Open mike 11/05/2013

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, May 11th, 2013 - 158 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:

Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner).

Step right up to the mike…

158 comments on “Open mike 11/05/2013 ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. kiwi_prometheus 1
    11 May 2013 at 6:23 am

    “A director of Dominion Finance, which lost investors more than $176 million, wants to serve home detention in her $6.8 million Remuera mansion.”

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10882946

    Stick bricks in her coat pockets and throw her in the swimming pool.

    • Ennui 1.1
      11 May 2013 at 6:50 am

      I am not sure I really care about “punishing” her on behalf of those who had the cash to invest. I no longer believe in ma and pa investors, garden faeries are more believable. Stuffed if I want taxes spent protecting the rich from the predations of other rich people: if they can afford to invest it they can afford to lose it, or be taxed.

      • rosy 1.1.1
        11 May 2013 at 6:57 am

        It surprises me that the home is apparently not in a trust, so she’ll lose it anyway. The quality of Directors these day eh? She should have at least known how to protect her own assets even if she didn’t have a clue about protecting the easy money of the investors looking for super returns.

      • kiwi_prometheus 1.1.2
        11 May 2013 at 7:01 am

        Great, if people save instead of consume and try to invest that capital to keep themselves out of poverty in old age they are according to Leftists like you “EVIL CAPITALIST SCUM WHO DESERVE TO GET FUCKED!!!”.

        Sigh.

        • Ennui 1.1.2.1
          11 May 2013 at 7:11 am

          You might wish to check out who the average investor was: it was not you and me. The small ones who saved and scrimped were pretty much a tiny minority. Look at SCF, the “Ma and Pa” investors got a guarantee and ripped the tax payer big time. Look at the “ma and pa” 2.5% of the NZ population who bought MRP shares…are they you and me? Fuck them, Let the buyer beware.

          On the other hand there are the savers who believe in banks for long term security. Think more about how their savings get rorted by tax / inflation / bank rip offs etc.

          • kiwi_prometheus 1.1.2.1.1
            11 May 2013 at 7:33 am

            “savings get rorted by tax / inflation / bank rip offs etc.”

            You aren’t telling me anything their I’m not already aware of.

            You are in la la land though if you think bank deposits are the only legitimate form of investment or will ever give good investment returns.

            Finance companies play an important role in the economy, too bad that poor regulation and inforcement have blown that sector up – NZ is poorer for it.

            But you are obviously too ideologically driven to realise the importance of investment for personal and national wealth creation.

            • Ennui 1.1.2.1.1.1
              11 May 2013 at 7:38 am

              Learn how to read and reason, Get the facts first. Idiot.

              • kiwi_prometheus …
                11 May 2013 at 7:45 am

                You are financially illiterate.

                • rosy …
                  11 May 2013 at 7:49 am

                  Financial integrity does not equal financial illiteracy.

                  • kiwi_prometheus …
                    11 May 2013 at 7:55 am

                    So you also believe that a savings bank deposit is the only “moral” wealth anyone is allowed to have?

                    Anything else brings suspicion and accusations of being a “Capitalist Enroader!”.

                    What about kiwisaver?

                    • rosy …
                      11 May 2013 at 8:07 am

                      Moral does not equal integrity either. An investor with integrity will be aware they’re getting pretty high interest for taking pretty high risks. They’ll check out the background of the Directors before they invest, weigh it up and wear it when they take a loss, not withstanding the criminal charges a Director, or ‘financial planners’ should get if they mislead.

                      This is also why it’s curious that this Director doesn’t have her home in a Trust. Finance company directors aren’t known for integrity nor for selling homes to pay back investors.

                      What about Kiwisaver?

                    • Draco T Bastard …
                      11 May 2013 at 9:33 am

                      So you also believe that a savings bank deposit is the only “moral” wealth anyone is allowed to have?

                      Nope, that’s completely immoral. Or, to be more precise, expecting interest on it is.

                      What about kiwisaver?

                      Completely immoral as well as it seeks to prop up an immoral system. It can’t, of course, as the system depends upon ever increasing debt and use of oil neither of which is possible.

                    • weka …
                      11 May 2013 at 2:15 pm

                      “What about kiwisaver?

                      Completely immoral as well as it seeks to prop up an immoral system. It can’t, of course, as the system depends upon ever increasing debt and use of oil neither of which is possible.

                      Best investment – put excess money into things that will promote survival and resiliency in the future (that’s not accrual of money in case it’s not obvious).

                      Draco, what do you think about organisations like Prometheus?

                      http://www.prometheus.co.nz/

                    • Arfamo …
                      11 May 2013 at 2:22 pm

                      Isn’t the problem with under-investment in NZ that everyone now knows the market here is just dangerously risky for small players, and you don’t know which advisers you can trust when they are all probably more heavily attuned to taking their personal cut of transactions than worrying about your personal risk?

                    • TheContrarian …
                      11 May 2013 at 6:21 pm

                      ” What about kiwisaver?
                      Completely immoral as well as it seeks to prop up an immoral system.”

                      Are you in the Kiwisaver scheme Draco, or did you opt out?

                    • millsy …
                      11 May 2013 at 9:09 pm

                      Saving bank deposits were the choices of our parents and grandparents generations. They seem to do pretty alright.

                      You seem to be speaking the same language of those who support the so-called MOM for SOE’s.

                • Ennui …
                  11 May 2013 at 10:21 am

                  Mr Turkey Brain aka KP. State your working credentials before you accuse me of that. Do you run companies? Do you understand the workings of general ledgers, P&Ls, tax accounting, finance, contracts etc? Is it something you have to apply to company operations, sales, profitability on a daily basis? Demonstrate that and I might consider your flippant charge of illiteracy worthy of debate.

                  PS The leftist anti capitalist bit…what the hell did I say that was necessarily leftist per se? Who are these “capitalists” of whom you speak?

          • weka 1.1.2.1.2
            11 May 2013 at 2:12 pm


            You might wish to check out who the average investor was: it was not you and me. The small ones who saved and scrimped were pretty much a tiny minority. Look at SCF, the “Ma and Pa” investors got a guarantee and ripped the tax payer big time. Look at the “ma and pa” 2.5% of the NZ population who bought MRP shares…are they you and me? Fuck them, Let the buyer beware.

            Ennui, do you have some figures on that? Leaving aside MRP, how many people who got burned in the finance company collapses were of what class and income bracket?

            • Ennui 1.1.2.1.2.1
              11 May 2013 at 4:02 pm

              I have seen a finance companies books but cannot comment on that publicly as it was in confidence. I will have a look around the public records however and report back what is there.

            • Ennui 1.1.2.1.2.2
              11 May 2013 at 4:17 pm

              Cut one was revealing, read this little beauty http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/research/econresearch/3198451.pdf does not give hard numbers but if you read between the lines pages 3 to 5 you get the flavour of huge under investment in finance because disposable income is too low and housing seen as safer with better returns.

        • North 1.1.2.2
          11 May 2013 at 7:49 am

          You’re vigorous for so early on a Saturday morning there KP. Triple-shot was it ?

