I still cringe when I see video footage of myself walking.””

  16. mauī 17

    Wonderful news! “Tasmania makes gender optional on birth certificates after Liberal crosses floor”

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-10/birth-certificate-gender-laws-pass-in-tasmania/10989170

    Sadly 20 years too late for both of my gender fluid children. They would have relished having “Unknown” gender on their certificates.

    • If we’re going to record gender on birth certificates rather than sex, it makes sense to let people write whatever the hell they want in the box. But when did governments stop recording sex on birth certificates and start recording gender instead?

      • maggieinnz 17.1.1

        Excellent comment Milt.

      • In Vino 17.1.2

        PM – to my maturing mind, gender is only the grammatical term for sex: they both mean the same thing, and all other constructs are wishful fantasies in which far too many silly people wish to indulge.
        I share your impatience.

        • McFlock 17.1.2.1

          The semantic debate, to my mind, distracts from whether the change is one of those things that has trivial repercussions at a national data level, but at an individual level can have a massive impact.

          I’m not seeing much in the way of downsides.

          • Drowsy M. Kram 17.1.2.1.1

            It’s no more than a feeling, i.e. I could be well wrong, but might not some medical diagnoses/treatments/procedures for adults (at least) be optimised for a particular sex (male/female), regardless of gender?

            If so, then a GP/specialist/surgeon (if no-one else) should ideally know the sex of a patient, as well as their gender, in order to provide the best possible advice and treatment.

            Population-wide analysis of differences in disease progression patterns in men and women

            Sex- and gender-stratified medicine is an essential aspect of precision medicine. Sex and gender affect the manifestation and pathophysiology of many diseases. Sex is defined as the biological component, while gender is a social construction as for example defined by the WHO. Sex is a separate risk factor even when all other aspects have been taken into account. Although sex is an important aspect of disease, many sex-specific analyses focus on one sex only and less on the comparative aspect. Consequently, sex- and gender-medicine is generally understudied, and an increasing body of literature stresses the need to include both sexes in animal models, clinical trials, and healthcare planning policies.

            Nature Communications (Feb. 2019)
            https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6368599/

            • McFlock 17.1.2.1.1.1

              Yeah, but anything like that is in medical records. that’s why when you change GP they transfer the records to the new GP.

              Nobody makes a diagnosis off a birth certificate.

              The only thought I had was that if your base population denominator was off, then the health needs of the population might be misidentified (e.g. a certain percentage of babies will need orchidoplasty or gyno surgury within a few years of birth, so you make a rough prediction of how many of those procedures to budget for in the coming fiscal year). But we’re only talking a few percent of people, and a chunk want to go one way and another chunk want to go the other, so it’s not like your population counts will be massively off.

              The thing about birth certificates and drivers licenses being updated is that anyone who doesn’t need to know – like cops or customs officers – isn’t told.

              • Drowsy M. Kram

                Good points (whoosh). ‘Sex’ to be disclosed/recorded on a ‘need to know’ basis, at the sole discretion of the individual. My anxiety levels are rising, which says too much about me!

        • Psycho Milt 17.1.2.2

          PM – to my maturing mind, gender is only the grammatical term for sex: they both mean the same thing…

          Oh, gender exists alright. There’s no sex difference that accounts for how you can look at a piece of clothing and say it’s “men’s” or “women’s” clothing (with the exception of the brassiere, I guess). That ability was acquired from your society via your upbringing, not from biology. There are all kinds of items and behaviours that are in the same category. That’s gender, not sex. I’m just confused as to why a government would want to record that on birth certificates rather than a person’s sex, which is a much more straightforward data point.

          • In Vino 17.1.2.2.1

            I would say that saying, “That clothing article looks masculine or feminine” is damn-all different from saying that it looks male or female. Subtleties?

