Despite strong assurances from Winston Peters that he does. John Key says he doubts that Peters has the Dunne/Vance emails:
Peters has claimed to have seen emails that were personally embarrassing for Dunne. But Key questioned that.
‘‘I don’t believe that’s correct. I’ve never seen them, I can’t see why Mr Dunne would give it to him, I can’t see why Andrea Vance would give them to him.’’
KATE CHAPMAN, TRACY WATKINS, VERNON SMALL AND HAMISH RUTHERFORDStuff.co.nz 10 June 2013
Our spooks are the only other ones privy to everyone’s emails. Despite keeping Key in the dark, this puts them squarely in the picture as responsible for the leak to Peters.
The question is; Are our secretive spy agencies heading for a clash with our democracy at this time?
Our spooks despite their belief that they are above the law, may have gone to far this time.
John Key is the sole minister responsible for oversight of the GCSB, and SIS. If the spooks bypassed Key to leak the emails to Peters. And if Key finds out this is the case. Then the Prime Minister may consider them to be out of control. And a personal embarrassment to himself, and an insult to the office of Prime Minister.
This may lead to a serious clash of wills between our spooks and the Prime Minister. Who could demand that someone inside these agencies be held accountable.
This would actually be an unprecedented situation. These secretive and arrogant spies may never have been held accountable for their behaviour ever before. It will be a new experience for them.
These secretive goons may think they are in trouble now…… And this is what led them to leak the Dunne/Vance emails to Peters, as revenge against Dunne for Dunne putting the evidence of their illegal spying on 88 New Zealanders into the public domain.
Which really is where this whole scandal actually springs from.
“Our spooks are the only other ones privy to everyone’s emails”
You don’t need access to everyone’s emails to have access to Dunne’s. You just need access to the servers they are on. The list isn’t long, but it’s not empty.
In any case, there is no evidence Winston has the emails. He was obviously tipped off about something, but he’s not shown any cards yet that go beyond what we know from Henry’s report.
Recall the tea pot saga, Winston blowing hot air about “holding information”. His claims then, as now, are hot air!
Indeed.
In view of Mr Peters’ reluctance or inability to supply more evidence, and bearing in mind that he is fond of baffling us with a blizzard of bullshit, technically known as “snowing”, it might be an opportune time to remind people that
True, Winston would only have needed heard on the Parliament gossip line that Dunne had refused to co-operate fully with Henry to put 2 and 2 together,
Of course if we are speculating, we might think that Slippery the PM realizing that it was odds on that Dunne would not stand for the Parliament again in 2014 and has simply tossed him to the wolves in the form of Winston Peters,
That’s pretty machiavelian, but National will need NZFirst in 2014 and giving Peters such a juicy piece of red meat and thus NZFirst a large dose of electoral oxygen would have been easily accomplished with a whisper from anyone employed on the 9th floor or a couple of National MP’s discussing Dunne’s refusal to fully co-operate within ear-shot of anyone from NZFirst…
When interviewed this morning on Morning Report, I got the distinct impression that Winston had ‘seen something’, probably not the emails themselves, but was not in possession of whatever it was.
Similar to the teapot saga as muzza alludes to, where it turns out Peter had seen a transcript of them at the TV3 office, but didn’t actually have copies himself.
Mr Key says Winston has the emails. Winston has never said he had the emails. Just access to some “electronic information.” Winston says he has enough to supports his view.
Of course regardless of when, how, or if the emails are released, everyone will be very cautious now about emails for ever, especially in the light of PRISM.
Yes, it seems that though Winston Peters has claimed to have seen the emails and is privy to their contents. He is not in possession of them.
The GCSB and the SIS being the paranoiacs they are. Wouldn;t trust Winston Peters with the Dunne/Vance emails.
But someone with access (and authorisation), could have met with Peters, pulled out their laptop or smartphone and shown them to him.
This must be considered a possibility.
An investigation is called for into the GCSB.
As the stink gets higher and the spooks keep up their arrogant misbehavior, and law breaking, even a tory administration will start gaging at the smell and get sick of them eventually.
If a coalition of parties received enough votes to form a government which was pledged to cancel laws that serve the security interests of our allies, and the Governer-General unconstitutionally refused to sign such legislation; who would the Army follow? Former; Chief of Defense Force, &; Director of GCSB, Lt General Jerry Mateparae, or a civilan hodgepodge of parties led by; an ex-UN aid worker, an Australian, and a Maori Radical?
If it actually came to that level of action, the lines would be even clearer than in ’81. I suspect many kiwi soldiers would choose defending New Zealand over defending America.
Placard waving civilians wearing motorcycle crash helmets and cricket pads vs experienced soldiers in full bullet-resistant body armour? Then there are; the LAVs, the drone (if they ever get it to work), fully automatic weapons, artillary, plus whatever goodies that the inevitable military aid will throw into the mix. Speaking as someone with military on both sides of the family (been a few heated discussions there, as you can imagine), soldiers are best at following orders down the chain of command. Deserters in a time of war are hunted down and shot.
But what am I thinking? Such things could never happen here…
[We really need that “sarcastica” font that Arj Barker talks about!]