          Rosy simply points-up that empathy for others doing it hard is an unknown quantity amongst many who have “done well”. The ones who cluck disgustedly, point judgmental fingers, then cheer Boss Hogg Bennett when she launches yet another dog-whistling salvo against beneficiaries and other “unworthy” types.

          The “done-well” become vaguely aware of the concept only when they themselves are reduced to the level of their “lessers”. Even then it’s not actually empathy. It’s essentially sympathy, for themselves.

          I support Rosy in making that point without you jamming your abusive words into her mouth.

          Hope your day improves. Im sure it can. Just summon up some humility, offer it up to your own petard, and ask politely that you be hoisted down a little.

          • kiwi_prometheus 1.1.2.2.1
            11 May 2013 at 8:00 am

            You got yourself all confused North, if you check the thread I wasn’t replying to Rosy, at that point I didn’t notice she had posted.

            Synthetic marijuana was it, North?

            • North 1.1.2.2.1.1
              11 May 2013 at 8:19 am

              Not needed in the North, dickhead.

              Doesn’t matter who you “thought” you were replying to – given the “ideologially driven” screech you’re broadly into your reply can be taken up by many.

              Disingenuous is what you are.

        • Draco T Bastard 1.1.2.3
          11 May 2013 at 9:29 am

          Um, that’s the whole basis of capitalism. What you’re actually demanding is that people don’t have to pay the costs of the risks that they take.

          And, yes, every capitalist out there is scum who wants money for nothing. That too is part and parcel of capitalism.

          • TheContrarian 1.1.2.3.1
            11 May 2013 at 9:54 am

            Shorter Draco:
            “And, yes, every person who doesn’t believe as I do is scum who want money for nothing.”

            You have an extremely binary view of the world, Draco.

            • Draco T Bastard 1.1.2.3.1.1
              11 May 2013 at 1:32 pm

              Got nothing to do with belief – just the facts of what actually happens in a capitalist society. A few get very rich and well off while everyone else becomes poorer.

              • TheContrarian …
                11 May 2013 at 6:30 pm

                “Got nothing to do with belief”

                Well, actually it does Draco, because you have made a blanket statement that every capitalist (without defining what ‘capitalist’ means to you) is ‘scum’.
                You seem to believe and hold the opinion that ‘capitalist’ is a single entity where, in actual fact, there are sharp degrees of capitalism.

                “just the facts of what actually happens in a capitalist society. A few get very rich and well off while everyone else becomes poorer.”

                That has happened, and can always happen, under any ideology. The best we can do is mitigate the bad while trying to exemplify the good.

                I think capitalism can work just fine. Does that me a ‘capitalist’ because you need to define your terms here. We touched on this on The Daily Blog where you suggested that capitalism = Right Wing but used neo-liberalism as an example. Neo-liberalism is a type of capitalism, not capitalism in itself. I am not a neo-liberal, but I am a proponent Social-market economy capitalism. They are different beasts.

                • Draco T Bastard …
                  11 May 2013 at 7:20 pm

                  Well, actually it does Draco, because you have made a blanket statement that every capitalist (without defining what ‘capitalist’ means to you) is ‘scum’.

                  They’re the biggest bludgers in the world. Seemingly their sole purpose in life is to have an income from other peoples work. That’s what investment means in our society and what having money in the bank is. To have an income generated by the work of others.

                  It’s what our entire society is geared for but it only works for the few as to produce a high income from it it needs to clip the ticket of as many people as possible. It’s why globalisation happens – to increase the number of people that the rich can steal from.

                  We don’t need foreign investment as we have all the resources we need right here in NZ – the actual physical resources, the education and the people – and yet the governments keep saying that we do and making it possible for foreigners to buy up NZ. The only reason for foreign investment to happen is for the rich of other countries to steal from us as well as their own people because they’ve reached the limits of their own economy (a firm in a local economy can only grow so much but a global firm can grow so much bigger – the limits are still there though).

                  I am not a neo-liberal, but I am a proponent Social-market economy capitalism. They are different beasts.

                  No, not really.
                  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalism

                  Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production, with the goal of making a profit.

                  It’s always centred around private ownership and the dead weight loss of profit and it is that which makes capitalism, any variant of it, right wing.

                  • TheContrarian …
                    11 May 2013 at 9:32 pm

                    What a crock of shit, Draco. It is hard to find a starting point in order to address your bizarre uttering so I’ll just address the relevant points here.

                    “They’re the biggest bludgers in the world. Seemingly their sole purpose in life is to have an income from other peoples work.”

                    Who is ‘they’? Are ‘they’ the ‘capitalists’? You’ll have to define your term here. Are ‘they’ those whose actively seek to use capitalism as an economic system to benefit themselves at the expense of others? Or those who benefit from the capitalist system without ever considering it as the ruling economic paradigm? Your use of ‘they’ and ‘the capitalists’ is so ill defined as to be useless.

                    “No, not really.”

                    Yes, really. You understand there is a difference between laissez faire neo-liberalism and Social-Market Economy, right? One promotes privatisation of everything from the police to healthcare while the other supports and fund social welfare, education and health (to name but a few). This is your problem Draco, you have an extremely binary view of the world. Black, white, On, off. Which, to be frank, is a conservative, right-wing view. One that you cloak in left-wing rhetoric but it is a ‘us/them’ mentality all the same which reeks of no true scotsman fallacy.

                    “It’s always centred around private ownership and the dead weight loss of profit and it is that which makes capitalism, any variant of it, right wing.”

                    False.
                    Private ownership of goods =/= right-wing. Capitalism =/= right-wing.

                    Do you own anything, Draco? Have you ever benefited from interest, investment or Kiwisaver?

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      11 May 2013 at 9:36 pm

                      Thanks for the clarification.

                      Capitalism is the major problem. People making a habit of using their existing wealth to garner additional unearned wealth, while the labour utilised on the way gets fuck all.

                    • freedom …
                      11 May 2013 at 9:51 pm

                      hey Contrarian, have you heard about the trickle down theory?
                      it’s going to be a great economic boon for everybody.
                      It’s so exciting,
                      i can’t wait

          • dumrse 1.1.2.3.2
            11 May 2013 at 9:55 am

            I fail to understand why you remain in NZ. The country does not have a communist party in power nor is it likely to have in the near future. You are so far left you should wear a harness to arrest your fall.

            • Jackal 1.1.2.3.2.1
              11 May 2013 at 11:17 am

              That’s a bit unfair. I wouldn’t say Draco T Bastard is hard left for thinking every capitalist is a scumbag! Most capitalists have attained their wealth from the suffering of the poor after all. If you recognize or have been a victim of a corrupted system, then viewing those who have benefited from that corruption as being scum is entirely justified.

              It might not be strictly correct in terms of all rich people aren’t capitalist scum, but it is entirely justified to have formed such beliefs because of the failures inherent within capitalism, namely that it increases inequality. Such a view as Draco has expressed is therefore not extreme at all, unless you’re arguing that inequality is somehow justified?

              • freedom …
                11 May 2013 at 12:03 pm

                “unless you’re arguing that inequality is somehow justified?”

                no, i doubt they would go so far as ‘justified’, they would turn off at ‘necessary’ and take the link road back to Imperialism via the scenic vistas of ‘entitlement’ 😎

            • North 1.1.2.3.2.2
              11 May 2013 at 6:48 pm

              Oh so you now accept that we’re not overrun by North Korean answers do you Dunmbarse. Jesus you’re an egg. Piss off to Slater Porn.

