Interesting article about real estate agents who I have no doubt, from experience from the houses we were (and other friends have been) shown and the surprise at where we wanted to buy, operate exactly the same way here.
"One obvious way is through race. Real estate agents steer white homebuyers to white neighborhoods and homebuyers of color to nonwhite neighborhoods, and I think it’s imperative to stress that this is a contemporary practice. Just last year, Newsdaydocumented rampant racial discrimination by real estate agents on Long Island."
"When we think about neighborhood inequality, we should absolutely pay attention to housing prices. Not only do these prices matter for the intergenerational transmission of wealth, housing prices are highly correlated with the quality and robustness of local institutions and amenities."
"Meanwhile, Labour has ruled out a wealth tax, a capital gains tax, or any increase in taxation beyond their derisory re-imposition of a (low) top tax rate on people who earn more than backbench Labour MP's. The message is clear: their "kindness" extends only to rich people, who will be exempted from paying their fair share of the costs of the pandemic (or society in general). As for poor kids, they can keep on starving. Which once again invites the question: what is Labour for, exactly, if they're not going to ever deliver anything?"
My bold.
Already, after a mere few weeks with an overwhelming mandate, this Labour government is shaping up to massively under-whelm us on the left.
they said what they were gonna do and not do, and now they are following through. People should have been underwhelmed before the election and thus maybe have gotten some crumbs thrown their way, but everyone was to busy being scared of Judith Collins. Thus any discussion of what Labour actually said it was gonna do was verboten, and now they don't need the voter anymore. They are elected. Now watch that kindness and gentleness be delivered.
Thank you Rosemary for posting this link last night, the most enlightening explanation of the Labour Party mindset I've read. They're as delusional and brainwashed as any Tories. What a waste.
The Labour MPs aren't delusional Kay. They mostly realise that they are among the rich of this country and they appear to be only too happy to defend their privileges.
Do you think that the PM is going to attempt to bring down house prices? Of course she isn't. After all she has almost certainly achieved a gain of at least a million dollars in the last two and a half years since she bought a property on Sandringham in Auckland that was then worth a couple of million dollars.. Is she going to risk that? Of course not. Is she going to open herself up to a wealth tax on the house? Of course not. Is she going to risk a capital gains tax on the place? Of course not.
She isn't part of the working class. She is one of the better off members of the bourgeoisie. She certainly isn't one of the proletariat. So are most of the other members of the Government and they aren't, at least as I see it, going to risk any of their wealth and status.
Remember that the greens wealth tax was to pay for the changes in benefits and to implement universal allowance. The 2 go hand in hand, so IMO we need to be careful not to frame this as a tax grab. That there is an offset to addressing inadequacies within the current "support" system. This measure appears to get lost in commentary 😉 https://www.greens.org.nz/progressive_tax_reform
It'll need a combination of sad MAGAmorons too discouraged to vote given the imminent eviction of their Spraytan Stalin from the White Supremacist House, together with energised Dems eager to give Biden and Harris an actual chance to get something done turning out in massive numbers.
This essay looks at the 23 types of election fraud in the US, looks at some statistical anomalies in this election and then looks at each of the five most affected states and some specifics of what the Trump campaign are doing.
His capsule descriptions of each type are worth a read, so here's a few examples:
1. Throwing away Trump ballots: These actions are alleged to have been undertaken by either postal workers or polling clerks at polling stations. Some have bragging videos on social media.
2. Legitimately registered voters who voted on election day, were properly verified and ID checked and yet their ballots are not showing up on the electronic vote tracking website as having been counted. This allegation only exists in states that bar code every ballot and offer an online vote tracking system. I have friends in Arizona who say there is no official record of their vote despite doing all that is required to vote.
4. ‘Losing’ ballots that were favourable to Trump or Trump friendly military ballots found in a dumpster. 8,000 military votes were ‘lost’ in Georgia.
8. Manipulating United States Postal Service date stamps to backdate late received ballots… Postal workers in Erie, PA have alleged via affidavit that they were instructed to do this by their supervisor.
12. Selectively curing ballots such as only allowing this practice in Democrat heavy counties and not allowing it in Republican heavy counties. This has formed the basis of the latest Trump campaign lawsuit in PA.
14. Not purging the voter rolls of dead people and allowing them to vote year after year. There have been numerous instances of this.
I'm intrigued by #14. Precisely how do dead voters manage to keep voting continuously?? Is their system so poorly managed that votes in prior elections get fed into a current election count?
What makes the US more inadequate than other western democracies anyway? Seems peculiar that those never have electoral fraud controversies – whereas in the USA they’re apparently considered normal.
Oh fuck, what does it take for people to learn to check for actual reliable information rather than gullibly swallowing down and regurgitating disinformation from known long term liars?
The US does not have a voter or election fraud problem. The US has a problem with the Repug party just bald-faced lying all the time, and will frequently hokey up something they use to rile up the gullible that other people then have to go and debunk.
The Repugs do this at least partly as a distraction from their numerous efforts to prevent free and fair elections by methods including voter suppression, gerrymandering, court-packing etc.
edit: to just start the debunking of the bullshit that you have just idiotically sprayed out:
Last election the Dems beat the drum to death that Russian interference helped Trump win.
This election the Republicans allege Russian interference helped Biden win.
Either the Russians don't know who they want to lead the USA, or the reality is that both sides a bogeyman to blame for their own shortcomings. Why meddle with the electoral system in that country when it's natural state is chaos.
In 2014-2017 an intruder had control of the state computer in Georgia which programmed vote-counting machines for all counties. The same computer also held voter registration records. The intrusion exposed all election files in Georgia since then to compromise and malware. The FBI studied that computer in 2017, and public disclosure came in 2020 from a court case. Georgia did not have paper ballots to measure the amount of error in electronic tallies.
In October 2016, Russians accessed the internal computers of VR Systems, which provides election services, including compilation of election results and their release on the web, in 8 states. The intruders damaged 10 computers. The NSA prepared a classified report in May 2017, and it was leaked in June 2017. Whether the damage affected vote tallies has not been revealed.
You omitted the option that Russia will cheerfully back whoever promises to do the most damage to the US. A weak US will not contest Russia's geopolitical ambitions, a strong one, historically, will.
?? I thought it was up to the courts to determine the existence of electoral fraud. Until they do we just get claim vs counter-claim in the media.
So you want to pretend only one side does it in the USA. Those of us who read history learn the contrary. Why do you think Trump's father used his Democrat party links to help him get rich? Because it was profitable to do so.
So far there's been a vast amount of lies put out by Republicans alleging fraud with zero evidence. That complete lack of evidence is why those lawsuits have failed, almost all immediately at the first hurdle.
If you actually took a look at who is doing what and what evidence is actually being produced, you would very quickly realise that it's almost all coming from only one side. Just look for how many different ways the Republicans tried to stop eligible voters from casting their votes, and compare that to how many comparable Democrat efforts there were (none). Look at how many attempts Republicans have made to stop the counting of legitimate valid votes, and compare that to comparable Democrat efforts (none).
It's mindlessly easy and quick to toss out a throwaway line like "both sides do it". But when you do it without actually checking it to see if it's a supportable assertion, and expect others to debunk you, it's just contemptibly fucking rude.
The integrity of the electoral system is being tested by the claims and the validation process. When you have a country with a history that produced a political climate of paranoia and claims of electoral fraud, obviously you need to conduct due process. What part of that do you not understand?
Farrar's friends in the US discovered that the system failed to register their votes. Are you such a braindead partisan that you don't believe him or them?
If yes, are you incapable of comprehending how such experiences undermine voter trust in the electoral system?? If no, same question applies!
There is a veritable cornucopia of crapulence overflowing with frivolous lawsuits, outright lies, investigations on spurious grounds, all initiated by Republicans, that all turn out to be baseless. Sabine has been kind enough to point you to actual information debunking some of the crap you've so happily swallowed.
Now, what equivalent bullshit put out by Democrats can you actually point to? Real actual actions and evidence, not just quick and dirty lies thrown out by shameless Repug operatives.
Because if you can't. then your "both sides do it" and your mindless regurgitation of one side's bullshit makes you a part of the fucking problem.
Claim and counter-claim aren't evidence. Only a partisan would disagree. Sabine's links to media counter-claims are irrelevant to my points.
Democracy is a numbers game. Results depend on valid votes. Due process must establish the number of valid votes. A Republican state official makes the point:
In Georgia, where the tally is continuing and Mr Biden leads, its secretary of state hit back on Monday at fellow Republicans who had criticised his handling of the election.
Brad Raffensperger, whose office oversees Georgia's election, said: "Was there illegal voting? I am sure there was. And my office is investigating all of it. Does it rise to the numbers or margin necessary to change the outcome to where President Trump is, given Georgia's electoral votes? That is unlikely."
“There’s a great human capacity for inventing things that aren’t true about elections,” said Frank LaRose, a Republican who serves as Ohio’s secretary of state.
You didn't quote any Rep source, therefore your reckon isn't worth much. And did you know that judgments on electoral law (mal)practice are actually made by courts? Not state officials. Your reckon will seem valid in states that don't have electoral law court cases, but subjective reckons of bystanders are irrelevant until we know the outcomes of these controversies.
Honestly you need to add links to your claims. Just for histories sake.
And i would also not compare the Democrats of the pre – 60s to the democrats of today.
As for the claim that one side does it, well history shows us that there are poll taxes. literacy demands, 3/5 of the value of a white person, suffragets etc, and one could – looking at the history of voting and voting rights in the US – simply assume that if the Republicans could they would go back to the 1750 and simply not allow anyone to vote who is not a white property owning (land and humans btw) male. Just based on history – recent history one could even add.
As just one example of how the Repugs lie to create the impression there's smoke, and then quietly slink away when there's nothing to actually show, consider the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity set up early in the current maladministration. It was headed by Kris Kobach, a Ginger Genghis sycophant that set up camp so far up Drumpf's ass he double-bunked with Hannity.
But even Kobach couldn't hokey up even some bullshit apparently credible enough to keep it going, let alone find any actual evidence, so it was quickly shut down. But it served its purpose, creating an impression of "there's something there" for the gullible such as yourself.
That's someone who believes a con. You ought to avoid the trap of assuming other readers fall into that category. Beyond true/false lies maybe. Comments on the maybe part of the validity of truth claims about US voting ought not to be mentally mis-filed into the wrong category!
You have shown yourself to be gullible by swallowing down whole and regurgitating here outright bullshit propaganda put out by well-known liars without showing any sign of making the slightest effort to fact-check.
tl;dr Most of the lawsuits have been immediately thrown out through lack of evidence. None of the cases that got further involve any kind of fraud. What appears to be the most significant win the Repugs got was being allowed to watch ballots being counted from six feet away instead of ten feet. Which affected the vote count by precisely zero.
But hoo-boy, those lawsuits have been absolute gold for duping the gullible into thinking there's something there.
And I've always believed such outcomes are likeliest. However it's best to keep an open mind rather than pre-judge. Is what's going on here just mass delusional-thinking? Trumpism is contagious. But not all rightists get affected, eh?
Then the old saying about where there's smoke there's fire affects mass judgment too. Centrists wonder about that. In an era where fake news gets leverage, we suspect smoke manufacturing to occur, but we do need to check there's no fire.
Or to put it simply, claims that the 2020 election must be free from all flaws are a bit rich coming from the same crowd that spent the last four years telling us that the 2016 election was illegitimate.
@ d. frank..you are regurgitating right-wing spin…in a somewhat confused/incoherent manner..doing groin-stretching leaps..from peak to peak….with not much in-between ..unpleasant to watch..
Nr. 1. Unless you have someone open the ballots in a sorting centre you would not know if its Trump or Biden. But ballots were not delivered by the Trump appointed Post Master – who ordered sorting machines destroyed, slowed down delivery – not only of ballots but of standard mail, medicine etc to the pace of a snail, and so on.
Nr. 2 only mail in ballots are tracable, votes in person are not tracable. They however will be voted on the day itself, while mail in ballots, provisional ballots and ballots deposited in drop boxes will be counted after all in person votes have been counted.
Nr. 4 – again' a drop of newly counted' ballots is not 'found' Military votes are often counted last as they have the longest way to travel, specially overseas votes. And frankly if they would favor Trump he would not call to have them not counted.
Nr. 12 – there is no selectively curing ballots. there is however an issue with signature matching and a lot of people seem to forget to sign the enveloppe. Some States allow for people that have forgot this to come to a polling station and 'fix' this rather then have their vote invalidated. https://apnews.com/article/ap-explains-cured-ballot-018369d11ec349472e95ee5b4053df27
Nr. 14 Dead people and their vote. Firstly, if you cast your mail in ballot and send it off and then die in a car accident on the way home, it is a valid ballot, considering that you were not dead at the time of voting. This happens. But Lindsay Graham is very upset that dead people may vote, i'll give you that. But read here this https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/06/technology/dead-voters-pennsylvania.html
Just because the Republicans would like to go back to a time where only white male property owning libertarians got to vote, does not mean there is actually rampant voter fraud by democrats or democratic voting people.
Your Sceptical Alert Level and Warning System (AKA BS Detector) has let you down badly.