            • Psycho Milt 17.1.2.2.1.1

              I think so. Sex is biology, but there are no biological differences between articles of clothing. Your ability to identify them as “male” or “female” clothing isn’t based on anything biological, it’s based on your knowledge of what your society regards as appropriate and inappropriate clothing for men and women. That’s the essential difference – sex is biology, gender is non-biological. Gender is easily fucked-with, eg if a man wants to dress in women’s clothing he can choose to do so and the only potential difficulties are entirely social ones. Sex on the other hand just ignores attempts to fuck with it, eg a man may wish he could bear children and breastfeed them, but his wish won’t be granted (given current technology).

  17. indiana 18

    “Obviously at a personal level I clearly don’t agree with what he said and very mindful of the fact he is for many a role model, he’s a person in a position of influence and with that comes responsibility.”

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=12221470

    …errr, no.

    https://youtu.be/nMzdAZ3TjCA

    • McFlock 18.1

      Ah, the philosophical school of “with great power comes great fuck y’all, I’ll do what I want”

  18. greywarshark 19

    Agencies just can'[t suddenly turn around bad model and start shutting down businesses.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/111930133/product-wont-be-moved-truck-boss-warns-against-nzta-moves
    In the three years to mid-2018, the NZTA issued 66 revocation notices; in the last six months alone, they have handed out 20, including to Semenoff Logging. Last month, they revoked the licences of two Southland operators, Clutha Transport and McDowall Rural Services.

    The NZTA action came after Transport Minister Phil Twyford said the agency had failed in its duties as regulator, and the agency appointed lawyers Meredith Connell to address their compliance backlog.

    It’s not the right thing to do for Government to sharpen up and cut off business.
    The Transport Minister has to work with the agency and work out a system of prioritising. Practicality plus safety needed.

    • maggieinnz 19.1

      I don’t know GWS. Tell me why they shouldn’t just comply? Seems like they’ve gotten away with it for a while and are complaining cos “the rules”.

      • Sacha 19.1.1

        Yes, it is supposedly a competitive market. Companies who thumb their nose at regulations can go bust. Others will take over the work and hopefully the staff.

        • maggieinnz 19.1.1.1

          That’s exactly what I was thinking too. I mean, at worst there might be a week or two delay on some stuff but if I was in the business I’d be eyeing up the slackers and their clients. I’d take the staff too as they’d already know what’s what.

        • KJT 19.1.1.2

          It is the companies that followed the rules, paid wages and had safe vehicles, that have “gone bust” while the cowboys prosper.

          Same in construction, and so many other industries.

          The brave new world of Neo-Liberal deregulated laisses’ fare.

          • Sacha 19.1.1.2.1

            Yes, regulations protect good businesses from immoral cowboys. I guess the righties don’t want to admit that the latter exist.

      • greywarshark 19.1.2

        Why indeed shouldn’t they comply. But just a bit of practicality would help here. We can all jump on our high horses and say serve them right, and let’s replace them with better.

        But in the meantime there is produce to shift, businesses trading with each other, all the commerce that keeps the country going and we need more than just dried milk and tourists to keep the money going round. So bloody government that has upset the whole country’s domestic economy in favour of exporting, needs to show some nous about not straining the domestic trading we have left.

        It’s such a mistake to hive off all the work to agencies that are supposed to be left to organise themselves and anything wrong can’t be fixed or ameliorated because ‘It’s an operational matter’. I’d operate on them, I’d have their guts for garters if I had any power to do so. But it’s possible that all the little toadies willing to bow to the world capital line of neo lib and free markets have probably tied our hands, handcuffed us, so our pollies may have little agency with the agencies. Could be, Chris Trotter has written about this. But surely they can ensure that things are done smoothly as poss, in a timely fashion, even if the agency heads get a little miffed because of oversight being carried out. Set schedules for them to get the work done and make sure the slackers do it.

        • Sacha 19.1.2.1

          Let’s just keep those big trucks flowing with their substandard welding. What could possibly go wrong?