    • Jenny 1.2
      11 May 2013 at 6:54 am

      Here’s a better idea.
      How about we release a number of women serving time in Arohata or Wiri for minor property crimes equal to the total amount that this woman ripped off. And let them serve out the rest of their sentences in this Remuera Mansion. I am sure they won’t mind. And it would be a big saving on the tax payer.

  2. Morrissey 2
    11 May 2013 at 6:45 am

    May 10, 2013
    Assange speech about to read by Daniel Ellsberg in San Francisco for Global Exchange Human Rights Award tonight
    (Noam Chomsky and Jacob Appelbaum also present)

    Thank you for this honor.

    I am very happy to be sharing it with Noam Chomsky whose generosity and strength of character I have felt personally. Noam, you are the sea–relentless and enduring. You have crashed wave after wave of understanding into towering cliffs of lies, eroding them at their base. If the rotten foreshore of empire collapses it will be for this reason. You have inspired and continue to inspire many, including me.

    Thank you to the people in this room for supporting this award. I’m going to thank you and Dan in the best way I know. By keeping this speech short. Then you can go and do the important thing. Make alliances to fight for WikiLeaks, Bradley Manning and me. Don’t think you can escape just because I am not there. We have a lot more spies in this room than the FBI.

    San Francisco and the Bay Area is important to us. We fought our first big court case in the San Francisco federal courts in 2008; That was no coincidence. If we were going to have a fight, anywhere in the world, then I wanted it to be in San Francisco. I structured WikiLeaks to encourage attacks on us to be drawn to San Francisco (sorry about that). The Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Freedom of the Press Foundation and many of our other defenders are based here. If any state of the Union is going to save the United States from itself, it will be California. Washington sees that too–that’s why we’re being prosecuted in Virginia and Maryland.

    Noam’s presence in this room –useful, even though he’s from Massachusetts– reflects something very special. Cross generational solidarity. From Dan and Noam to Michael Ratner, from Kiki to me, from Jacob to Bradley Manning. The issues of each demi-generation are being understood as a continuation into the present. My fight is right now. But so is Bradley Manning’s. So is Jacob’s. I want Dan, Noam and Jacob–all of you here–together with me in this fight because I know you understand. Our conflict tests every aspect of character, but it has also shown it in many and I am proud of them.

    Remember that Bradley Manning’s trial starts on June 3. It is scheduled to run for twelve to sixteen weeks. The prosecution is bringing 141 witnesses. That is a show trial. A twelve-week off-Broadway extravaganza being performed at Fort Mead. Its legal and political result will directly feed into the larger prosecution of WikiLeaks.

    What is to be done? The answer is easy. It has always been easy. Stop saying “not in my name” and start saying “over my dead body”. That’s what we did. It works. Do it.

    http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1rk78hl

    https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Assange

    https://www.eff.org/

    http://somersetbean.blogspot.co.nz/2012/12/new-ts-for-launch-of-fpf.html

    • kiwi_prometheus 2.1
      11 May 2013 at 6:53 am

      Sorry, haven’t you heard, he is a Feminist pariah? Assange is a white guy with CIA backed false rape allegations made against him which the feminasties have swallowed hook, sinker and line.

      You will accused of “rape culture” supporter in a political necklacing, Morrissey, if you are not careful.

      • Ennui 2.1.1
        11 May 2013 at 7:03 am

        KP, Who knows? But the comment does not help because right now we need EVERY believer in justice and fair play to put their support very publicly behind Bradley Manning.

        • kiwi_prometheus 2.1.1.1
          11 May 2013 at 7:14 am

          “right now we need EVERY believer in justice and fair play”

          [Deleted]

          [lprent: So you took that as an opportunity to offensively insulting my half of my relatives again. Cretinous misogynistic drivel. And I too believe in delivering justice and fair play. I delete the ravings of bigoted fuckwits. ]

          • kiwi_prometheus 2.1.1.1.1
            11 May 2013 at 7:41 am

            That’s right lprent, censor anything that doesn’t concur with your feminist dogma.

            What’s wrong lprent, that it enrages you when I point out crazy feminist propaganda like the “E=mc2 is a sexed equation” nonsense.

            You are no better than a fundamentalist Christian.

          • karol 2.1.1.1.2
            11 May 2013 at 7:44 am

            *sigh* more of your dogma, k_p, throwing out some obscure points that most feminists have never heard of.

            Tell that to the 1000+ people (mainly women) who died in the Bangladesh garment factory collapse.

            The western garment industry exploits the vulnerable, largely women, in poor countries, so they can make exorbitant profits, and try to buy off our resistance with relatively cheap clothing.

            • kiwi_prometheus 2.1.1.1.2.1
              11 May 2013 at 7:52 am

              “throwing out some obscure points that most feminists have never heard of.”

              The examples I give are of ideas central to Feminist ideology – Critical Theory, Feminist “Theory”, “Queer Theory” – all psuedo intellectual drivel that has wrecked the Humanities.

              That’s your feminist contribution to knowledge.

              [lprent: enough bullshit. bye. ]

              • karol …
                11 May 2013 at 8:02 am

                Please explain how that “E=mc2 is a sexed equation” is central to Critical Theory, Feminist “Theory”, “Queer Theory”?

                • felix …
                  11 May 2013 at 9:28 am

                  k_p has been given enormous leeway in recent days with multiple warnings for his horrible bigotry and false accusations. It doesn’t seem to be working. Again and again he spouts nonsense about the views of others, as he always has.

                  I wonder if he ought to be given some sort of penance to perform. Perhaps the severity of the penance could be determined by the quality of his answer to your question above.

                  • karol …
                    11 May 2013 at 7:56 pm

                    k_p drops in and repeats a cherry-picked one liner, making accusations about feminism. He brandishes it like a weapon, jumps up and down claiming victory, then runs away without seriously engaging.

                    • Rhinocrates …
                      11 May 2013 at 9:39 pm

                      Yes, we know that, but perhaps it’s time to pull the plug? He’s derailing at best, but his intention is to intimidate and his method is stalking. Maybe no single post has violated any rule, but perhaps his pattern has to be considered?

                      He’s definitely a misogynist and he’s clearly trying to bully specific women he’s very obsessively targeted, and he consistently tries to derail threads to shut down discussion.

                      Moreover, he ignores repeated warnings about appropriate conduct.

                      It’s all very well if Karol and The Queen of Thorns have thick skins, but I worry that he’s driving off other potential contributors – as he intends to.

                    • freedom …
                      11 May 2013 at 9:53 pm

                      reminds me of our PM on any old day in the House

              • QoT …
                11 May 2013 at 12:00 pm

                The examples I give are of ideas central to Feminist ideology

                Citation needed. As usual. 🙄

        • karol 2.1.1.2
          11 May 2013 at 7:20 am

          Indeed. Manning too often gets neglected and he is suffering a the result of his brave act in passing over the damning information about the US military.

          • kiwi_prometheus 2.1.1.2.1
            11 May 2013 at 7:38 am

            “Manning too often gets neglected”

            By you maybe, not by me.