When PDF mentions “statistical anomalies”, it should raise a major flag with you and set off all alarm systems because you’re being sucked into a rabbit hole. Instead, you’re widening the entrance and even sign-posting it to suck in more folks that are gullible 🙁
Denial doesn't really work. He wouldn't have been able to identify 23 established methods of US electoral fraud if their political culture hadn't normalised them.
Why this hasn't happened in other capitalist democracies is a point worth considering, though. Rabbit holes are for conspiracy theorists, so that's a red herring. Is gaming the system via corruption inevitable due to Americans being inherently corrupt? I doubt it. So there's some kind of cultural factor at work, I suspect. Would be helpful if perceptive readers can identify it.
I guess the moral of the story is that which applies to other infrastructure neglect: if you don't tweak it from time to time it becomes increasingly malfunction-prone.
Consequence of the electoral cycle getting all the political attention. No system design for long-term revision & regeneration.
In the United States at least, if the people don't get what they need for long enough, and there are no public sector institutions sufficiently redistributing and refreshing power, the answer is revolution or civil war.
It's the country with the precedent of both, and I'm sure they would accept either as appropriate. If it got bad.
Denial? What are you on about? Scepticism doesn’t equal denial!?
You’re seeing things that aren’t there, missing flags, and warning signs. Instead of being sceptical of PDF, one of the key players in DP, and of what he writes about the US Elections of all things – more importantly why – you fell for his ‘Nigerian Prince’ scam, just as the gullible do. Instead of engaging your critical faculties, you swallowed his ‘essay’ hook, line & sinker – where was your usual ‘critical analysis’, where was your questioning? You lapped it up like a good lackey. PDF is very good at what he does, I admit, but still, you cannot hide behind ignorance on this one.
You claim that there’s no conspiracy and therefore (!!) no rabbit hole. You jumped straight into it, with your eyes wide open – speaking of detachment from reality and denial.
Your obtuseness on display here on OM today is gobsmacking – you’ve been played like a fiddle and don’t even know it.
The media biases are so blatant and pervasive that I'm not going to swallow any one claim uncritically. Like Dennis I'm just going to wait as see as the process unfolds and get on with other things more useful.
But at this moment you have to bet on Biden. Another four years of Andre's tangerine hued bon-mots being unsupportable.
I presume the article somewhere mentions that all he accepts that capsule descriptions 'all of the above,' could have the words 'Democrat' and 'Republican' substituted for each other, the name Trump able to be replaced by the name of any any President and the acceptance the election year could be any.
One aspect to what is going on in discussions (and ranting) about absentee votes and counting them, is to do with the votes of the military. It has been a perennial topic. Views were expressed before the election likely generated by Trump comments.
'How the fight over mail-in ballots threatens to undermine the votes of American troops'
Another headline elsewhere: 'Trump calls for ballot counting scenario where votes legally cast by military would be thrown out.'
The most wonderful thing about the situation is that those charged with defending the country, those on the line wherever they are to see that the American way is protected, would not even have a vote.
Even better that that should be orchestrated in an attempt to advantage someone who couldn't quite make the cut to be in the military. (i.e. Gutless little rich bastard who was prepared to have others die so he could live the life he wanted and had the father who could wangle it.)
At the end of the day, Trump was leading the USA to total biblical theocracy (among other things). Steps needed to be taken, and if certain things needed to manipulated to achieve this, and so be it.
If the election is indeed stolen from Trump, then those faceless officals did the US people a great service.
Trump as the instrument of god's will always seemed amusing but I agree the US could make a threat to world peace out of god's will on any basis.
Don't agree that cheating is justified though – in principle. If he had actually threatened nuclear war, I could agree that greater-good morality justifies intervention, but he never got that loopy, did he?
I didn't spin anything, btw. Just reported how the other half are seeing things. Remember that social reality is co-constructed. Splitting it into leftist & rightist bubbles produces delusional thinking – the deep holistic reality remains unaffected by that flim-flam.
So I was illuminating the difference between perception (mass perceptions) and reality (court outcomes). Notice how the other commentators were/are doing trial by media instead? Unhelpful, and just as likely to breed delusional thinking.
That wikipedia quote I cited proves hacking the US electoral system computers has happened, so retreating into denial of electoral fraud is a mistake.
Nobodies retreating into denial of electoral fraud. They're watching Trump's cases getting thrown out, the farcical claims and measures, the clumsy shitshow that it all is, and reporting some of that here: that which you accuse of 'trial by media' rather than what it was, a response to your lack of discernment.
And they've (GOP) been blatantly attempting to cheat this whole time. We've all see it. Gerrymandering, trying to invalidate votes, puppet postmaster, lack of polling stations, so many silly court requests, the list goes on AND NOW INCLUDES fraudulently (all the knocked back court cases amount to BS for purpose) obstructing the democratic process and denying that Trump is the biggest loser ever.
All those Q anon twats say they're 'just asking questions' as they repeat preposterous shite as well. It pays to check a few sources, those whom live in alternative realities are among us.
And I'm aware of all that, of course. You see a lack of discernment that isn't actually there. I was illuminating that political psychology driving the situation. The more we comprehend that stuff, the less it is likely to produce sociopathy.
Testing truth claims is part of how human society operates. I regard aversion to that as a strong signal of a sociopathic tendency. Doesn't matter how much bullshit the trumpists are disseminating. That's not the point. Democracy is contestable by design. Trying to deplatform the other team is wrong.
It looks like you saw something you could use to virtue-signal how "open-minded" you are in "considering all sides of an argument". So you posted it here, without applying even the simplest level of skepticism and independent fact-checking.
Had you taken even the most basic look outside of Dirty Politics Farrar's propaganda piece and his links to the worst kinds of partisan gargoyles, you would have quickly understood what a passel of lies the whole thing was.
edit: if you need help on how to fact-check, google is your friend. Here’s a starter how-to.
Stuff the USA. Those who are so concerned about the way they do things, why don't you go and live there and show them what to do. All we are seeing here is USA. No. 5 goes on and on like a toilet roll. The light from the USA dazzles us, and we stand in the middle of the road like gaping bunnies who can't move out of our own way to save ourselves.
Your bigotry is equal and opposite to anything on Farrar's site. Are you really unaware that democracy is based on fairness? Or do you just get off on juvenile point scoring? If so, time to grow up.
NewsMax host and former Trump administration official Carl Higbie spends three minutes spewing a laundry list of false and debunked claims casting doubt on the outcome of the presidential election.
“I believe it’s time to hold the line,” said Higbie, who resigned from his government post over an extensive track record of racist, homophobic and bigoted remarks, to the Trump faithful. “I’m highly skeptical and you should be too.”
The video, which has been shared more than 350,000 times on Facebook, is just one star in a constellation of pro-Trump misinformation that is leading millions of Americans to doubt or reject the results of the presidential election.
…
False election claims have not been confined to the internet and the airwaves. At a “Stop the Steal” rally on Saturday organized by longtime Tea Party activists and anti-lockdown protesters, attendees cited some of the exact same stories that were featured in Higbie’s Newsmax monologue, including claims that had already been factchecked by local Michigan news outlets. Several people at the rally said they did not trust Fox News and, even after Fox had called the election for Biden, the pro-Trump crowd was still chanting, “Four more years!” and “We won!”
The fact that many Trump supporters do not trust the election results is hardly surprising, since the president “primed his supporters to not accept the outcome if he didn’t win”, said Lewis, the misinformation researcher.
What has been striking, she said, are the tensions within the rightwing media about how to address the election results, or what story to tell about what supposedly went wrong.
“They haven’t actually clicked into a clearcut narrative as quickly as the Trump media ecosystem often does,” she said.
Meanwhile back in the real world – the Trump lawsuits are going no where and all lack any valid, verifiable evidence.
Since election day, Donald Trump and other Republicans have filed a smattering of lawsuits in battleground states that have provided cover for Trump and other Republicans to say that the election still remains unresolved.
Legal experts have noted these suits are meritless, and even if they were successful, would not be enough to overturn the election results. Indeed, judges in several of these lawsuits have already dismissed them, noting the Trump campaign has failed to offer evidence to substantiate allegations of fraud.
Smart alec DF with a riposte quoting authority to anyone questioning your assertions. You will never grow up, you will retain that cute, self-importance of a spoiled, indulged child all your life. It has served you well. Why attempt to change it and mature. You should join DPF on Kiwiblog, you would be a real ass-et there.
Well..one thing you have proven here today…is that you aren't very good at 'testing truth claims'…'cos farrar can be relied upon to be spin-free..eh..?..and what did you say that fail at 'testing truth claims' says about a person…?….you are pimping trump-lies..that have been polished by farrar…and you are wondering why you are being jeered at..?
So you can't read comments and comprehend them simultaneously, eh? I don't agree with anything Farrar writes, nor what Trump says. I couldn't care less if retards here think anyone who doesn't toe the party line is an enemy. go back to kindergarten & pay attention next time.
"President Donald Trump's administration is taking on the characteristics of a tottering regime — with its loyalty tests, destabilizing attacks on the military chain of command, a deepening bunker mentality and increasingly delusional claims of political victory.
That quote describes how I've been seeing it. Today I just tried to draw attention to how Farrar framed it, because contesting the merit of electoral fraud claims seems to be part of the US system nowadays. Political commentary ought to gauge the merit of such claims on the basis that they acquire mass traction.
Since trial by media doesn't work (media feeds on competing truth claims) we await judicial process to determine whether evidence exists. Presuming little is found, rightists in the US will subdivide into two camps: a shrinking number who cling to the mass delusion, and an increasing number who would rather get real.
Currently Republicans are mostly exhibiting solidarity. Untenable, likely, so the period we are in is a political hinge. The shift will gather speed. That's the context I have tried to illuminate.
Some perceptions matter a lot more than others when it comes to shifts of democratic power.
Since the Supreme Court has already declined to hear Trump's arguments in the previous weeks, there's very little likelihood of the Supreme Court agreeing to intervene now. Even his own Supreme Court Appointment Amy Coney Barrett signalled in the hearings that she's unlikely to intervene in voting matters.
And the good reasons that the Supreme Court will not intervene are set out here by Politico:
Whether Trump's foolishness continues through certification or not, the markets are the fourth power in the US political world. They're well past Trump already.
The best thing President Trump can do now is use the next 2 months to continue to fuck every leader in the United States off, so much that as well as civil society rising, even stacking the Pentagon will accelerate ex-generals mobilising the military against him.
And no, that's not a coup, that's the Constitutional arms enforcing the elected transition of power.
Yes the split on the right is the thing to watch now. Pragmatists vs those in the bubble. Trump's ego is unconfined by his superego (Freudian theory if I recall it right, the superego being internalisation of social hierarchy). Couldn't he take a rest for four years & run again? Never heard of anyone doing it but am unaware of any reason why not. If viable someone ought to inform him of the option…
Smuts was "prime minister of the Union of South Africa from 1919 to 1924 and 1939 to 1948." (Wikipedia)
Fifteen years between his two stints as ruler is remarkable, eh? But he was a remarkable guy. Guerilla leader in the Boer War, rebel against the British Empire, a lawyer become general in the army. Then given the rank of Field Marshal by Winston Churchill when Smut joined his War Cabinet in WWII by invitation. Plus he wrote Holism & Evolution and the preamble to the UN Charter.
Smuts? Really? Makes David Duke look like a racial lightweight.
"Jan Smuts is today, in his world aspects, the greatest protagonist of the white race. " – W. E. DuBois, 1925
The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 was formulated at precisely the same time that South Africa committed itself to the policy of apartheid – which he backed.
In the second half of the twentieth century, the problem of racism and apartheid became a leading test case for the assertion of human rights. Smuts was the Prime Minister of South Africa installing a black nationwide prison leading up to 1948.
Sure he helped the UN Declaration preamble, but he fully supported and enforced racial segregation and he enforced it starting as Prime Minister of the South African apartheid state – in fact right through to 1948.
This guy is going to do the NZ Govt. in the end, having a great life in NZ while he is at it!
John Key and the toxic legacy of the “Hobbit Affair” are likely going to haunt the NZ Govt. and Judiciary for some years to come. Sucking up to the Americans is not always a great idea.
Key should never have started this rubbish . I would really like to see a lot more of the background around why this was decided.At best it has only ever been a civil copyright violation but I assume KDC still has the platform defence that Facebook and the others use – no responsibility for what is on there.
Plus it must be time for the USA to drop the request and reimburse us. It's cost us taxpayers here a fortune
And I do feel for the others caught up with KDC. At best they seem to be basically employees and AFAIK none of them have ever been wealthy. This is now eight years on.
I also have a feleling that kim may have donated money won in the past or something similar??? very vague recollection
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, when asked about engaging with the Biden team on a transition, said with a smirk "there will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration" and stressed the need to count all votes.
So the Republicans are not going to accept the result of the Election. Crikey! A bit grim for a model Democracy?
I saw Pompeo. I think he was kidding and being a smartarse. In contrast to his 'shove a light build somewhere to cure yourself' boss who has no capability to have a sense of humour and after saying something stupid pretends he was joking.