        • maggieinnz 19.1.2.2

          Yes, I get that it’s all a bit sudden and I agree that the best way to get compliance is to have consistently applied rules that are fairly and firmly enforced. But in my opinion those business owners are well deserving of a kick up the arse. Do you know what would happen if(read when) one of those unsafe trucks rolls and takes out a family vehicle? Everyone will crucify NZTA for not doing enough to stop irresponsible business owners. The owners knew the rules and didn’t give a shit. After the horrendous week or so on the roads I think this is totally appropriate. We tend to only sit up and take notice when things get seriously ugly.

    • KJT 19.2

      As one, I know, has a long history of thumbing their nose at regulation, underpaying and overworking drivers, complaining they cannot get enough immigrants to exploit, ignoring safety standards, as well as using their position, and cheaper operation, to remove competitors.

      The comeuppance, is well deserved.

      • Psycho Milt 19.2.1

        It shows how far downhill things have gone that these guys don’t feel the slightest shame in publicly presenting “If I have to follow the safety regulations, how will I stay in business?” as an argument.

        • Stuart Munro. 19.2.1.1

          They’re only following the example of the fishing industry, who’ve pretty much flogged the ‘no-one else will catch it’ argument to death.

          • KJT 19.2.1.1.1

            And federated farmers members, and property speculators, who openly admit they are deliberately shifting income to capital gains, to avoid taxes.

            No sense of shame, for their lack of a moral compass.

            • Stuart Munro. 19.2.1.1.1.1

              I single out fishing because the large scale exploitation of cheap foreign labour was modelled there first, probably contemporaneously with the horticultural worker exploitation schemes, which I don’t know as much about. But what dairy has become certainly closely resembles an exploitation model that was allowed to prosper out of the general public view.

              • KJT

                A close relation works for one of the horticulture labour hire contractors.

                One of the better ones, actually.

                They pay everyone at least the minimum wage, and their regulars, at least a few dollars over.

                However, even this one expects them to be on call seven days a week, in the picking season, with no compensation for on call days, and no pay if they can’t pick.
                There is no pay for travel time or mileage, even though they have to use their own vehicles and many of the orchards are hours away.
                My rellie wanted to take one of his on call days off. Which he was perfectly entitled to do, as they weren’t paying him unless he got called. He was threatened with dismissal!

                Growers have successfully shifted many of their costs onto their workers.

                No wonder workers have had enough.

                Doing the proper capitalist thing, of voting with their feet.

                The growers of course want WINZ, and INZ, to continue to provide forced labour, for them to exploit.

        • KJT 19.2.1.2

          Only a few months after the same person said, “if I cannot use, and pay, immigrant drivers minimum wage, I will go out of business”.

  19. Eco Maori 20

    Kia ora Newshub
    I no the wealthy have a problem with Eco Maori they don’t want to share their lollies more evenly I know that is the best for society equality.
    I will just ignore falaus comments as any publicity is good publicity. Hom many hitts did he get from this stunt.
    The drug companies only care about proffets not what is Best for the people that has to change it will once the new consence currency comes into society – + these companies need to do what is best for society first before profits
    You get to choose what you look at on social media with the private Post the big tech companies are the ones that minupulate the people.
    Social media is getting the truth out there TRUTH IS POWER. Ka kite ano

  20. Eco Maori 22

    I believe that Maori culture can heal Maori problems not the European state they treat us a second class people. Like I have said before if the carer does not care for the people they are in charge of than they will never get the Aroha that is needed to fix the problem. IT’S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE. Just logic
    Māori justice advocates have renewed the fight for a separate justice system for Māori. They say outcomes for Māori are still getting worse and they should be able to take the lead under Te Tiriti o Waitangi. RNZ Māori news correspondent Leigh-Marama McLachlan reports.
    Ka kite ano link below P.S I had to use my phone my computer can not get radionz Web site go figure.
    https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018690334/maori-advocates-urge-reform-to-justice-system