            You went to Uni right karol? What did you study?

            • karol 2.1.1.2.1.1
              11 May 2013 at 8:05 am

              My first tertiary education was in education, especially education of those with disabilities. I learned things about biology, neurology, and how people learn, and child development. This learning formed the basis of much of my later learning inside and outside the uni.

              The human brain is a wondrous thing. I learn more about it every day, but some people’s brain functioning remains curiously obscure.

              • One Anonymous Knucklehead …
                11 May 2013 at 9:35 am

                We’re learning more and more about bigotry. Things will get interesting when someone invents a cure.

                • freedom …
                  11 May 2013 at 9:52 am

                  there is a great new adventure sport called chuteless base jumping he could try,

          • Populuxe1 2.1.1.2.2
            11 May 2013 at 1:32 pm

            I’m appalled at Manning’s treatment, but the fact of the matter is that he committed treason in the eyes of the law. It is inconceivable that he wouldn’t be punnished in some way, but torture is unacceptable.

            • freedom 2.1.1.2.2.1
              11 May 2013 at 1:59 pm

              “he committed treason” or the equally strong footed view :

              He was upholding the Constitution of the Republic that he was serving.

              • Populuxe1 …
                11 May 2013 at 2:21 pm

                Perhaps you would like to point out which bit of said Constitution he was upholding when he comitted treason against it?

                • freedom …
                  11 May 2013 at 4:36 pm

                  ‘We the People’ is a pretty good place to start.

                  It is often overlooked. The entire document is a flow on from those three simple words. It was the People he was defending, but I do have my doubts you even grasp what that means.

                  He swore the U.S. Armed Forces Oath of Enlistment
                  This includes the propagandized ‘against all enemies foreign and domestic’ line.
                  He concentrated this time on the domestic bit.

                  but you knew that already

                  http://www.theartnewspaper.com/imgart/frny13-d1-diary-metrpolitan-punk-02.jpg
                  “This is what punk was all about—about truth and justice and making a better world,”

                  • Morrissey …
                    11 May 2013 at 5:04 pm

                    Freedom, I presume that you do realize you’re trying to argue in good faith with the Kiwi equivalent of a Soviet commissar.

                    If you’re engaging in that futile exercise as an intellectual workout, that’s fine. As long as you don’t expect anything like enlightened or serious debate.

                    • Populuxe1 …
                      11 May 2013 at 5:51 pm

                      Cry me a river, build a bridge, and get over it.

                    • freedom …
                      11 May 2013 at 7:10 pm

                      that is an insult to the integrity and resourcefulness of a Soviet commissar. 🙂

                      Populuxe1 is more like the boot buckle worn by the Soviet commissar.
                      Rigid, functional but largely ineffectual to the goings on around him.

                      (i’ma gonna pay for that one i bet)

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      11 May 2013 at 7:12 pm

                      Well, a decent political commissar will keep his boot buckle pretty and polished up

                  • Populuxe1 …
                    11 May 2013 at 5:50 pm

                    So basically you’ve got nothing except handwaving and fantasy. Typical.

            • Morrissey 2.1.1.2.2.2
              11 May 2013 at 3:39 pm

              …the fact of the matter is that he committed treason in the eyes of the law.

              What a disgusting, Wieselian hypocrite you are. As those of us who do not share your Maoist/Stalinist view of the world know, is not treason to bring war crimes to the attention of the world.

              And spare us the bombast about being “appalled” by mistreatment of which you have repeatedly endorsed on this forum.

              It is inconceivable that he wouldn’t be punnished [sic] in some way…

              It is conceivable that he would be lauded and honoured in a state that valued human rights and the rule of law.

              ….but torture is unacceptable.

              But you endorse the torturers and say that the person who exposed them “committed treason”. If I did not know better, I would think you were merely another bewildered mouth-breathing NewstalkZB listener.

              For anyone with a shred of commonsense or common decency, here’s a reminder of why the full vengeance of the state is being unleashed on Manning and Assange….
              http://www.collateralmurder.com/

              • Populuxe1 …
                11 May 2013 at 5:53 pm

                Maoist? Hahahahaahahaha
                What colour is the sky in your little fantasy world?

                • Morrissey …
                  11 May 2013 at 6:57 pm

                  Your blind and rabid reiteration of government propaganda is comparable to the sort of comical craziness that came out of Red China in the 1960s.

                • Rogue Trooper …
                  11 May 2013 at 7:39 pm

                  I didn’t recognise the first blush when I read it this morning

      • Morrissey 2.1.2
        11 May 2013 at 8:23 am

        …which the feminasties have swallowed hook, sinker and line.

        Some nasty and politically aligned women have chosen to accept the British government’s black propaganda, but Swedish Rape Crisis has, like anyone honest, condemned the British-U.S. government campaign.

    • Jim Nald 2.2
      11 May 2013 at 10:14 am

      “We have a lot more spies in this room than the FBI”

      And the likes of Ian Fletchers are planted into Key spying positions while the “rotten foreshore of empire collapses”.

    • Populuxe1 2.3
      11 May 2013 at 2:09 pm

      Well well, another gold star for an arrogant, mysogynist narcissist and a mendacious, hypocritical old fart.

  3. cardassian 3
    11 May 2013 at 6:48 am

    “”Why do they assume that we have to change our standards, our values, to accommodate behaviour that is sodomy?””

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8659922/Guesthouse-refuses-to-let-gay-couple-sleep-together

    Seems bigotry is perfectly fine though.

    • Ennui 3.1
      11 May 2013 at 6:58 am

      I think the ladies did the right thing: go public. Let the court of public opinion judge the hoteliers with their cash. Conversely if you legislate you only force legal acceptance, which is worth nothing compared to mind share.

    • kiwi_prometheus 3.2
      11 May 2013 at 7:04 am

      LOL, they look like twins!

      • David H 3.2.1
        11 May 2013 at 7:16 am

        Who??? John Key and Aaron Gilmore ? Why they even dress the same. Maybe secretly separated Siamese twins?

    • rosy 3.3
      11 May 2013 at 8:36 am

      “”Why do they assume that we have to change our standards, our values, to accommodate behaviour that is sodomy?”

      So lesbians practice sodomy over and above any other sexual pairing? Riiight.

      • Te Reo Putake 3.3.1
        11 May 2013 at 8:55 am

        Don’t tell the heteros or they’ll be wanting to do the sodomy too.

        • Morrissey 3.3.1.1
          11 May 2013 at 8:59 am

          What’s this about lesbians? Can you be more specific please?

          • locus 3.3.1.1.1
            11 May 2013 at 9:15 am

            hey Morrissey … rtfm 😈

          • rosy 3.3.1.1.2
            11 May 2013 at 9:16 am

            “Can you be more specific please?”

            Just observing that the guesthouse proprietor refused to allow a lesbian couple to share a bed because they would be accommodating “behaviour that is sodomy.”

      • North 3.3.2
        11 May 2013 at 8:58 am

        Well, you know Rosy………just generally………Sodom and Gonorrh(oe)a.

        It’s all in the same GPS ballpark.

        • Morrissey 3.3.2.1
          11 May 2013 at 9:00 am

          As in Hillary Sodom Clinton?