In think Pompeo is an arrogant smart arse. There is a bit of a serious electoral situation going on over there. Playing fast and loose in situations best served with gravitas is bizarre, pathetic and shows how out of control things are there. Saying exactly the same thing with a beer in his hand at a barbecue with a couple of mates wouldn't be so bad. No big audience there though, so he probably wouldn't have said it.
Which makes it calculated when said in the big world at a formal presser. And makes it indicative of scummy losers being in scummy loser mode.
Mike Pompeo undermined America’s democracy in one press conference
But when another reporter asked if Trump’s refusal to concede was hurting the State Department’s messaging to other nations that elections should be conducted and finalized freely, fairly, and democratically, Pompeo erupted.
“That’s ridiculous, and you know it’s ridiculous, and you asked it because it’s ridiculous,” he asserted. “You asked a question that is ridiculous.”
“The department cares deeply to make sure that elections around the world are safe and secure, and free and fair, and my officers risk their lives that that happens,” he continued.
Except the question wasn’t ridiculous.
Pompeo and his agency frequently criticize other countries’ democratic failures — take, for instance, Pompeo’s recent messages to Tanzania and Belarus — while watching the US president do the same thing at home. And now, based on Pompeo’s remarks, the State Department is actually defending those actions.
This is a bad look for America. Trump’s behavior, and Pompeo’s apparent support for it, makes it harder for the US to tell other countries to abide by democratic norms. If the US doesn’t follow those norms, why should others?
What all this says about the state of America is extremely troubling: The president and secretary of state aren’t doing much better than the undemocratic leaders they lambaste.
So are the Joint Chiefs of Staff loyal to the President, or to the Constitution. And if the constitution wins, can the President sack them and replace them with his puppets?
I, (state name of enlistee), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. (So help me God)."
The oath to the constitution is dominant, there's no out clause. The bit about obeying the orders of the President is conditional on the code of military justice.
Adolf Twitler can fire anyone he wants from the Joint Chiefs, but anyone he appoints as replacement will have also taken the same oath. Also, given how he's treated the top military personnel, he might have trouble finding anyone in the top brass willing to be a stooge.
I flicked thru a couple of pages..and I think that the ones that people come up with here…are actually of a higher calibre..a gathering together of them would be a good exercise..
The older stuff is better. After two or three years fatigue set in and there was a lot less good new stuff coming through. But I did see a new one today that tickled a bit – "Don Cornholeone".
I was planning a big cathartic dump of all the things I've called him sometime when I won't have need of them anymore. It's a big list, might have to trickle them out maybe twenty a day or something.
Anthony Tata, a retired brigadier general whose nomination for a top Pentagon job collapsed this summer due to Islamophobic tweets and other controversial statements, began overseeing policy for the Defense Department on Tuesday.
The move was part of a high-level civilian leadership shakeup that began on Monday when President Donald Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper. It continued on Tuesday with the departure of the Pentagon's acting policy chief, the installation of a Trump loyalist as the new acting defense secretary's chief of staff, and the resignation of the department's top intelligence official.
Republican caught out posing as gay black man who says all sorts of racist stuff and bags democrats. There's loads of obvious bots swarming republican twitter accounts to decry the election as fake. They pretend to be servicemen, many claim they're leaving their democrat wives (lucky imaginary women) and leaving the country cos they've had enough.
You couldn't write better comedy than the Four Seasons Total Landscaping followed by this.
I've been thinking about political ideologies- I can understand how a certain economic/social theory might appeal initially to someone and they want to explore it more, even experiment with it should they reach a position of power.
But to not acknowledge that said theory is creating no end of grief for society at large and despite all the evidence presented to them will not admit anything needs changing? Is this a case of their egos not wanting to admit they've stuffed up big time and it'd be too embarrassing to do a U-turn, or have they been brainwashed so badly to the point of delusion that their way, and ONLY their way is right, and anything else is wrong?
I have a friend who has a very strong fixed belief, and no matter what anyone says, and despite all evidence to the contrary this belief never changes. But she has diagnosed schizophrenia and it's a paranoid delusion. She has a pretty valid excuse excuse. What excuse do these politicians have?
It seems connected to the born-again evangelicals- getting drawn into a belief system to the point of fanaticism, brainwashed to the point of delusion where only their way is the true way.
But to not acknowledge that said theory is creating no end of grief for society at large and despite all the evidence presented to them will not admit anything needs changing? Is this a case of their egos not wanting to admit they've stuffed up big time and it'd be too embarrassing to do a U-turn, or have they been brainwashed so badly to the point of delusion that their way, and ONLY their way is right, and anything else is wrong?
Evolution produced elimination of trumpism by natural design: "Foraging societies make short work of any loud-mouthed braggart trumpeting his supposed superiority over the rest." That's anthropologist Chris Boehm quoted in this book:
In Civilized to Death — The Price of Progress, author Christopher Ryan proposes the most controversial explanation offered today for what is wrong with our world.
Christopher Boehm has been studying power dynamics in foraging societies for more than four decades. Currently the director of the Jane Goodall Research Center and professor of anthropology and biological sciences at the University of Southern California, he has conducted fieldwork with both human and nonhuman primates and published more than 60 scholarly articles and books on altruism.
Tracing the development of altruism and group social control over 6 million years, Christopher argues that our moral sense is a sophisticated defense mechanism that enables individuals to survive and thrive in groups. One of the biggest risks of group living is the possibility of being punished for our misdeeds by those around us. Bullies, thieves, free-riders, and especially psychopaths—those who make it difficult for others to go about their lives—are the most likely to suffer this fate.
Getting by requires getting along, and this social type of selection, Christopher shows, singles out altruists for survival. This selection pressure has been unique in shaping human nature, and it bred the first stirrings of conscience in the human species. Ultimately, it led to the fully developed sense of virtue and shame that we know today.
Readers with a scientific approach to human nature ought to check out his description of how inequality in social structure seems to have been produced by levelling in hunter/gatherer cultures.
If you think Trump losing the election also eliminates another populist from rising, you are dreaming.
The conditions that caused Trumpism across the US, Europe, Brazil, UK, Philippines and elsewhere still exist. They are still particularly strong in the United States.
Pull away from the psycho-trash and look at the world as the electorate tells you it is.
It is bad if people can take bites out of Peter after he is dead. If they had a case to make there have been plenty of opportunities. The whole matter has been mishandled starting with the police enquiry.
Reported in stuff news. The woman at the centre of the latest allegation was in counselling in 2007 and the counsellor said that she had to report the incident to police to continue counselling.
This would be unprofessional and I would start with the counsellor.
I would like to know what is the date of injury which ACC are accepting for this case as I it may need to be changed?
I doubt that ACC have a process to backdate an error made by a counsellor which ACC accredits. It is my understanding it has to be an error made by ACC to backdate. I am thinking that treatment for the injury was denied by the counsellor but I would need to have this confirmed.
I know first hand and recently that ACC have been assessing the date of injury incorrectly when it comes to a schedule 3 issue under the Crimes Act 1961.
There needs to be some sort of review/inquiry into incorrect dates for historical sexual assault claims. I am thinking about historical cases and the outcome of the inquiry into abuse in state and faith based care.
Having my deemed date of injury changed to when I first attended counselling for the injury was important to me. Even though I could not use the actual date of injury having the date changed from what ACC said it was to what I said it was proved me to be correct and ACC incorrect.
ACC interpreting the law incorrectly is a serious matter.
The very tight interpretation that ACC takes to prevent them having to help needy people is an example of the Kafkaesque approach we are increasingly finding in our service delivery from so-called government. Is it government when there is an agency that is machine-like in its actions because of factors like having to make a profit from their budget?
There seems a drive to constantly reduce government spending at the same time as deliberately hurtful actions or inactions of government increase the numbers in need. *Limbo, how low can you go!
I don't see good results likely to come from that arms length approach from our gummint unless they adopt more kindness and put more money into training the people at the coal face, along with room for some discretion, and less money to the CEOs and top managers. If we can't pay world-class salaries, too bad, we will just have to find reasonably suitable people amongst the NZs considered deadheads under the present system. I think that salaries should be advertised at a recommended rate worked on some sort of maths say 5-10 x the living wage, and invite people to tender for the job with their choice of salary along with a full, verifiable CV. The advertised rate would be a guide of how 'tight' (cost-efficient) we are with top managers.
I am going to piss a lot of people off by my comment.
ACC fails far too many claimants who have a serious accident because of what they cover.
A small cut in your thumb, having your face bashed in because you were so drunk that you assaulted people, kept playing sport when you had an injury, drove recklessly and did or could have killed someone.
The minor claims ruin it for the serious claims. This was seen with the EQC my ornament got chipped bla bla and never mind the person who had a shoddy repair and became depressed or tied up with expensive litigation for years. As for the CTV building in Christchurch no one has been prosecuted and if they had been this would not make it right.
Far too many useless government agencies unaware of ruining people's lives. ACC is at the top of my list as without your health poverty is a certainty.
A dead man has rights otherwise the Supreme Court would not be making a judgement to look at quashing a conviction/s.
It does concern me that the woman making the allegation has not been listened to until now. This would have an impact which was avoidable had she been listened to. I cannot speak for her. I feel she was put in a situation that had she not spoken out again last year she would have not been able to speak out after the Supreme Court decision was made.
Unintended consequences and an anomalie which ACC would need to cover as organisational failure.
Who informed the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court have not ignored the woman's complaint?
To say this is historical is not good enough as it is having an impact now. When the complaint is investigated and settled then the woman can get on with her life.
Well I might upset with just the mention that some people can obsess on things and make a case which is unjustifiable. Just because a woman makes a complaint doesn't mean it is valid. That does not mean they can be dismissed but there is a 'moral outrage' on sexual and gender matters at present, and it seems to be becoming the reverse of the often unconcerned attitude of police in the past. The woman may not want to get on with her life even. She might have made the matter the centre of her concerns and never feel satisfied as she has no other strong interest.
I have read that though counselling face to face is very effective, because it is more expensive than other methods, ACC does not wish to use it. Perhaps they use medication with only a short series of counselling, not sure. Obviously they need to set a limit.
Historical complainants are being cheated because of how they were treated dismissed, minimised, blamed. Not right 50 years ago and not right now.
I personally found counselling to be a waste of time when it came to the organisational failure because of the harm it caused indirectly and the harm was not recognised then but has now been confirmed to have had a severe impact. So the Limitations Act time frame has expired and they get away with it.
As for appearing to be obsessive to ask a person to drop having been injured and not being treated fairly is unacceptable.
Regardless of having strong interests sexual abuse can be intrusive on many levels. I hate sitting about as my mind wanders more so I have structure and purpose in my life.
When it comes to a false complaint it usually gets discovered and the falsely accused would probably require counselling.
edit
I’m thinking about people who have in the recent past, introduced the theory which debunks past memories. It has caused confusion and seems to come from a position of dismissal and derision really, and they seem indifferent to the mental problems that have arisen from bad treatment. But people do need to come forward as early as possible, to find a way of releasing the pain of being dehumanised. The problem may be different for those actually physically abused to those mentally and those who have had to live in wretched surroundings. Also did it happen in an institution or not – a workplace or private home.
It seems to me that telling someone would be a good first step; a counselling service with someone with proper credentials (not just assumed because they belong to some organisation, a church, have a certificate that looks authentic). Talking it, then writing down the things that are hard to describe, would be beneficial. Taking it further would then be a second step, after finding out how to go about it and facing the process.
That is the sort of counselling that I envisage would be helpful. Not Freudian on a couch though. I have read about gestalt chair work, I think it is called – that would be good. I read that Prince Harry carried on with counselling for seven years and someone in that field said that would be counter-productive, just renewing the sad and bad memories all the time and imprinting them in the mind more deeply, rather than coming to terms with the past.
I know someone who had a bad experience and took the case to Court. That person has regained balance in life but has now an interest in psychology and reads widely, to continually learn of scholarly findings and others' experiences.
Abuse is something that needs to be acknowledged. Bit I think that it cannot be regarded as a right to delve into the distant past with accusations and a Court case. Not a right but each case should be judged on its merits. This woman must think that she will find peace or be vindicated somehow by the accusation against Peter Ellis. Now he os dead he can't defend himself or if guilty, apologise. He has served a term in prison, as a result of evidence that has been criticised; it is a highly emotional and debated matter. But there's a truism 'If you get what you want, you may find that it is not as satisfying as expected.' What does this woman want or expect? Will she find life better of she can point the finger at him as a bad person, which is now a hollow outcome when he is dead?
It may be that she can find peace in her mind from another approach, other actions that affirm her as a person of value to others, and particularly to herself. Self-hating is so destructive and must be countered by finding one's positives.
He's going to burn the house down before he leavers.
WASHINGTON — The White House has removed the scientist responsible for the National Climate Assessment, the federal government’s premier contribution to climate knowledge and the foundation for regulations to combat global warming, in what critics interpreted as the latest sign that the Trump administration intends to use its remaining months in office to continue impeding climate science and policy.
Michael Kuperberg, executive director of the U.S. Global Change Research Program, which produces the climate assessment, was told Friday that he would no longer lead that organization, people with knowledge of the situation said.
According to two people close to the administration, he is expected to be replaced by David Legates, a deputy assistant secretary at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who previously worked closely with climate change denial groups.