But what if these soldiers believe they are defending NZ (as represented in the Queen’s representative; the Governor General), against the forces of terroristic anarchy? They may in fact be propping up a corrupt kleptcracy run in the economic interests of another nation; but that kind of thinking is not exactly encouraged in the defence forces.
It was hard enough too end my the last comment on an upbeat, it’s just beyond me here… The best I can do is to point out when the Bolivian army was ordered to slaughter their own families when they tried to collect rain-water to drink rather than pay the exorbitant cost of tap-water (the infrastructure having been hocked off Haliburton), they did refuse, and rebelled. Which led to the socialist government of Evo Morales. It was a long hard road to that happy ending though, and there were many corpses left on the wayside.
“….It’s a dark irony that the morphing of New Zealand society occurred not with a Far Right government overthrowing our democratic institutions, as in CK Stead’s “Sleeping Dogs/Smith’s Dream” – but because the public and especially the media wasn’t paying attention…”
The GCSB may think that they have it all over the Prime Minister. But John Key may have the power to make them think again.
If Key cannot get the GCSB to play ball, and own up for going over his head to Winston Peters. In response the Prime Minister may demand the release of the names of those illegally spied on, so that these people can take their own cases against this out of control spy agency. A scenario that they would not welcome at all.
There is no evidence that the GCSB leaked information to Winston Peters so what you are saying is merely speculation which is all good if you label it as such instead of publishing such as ‘fact’ as you seem to have done…
Beyond the possible clash between the prime minister and the spies. The spies and the government may also be set on a collision course with our journalists and the media.
Fairfax Group executive editor Paul Thompson said Fairfax was “absolutely” backing Vance.
“Andrea is a very talented journalist, she has done some terrific work this year,” he said.
“Her handling of the GCSB report was absolutely faultless and there was nothing improper going on. We are 100 per cent behind her.”
He said politicians should tread carefully before embarking on a witch hunt. That could have a chilling effect on how journalists covered politicians.
“The protection of our sources is paramount,” Thompson said.
“We will resist any attempt to force us to release that sort of information.’’
KATE CHAPMAN, TRACY WATKINS, VERNON SMALL AND HAMISH RUTHERFORDStuff.co.nz 10 June 2013
Who knows who will come out on top in this dispute?
The ongoing rolling maul that started with revelations of illegal spying activity by the NZ and US state spy agencies against Kim Dotcom. Just seems to lead to more and more revelations, and is gathering a bigger and bigger head of steam every day.
The story so far:
Revelations of illegal GCSB spying uncovered by the high powered Dotcom defence team.
Leaks from Dunne that illegal spying went way further than Dotcom.
Prime Minister Key is “irked” by Dunne’s release of the report.
Subsequent snooping in Dunne’s dirty laundry basket for reasons of possible revenge and humiliation. The minister responsible for spying, John Key, is kept in the dark. Instead; Mysterious retaliatory leaks to a conservative opposition MP.
And the latest; Revelations from a CIA defector who fled to communist China, about a wider illegal global spying conspiracy. A conspiracy in which our spy agencies let this country be used as a test bed for. Revelations of this intrusive and illegal spying operation first tested on New Zealanders, has become a scandal engulfing both the US and British governments.
The orwellian horror revealed just grows in scope and size.
And there are many more revelations yet to come out.
There’s a way to fix this. Trash the honours system. All of it. It is very often political anyway. Do things because you want or need to, not in the hope someone might give you a meaningless title.
Exchange rate rapid drop.
Who in NZ is in a position to profit from the recent change in the exchange rate?
People who had some “surplus” and have been moving it offshore waiting for the inevitable drop?
Institutions in the know (i.e. privy to inside knowledge)?
People saddled with mortgages?
Ordinary mums and dads?
People living on subsistence salaries?
If you had Sterling then a 7% gain in the last two weeks is not a bad return if you were to cash up.
Funny you should say that.
Actually Shearer’s money was apparently already in the overseas account.
I was more interested in the people in NZ who were in the know who were in a position to move money around and make transfers while the dollar was high. People who were close to the action, or people who were in a position to influence the situation. In the last two years the dollar has gone steadily from 44pence to the dollar to 56pence to the dollar, and then within a matter of weeks dropped to 50pence. The sort of movements the trading floors love…
I think ending Peter Dunne’s career counts as a little bit more than nothing, Geoff. If Winston was bluffing, he should consider a career playing poker, because he’s the only winner in this affair. And he was dead right about the real question, which is ‘why won’t Key check the emails?’.
There hasn’t been a non-coalition government possible since 1996. What makes you think that it is feasible it could happen now? In fact National will probably be the largest party in the coming election, but more than likely be unable to form a coalition, as they have sucked up and dessicated (or pissed off) all of their potential coalition parties and still will get no where close to having a single party majority.
In the current mis-government they have coalition agreements with the Maori party, John Banks (in court), and Peter Dunne (in disgrace). After the election they are likely to have just one or two MP’s from the Maori party if they are lucky. It isn’t exactly meant to be a “National in power”, although that is what it appears to be (as they suck the remaining political vitality out of the husk of their coalition parties).