          • Te Reo Putake 3.3.2.1.1
            11 May 2013 at 9:05 am

            As in Morrisodomy?

            • Morrissey 3.3.2.1.1.1
              11 May 2013 at 9:14 am

              That doesn’t go quite so well as Hillary Sodom Clinton—which I am sure, by the way, is actually used by the legion of extreme right wing “Christian” Hillary-haters—but it is not bad, I suppose.

              Keep it up, Te Reo!

              • North …
                11 May 2013 at 1:39 pm

                TRP……..(apologies Morrissey – I’m a fan of yours)……..shouldn’t it be MorrisOddomy ? OK, not as good as either of yours’ but I’m a little hobbled today.

                Consequent upon Kiwi Promethium alleging I’m on synthetic cannabis and Bowel Motion counselling that I should lay off the drink in the mornings. Have a good day folks. Must back to ma Twelve Steps.

    • NickS 3.4
      11 May 2013 at 1:24 pm

      Ironically – sodomy is anything that isn’t straight missionary position (hard right fundy def.) and given the Ruskin’s love of prying into other consenting adults sex-lives, methinks then it’s fair to speculate that the Ruskin’s hath done much sodomy themselves 👿

      Ergo, they should kick themselves out of their dwelling since apparently “no sodomites allowed” is the golden rule thou shalth not break.

      But owner Karen Ruskin said she and husband Michael could dictate what went on at the property: “Homosexuals have a whole industry of hotels that they can go to,” she said.

      Legally a business cannot discriminate on the basis of stuff that falls under the Human Rights Act iirc and you can bet these two muppets would scream blue murder along that line if they suddenly got booted from a business due to being fundamentalist christians.

      Bring on the rainbow cluebat of bad PR and legal challenges!

      • ghostrider888 3.4.1
        11 May 2013 at 1:33 pm

        as noted in the corresponding thread; we all know about sublimation, delusional projection, distortion, superiority complexes and repression do we not.

  4. Harriet 4
    11 May 2013 at 7:02 am

    “No one becomes equal by the killing of another innocent life. That’s not equality, that’s enmity.” – Ryan Bomberger

    Supporting mothers in having the ‘right’ to work from 9-3 tax free, in ‘most’ jobs, if they choose to do so, means that children will be feed before school.Amongst other things.

    Now doesn’t all that bring new meaning to the words ‘productivity gains’ now, and in the next generations! 😎

    • Draco T Bastard 4.1
      11 May 2013 at 9:40 am

      No, it just sounds like more uninformed ideological crap from you.

  5. Paul 5
    11 May 2013 at 8:36 am

    From the Guardian online today……
    “Global carbon dioxide in atmosphere passes milestone level”
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/may/10/carbon-dioxide-highest-level-greenhouse-gas

    From the Herald online today….
    “Do you know who I am now?”
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10882882

    Four conclusions can be drawn from this.
    1) Our continued civilisation is under threat on this planet.
    2) More people in NZ know about Aaron Gilmore than details about climate change.
    3) The NZ Herald is a poor excuse for journalism.
    4) There is a link between 1,2 and 3.

  6. Te Reo Putake 6
    11 May 2013 at 8:47 am

    Happy 400 ppm day, folks. Gonna be a warm one.

    • Tiger Mountain 6.1
      11 May 2013 at 10:50 am

      Jeeez they are a fiesty lot today on open mike TRP, every day is still like Sunday for Morrissey and KP can’t get much higher. “Sodom Clinton” heh what next.

      • Te Reo Putake 6.1.1
        11 May 2013 at 10:59 am

        Must be something about the weekend that brings out the warrior in them! Sadly, I’m off to footy, so I’ll have to wait till tonight to catch up with various witterings. Have a good one, TM.

  7. Morrissey 7
    11 May 2013 at 8:57 am

    Just what is it that makes today’s Labour leaders so dithering, so unappealing?

    Let’s not beat about the bush: David Shearer is a terrible, ineffective, wishy-washy Labour leader.

    But as bad as Shearer might be, here’s one fellow who is even worse. Pity the good people of Great Britain if this is all they can put up against Dave Snooty and his Eton chums…

    • North 7.1
      11 May 2013 at 2:20 pm

      Those hurrah henrys got enough bucks to finish their collars properly, surely ?

  8. Paul 8
    11 May 2013 at 9:01 am

    The neoliberals captured the British Labour Party when Blair took over.
    There is no one for workers to vote for in the UK.
    People are that desperate for an alternative and the corporations are ensuring there is not one.

    • locus 8.1
      11 May 2013 at 9:23 am

      hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way…

    • North 8.2
      11 May 2013 at 1:59 pm

      They haven’t yet silenced Chunkymark “The Artist Taxi Driver” and his “BBC Sucks O Cocks News” on YouTube. Ya gotta watch this one – it’s hilarious.

  9. Morrissey 9
    11 May 2013 at 9:22 am

    Elie Wiesel: Break Your Silence and Come with Us to Gaza!

    When Elie Wiesel spoke at Saint Louis University on December 1, 2009, three women challenged him to break his silence about Gaza and to travel with them on the Gaza Freedom March to see for himself the devastation caused by Israel’s Operation Cast Lead in December 2008 and the ongoing siege.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4wkR1IUUE8

    Three years later, and the old hypocrite has still not gone to Gaza.

  10. Draco T Bastard 10
    11 May 2013 at 9:57 am

    The Stock Market Is a Debt-Fueled Bubble: Steve Keen

    Keen has his eye on margin debt. This is the money people borrow from their stockbrokers to expand their holdings of shares. Keen says the ratio is now 70%, meaning with $300,000 you can borrow $1 million worth of shares.
    Here’s where it gets interesting. Steve has found a relationship between the change in margin debt and the level of asset prices. Even more importantly, he points to a correlation between the acceleration in margin debt and the rise in asset prices.
    If his theory holds true, this means we’re relying on the acceleration of margin debt to drive rising share prices. And when that acceleration slows down, equity prices will fall.

    Thing is, it’s more borrowing that both National and Labour are after with their affordable homes. More people buying = more borrowing and thus we get an increase in money in the system raising GDP. It’s not sustainable and must crash but the politicians will just push some other barrow that achieves the same end – more borrowing.

    The only winners in such a system are the people who print the money with interest on it – the private banks.

    • Colonial Viper 10.1
      11 May 2013 at 1:46 pm

      No one has the stomach to reform our debt based money supply. It’s possibly the biggest no-no in the capitalist banking framework that we have locked ourselves into.

    • ianmac 11.1
      11 May 2013 at 11:47 am

      funny how it gets down to a very simple question. Great clip freedom.

      • freedom 11.1.1
        11 May 2013 at 11:59 am

        and it is one simple question every person can consider for themselves without having to wave a flag or sign a paper or anything. All they have to do is spend a moment of honest contemplation. Something many more should do, more often than we do. I am as guilty as any of that failing.

  12. freedom 12
    11 May 2013 at 11:45 am

    Here are ten facts you may wish to pop into tonight’s dinner conversations. I know, I know, facts are so infuriating when they completely contradict hysterical fantasies, but reality is like that, facts are facts and lies are just business.
    http://www.collective-evolution.com/2012/10/16/10-eye-opening-facts-about-hemp/

    • Draco T Bastard 12.1
      11 May 2013 at 1:48 pm

      Greens have been going on about that for awhile although I think that ALCP have more in depth policies on it.