The Reserve Bank will kick off a Funding for Lending scheme in December with few if any conditions on how banks could on-lend the money.
The scheme, confirmed in its monetary policy statement on Wednesday, will see the central bank provide cheap funding to banks to on-lend to their customers in a bid to further lower retail interest rates.
My son showed me a large collection online of complaints regarding cheating, lost ballots, counting errors, bias etc but they were complaints from the Democrats (Demon crats?) in previous elections so nothing new here at all. Except I suppose Donald Trump, the President, is louder than previous President hopefuls.
The Māori Party has applied for a recount of two Māori seats, despite having no problem with the final results. Māori Party President Che Wilson said the party had no dispute with the final results in the two electorates of Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) and Te Tai Hauāuru (covering Tirau to Porirua), which Labour won. However, he said the party had issues with the way whānau were treated at polling booths and it wanted to highlight prejudice against Māori who were trying to vote.
Perhaps rabid leftists here will accuse them of being infected by Trumpism. Prejudice, eh? If the complainants experienced that, it's a serious matter. Could just be perception, not reality. Will be interesting to see if the vote count changes…
Did you effin' even read the content of their complaint..?…these are serious issues they are talking about….um..!..could you enlighten me as to where you sit on the political spectrum..?…
"Perhaps rabid leftists here will accuse them of being infected by Trumpism. Prejudice, eh?"
Have fun doling out labels Dennis. Do you wear your 'Rabid Centrist' badge with pride?
"This past week, democracy spoke and we voted out the bigot that led our land for the past four years. As we celebrate the historic election, it’s hard not to be saddened by the fact that over seventy million Americans voted to keep him in power. Looking back on the years since he first announced a run for presidency, as well as all of his antics attempting to comment on politics prior, it is clear that the outgoing president is an inherently racist person. Every thing he has said, every policy he has pushed, and every trick he has tried to pull has had underlying racist motives — from calling others rapists and shitholes, to separating and caging refugee families, failing to condemn white supremacy, freely using a variety of derogatory terms, pulling out of deals with allies that aim for a more globalized and clean earth,… and worst of all, modeling to American people that it is all okay." https://independent-americans.medium.com/exploiting-racism-for-personal-gain-72a763278e44
Have I overlooked it but does anyone here care about the lack of action by the RBNZ and our government at the crazy house price rises raging at the moment, especially in Auckland? Surely waiting till March to slap LVRs back on investor mortgages will only exacerbate the situation in the coming weeks and months. I hoped that first home buyers would have a better chance with lower interest rates but it seems that increasing investors’ housing stock is OK with this lot. I am concerned that this may be the old government continuing to do little while saying a great deal. Even the REINZ have expressed concern.
It was quoted as being 'to stimulate the economy'….I guess ardern/robertson missed that economics 101 lecture where the maxim was stated that the most efficient way to stimulate any economy is to give money to the poorest..for the simple fact that money goes straight back into the economy..thru the tills of retailers/service-providors…whereas giving to rich just means that they get richer…so it is not economic-logic that is driving ardern…with her refusal to help the poorest…and to just give more to the rich…so they can buy more rentals/increase the size of their pile…and of course arderns' new tory friends wouldn't like her helping the poorest…so what with that..and the focus groups (vox-pop on steroids ..with all the intellectual rigor of those always tedious exercises in giving the incoherent a voice)..these drive the decision making of this government…in fact..when ardern is asked about helping the poorest…she should just do a lily tomlin..and say "focus-group says 'no!'.."
Have I overlooked it but does anyone here care about the lack of action by the RBNZ and our government at the crazy house price rises raging at the moment, especially in Auckland?
I've mentioned the hyper-inflation in the housing market driven by bank lending a few times.
I can only surmise that the government like it because it pumps billions of dollars into the economy every year without the government having 'borrow' the money and thus helps keep the economy going despite the huge amounts of poverty that its causing. And, of course, the house owners like it because they have huge amounts of income from not doing anything of value.
Thanks. I am very concerned by this widening of the economic divisions within this society. I see that rents are increasing where I live in Auckland. With high unemployment and low benefit incomes, I can only deduce that our high rate of ‘child poverty’ will increase while asset owners like property investors get wealthier. I did not think this government wanted this. I wander what this governemnt’s constituency really is.
Fascinated to see that the National announcement of its spokespeople lineup seems to have totally not been commented on today on the Standard on its release.
My walking mate remarked that it only made about the fifth item in the news, after Covid, West Indians, etc.
Collins said everyone would have to pull their weight as they've only got 33 seats. Why would she have to say that about her self-described 'strong team'?
Its a law like gravity: whenever a right-wing government is elected, they start attacking democracy. And now, after talking to their Republican and Tory and Fidesz chums at the International Democracy Union forum in Wellington, National is doing it here, announcing plans to remove election-day enrolment. Or, to put it ...
Yesterday Winston Peters focussed his attention on the important matter at hand. Tweeting. Like the former, and quite possibly next, orange POTUS, from whom he takes much of his political strategy, Winston is an avid X’er.His message didn’t resemble an historic address this time. In fact it was more reminiscent ...
Buzz from the Beehive A significant decline in natural gas production has given Resources Minister Shane Jones an opportunity to reiterate his enthusiasm for the mining and burning of coal. For good measure, he has praised an announcement from Genesis Energy that it will resume importing coal. He and Energy ...
“Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The political parties are legally obliged to make ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Here is my subjective ranking on a “most-left” to “most-right” scale of most of our major NZ Universities, with some anecdotal (and at times amusing) evidence to back up the claim.Extreme Left Auckland University of TechnologyEvidenceThe ...
Eric Crampton writes – I hadn’t thought about this one until a helpful email showed up in my inbox.It’s pretty obvious that income tax thresholds should automatically index with inflation – whether to anchor the thresholds in percentiles of the income distribution, or to anchor against a real ...
Jacqui Van Der Kaay writes – Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National ...
Gary Judd writes – The Dean of the law school at the Auckland University of Technology is someone called Khylee Quince. I have been sent her social media posting in which she has, over the LawNews headline “Senior King’s Counsel files complaint about compulsory tikanga Maori studies for ...
Cleo Paskal writes – WASHINGTON, D.C.: ‘Many of us have received phone calls from [the opposing camp] telling them if they join the camp they will be given projects for their wards and $300,000 [around US$35,000] each’, says former Malaita Premier Daniel Suidani. The elections in Solomon Islands aren’t ...
With hindsight, it was inevitable that (a) Hamas would agree to the ceasefire deal brokered by Egypt and Qatar and that ( b) Israel would then immediately launch attacks on Rafah, regardless. We might have hoped the concessions made by Hamas would cause Israel to desist from slaughtering thousands more ...
Placards and mourners outside the Kilbirnie Mosque following the Christchurch terror attack: MSD has terminated the Kaiwhakaoranga service, which has been used by 415 families since the attacks. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The Government’s pledge to only cut ‘back office’ staff rather than ‘frontline’ services is on increasingly shaky ground, with ...
There’s been a few smaller public transport announcements over the last week or so that I thought I’d cover in a single post. Fareshare I’ve long called for Auckland Transport to offer a way to enable employer-subsidised public transport options. The need for this took on even more importance ...
Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National Minister Matt Doocey, reflects poorly on Genter and ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Who likes being sneered at? Nobody. Worse yet, when the sneerer has their facts all wrong, and might well be an idiot.The sneer in question is The adults are in charge now, and it is a sneer offered in retort to criticism of this new Government, no matter how well ...
When in government, Labour pushed to extend the Parliamentary term to four years, to reduce accountability and our ability to vote out a bad government. And now, they're trying to do it through the member's ballot, with a Four-Year Parliamentary Term Legislation Bill. The bill at least requires a referendum ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill (Hūhana Lyndon) The bill would prevent the government from stealing Māori land in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It ...
Simeon Brown, alongside Wayne Brown, is favouring a political figleaf now in exchange for loading up tens of millions in extra interest costs on Auckland ratepayers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is pushing back hard at suggestions from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Buzz from the Beehive One headline-grabber from the Beehive yesterday was the OECD’s advice that the government must bring the Budget deficit under control or face higher interest rates. Another was the announcement of a $1.9 billion “investment” in Corrections over the next four years. In the best interests of ...
Chris Trotter writes – Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
The tikanga regulations will compel law students to be taught that a system which does not conform with the rule of law is nevertheless law which should be observed and applied…Gary Judd KC writes – I have made a complaint to Parliament’s Regulation ...
The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECD’s chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changes—introducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Myfany Turpin, Associate Professor, Ethnomusicology, Linguistics and Ethnobiology, University of Sydney The act representing Australia at this year’s Eurovision contest has sadly not qualified for the grand final. Yet for Zaachariaha Fielding and Michael Ross, the duo that makes up Electric Fields, ...
In announcing changes to the school lunches programme, David Seymour said kids would no longer be served ‘woke’ foods. To clear up any confusion, The Spinoff has compiled a guide to the wokeness levels of some common food items. Apple = NOT WOKE Avocado = WOKE Avocado, smashed = EVEN ...
The Minister Responsible for GCSB and the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security have been notified of this review, and have been provided a finalised Terms of Reference. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Minglu Chen, Senior Lecturer, Government and International Relations, University of Sydney Robert Way/Shutterstock As the past few years have illustrated so clearly, the Australia-China relationship is complicated. As such, it is crucial for Australians to develop a more nuanced understanding of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mariana Campbell, Research Lecturer, Conservation, Charles Darwin University Marilyn Connell Australian freshwater turtles are facing an alarming trend. Almost half of these species are listed as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered. The Mary River turtle (Elusor macrurus) is one of Australia’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Debbie Passey, Digital Health Research Fellow, The University of Melbourne Algorithms have become integral to our lives. From social media apps to Netflix, algorithms learn your preferences and prioritise the content you are shown. Google Maps and artificial intelligence are nothing without ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Josephine Barbaro, Associate Professor, Principal Research Fellow, Psychologist, La Trobe University Unsplash We’ve come a long way in terms of understanding that everyone thinks, interacts and experiences the world differently. In the past, autistic people, people with attention deficit hyperactive disorder ...
PNG Post-Courier Papua New Guinea’s deputy opposition leader James Nomane has accused the government of “reckless economic management” that has forced devaluation to manage loan repayments in foreign currency and placate the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Prime Minister James Marape “must stop lying to the people of Papua New Guinea”, ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Bookseller Confessional, in which we get to know Aotearoa’s booksellers. This week: Jane Arthur, author of Brown Bird, and former bookseller at Good Books.The book I wish I’d writtenI have been working on not comparing myself to others. On accepting that what I can ...
The final decision on the Wellington District Plan makes it official: High-density housing is legal across most of Wellington. Housing minister Chris Bishop has announced his decision on the Wellington District Plan, approving a series of amendments to radically upzone most of Wellington, allowing tens of thousands of new townhouses ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. “Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to ...
RNZ News As Israel presses ahead with strikes in Rafah and seizing the Rafah crossing from Egypt, aid agencies are sounding the alarm of a “catastrophic humanitarian situation”. Rafah was “significant” because it was the only part in Gaza that had not been terribly damaged by the conflict, United Nations ...
With funding set to be scrapped for the Hamilton-Auckland commuter train, Te Huia enthusiast Georgie Dansey argues for it to be thrown a lifeline. It’s 5.45am and the chain of my crappy old bike falls off slugging up the one hill in Hamilton. I contemplate yeeting the bike into the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna Cooke, Honorary Fellow, School of the Environment, The University of Queensland We feel ecological grief when we lose places, species or ecosystems we value and love. These losses are a growing threat to mental health and wellbeing globally. We all see ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shauna Brail, Associate Professor, Institute for Management & Innovation, University of Toronto A shift to hybrid and remote work continues to affect worker presence in Toronto’s downtown.(Shutterstock) Downtown Toronto, the core of Canada’s largest city, continues to reel from the lingering ...
Responding to an Auditor-General's report slamming failures in the administration of the 2023 General Election, Taxpayers’ Union Policy and Public Affairs Manager, James Ross, said: ...
Productivity apps now make up a big chunk of the software market. But do they work? And why do they all have AI integrations?Despite being firmly on the record as a physical planner fan, I sometimes dream of something better than my pretty diary and its scrawled, ugly, interior ...
The Taxpayers’ Union says the Beehive need to lead by example, following reports of more than $50,000 spent upgrading video conferencing equipment and furniture in the Prime Minister’s office. Taxpayers’ Union Campaign Manager, Connor Molloy, ...
An objective list of the 50 most powerful people in New Zealand, as judged by the Spinoff Editorial Board. It’s power list season, baby, and we want in on the action. Sure, there’s the rich list and the powerful “c-suite” list and the young people with power (hmmm) but here, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thalia Anthony, Professor of Law, University of Technology Sydney ShutterstockThis article contains information on deaths in custody and the names of deceased people, and describes ongoing colonial violence towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. First Nations people in Australia ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alex Simpson, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Macquarie University Netflix Baby Reindeer’s phenomenal success has much to do with its writer and lead, Richard Gadd, who plays Donny in a tender semi-autobiographical account of sexual abuse, harassment and stalking. Gadd’s story has ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Collins, Laureate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Newcastle KarolinaGrabowska/Pexels If you didn’t have food allergies as a child, is it possible to develop them as an adult? The short answer is yes. But the reasons why are much ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Moon, Professor of History, Auckland University of Technology Ans Westra, self-portrait, c. 1963. National Library ref AWM-0705-F They try but invariably fail – those writers who believe they are capable of encapsulating in prose or verse the essence of ...