    https://youtu.be/QAB6aXOfUmU

  21. Eco Maori 23

    Whanau this is how corrupt the system is with the drivers licence demerit point system it say your demerit points last 2 years and wiped (BUT NO IF YOU GO OVER A HUNDRED POINTS. The cheats make them last 4YEAR because when you go over a hundred they accumulate until your last fine reaches 2 year WTF some of my demit points are over 2 years and the WANKERs take my licence off me outside my Mokopuna school. You see Whanau if they can’t get you for there fulse CHARGES they will use anything that the STATE has to try a stuff you up by the way my last 2 fines were trumped up the sandflys playing silly buggers on the road and planted cops to give fulse fines. I seen that REDNECK at Bridge Pa who fined me for nothing.

    https://youtu.be/wE4TpnYIsW4

  22. Eco Maori 24

    Here you go Whanau it’s not astonishing to ECO Maori what the Crown has dished out to tangata whenua O Atoearoa I see the OPPRESSION quite CLEARLY.
    What is astonishing, in our view, is that in all the evidence and papers available to the Tribunal, the various Government departments and Ministers never once seemed to consider what would benefit Māori or what was in their best interests. Indeed, they had actively sought to defeat the rights claimed by MĀORI Ka kite ano links below.

    https://e-tangata.co.nz/reflections/theyre-not-your-fish/

    https://youtu.be/iqeOTg2a-l8

  23. Eco Maori 25

    The consumer age has to end we need to care for Papatuanukue and hand her to OUR Mokopuna in better condition than when we receive the Guardianship of her. Man has to stop exploiting EVERYTHING for Money.
    Plastic pollution in the world’s oceans costs society billions of dollars every year in damaged and lost resources, research has found.

    Fisheries, aquaculture, recreational activities and global wellbeing are all negatively affected by plastic pollution, with an estimated 1-5% decline in the benefit humans derive from oceans. The resulting cost in such benefits, known as marine ecosystem value, is up to $2.5tn (£1.9tn) a year, according to a study published this week in Marine Pollution Bulletin.

    Plastic waste is also believed to cost up to $33,000 per ton in reduced environmental value, the study found. An estimated 8m tons of plastic pollution enter the world’s oceans every year. Ka kite ano link below

    https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/apr/04/marine-plastic-pollution-costs-the-world-up-to-25bn-a-year-researchers-find

    https://youtu.be/MNFUwVcpZAI

  24. Eco Maori 26

    Kia ora Newshub.
    Its sad that such a nice person could be killed like Johnston.
    It was not just love that the Christchurch Muslims gave that idiot they gave him Aroha and forgave him FORGIVENESS is a value that has to be promoted For Equal rights.
    trump there he goes next minute.
    Well there you go I went to Wellington to Lay fiber optic cables about 4 years ago and got there and the work got taken up by foreign Workers lost heaps of money on that failed career charge.
    That’s climate change in America South West at the minute.
    Well it wasn’t meant to be Israel landing a space craft on MARAMA.
    Is judy trying to change her image sorry lip stick on a – – – – LOL. Ka kite ano

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 hours ago
  • Relentlessly negative
    Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 hours ago
  • Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    Bryce Edwards writes –  It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 hours ago
  • Promiscuous Empathy: Chris Trotter Replies To His Critics.
    Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played. “Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
    3 hours ago
  • Don’t run your business like a criminal enterprise
    The Detail this morning highlights the police's asset forfeiture case against convicted business criminal Ron Salter, who stands to have his business confiscated for systemic violations of health and safety law. Business are crying foul - but not for the reason you'd think. Instead of opposing the post-conviction punishment and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 hours ago
  • Misremembering Justinian’s Taxes.
    Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I - Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
    4 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    5 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    8 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    9 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    9 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    9 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    10 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    11 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    14 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    10 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
    Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government lowering building costs
    The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Trustee tax change welcomed
    Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister’s Ramadan message
    Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness.  It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
    Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
    Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.  It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Progress continues apace on water storage
    Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government agrees to restore interest deductions
    Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister to attend World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium
    Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2024-03-19T06:19:26+00:00