    • freedom 12.2
      11 May 2013 at 8:19 pm

      Instead of building its future, New Zealand is disintergrating. An average house for a family should not cost $750,000. Things are out of control. A future requires a society to obtain levels of sustainability.
      (If you do not believe that, good luck to you and yours.)

      There is not one single reason hemp should not become a primary industry in NZ.
      Building. Medicines. Food. Textiles. Plastics. Fuel. It just goes on and on and on.

      We could be making milllions of dollars from hemp and hemp related industries if we wanted to, at the very least we could be saving billions if we chose to. The employment opportunities, the related economic growth, the social benefits, the sustainability bonuses, these are not things that should be dismissed lightly. But we all know the drill.

      We have a problem, we look for a solution.
      Whenever hemp is investigated as a viable solution, BAM ! straight into the wall !
      It does have a very bad habit of highlighting sustainability nightmares. Mostly though, there are good responsible reasons given why not to go forward and they usually hold water as strongly as a $2 bucket.

      However you spin it, money influence and engrained propaganda are difficult to overcome without forcing a fundamental breakthrough in how people comprehend the machine around them, and that’s not gonna happen anytime soon if some of the wanderers we meet here are anything to go by. I get that.
      To the reader, I ask you. Will ignoring it all, solve any of the issues?
      Shall we let blinkers crop the vista of our future?

      A future requires a society to obtain levels of sustainability.
      Building. Medicines. Food. Textiles. Plastics. Fuel.
      I cannot see a single reason hemp should not become a primary industry in NZ.

  13. freedom 13
    11 May 2013 at 12:23 pm

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/8661224/Like-China-Rens-still-a-wild-card

    This is quite a big deal, we get that, but ….
    Anyone know why he was here?
    What the event was?
    Who the other businessmen that are mentioned were?
    What this piece of US-focused dross is meant to be conveying?

  15. johnm 15
    11 May 2013 at 1:20 pm

    “How Class Works – Richard Wolff Examines Class ”
    Shows up the class war of selling our Power companies whose future profits will accrue to the wealthy instead of the commons.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGOA2WedIQo

    “Working for an employer is like rowing an oar as a galley slave. You can quit and jump overboard but you splash right into the great ocean of unemployment, exclusive professional guilds, multi-level marketing scams, lying temp agencies, credit card debt, college loan scams, a 90% self-employment failure rate due to competition and deficient government benefits. You are forced to swim to and board another galley. Now all the galley ships have robotic oarsmen and you sink beneath the waves.”

  16. prism 16
    11 May 2013 at 1:27 pm

    I’m gradually learning more about the Second World War. There is so much to know and it has always been in my background, occasionally coming to the fore. Now I am older and less hopeful about humanity I have been reading about Resistance fighters etc.

    This morning I am looking at The White Rose on wikepedia. That was the name that a group of protesting and defiant young people mostly students used as their symbol. When studying events in Germany between the wars it becomes obvious that the country had been occupied mentally internally by this authoritarian and brutal regime far before the 1939 declaration of war against Germany.

    The things that are so emotionally expressed in these students’ words have been applied to what is going on in NZ. Many of these young people died at Nazi hands. One group were beheaded in 1943 I think in a public square.
    So what happens every day to limit human rights and step up authoritarianism and fascism must be looked at carefully. Some quotes from the German group:

    If everyone waits until the other man makes a start, the messengers of avenging Nemesis will come steadily closer. (From Leaflet 1, urging immediate initiative by the reader. Nemesis of course punished those who had fallen to the temptation of hubris.)

    …why do you allow these men who are in power to rob you step by step, openly and in secret, of one domain of your rights after another, until one day nothing, nothing at all will be left but a mechanised state system presided over by criminals and drunks? Is your spirit already so crushed by abuse that you forget it is your right – or rather, your moral duty – to eliminate this system? (From Leaflet 3)

    Why do German people behave so apathetically in the face of all these abominable crimes, crimes so unworthy of the human race? … The German people slumber on in their dull, stupid sleep and encourage these fascist criminals….[The German] must evidence not only sympathy; no, much more: a sense of complicity in guilt….For through his apathetic behaviour he gives these evil men the opportunity to act as they do…. he himself is to blame for the fact that it came about at all! Each man wants to be exonerated ….But he cannot be exonerated; he is guilty, guilty, guilty!… now that we have recognized [the Nazis] for what they are, it must be the sole and first duty, the holiest duty of every German to destroy these beasts. (From Leaflet 2)

    • Colonial Viper 16.1
      11 May 2013 at 1:43 pm

      Excellent documentary series on WWII from the Soviet perspective:

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0A6UWkK2U4s

      One of the episodes is about the Soviet partisan war against the Germans.

      Also consider – 4 out of 5 German soldiers killed in WWII were killed on the Eastern Front.

      The D-Day landings at Normandy in 1944, although an important step in securing western europe, were not very relevant to Germany’s final defeat. Germany had already long lost the war in 1943, at the Battle of Kursk.

      • Populuxe1 16.1.1
        11 May 2013 at 2:26 pm

        The role of the ANZACs is not to be unterestimated. Had they not kept Rommel tied up in North Africa, the Soviets might not have had time to rearm after the Ribbentrop-Molotov fiasco.

        • lprent 16.1.1.1
          11 May 2013 at 2:40 pm

          Not to mention that if the Germans had secured fuel supplies from the middle east then their strategies in Russia wouldn’t have been so skewed by the need to secure oilfields during Barbarossa.

          Ultimately it was the inability of Germany to get a few essential strategic materials from outside of their conquered territories that lost them the battles. It forced them to make strategic mistakes.

          • Clockie 16.1.1.1.1
            11 May 2013 at 4:01 pm

            They made strategic errors, yes, but their big error was going into total war with Russia AND America. Either one could have out produced, outgunned and out fought Germany in the long run. By wars end Russia and the USA were just getting warmed up and Germany was a smoking ruin which had run out of manpower and the ability to re-arm. Also, the conventional war had just about run it’s course anyway. The US had the A bomb. They also had the means to deliver it anywhere in German territory. Germany were close to a bomb, but had lost air superiority and were a long way from having true ICBM’s.

          • Colonial Viper 16.1.1.1.2
            11 May 2013 at 8:28 pm

            I agree that North African action greatly limited German options. Further, the horrific two and a half year siege of Leningrad was a disaster for Germany – it tied down 20% of their eastern forces even as 500-1000 Leningrad citizens starved to death daily.

            As for forced mistakes…Hitler regarded himself as a military super-genius and things went down hill rapidly when he decided to put himself in charge of all military operations. Not letting his army withdraw from Stalingrad and deciding that a quarter million cut off German forces could be resupplied by air? Mad.

        • Murray Olsen 16.1.1.2
          12 May 2013 at 12:16 am

          The Afrika Korps wouldn’t have even been noticed on the Russian Front. It swallowed up whole Army Groups. Rommel fought against a few divisions which made up the 8th Army. Operation Barbarossa kicked off seventeen months before the second Battle of El Alamein, which was three years after Ribbentrop and Molotov divided up Poland.