Stewart Sowman-Lund looks at the growing concern around the world in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. What’s all this? When Covid-19 arrived on our shores in early 2020, some argued we were too slow, or crucially, ill-prepared for a pandemic. So ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Franco Montalto, Professor of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering and Director, Sustainable Water Resource Engineering Laboratory, Drexel University Water runs into a storm drain in a Los Angeles alley on Aug. 19, 2023, during Tropical Storm Hilary.Citizen of the Planet/Universal Images ...
The inquest into the death of Gore toddler Lachlan Jones has turned up a new witness who says he saw two teenagers and a small child in a high vis vest in the area where the boy’s body was found the day he died. Lachie’s body was discovered face up ...
Stories from the tenancy trenches, featuring spider infestations, cupboard rats and same-sex discrimination. Lucy’s brother was living in a damp 1930s building in Mt Eden where “he had to tie the cupboard doors closed so the rats didn’t get in”. Although he shared custody of his six-year-old son, his property ...
Simeon Brown, Chris Luxon, and Wayne Brown climbed into a hole and announced a plan to solve Auckland’s water woes. This is how it’ll work. New Zealand’s pipes are munted. They’re cracked and leaking, and struggling to handle all the extra poos excreted by our rising population. It’s a big, ...
I knew Taika Waititi quite well when he was a kid. His mother lived in a tall narrow house in Aro St, and my youngest sister had a similar house two doors along. They were both single mums, they each had a son aged seven. Taika and my nephew Stepan ...
Opinion: “As time passes, knowledge of the circumstances of the August 2016 outbreak will fade and its immediate impact will be lost.” This statement is from the 2017 report of the Official Inquiry into the Havelock North campylobacteriosis outbreak. The then National-led government established the inquiry after the outbreak left ...
Opinion: Nicholas Khoo looks at two key points in the high-stakes foreign policy pact debate – and asks if NZ can engage with as little drama as possible. The post Where to next for the Aukus ruckus? appeared first on Newsroom. ...
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Opinion: ‘Reference-class forecasting’ is at the heart of improving pricing a project and identifying the expected timeframe but it doesn’t appear to be in use here The post ‘Think fast and act slowly’ is failing big projects appeared first on Newsroom. ...
What do a sombrero in Argentina and cognitive driving tests have in common? Don’t worry, we’re not setting up a bad joke. Hinengaro Clinic dementia clinician Gregory Winkelman has the answer on today’s episode of The Detail. “We ask a patient’s spouse or son or daughter: If you went to ...
Wellington long jumper Phoebe Edwards is back and she’s having fun again. Until this year, Edwards, a top athlete in her teens, had never competed as a senior athlete in New Zealand. In March, the 26-year-old won a national long jump title in a lifetime best of 6.28m after ...
After replacing a fifth of their caucus in just four months, the Greens’ opportunity to reset, reshuffle and refocus on the Government is quickly slipping away The post Persistent Green Party scandals delay caucus reset appeared first on Newsroom. ...
ANALYSIS:By Olli Hellmann, University of Waikato When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day today on April 25, it’s not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also to mark a defining event for national identity. The battle of Gallipoli against ...
By Robin Martin, RNZ News reporter A New Zealand local authority, Whanganui District Council, has passed a motion calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, condemnation of all acts of violence and terror against civilians on both sides of the conflict and the immediate return of hostages. It comes as ...
Asia Pacific Report The Aotearoa chapter of the Women’s International league for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) has appealed to the New Zealand government to call out Israel over the “cruel and barbaric use of force” in Gaza and demand a permanent ceasefire. The league’s open letter was sent to Prime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government will invest $566 million over a decade on data, maps and other tools to promote exploration and development in Australia’s resources industry. The project will fund “the first comprehensive map of what’s ...
Asia Pacific Report Following an open letter by Auckland University academics speaking out in support of their students’ right to protest against the genocidal Israeli war on Gaza, a group of academics at Otago University have today also called on New Zealand academic institutions to “repair colonial violence” and end ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Linda J. Graham, Professor and Director of the Centre for Inclusive Education, Queensland University of Technology Ryan Tauss/ Unsplash, CC BY Two male students have been expelled from a Melbourne private school for their involvement in a list ranking female students. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The Reserve Bank is now assuming Australians will see no interest rate cuts this year – and quite possibly none before the next federal election, due next May. That’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Hayward, Emeritus Professor of Public Policy, RMIT University The Victorian budget offered more of the same on Tuesday, with the only change being how the budget papers were packaged. The usual shrink wrap was gone, hinting at savings in the pages ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Coalition is demanding extensive amendments to the government’s legislation targeting non-citizens who refuse to co-operate with their removal. In a dissenting report to the senate inquiry into the legislation, the Coalition says it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vanita Yadav, Senior Research Fellow, Urban Transformations Research Centre, Western Sydney University Brett Boardman/Belvoir The complex and grappling issue of violence against women takes centre stage in the soul-stirring solo dance drama Nayika: A Dancing Girl. During a dinner conversation ...
Disruption to patient care from a nationwide junior doctors strike is bordering on unsafe, a senior doctor claims, despite what health officials say. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Diepstraten, Senior Research Officer, Blood Cells and Blood Cancer Division, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute Ground Picture/Shutterstock The anti-cancer drug abemaciclib (also known as Vernezio) has this month been added to the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) to treat certain ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dominic McAfee, Postdoctoral researcher, marine ecology, University of Adelaide Robbie Porter, OzFish Unlimited Around Australia, hundreds of people are coming together to help a once-prized, but decimated and largely forgotten marine ecosystem. They’re busy restoring Australia’s native oyster and mussel reefs. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Webb, Lecturer, Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology Austin Human/Unsplash How does Earth stop meteors from hitting Earth and hurting people? –Asher, 6 years 11 months, New South Wales Alright, let’s embark on a meteor ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rory Mulcahy, Associate Professor of Marketing, University of the Sunshine Coast Professional sports organisations regularly promote and develop initiatives to support diversity, equity and inclusion. While sport has the power to change attitudes by sparking conversations about political issues and social ...
Comment: The weekly Monday post-Cabinet press conference is a useful forum for observing Christopher Luxon and how he is developing into the job of Prime Minister. He attempts to convey the impression of a man of action, speaking fast, delivering memorised National Party strategies in a connect-the-slogans kind of way, ...
Interesting article about real estate agents who I have no doubt, from experience from the houses we were (and other friends have been) shown and the surprise at where we wanted to buy, operate exactly the same way here.
https://jacobinmag.com/2020/11/real-estate-agents-brokers-racism-inequality-housing
"One obvious way is through race. Real estate agents steer white homebuyers to white neighborhoods and homebuyers of color to nonwhite neighborhoods, and I think it’s imperative to stress that this is a contemporary practice. Just last year, Newsday documented rampant racial discrimination by real estate agents on Long Island."
"When we think about neighborhood inequality, we should absolutely pay attention to housing prices. Not only do these prices matter for the intergenerational transmission of wealth, housing prices are highly correlated with the quality and robustness of local institutions and amenities."
Comment from No Right Turn:
"Meanwhile, Labour has ruled out a wealth tax, a capital gains tax, or any increase in taxation beyond their derisory re-imposition of a (low) top tax rate on people who earn more than backbench Labour MP's. The message is clear: their "kindness" extends only to rich people, who will be exempted from paying their fair share of the costs of the pandemic (or society in general). As for poor kids, they can keep on starving. Which once again invites the question: what is Labour for, exactly, if they're not going to ever deliver anything?"
My bold.
Already, after a mere few weeks with an overwhelming mandate, this Labour government is shaping up to massively under-whelm us on the left.
they said what they were gonna do and not do, and now they are following through. People should have been underwhelmed before the election and thus maybe have gotten some crumbs thrown their way, but everyone was to busy being scared of Judith Collins. Thus any discussion of what Labour actually said it was gonna do was verboten, and now they don't need the voter anymore. They are elected. Now watch that kindness and gentleness be delivered.
Exactly.
Our elected representatives don't do what the people want but what business wants and it inevitably makes it worse for the majority of people.
The Labour MPs aren't delusional Kay. They mostly realise that they are among the rich of this country and they appear to be only too happy to defend their privileges.
Do you think that the PM is going to attempt to bring down house prices? Of course she isn't. After all she has almost certainly achieved a gain of at least a million dollars in the last two and a half years since she bought a property on Sandringham in Auckland that was then worth a couple of million dollars.. Is she going to risk that? Of course not. Is she going to open herself up to a wealth tax on the house? Of course not. Is she going to risk a capital gains tax on the place? Of course not.
She isn't part of the working class. She is one of the better off members of the bourgeoisie. She certainly isn't one of the proletariat. So are most of the other members of the Government and they aren't, at least as I see it, going to risk any of their wealth and status.
Unpopular opinion: Jacinda is bascially Tony Blair in heels.
It may be an unpopular opinion, but that doesn't make it any less true!
Remember that the greens wealth tax was to pay for the changes in benefits and to implement universal allowance. The 2 go hand in hand, so IMO we need to be careful not to frame this as a tax grab. That there is an offset to addressing inadequacies within the current "support" system. This measure appears to get lost in commentary 😉
https://www.greens.org.nz/progressive_tax_reform
https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/beachheroes/pages/12689/attachments/original/1594876918/Poverty_Action_Plan_policy_document_screen-readable.pdf?1594876918
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/300155251/government-should-use-printed-money-to-increase-benefits-which-will-be-spent-in-the-economy
Well, no surprises here. At least National is not lying when they say they will reduce taxes, benefits and appease the rich.
C'mon Warnock. Give us a Democrat Senator in Georgia.
And Ossoff, there are two run offs, and the dems need both of them to win.
It'll need a combination of sad MAGAmorons too discouraged to vote given the imminent eviction of their Spraytan Stalin from the White Supremacist House, together with energised Dems eager to give Biden and Harris an actual chance to get something done turning out in massive numbers.
Unlikely, but I'm still hoping.
Farrar examines the fraud potential in the US election: https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2020/11/is_us_election_fraud_real.html
His capsule descriptions of each type are worth a read, so here's a few examples:
I'm intrigued by #14. Precisely how do dead voters manage to keep voting continuously?? Is their system so poorly managed that votes in prior elections get fed into a current election count?
What makes the US more inadequate than other western democracies anyway? Seems peculiar that those never have electoral fraud controversies – whereas in the USA they’re apparently considered normal.
Oh fuck, what does it take for people to learn to check for actual reliable information rather than gullibly swallowing down and regurgitating disinformation from known long term liars?
The US does not have a voter or election fraud problem. The US has a problem with the Repug party just bald-faced lying all the time, and will frequently hokey up something they use to rile up the gullible that other people then have to go and debunk.
The Repugs do this at least partly as a distraction from their numerous efforts to prevent free and fair elections by methods including voter suppression, gerrymandering, court-packing etc.
edit: to just start the debunking of the bullshit that you have just idiotically sprayed out:
https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-54811410
So why did the Russians not hack the election this time?
Would have been too easy for them? They prefer a challenge I think.
It seems they tried, but didn't get the traction this time around.
Partly because some of their efforts were shut down on them.
https://www.vox.com/2020/9/21/21401149/russia-2020-election-meddling-trump-biden
Partly because Biden hasn't had decades of smears thrown at him that preprime the gullible for new smears against him, unlike Hillary.
Partly because they tried to use a totally inept messenger completely lacking in credibility to anyone with even the slightest degree of skepticism.
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/officials-told-white-house-russian-intelligence-targeted-rudy-giuliani-report-2020-10?r=US&IR=T
Last election the Dems beat the drum to death that Russian interference helped Trump win.
This election the Republicans allege Russian interference helped Biden win.
Either the Russians don't know who they want to lead the USA, or the reality is that both sides a bogeyman to blame for their own shortcomings. Why meddle with the electoral system in that country when it's natural state is chaos.
You got a linky for Repug allegations that Russian interference helped Biden?
I hadn't seen any, and I'm in the mood for a laugh.
You omitted the option that Russia will cheerfully back whoever promises to do the most damage to the US. A weak US will not contest Russia's geopolitical ambitions, a strong one, historically, will.
Oh come on Red
You know the answer to that
Because the right guy won
actual reliable information
?? I thought it was up to the courts to determine the existence of electoral fraud. Until they do we just get claim vs counter-claim in the media.
So you want to pretend only one side does it in the USA. Those of us who read history learn the contrary. Why do you think Trump's father used his Democrat party links to help him get rich? Because it was profitable to do so.
Idiot.
So far there's been a vast amount of lies put out by Republicans alleging fraud with zero evidence. That complete lack of evidence is why those lawsuits have failed, almost all immediately at the first hurdle.
If you actually took a look at who is doing what and what evidence is actually being produced, you would very quickly realise that it's almost all coming from only one side. Just look for how many different ways the Republicans tried to stop eligible voters from casting their votes, and compare that to how many comparable Democrat efforts there were (none). Look at how many attempts Republicans have made to stop the counting of legitimate valid votes, and compare that to comparable Democrat efforts (none).
It's mindlessly easy and quick to toss out a throwaway line like "both sides do it". But when you do it without actually checking it to see if it's a supportable assertion, and expect others to debunk you, it's just contemptibly fucking rude.
Moron.
The integrity of the electoral system is being tested by the claims and the validation process. When you have a country with a history that produced a political climate of paranoia and claims of electoral fraud, obviously you need to conduct due process. What part of that do you not understand?
Farrar's friends in the US discovered that the system failed to register their votes. Are you such a braindead partisan that you don't believe him or them?
If yes, are you incapable of comprehending how such experiences undermine voter trust in the electoral system?? If no, same question applies!
There is a veritable cornucopia of crapulence overflowing with frivolous lawsuits, outright lies, investigations on spurious grounds, all initiated by Republicans, that all turn out to be baseless. Sabine has been kind enough to point you to actual information debunking some of the crap you've so happily swallowed.
Now, what equivalent bullshit put out by Democrats can you actually point to? Real actual actions and evidence, not just quick and dirty lies thrown out by shameless Repug operatives.
Because if you can't. then your "both sides do it" and your mindless regurgitation of one side's bullshit makes you a part of the fucking problem.
Claim and counter-claim aren't evidence. Only a partisan would disagree. Sabine's links to media counter-claims are irrelevant to my points.
Democracy is a numbers game. Results depend on valid votes. Due process must establish the number of valid votes. A Republican state official makes the point:
From New York Times (sorry paywalled) –The Times Called Officials in Every State: No Evidence of Voter Fraud
Its total BS Dennis. Thanks for your persistence Andre.
You didn't quote any Rep source, therefore your reckon isn't worth much. And did you know that judgments on electoral law (mal)practice are actually made by courts? Not state officials. Your reckon will seem valid in states that don't have electoral law court cases, but subjective reckons of bystanders are irrelevant until we know the outcomes of these controversies.
No, I tend to avoid biased sources. Thats how I improve the chance of a reckon being closer to the truth, but even then I keep my mind open.
You on the other hand, seem to be relying for your closed view, on the biased reckon of the POTUS, a man not known for caring for the truth.
Yes I did know that judgments on electoral law are made by courts.
Honestly you need to add links to your claims. Just for histories sake.
And i would also not compare the Democrats of the pre – 60s to the democrats of today.
As for the claim that one side does it, well history shows us that there are poll taxes. literacy demands, 3/5 of the value of a white person, suffragets etc, and one could – looking at the history of voting and voting rights in the US – simply assume that if the Republicans could they would go back to the 1750 and simply not allow anyone to vote who is not a white property owning (land and humans btw) male. Just based on history – recent history one could even add.
As just one example of how the Repugs lie to create the impression there's smoke, and then quietly slink away when there's nothing to actually show, consider the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity set up early in the current maladministration. It was headed by Kris Kobach, a Ginger Genghis sycophant that set up camp so far up Drumpf's ass he double-bunked with Hannity.
But even Kobach couldn't hokey up even some bullshit apparently credible enough to keep it going, let alone find any actual evidence, so it was quickly shut down. But it served its purpose, creating an impression of "there's something there" for the gullible such as yourself.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-voter-fraud-commission-matthew-dunalp-maine-kris-kobach-mike-pence-trump-voter-fraud-commission-matthew-dunalp-maine-kris-kobach-mike-pence-a8477716.html
gullible
That's someone who believes a con. You ought to avoid the trap of assuming other readers fall into that category. Beyond true/false lies maybe. Comments on the maybe part of the validity of truth claims about US voting ought not to be mentally mis-filed into the wrong category!
You have shown yourself to be gullible by swallowing down whole and regurgitating here outright bullshit propaganda put out by well-known liars without showing any sign of making the slightest effort to fact-check.
Bullshit. Electoral fraud can only be established by court decision. No amount of poncing around by you on the stage here is gonna change that.
Oh the power and the passion….
If you're hung up on court decisions and uninterested in looking at actual evidence, well, here's a brief summary of how those lawsuits are going:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/11/09/republican-lawsuits-challenging-election-pennsylvania-arizona-nevada-havent-gone-far-heres-why/6227596002/
tl;dr Most of the lawsuits have been immediately thrown out through lack of evidence. None of the cases that got further involve any kind of fraud. What appears to be the most significant win the Repugs got was being allowed to watch ballots being counted from six feet away instead of ten feet. Which affected the vote count by precisely zero.
But hoo-boy, those lawsuits have been absolute gold for duping the gullible into thinking there's something there.
And I've always believed such outcomes are likeliest. However it's best to keep an open mind rather than pre-judge. Is what's going on here just mass delusional-thinking? Trumpism is contagious. But not all rightists get affected, eh?
Then the old saying about where there's smoke there's fire affects mass judgment too. Centrists wonder about that. In an era where fake news gets leverage, we suspect smoke manufacturing to occur, but we do need to check there's no fire.
Or to put it simply, claims that the 2020 election must be free from all flaws are a bit rich coming from the same crowd that spent the last four years telling us that the 2016 election was illegitimate.
@ d. frank..you are regurgitating right-wing spin…in a somewhat confused/incoherent manner..doing groin-stretching leaps..from peak to peak….with not much in-between ..unpleasant to watch..
11 November 2020 at 8:56 am
Nr. 1. Unless you have someone open the ballots in a sorting centre you would not know if its Trump or Biden. But ballots were not delivered by the Trump appointed Post Master – who ordered sorting machines destroyed, slowed down delivery – not only of ballots but of standard mail, medicine etc to the pace of a snail, and so on.
See here the last call from a Judge to sweep all facilities to find ballots that were not processed? It was ignored. https://www.syracuse.com/us-news/2020/11/judge-furious-with-louis-dejoy-after-usps-refuses-search-for-undelivered-mail-in-ballots.html
Nr. 2 only mail in ballots are tracable, votes in person are not tracable. They however will be voted on the day itself, while mail in ballots, provisional ballots and ballots deposited in drop boxes will be counted after all in person votes have been counted.
Here is an article that gives a list of states that trace mail in ballots https://www.newsweek.com/these-are-states-where-you-can-track-your-mail-vote-1525920
Nr. 4 – again' a drop of newly counted' ballots is not 'found' Military votes are often counted last as they have the longest way to travel, specially overseas votes. And frankly if they would favor Trump he would not call to have them not counted.
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/trumps-calls-to-stop-vote-counts-could-disenfranchise-military-voters-2020-11?r=US&IR=T
Nr. 8. Yeah, a bit of reading comes up with' not so fast jose'. https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/nov/05/allegations-usps-election-fraud-michigan-dont-hold/
Nr. 12 – there is no selectively curing ballots. there is however an issue with signature matching and a lot of people seem to forget to sign the enveloppe. Some States allow for people that have forgot this to come to a polling station and 'fix' this rather then have their vote invalidated. https://apnews.com/article/ap-explains-cured-ballot-018369d11ec349472e95ee5b4053df27
Nr. 14 Dead people and their vote. Firstly, if you cast your mail in ballot and send it off and then die in a car accident on the way home, it is a valid ballot, considering that you were not dead at the time of voting. This happens. But Lindsay Graham is very upset that dead people may vote, i'll give you that. But read here this https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/06/technology/dead-voters-pennsylvania.html
Just because the Republicans would like to go back to a time where only white male property owning libertarians got to vote, does not mean there is actually rampant voter fraud by democrats or democratic voting people.
Run-of-the-mill clerical errors have been used as false evidence of voter fraud in Michigan.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/06/technology/false-dead-michigan-voter-claims.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage
More Kabuki theatre for the audience of one.
https://twitter.com/ashleylynch/status/1326044567297159169
https://twitter.com/jacobsoboroff/status/1326153333376086016
https://twitter.com/PoliticsReid/status/1326189255857594374
https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1326000431546458113
edit:
we have a live one
https://twitter.com/JBurch1971/status/1326252620906958856
Your Sceptical Alert Level and Warning System (AKA BS Detector) has let you down badly.
When PDF mentions “statistical anomalies”, it should raise a major flag with you and set off all alarm systems because you’re being sucked into a rabbit hole. Instead, you’re widening the entrance and even sign-posting it to suck in more folks that are gullible 🙁
FFS!!
Denial doesn't really work. He wouldn't have been able to identify 23 established methods of US electoral fraud if their political culture hadn't normalised them.
Why this hasn't happened in other capitalist democracies is a point worth considering, though. Rabbit holes are for conspiracy theorists, so that's a red herring. Is gaming the system via corruption inevitable due to Americans being inherently corrupt? I doubt it. So there's some kind of cultural factor at work, I suspect. Would be helpful if perceptive readers can identify it.
Ad more or less identified it last night, too much political process, not enough institional stability.
In particular the US has a very complex and arcane electoral system at every level. It just begs to be gamed.
I guess the moral of the story is that which applies to other infrastructure neglect: if you don't tweak it from time to time it becomes increasingly malfunction-prone.
Consequence of the electoral cycle getting all the political attention. No system design for long-term revision & regeneration.
In the United States at least, if the people don't get what they need for long enough, and there are no public sector institutions sufficiently redistributing and refreshing power, the answer is revolution or civil war.
It's the country with the precedent of both, and I'm sure they would accept either as appropriate. If it got bad.
Denial? What are you on about? Scepticism doesn’t equal denial!?
You’re seeing things that aren’t there, missing flags, and warning signs. Instead of being sceptical of PDF, one of the key players in DP, and of what he writes about the US Elections of all things – more importantly why – you fell for his ‘Nigerian Prince’ scam, just as the gullible do. Instead of engaging your critical faculties, you swallowed his ‘essay’ hook, line & sinker – where was your usual ‘critical analysis’, where was your questioning? You lapped it up like a good lackey. PDF is very good at what he does, I admit, but still, you cannot hide behind ignorance on this one.
You claim that there’s no conspiracy and therefore (!!) no rabbit hole. You jumped straight into it, with your eyes wide open – speaking of detachment from reality and denial.
Your obtuseness on display here on OM today is gobsmacking – you’ve been played like a fiddle and don’t even know it.
The media biases are so blatant and pervasive that I'm not going to swallow any one claim uncritically. Like Dennis I'm just going to wait as see as the process unfolds and get on with other things more useful.
But at this moment you have to bet on Biden. Another four years of Andre's tangerine hued bon-mots being unsupportable.
I presume the article somewhere mentions that all he accepts that capsule descriptions 'all of the above,' could have the words 'Democrat' and 'Republican' substituted for each other, the name Trump able to be replaced by the name of any any President and the acceptance the election year could be any.
One aspect to what is going on in discussions (and ranting) about absentee votes and counting them, is to do with the votes of the military. It has been a perennial topic. Views were expressed before the election likely generated by Trump comments.
'How the fight over mail-in ballots threatens to undermine the votes of American troops'
https://taskandpurpose.com/analysis/military-mail-in-voting-2020-election
Another headline elsewhere: 'Trump calls for ballot counting scenario where votes legally cast by military would be thrown out.'
The most wonderful thing about the situation is that those charged with defending the country, those on the line wherever they are to see that the American way is protected, would not even have a vote.
Even better that that should be orchestrated in an attempt to advantage someone who couldn't quite make the cut to be in the military. (i.e. Gutless little rich bastard who was prepared to have others die so he could live the life he wanted and had the father who could wangle it.)
At the end of the day, Trump was leading the USA to total biblical theocracy (among other things). Steps needed to be taken, and if certain things needed to manipulated to achieve this, and so be it.
If the election is indeed stolen from Trump, then those faceless officals did the US people a great service.
Sometimes these things need to be done.
Trump as the instrument of god's will always seemed amusing but I agree the US could make a threat to world peace out of god's will on any basis.
Don't agree that cheating is justified though – in principle. If he had actually threatened nuclear war, I could agree that greater-good morality justifies intervention, but he never got that loopy, did he?
Another conspiracy surrounding a Trump election. Only this time there is transparency.
Farrar
examinescopy/pastes to arrive at his chosen angle about the fraud potential in the US election.FIFY
FFS get a grip and do some reading before spinning.
I didn't spin anything, btw. Just reported how the other half are seeing things. Remember that social reality is co-constructed. Splitting it into leftist & rightist bubbles produces delusional thinking – the deep holistic reality remains unaffected by that flim-flam.
So I was illuminating the difference between perception (mass perceptions) and reality (court outcomes). Notice how the other commentators were/are doing trial by media instead? Unhelpful, and just as likely to breed delusional thinking.
That wikipedia quote I cited proves hacking the US electoral system computers has happened, so retreating into denial of electoral fraud is a mistake.
Nobodies retreating into denial of electoral fraud. They're watching Trump's cases getting thrown out, the farcical claims and measures, the clumsy shitshow that it all is, and reporting some of that here: that which you accuse of 'trial by media' rather than what it was, a response to your lack of discernment.
And they've (GOP) been blatantly attempting to cheat this whole time. We've all see it. Gerrymandering, trying to invalidate votes, puppet postmaster, lack of polling stations, so many silly court requests, the list goes on AND NOW INCLUDES fraudulently (all the knocked back court cases amount to BS for purpose) obstructing the democratic process and denying that Trump is the biggest loser ever.