          If anything, the Red Army saved Egypt for the British Empire, not the other way around.

      • millsy 16.1.2
        11 May 2013 at 9:07 pm

        It helped that Hitler made a few bad choices as well, peeling off elsewhere when he had a chance to press home his advantage. I think one of them was to push down into Ukraine when he could have taken Moscow before winter.

        • Colonial Viper 16.1.2.1
          11 May 2013 at 9:13 pm

          You would’ve thought that Germany would not want to make Napolean’s same mistakes in Russia.

          Hitler did need to capture the industrial centre of Kiev so there was a strategic purpose to that. However, delays to capturing Moscow created huge problems for the Germans, and it allowed the Soviets to ship in elite eastern divisions to bolster the Moscow front.

          Trying to go after the caucuses and Stalingrad and Moscow at the same time was never going to work. Classic Art of War – if you try to be everywhere, everywhere you will be weak.

          • Arfamo 16.1.2.1.1
            11 May 2013 at 10:17 pm

            You also have to factor in the massive intelligence failures of the Nazis regarding the USSR. They completely underestimated the size of the soviet forces and their massive reserves. They underrated the intelligence and determination of the soviet soldiers and officers who, after initial mass surrenders, chose to thereafter fight on behind advancing German lines even after being encircled and were a constant threat to their rear and flanks, as well as to their fronts.

            They had no idea that the soviets even had the T34 and KV tanks, far superior to the panzer III and IV’s, nor that they had developed aircraft like the Mig 3, Yak 3, La 5 and 7’s, Il 2 and 10 shturmovics, and their katyushas etc. They never gave any consideration to the industrial capacity of the USSR and their ability to dismantle and reassemble their armaments factories well out of reach of German short-range bombers. Even though lend-lease provided them with allied war materiel, the USSR proved itself able to produce all manner of war materiel in such high volumes they were easily able to replace their losses as the war dragged on, when the Germans could not.

    • lprent 16.2
      11 May 2013 at 2:47 pm

      If you can get access to the War Memorial Museum library, then that’d be about the best source in NZ on some of the resistance movements.

      Not only did we have people scattered throughout europe and the pacific and they wrote stuff down, but we also got quite a lot of refugees and emigres pre and post war who did as well. It seems like most of the hardcopy wound up there.

      There was a year when I was a kid where I was attempting to soak up that library.

    • ianmac 16.3
      11 May 2013 at 4:37 pm

      The same steady withdrawl of rights is happening now in NZ, but the populance finds it hard to get a fix on it and react. Much easier to join in the scrum on Mr Gilmore’s flaws than that of democratic rights or security from spying etc. We need a serious focus to prevent the slide. Sympathise with the Germans of the 30’s because they by the time they realised the significance of what they had lost it was too late to resist.
      (Read about a butcher in Vienna who was anti-Nazi until the day the German army marched into Austria and declared the country to be part of the German Nazi empire. The next day the butcher marched down the road waving the German flag. “Survival,” he said.)

  17. Ugly Truth 17
    11 May 2013 at 1:27 pm

    A survivor of a high-level ring involving child sacrifice, torture and trafficking went public today in an exclusive disclosure and interview with Freedom Central’s Mel Ve and ITCCS Field Secretary Kevin Annett.

    Toos Nijenhuis, a fifty four year old physiotherapist and mother of five from Holland, was tortured, raped and used experimentally from the age of four years old by wealthy and powerful men around the world, including top officials of churches and governments.

    And, Nijenhuis claims, these crimes are continuing today, including the ritual sacrifice of children in rural Holland.

    http://itccs.org/2013/05/08/child-sacrifice-and-trafficking-in-holland-and-abroad-an-eyewitness-comes-forward-and-names-her-torturers/

    • Populuxe1 17.1
      11 May 2013 at 1:49 pm

      Is that tinfoil hat too tight again. Show me on the doll where the Illuminati touched you?
      Seriously? I’m not doubting she suffered terrible abuse, but she’s quite obviously projecting this elaborate fantasy onto it to try and give that horrible abuse some meaning. Another similar and widespread projection onto childhood sexual abuse is alien abduction. There is no global satanic conspiracy and this sort of nonsense just distracts from the horrible mundane reality of child abuse.

      • Colonial Viper 17.1.1
        11 May 2013 at 2:20 pm

        Oh shucks another online spychology diagnosis.

        • Populuxe1 17.1.1.1
          11 May 2013 at 2:28 pm

          Well why should you have all the fun with your diagnoses of sociopathy for the entire NACT caucus and so forth? Or did the Illuminati touch you too?

          • Colonial Viper 17.1.1.1.1
            11 May 2013 at 2:36 pm

            So are online psych diagnoses credible or not? Or only credible when they come from you?

            • Populuxe1 17.1.1.1.1.1
              11 May 2013 at 5:57 pm

              Well either we can both be right or we can both be wrong. I’m fine either way, so take your pick.

            • TheContrarian 17.1.1.1.1.2
              11 May 2013 at 6:56 pm

              You’ll have to ask Dr. Prentice.

        • ghostrider888 17.1.1.2
          11 May 2013 at 2:28 pm

          cornell

      • Ugly Truth 17.1.2
        11 May 2013 at 7:18 pm

        “she’s quite obviously projecting this elaborate fantasy onto it to try and give that horrible abuse some meaning”

        Obviously, meaning in your deranged opinion.
        Institutional sexual abuse is nothing new.

  19. ghostrider888 19
    11 May 2013 at 2:18 pm

    To The Handlers;
    Risk is not necessary. Scientific development concept
    Bone-modern-marrow admirably sails, bracing
    the vigorous weight of the People while The Struggles
    with the Persians remaining indecisive, abundant Africa
    is being recovered from the vandal al1ens.

    You can pencil that in three places
    (Ray-guns are a fetish for steam-Punks,
    may be buried with Wessex culture) We all
    harden up with influence and Able instrumental guidance;
    Plumb the depths, clean out the pipes, dispose the waste.

    Quelle : Lectiones geometricae; pictures italicized
    (or a combination Friend rice, Edgar; #23 8)

    Eponymous / Mick Ronson Priestley (Whats My Name)
    contend more in written acts than words.

    The Shepherd’s crook, cuts right across the diagonal;
    “he came to minister, not to be ministered to”.

    “and let no-one attempt to reclaim (them) from the stigmata of their new master”.
    Let no-one trouble them for the record of their transaction is in the temple.

    Signs Of The End Of The Age, Watch!

  20. lprent 20
    11 May 2013 at 3:21 pm

    Damn. The weird crash of php5-fpm and then apache happened again.

    Reading the logs.

    I think I’ll pull the APC offline as whatever is happening seems to be too low level to get logged.

    Expect the odd outage for the next hour while I juggle the server.