All those Q anon twats say they're 'just asking questions' as they repeat preposterous shite as well. It pays to check a few sources, those whom live in alternative realities are among us.
And I'm aware of all that, of course. You see a lack of discernment that isn't actually there. I was illuminating that political psychology driving the situation. The more we comprehend that stuff, the less it is likely to produce sociopathy.
Testing truth claims is part of how human society operates. I regard aversion to that as a strong signal of a sociopathic tendency. Doesn't matter how much bullshit the trumpists are disseminating. That's not the point. Democracy is contestable by design. Trying to deplatform the other team is wrong.
Oh horseshit.
It looks like you saw something you could use to virtue-signal how "open-minded" you are in "considering all sides of an argument". So you posted it here, without applying even the simplest level of skepticism and independent fact-checking.
Had you taken even the most basic look outside of Dirty Politics Farrar's propaganda piece and his links to the worst kinds of partisan gargoyles, you would have quickly understood what a passel of lies the whole thing was.
edit: if you need help on how to fact-check, google is your friend. Here’s a starter how-to.
https://www.factcheck.org/2016/11/how-to-spot-fake-news/
So were taking our advice on spotting fake news from you now are we?
Stuff the USA. Those who are so concerned about the way they do things, why don't you go and live there and show them what to do. All we are seeing here is USA. No. 5 goes on and on like a toilet roll. The light from the USA dazzles us, and we stand in the middle of the road like gaping bunnies who can't move out of our own way to save ourselves.
Your bigotry is equal and opposite to anything on Farrar's site. Are you really unaware that democracy is based on fairness? Or do you just get off on juvenile point scoring? If so, time to grow up.
Good grief!
https://twitter.com/AriBerman/status/1326352935635345410?s=19
The only ones committing fraud it seems are the Repugnants:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/10/us-postal-worker-recants-voter-fraud-claims-after-republicans-call-for-inquiry
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/10/donald-trump-us-election-misinformation-media
Meanwhile back in the real world – the Trump lawsuits are going no where and all lack any valid, verifiable evidence.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/10/donald-trump-longshot-election-lawsuits
Smart alec DF with a riposte quoting authority to anyone questioning your assertions. You will never grow up, you will retain that cute, self-importance of a spoiled, indulged child all your life. It has served you well. Why attempt to change it and mature. You should join DPF on Kiwiblog, you would be a real ass-et there.
Well..one thing you have proven here today…is that you aren't very good at 'testing truth claims'…'cos farrar can be relied upon to be spin-free..eh..?..and what did you say that fail at 'testing truth claims' says about a person…?….you are pimping trump-lies..that have been polished by farrar…and you are wondering why you are being jeered at..?
So you can't read comments and comprehend them simultaneously, eh? I don't agree with anything Farrar writes, nor what Trump says. I couldn't care less if retards here think anyone who doesn't toe the party line is an enemy. go back to kindergarten & pay attention next time.
"President Donald Trump's administration is taking on the characteristics of a tottering regime — with its loyalty tests, destabilizing attacks on the military chain of command, a deepening bunker mentality and increasingly delusional claims of political victory.
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/11/11/politics/donald-trump-joe-biden-transition/index.html
Oh we're paying attention. It's the longest cliffhanger ever.
That quote describes how I've been seeing it. Today I just tried to draw attention to how Farrar framed it, because contesting the merit of electoral fraud claims seems to be part of the US system nowadays. Political commentary ought to gauge the merit of such claims on the basis that they acquire mass traction.
Since trial by media doesn't work (media feeds on competing truth claims) we await judicial process to determine whether evidence exists. Presuming little is found, rightists in the US will subdivide into two camps: a shrinking number who cling to the mass delusion, and an increasing number who would rather get real.
Currently Republicans are mostly exhibiting solidarity. Untenable, likely, so the period we are in is a political hinge. The shift will gather speed. That's the context I have tried to illuminate.
You'd write a book rather than admit you failed to look up what you read about. I'm embarrassed for you.
Some perceptions matter a lot more than others when it comes to shifts of democratic power.
Since the Supreme Court has already declined to hear Trump's arguments in the previous weeks, there's very little likelihood of the Supreme Court agreeing to intervene now. Even his own Supreme Court Appointment Amy Coney Barrett signalled in the hearings that she's unlikely to intervene in voting matters.
And the good reasons that the Supreme Court will not intervene are set out here by Politico:
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/04/supreme-court-trump-reelection-434071
And then there's civil society: the banks have well and truly moved on from Trump:
https://www.aba.com/about-us/press-room/press-releases/aba-statement-on-presidential-election
Jamie Dimon of JPMorganChase congratulated Biden and demanded a smooth transition of power.
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/11/07/business/business-leaders-react-biden-win/index.html
Cheryl Sandberg the COO of Facebook set out her warm congratulations to Biden and Harris in her official post:
https://www.facebook.com/sheryl/posts/10164271355910177
77% of major business want Biden and his team to succeed and prefer him:
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/11/01/investing/stocks-week-ahead/index.html
Whether Trump's foolishness continues through certification or not, the markets are the fourth power in the US political world. They're well past Trump already.
The best thing President Trump can do now is use the next 2 months to continue to fuck every leader in the United States off, so much that as well as civil society rising, even stacking the Pentagon will accelerate ex-generals mobilising the military against him.
And no, that's not a coup, that's the Constitutional arms enforcing the elected transition of power.
Yes the split on the right is the thing to watch now. Pragmatists vs those in the bubble. Trump's ego is unconfined by his superego (Freudian theory if I recall it right, the superego being internalisation of social hierarchy). Couldn't he take a rest for four years & run again? Never heard of anyone doing it but am unaware of any reason why not. If viable someone ought to inform him of the option…
Vice president from '53 to '61, Nixon lost to JFK in ’60 and won against Hubert Humphrey in '69.
Not the same thing but a fitting role model for Trump.
Smuts was "prime minister of the Union of South Africa from 1919 to 1924 and 1939 to 1948." (Wikipedia)
Fifteen years between his two stints as ruler is remarkable, eh? But he was a remarkable guy. Guerilla leader in the Boer War, rebel against the British Empire, a lawyer become general in the army. Then given the rank of Field Marshal by Winston Churchill when Smut joined his War Cabinet in WWII by invitation. Plus he wrote Holism & Evolution and the preamble to the UN Charter.
Smuts? Really? Makes David Duke look like a racial lightweight.
"Jan Smuts is today, in his world aspects, the greatest protagonist of the white race. " – W. E. DuBois, 1925
The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 was formulated at precisely the same time that South Africa committed itself to the policy of apartheid – which he backed.
In the second half of the twentieth century, the problem of racism and apartheid became a leading test case for the assertion of human rights. Smuts was the Prime Minister of South Africa installing a black nationwide prison leading up to 1948.
Sure he helped the UN Declaration preamble, but he fully supported and enforced racial segregation and he enforced it starting as Prime Minister of the South African apartheid state – in fact right through to 1948.
The very first word in your comment is false.
You might argue that guest posts on a blog are endorsed by the owner but that could get you into a lot of trouble here.
Or are you claiming Kiwi in America is a Farrar pseudonym?
That big pesky German may get a further, new taxpayer damages payout over privacy “mistakes”.
https://www.odt.co.nz/star-news/star-national/kim-dotcom-line-new-taxpayer-payout
Kim previously got 90 grand in 2018 for a privacy breach
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/353417/crown-to-pay-90-000-for-kim-dotcom-privacy-breach
This guy is going to do the NZ Govt. in the end, having a great life in NZ while he is at it!
John Key and the toxic legacy of the “Hobbit Affair” are likely going to haunt the NZ Govt. and Judiciary for some years to come. Sucking up to the Americans is not always a great idea.
Key should never have started this rubbish . I would really like to see a lot more of the background around why this was decided.At best it has only ever been a civil copyright violation but I assume KDC still has the platform defence that Facebook and the others use – no responsibility for what is on there.
Plus it must be time for the USA to drop the request and reimburse us. It's cost us taxpayers here a fortune
And I do feel for the others caught up with KDC. At best they seem to be basically employees and AFAIK none of them have ever been wealthy. This is now eight years on.
I also have a feleling that kim may have donated money won in the past or something similar??? very vague recollection
So the Republicans are not going to accept the result of the Election. Crikey! A bit grim for a model Democracy?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/secretary-of-state-enters-post-election-fray-as-republicans-fight-transition/7ILYJEYWYJKAIV7YYKRDI55MHE/
I saw Pompeo. I think he was kidding and being a smartarse. In contrast to his 'shove a light build somewhere to cure yourself' boss who has no capability to have a sense of humour and after saying something stupid pretends he was joking.
In think Pompeo is an arrogant smart arse. There is a bit of a serious electoral situation going on over there. Playing fast and loose in situations best served with gravitas is bizarre, pathetic and shows how out of control things are there. Saying exactly the same thing with a beer in his hand at a barbecue with a couple of mates wouldn't be so bad. No big audience there though, so he probably wouldn't have said it.
Which makes it calculated when said in the big world at a formal presser. And makes it indicative of scummy losers being in scummy loser mode.
Trump is the only person who needs to recognise the outcome of the election because he is holding up the transition from president to president elect.
Nothing will be gained and Trump will be removed forcibly if required.
Yes a very embarrassing sentence or two said by the Secretary of State.
Here is how some in America think of this and the hypocrisy of the whole thing.
At what point does a "coup" become a coup?
When the leader has the army behind him to enforce the leadership.
So are the Joint Chiefs of Staff loyal to the President, or to the Constitution. And if the constitution wins, can the President sack them and replace them with his puppets?
The Enlistment Oath:
The oath to the constitution is dominant, there's no out clause. The bit about obeying the orders of the President is conditional on the code of military justice.
Adolf Twitler can fire anyone he wants from the Joint Chiefs, but anyone he appoints as replacement will have also taken the same oath. Also, given how he's treated the top military personnel, he might have trouble finding anyone in the top brass willing to be a stooge.
Thanks.
It really is a farcical shitshow.
Adolf Twitler ! that's gold Andre
Here, have a treasure map to the motherlode. Use it cautiously and wisely.
https://www.reddit.com/r/TrumpNicknames/
I flicked thru a couple of pages..and I think that the ones that people come up with here…are actually of a higher calibre..a gathering together of them would be a good exercise..
The older stuff is better. After two or three years fatigue set in and there was a lot less good new stuff coming through. But I did see a new one today that tickled a bit – "Don Cornholeone".
I was planning a big cathartic dump of all the things I've called him sometime when I won't have need of them anymore. It's a big list, might have to trickle them out maybe twenty a day or something.
Heh..!…yeah…do that..as ardern-gloom sets/beds in..a few laughs can't hurt…
A successful coup is reliant on the military backing an unelected leader. The military will not back Trump so no coup once his term is up.
Edit I tried to correct when I commented @8.1 but was to late.
When the unelected leader has the army behind them to enforce being the leader.
I guess we're about to find out.
https://twitter.com/rabrowne75/status/1326284851268489217
https://twitter.com/attackerman/status/1326282360015495169
Anthony Tata, a retired brigadier general whose nomination for a top Pentagon job collapsed this summer due to Islamophobic tweets and other controversial statements, began overseeing policy for the Defense Department on Tuesday.
The move was part of a high-level civilian leadership shakeup that began on Monday when President Donald Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper. It continued on Tuesday with the departure of the Pentagon's acting policy chief, the installation of a Trump loyalist as the new acting defense secretary's chief of staff, and the resignation of the department's top intelligence official.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/10/pentagon-top-policy-official-resigns-435693
Charming.
I was aware of Trump becoming the terminator. He is creating an unstable government.
Might be a good idea for him to chill as his blood pressure would be sky high.
Digital blackface.
Republican caught out posing as gay black man who says all sorts of racist stuff and bags democrats. There's loads of obvious bots swarming republican twitter accounts to decry the election as fake. They pretend to be servicemen, many claim they're leaving their democrat wives (lucky imaginary women) and leaving the country cos they've had enough.
You couldn't write better comedy than the Four Seasons Total Landscaping followed by this.
https://twitter.com/JacobRubashkin/status/1326266748727943169
The spirit of the Nats “Merv” and “Hone*” lives on in the USA…
* “Hone” was then Nat Chief Whip, MP John Carter, pretending to be an unemployed Māori on John Banks talkback show in 1995.
Ah-huh.
Methinks the clean-up is going to need more than a flimsy tissue like this:
https://twitter.com/DeanBrowningPA/status/1326270188682178560
Comedy gold….. some of the comments are very amusing.
https://twitter.com/DeanBrowningPA/status/1326285974305972226
Oh man, I'm in pain from laughing so hard. I got to the one that had the picture of Junior with the Ghouliani eyes, and it just killed me.
I've been thinking about political ideologies- I can understand how a certain economic/social theory might appeal initially to someone and they want to explore it more, even experiment with it should they reach a position of power.
But to not acknowledge that said theory is creating no end of grief for society at large and despite all the evidence presented to them will not admit anything needs changing? Is this a case of their egos not wanting to admit they've stuffed up big time and it'd be too embarrassing to do a U-turn, or have they been brainwashed so badly to the point of delusion that their way, and ONLY their way is right, and anything else is wrong?
I have a friend who has a very strong fixed belief, and no matter what anyone says, and despite all evidence to the contrary this belief never changes. But she has diagnosed schizophrenia and it's a paranoid delusion. She has a pretty valid excuse excuse. What excuse do these politicians have?
It seems connected to the born-again evangelicals- getting drawn into a belief system to the point of fanaticism, brainwashed to the point of delusion where only their way is the true way.
I
All of the above?
Evolution produced elimination of trumpism by natural design: "Foraging societies make short work of any loud-mouthed braggart trumpeting his supposed superiority over the rest." That's anthropologist Chris Boehm quoted in this book:
Readers with a scientific approach to human nature ought to check out his description of how inequality in social structure seems to have been produced by levelling in hunter/gatherer cultures.
Correction: replace produced with eliminated in final paragraph!
If you think Trump losing the election also eliminates another populist from rising, you are dreaming.
The conditions that caused Trumpism across the US, Europe, Brazil, UK, Philippines and elsewhere still exist. They are still particularly strong in the United States.
Pull away from the psycho-trash and look at the world as the electorate tells you it is.
There is hope for the National Party! They got Goldsmith out of their finance role because of his cock-ups around understanding numbers.
They replaced him with Woodhouse who couldn't count the number of homeless men freeloading in an Auckland inner city isolation hotel.
Heh..!…I was wondering how to word that one..that'll do nicely…
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/430345/new-complainant-emerges-with-allegations-against-peter-ellis
It is bad if people can take bites out of Peter after he is dead. If they had a case to make there have been plenty of opportunities. The whole matter has been mishandled starting with the police enquiry.
Reported in stuff news. The woman at the centre of the latest allegation was in counselling in 2007 and the counsellor said that she had to report the incident to police to continue counselling.
This would be unprofessional and I would start with the counsellor.
I would like to know what is the date of injury which ACC are accepting for this case as I it may need to be changed?
I doubt that ACC have a process to backdate an error made by a counsellor which ACC accredits. It is my understanding it has to be an error made by ACC to backdate. I am thinking that treatment for the injury was denied by the counsellor but I would need to have this confirmed.
I hadn't thought of the ACC side Treetop. I could imagine that your scenario may well be the case.
I know first hand and recently that ACC have been assessing the date of injury incorrectly when it comes to a schedule 3 issue under the Crimes Act 1961.
There needs to be some sort of review/inquiry into incorrect dates for historical sexual assault claims. I am thinking about historical cases and the outcome of the inquiry into abuse in state and faith based care.
Having my deemed date of injury changed to when I first attended counselling for the injury was important to me. Even though I could not use the actual date of injury having the date changed from what ACC said it was to what I said it was proved me to be correct and ACC incorrect.
ACC interpreting the law incorrectly is a serious matter.
The very tight interpretation that ACC takes to prevent them having to help needy people is an example of the Kafkaesque approach we are increasingly finding in our service delivery from so-called government. Is it government when there is an agency that is machine-like in its actions because of factors like having to make a profit from their budget?
There seems a drive to constantly reduce government spending at the same time as deliberately hurtful actions or inactions of government increase the numbers in need. *Limbo, how low can you go!
I don't see good results likely to come from that arms length approach from our gummint unless they adopt more kindness and put more money into training the people at the coal face, along with room for some discretion, and less money to the CEOs and top managers. If we can't pay world-class salaries, too bad, we will just have to find reasonably suitable people amongst the NZs considered deadheads under the present system. I think that salaries should be advertised at a recommended rate worked on some sort of maths say 5-10 x the living wage, and invite people to tender for the job with their choice of salary along with a full, verifiable CV. The advertised rate would be a guide of how 'tight' (cost-efficient) we are with top managers.
* Limbo song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuKBsJoA7jk
I am going to piss a lot of people off by my comment.
ACC fails far too many claimants who have a serious accident because of what they cover.
A small cut in your thumb, having your face bashed in because you were so drunk that you assaulted people, kept playing sport when you had an injury, drove recklessly and did or could have killed someone.
The minor claims ruin it for the serious claims. This was seen with the EQC my ornament got chipped bla bla and never mind the person who had a shoddy repair and became depressed or tied up with expensive litigation for years. As for the CTV building in Christchurch no one has been prosecuted and if they had been this would not make it right.
Far too many useless government agencies unaware of ruining people's lives. ACC is at the top of my list as without your health poverty is a certainty.
GWS I have given your comment more thought.
A dead man has rights otherwise the Supreme Court would not be making a judgement to look at quashing a conviction/s.
It does concern me that the woman making the allegation has not been listened to until now. This would have an impact which was avoidable had she been listened to. I cannot speak for her. I feel she was put in a situation that had she not spoken out again last year she would have not been able to speak out after the Supreme Court decision was made.
Unintended consequences and an anomalie which ACC would need to cover as organisational failure.
Who informed the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court have not ignored the woman's complaint?
To say this is historical is not good enough as it is having an impact now. When the complaint is investigated and settled then the woman can get on with her life.
Well I might upset with just the mention that some people can obsess on things and make a case which is unjustifiable. Just because a woman makes a complaint doesn't mean it is valid. That does not mean they can be dismissed but there is a 'moral outrage' on sexual and gender matters at present, and it seems to be becoming the reverse of the often unconcerned attitude of police in the past. The woman may not want to get on with her life even. She might have made the matter the centre of her concerns and never feel satisfied as she has no other strong interest.
I have read that though counselling face to face is very effective, because it is more expensive than other methods, ACC does not wish to use it. Perhaps they use medication with only a short series of counselling, not sure. Obviously they need to set a limit.
Historical complainants are being cheated because of how they were treated dismissed, minimised, blamed. Not right 50 years ago and not right now.
I personally found counselling to be a waste of time when it came to the organisational failure because of the harm it caused indirectly and the harm was not recognised then but has now been confirmed to have had a severe impact. So the Limitations Act time frame has expired and they get away with it.
As for appearing to be obsessive to ask a person to drop having been injured and not being treated fairly is unacceptable.
Regardless of having strong interests sexual abuse can be intrusive on many levels. I hate sitting about as my mind wanders more so I have structure and purpose in my life.
When it comes to a false complaint it usually gets discovered and the falsely accused would probably require counselling.
edit
I’m thinking about people who have in the recent past, introduced the theory which debunks past memories. It has caused confusion and seems to come from a position of dismissal and derision really, and they seem indifferent to the mental problems that have arisen from bad treatment. But people do need to come forward as early as possible, to find a way of releasing the pain of being dehumanised. The problem may be different for those actually physically abused to those mentally and those who have had to live in wretched surroundings. Also did it happen in an institution or not – a workplace or private home.
It seems to me that telling someone would be a good first step; a counselling service with someone with proper credentials (not just assumed because they belong to some organisation, a church, have a certificate that looks authentic). Talking it, then writing down the things that are hard to describe, would be beneficial. Taking it further would then be a second step, after finding out how to go about it and facing the process.
That is the sort of counselling that I envisage would be helpful. Not Freudian on a couch though. I have read about gestalt chair work, I think it is called – that would be good. I read that Prince Harry carried on with counselling for seven years and someone in that field said that would be counter-productive, just renewing the sad and bad memories all the time and imprinting them in the mind more deeply, rather than coming to terms with the past.
I know someone who had a bad experience and took the case to Court. That person has regained balance in life but has now an interest in psychology and reads widely, to continually learn of scholarly findings and others' experiences.
Abuse is something that needs to be acknowledged. Bit I think that it cannot be regarded as a right to delve into the distant past with accusations and a Court case. Not a right but each case should be judged on its merits. This woman must think that she will find peace or be vindicated somehow by the accusation against Peter Ellis. Now he os dead he can't defend himself or if guilty, apologise. He has served a term in prison, as a result of evidence that has been criticised; it is a highly emotional and debated matter. But there's a truism 'If you get what you want, you may find that it is not as satisfying as expected.' What does this woman want or expect? Will she find life better of she can point the finger at him as a bad person, which is now a hollow outcome when he is dead?
It may be that she can find peace in her mind from another approach, other actions that affirm her as a person of value to others, and particularly to herself. Self-hating is so destructive and must be countered by finding one's positives.
This link is good for explaining Perls Empty Chair technique for gaining insight into mental anxiety and understanding of oneself.
https://www.mentalhelp.net/blogs/gestalt-therapy-the-empty-chair-technique/
He's going to burn the house down before he leavers.
WASHINGTON — The White House has removed the scientist responsible for the National Climate Assessment, the federal government’s premier contribution to climate knowledge and the foundation for regulations to combat global warming, in what critics interpreted as the latest sign that the Trump administration intends to use its remaining months in office to continue impeding climate science and policy.
Michael Kuperberg, executive director of the U.S. Global Change Research Program, which produces the climate assessment, was told Friday that he would no longer lead that organization, people with knowledge of the situation said.
According to two people close to the administration, he is expected to be replaced by David Legates, a deputy assistant secretary at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who previously worked closely with climate change denial groups.
https://archive.li/hbAb2 (nyt)
It has become normalised about how many staff are fired by Trump or who leave to avoid being fired. The actual number is unknown.
Not sure what the severance payment is and is still mounting.
What could possibly go wrong ?
The Reserve Bank will kick off a Funding for Lending scheme in December with few if any conditions on how banks could on-lend the money.
The scheme, confirmed in its monetary policy statement on Wednesday, will see the central bank provide cheap funding to banks to on-lend to their customers in a bid to further lower retail interest rates.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/123364254/reserve-bank-to-start-funding-for-lending-next-month
I'm glad we didn't leave people to starve or die of hypothermia. We are good like that.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/430331/govt-red-cross-spend-15m-helping-immigrants-stranded-in-nz
We are?
https://healthcentral.nz/elderly-kiwis-dying-in-cold-homes/
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/105645152/new-zealanders-hungry-and-cold-in-their-own-homes-this-winter
etc, etc.
My son showed me a large collection online of complaints regarding cheating, lost ballots, counting errors, bias etc but they were complaints from the Democrats (Demon crats?) in previous elections so nothing new here at all. Except I suppose Donald Trump, the President, is louder than previous President hopefuls.
Perhaps rabid leftists here will accuse them of being infected by Trumpism. Prejudice, eh? If the complainants experienced that, it's a serious matter. Could just be perception, not reality. Will be interesting to see if the vote count changes…
Did you effin' even read the content of their complaint..?…these are serious issues they are talking about….um..!..could you enlighten me as to where you sit on the political spectrum..?…
Have fun doling out labels Dennis. Do you wear your 'Rabid Centrist' badge with pride?
That would be a serious matter but how would that affect the vote count?
It's inevitable that the vote count will change as they're counted manually and humans make mistakes.
EDIT:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/123363210/mori-party-applies-for-recount-in-seats-to-highlight-prejudice-in-vote-process
And calling for more racist laws that benefit Māori and oppress pakeha.
Have I overlooked it but does anyone here care about the lack of action by the RBNZ and our government at the crazy house price rises raging at the moment, especially in Auckland? Surely waiting till March to slap LVRs back on investor mortgages will only exacerbate the situation in the coming weeks and months. I hoped that first home buyers would have a better chance with lower interest rates but it seems that increasing investors’ housing stock is OK with this lot. I am concerned that this may be the old government continuing to do little while saying a great deal. Even the REINZ have expressed concern.
It was quoted as being 'to stimulate the economy'….I guess ardern/robertson missed that economics 101 lecture where the maxim was stated that the most efficient way to stimulate any economy is to give money to the poorest..for the simple fact that money goes straight back into the economy..thru the tills of retailers/service-providors…whereas giving to rich just means that they get richer…so it is not economic-logic that is driving ardern…with her refusal to help the poorest…and to just give more to the rich…so they can buy more rentals/increase the size of their pile…and of course arderns' new tory friends wouldn't like her helping the poorest…so what with that..and the focus groups (vox-pop on steroids ..with all the intellectual rigor of those always tedious exercises in giving the incoherent a voice)..these drive the decision making of this government…in fact..when ardern is asked about helping the poorest…she should just do a lily tomlin..and say "focus-group says 'no!'.."
I've mentioned the hyper-inflation in the housing market driven by bank lending a few times.
I can only surmise that the government like it because it pumps billions of dollars into the economy every year without the government having 'borrow' the money and thus helps keep the economy going despite the huge amounts of poverty that its causing. And, of course, the house owners like it because they have huge amounts of income from not doing anything of value.
Thanks. I am very concerned by this widening of the economic divisions within this society. I see that rents are increasing where I live in Auckland. With high unemployment and low benefit incomes, I can only deduce that our high rate of ‘child poverty’ will increase while asset owners like property investors get wealthier. I did not think this government wanted this. I wander what this governemnt’s constituency really is.
Fascinated to see that the National announcement of its spokespeople lineup seems to have totally not been commented on today on the Standard on its release.
My walking mate remarked that it only made about the fifth item in the news, after Covid, West Indians, etc.
Collins said everyone would have to pull their weight as they've only got 33 seats. Why would she have to say that about her self-described 'strong team'?