  22. Rogue Trooper 22
    11 May 2013 at 7:46 pm

    Hollywood Irons another 15% out of the NZ Film Submission taxpayer.Man

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • Stories of varying weight

    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on anything you may have missed. Share Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 hours ago
  • Balancing External Security and the Economy

    New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    17 hours ago
  • Weekly Climate Wrap: The unravelling of the offsets

    The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    22 hours ago
  • What makes us tick

    This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    23 hours ago
  • Foreshore and seabed 2.0

    In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on the Royal Commission report into abuse in care

    Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    1 day ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Friday, July 26

    TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Weekly Roundup 26-July-2024

    Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 day ago
  • God what a relief

    1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 day ago
  • Trust In Me

    Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • The Hoon around the week to July 26

    TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Care report released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 26

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced $802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Radical law changes needed to build road

    The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #30 2024

    Open access notables Could an extremely cold central European winter such as 1963 happen again despite climate change?, Sippel et al., Weather and Climate Dynamics: Here, we first show based on multiple attribution methods that a winter of similar circulation conditions to 1963 would still lead to an extreme seasonal ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago
  • First they came for the Māori

    Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Join us for the weekly Hoon on YouTube Live

    Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Will the real PM Luxon please stand up?

    Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Will debt reduction trump abuse in care redress?

    Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Care report in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Olywhites and Time Bandits

    About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Why were the 1930s so hot in North America?

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters and Bob Henson Those who’ve trawled social media during heat waves have likely encountered a tidbit frequently used to brush aside human-caused climate change: Many U.S. states and cities had their single hottest temperature on record during the 1930s, setting incredible heat marks ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago
  • Throwback Thursday – Thinking about Expressways

    Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Thursday, July 25

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • The Possum: Demon or Friend?

    Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago
  • Not a story

    Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Thursday, July 25

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry published its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • A tougher line on “proactive release”?

    The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • 'Let's build a motorway costing $100 million per km, before emissions costs'

    TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Lester's Prescription – Positive Bleeding.

    I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Casey Costello gaslights Labour in the House

    Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone icon on the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    3 days ago
  • Why is the Texas grid in such bad shape?

    This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Headline from 2021 The Texas grid, run by ERCOT, has had a rough few years. In 2021, winter storm Uri blacked out much of the state for several days. About a week ago, Hurricane Beryl knocked out ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on a textbook case of spending waste by the Luxon government

    Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • LXR Takaanini

    As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    3 days ago
  • Four kilograms of pain

    Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Luxon gets caught out

    NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • A worrying sign

    Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Are we fine with 47.9% home-ownership by 2048?

    Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloitte report for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Let's Win This

    You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Waimahara: The Singing Spirit of Water

    There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
    Greater AucklandBy Connor Sharp
    4 days ago
  • A major milestone: Global climate pollution may have just peaked

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’s Oliver LewisScoop: Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announced the Board of Te Whatu Ora- Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • HealthNZ and Luxon at cross purposes over budget blowout

    Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • 2500-3000 more healthcare staff expected to be fired, as Shane Reti blames Labour for a budget defic...

    Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    4 days ago
  • Might Kamala Harris be about to get a 'stardust' moment like Jacinda Ardern?

    As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    5 days ago
  • Solutions Interview: Steven Hail on MMT & ecological economics

    TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
    The KakaBy Steven Hail
    5 days ago
  • Reported back

    The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Vandrad the Viking, Christopher Coombes, and Literary Archaeology

    Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell On The Biden Withdrawal

    History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    5 days ago
  • Joe Biden's withdrawal puts the spotlight back on Kamala and the USA's complicated relatio...

    This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    5 days ago
  • Why we have to challenge our national fiscal assumptions

    A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Existential Crisis and Damaged Brains

    What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • A speed limit is not a target, and yet…

    This is a guest post from longtime supporter Mr Plod, whose previous contributions include a proposal that Hamilton become New Zealand’s capital city, and that we should switch which side of the road we drive on. A recent Newsroom article, “Back to school for the Govt’s new speed limit policy“, ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #29

    A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago
  • I'd like to share what I did this weekend

    This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • For the children – Why mere sentiment can be a misleading force in our lives, and lead to unex...

    National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Order image, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • A friend in uncertain times

    Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • The Chaotic World of Male Diet Influencers

    Hi,We’ll get to the horrific world of male diet influencers (AKA Beefy Boys) shortly, but first you will be glad to know that since I sent out the Webworm explaining why the assassination attempt on Donald Trump was not a false flag operation, I’ve heard from a load of people ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • It's Starting To Look A Lot Like… Y2K

    Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Bernard’s Saturday Soliloquy for the week to July 20

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Pharmac Director, Climate Change Commissioner, Health NZ Directors – The latest to quit this m...

    Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Flooding Housing Policy

    The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago
  • A Voyage Among the Vandals: Accepted (Again!)

    As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā's Chorus for Friday, July 19

    An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Roundup 19-July-2024

    Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Climate Wrap: A market-led plan for failure

    TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Tobacco First

    Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Trump’s Adopted Son.

    Waiting In The Wings: For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSA announced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Hoon around the week to July 19

    TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #29 2024

    Open access notables Improving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society: To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Joint statement from the Prime Ministers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand

    Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue.  We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    17 hours ago
  • AG reminds institutions of legal obligations

    Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    19 hours ago
  • More young people learning about digital safety

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views.  “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • Speech to the Conference for General Practice 2024

    Tēnā tātou katoa,  Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago
  • Employers and payroll providers ready for tax changes

    New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts.  “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    24 hours ago
  • Experimental vineyard futureproofs wine industry

    An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Funding confirmed for regions affected by North Island Weather Events

    The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Indonesian Foreign Minister to visit

    Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.   “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Strengthening partnership with Ngāti Maniapoto

    He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Transport Minister thanks outgoing CAA Chair

    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Test for Customary Marine Title being restored

    The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says.  “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Opposition united in bad faith over ECE sector review

    Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet.  “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Kiwis having their say on first regulatory review

    After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks.  “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government upgrading Lower North Island commuter rail

    The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government moves to ensure flood protection for Wairoa

    Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • PM speech to Parliament – Royal Commission of Inquiry’s Report into Abuse in Care

    Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.  At the heart of this report are the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government acknowledges torture at Lake Alice

    For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government acknowledges courageous abuse survivors

    The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Half a million people use tax calculator

    With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis.  “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Paid Parental Leave improvements pass first reading

    Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Rebuilding the economy through better regulation

    Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • ‘Open banking’ and ‘open electricity’ on the way

    New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Charity lotteries to be permitted to operate online

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Accelerating Northland Expressway

    The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Sir Don to travel to Viet Nam as special envoy

    Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.    “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Grant Illingworth KC appointed as transitional Commissioner to Royal Commission

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024.  “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • NZ to advance relationships with ASEAN partners

    Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane.    “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says.   “This will be our third visit to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Backing mental health services on the West Coast

    Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • NZ support for sustainable Pacific fisheries

    New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Students’ needs at centre of new charter school adjustments

    Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Commissioner replaces Health NZ Board

    In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today.  “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister to speak at Australian Space Forum

    Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum.  While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation.  “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Climate Change Minister to attend climate action meeting in China

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan.  “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Oceans and Fisheries Minister to Solomons

    Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Government launches Military Style Academy Pilot

    The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Nine priority bridge replacements to get underway

    The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Update on global IT outage

    Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • New Zealand, Japan renew Pacific partnership

    New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.    “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says.    “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • New infrastructure energises BOP forestry towns

    New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • 'Pacific Futures'

    President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests.    Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone.    Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2024-07-26T23:53:45+00:00