Hah!.. A “coilition”; yes, that is the perfect term for a potential Natland First government. I imagine two ouroborean snakes slowly choking on one another.
Can’t see Act getting in at all. The voters of Epsom (even the most right wing ones I know) are quite literally champing at the bit in their eagerness to get rid of John Banks, and the they’re not much more happy with Act. National’s only chance to get a Act candidate from there is not put up a National candidate – and then watch votes disappear to Labour, Conservatives, or NZ First.
Can’t see NZ First getting on board with John Key at the helm.Assuming that NZF is within range of being a suitable size, then John Key would have to be ditched and preferably (from the viewpoint of the National MPs) before the election. That scalp from 2008 would probably be sufficient to get Winston to consider it.
Judith Collins has displayed no qualities that indicate that she will be any good at coalition building. In fact I’d go so far to say that she has impressed me as being a politician with no obvious redeeming characteristics apart from a relentless personal promotion. I certainly don’t think that two like minded useless egotists in coalition talks will work and I rather suspect that is the way that many of the National MPs will view it.
Joyce or almost anyone else is a better bet for the National MPs. Besides they’d bring more useful skills to the job.
@ O’Brien
Given that your first choice would be Big Brother (currently trading under the NACT brand), I fail to see why I should care what you’d rather see.
But, at least; today, you’re not mocking Peters for having the very same first name as the pseudonym you’ve adopted for this site.
The soundings round Ratana way suggest that the Maori party will have a grand total of no seats at all next election. Turia was their lifeline and they apparently have no obvious candidate in the wings good enough to win her seat in 2014.
However, even if they do scrape back in, without Turia the spiteful anybody but Labour position disappears, so they are just as likely to back Shearer in coalition talks. I’d have no problem with a LP/G/MP government if that’s how it plays out. Or a LP/G/Mana one, for that matter.
Except you seem to have forgotten that (at least as far as I know, and I know rather a lot) neither the Greens or NZF have flat out refused to work with each other this time around.
nope, haven’t forgotten it, it’s just not relevant.
If Labour need Greens and NZF to govern, then it’s highly likely that NZF would go with National (seeing you ‘know rather a lot’ I guess I don’t need to explain why that is).
Ergo, the best way to ensure Winston isn’t in a position to be in government is to make sure that governments can be formed without him.
Heard that report also, interesting interpretation there geoff. Peters stated in plain english, it is the PM not being asked the real questions that should be the focus of journalists, not what cards he himself may or may not hold.
The focus is on the responsibility and accountability of John Key as the PM and Minister of GCSB.
The issues are major as they have been of such gravity involving the ministerial resignation of a coalition partner. And that has happened with such speed and opaqueness, tied to a related negotiated deal involving Speaker’s wrong and bad ruling.
Don’t let the PM and his spinners distract you and get away with this. The emails are damaging to them and they will do what it takes to suppress their release or to draw things out as long as possible.
I wish I can post some more this morning but I need to get to the office (and I can’t do that there with Judith, in her designer dresses about to burst at their seams, swanning in and out of the office with a self-satisfied smirk ….. maybe joking here hehe). Not a good idea to post comments on blogs while using work facilities anyway! Have a nice day you all and stay focused on the real issues!
It wasn’t so clear to Dunne then but the PM/GCSB Minister had more to lose than Dunne himself. It was just that Dunne had the party de-registration thing hanging over his head. He thought he needed something which actually the PM was going to give him anyway because John Key would take a bigger dent.
At least another opposition party should continue putting pressure about the Speaker’s latest ruling … and someone else need to dig deeper into the circumstances triggering the UF party president requesting the Electoral Commission to cancel UF’s party registration cough cough.
OK so Peters is in a death dance with Dunne. Only one will survive. Both of them appear to be blowing smoke of a certain quality. A slightly calmer analysis may show that this is the case.
For instance Peters previously made a great deal about how Dunne was questioned on oath by Henry. But Henry’s report seems to say nothing of the sort because it acknowledges that he had no power to coerce an answer out of anyone.
And Dunne says that he did not leak the report to Vance. This may be so. It may be that with a deft Clintonian distortion of the truth he is telling the truth because he did not show Vance a copy of the report but one of his many emails may have contained snippets that then formed the guts of Vance’s article. So no leaking of the report but some leaking of the details.
To get to the truth we need a media that asks the right questions. Just like Kim Hill did yesterday.
“For instance Peters previously made a great deal about how Dunne was questioned on oath by Henry.”
MS – my recollection is that Peters asked repeatedly whether Dunne was questioned under oath – not how. That is, Peters appeared to be implying that he knew that the questioning was not under oath, and that he considered that it should have been. You no doubt understand the difference.
I totally agree with the rest of your comment.
Re Kim Hill, high on my to do list for today is to email RNZ on how refreshing it is to have Kim back on Morning Report albeit for just two weeks asking the hard questions compared to the insipid interviewing that has become the standard there over recent years. Kim herself sounds like she has got a new lease of life and is really enjoying being back. It would be great to have her back fulltime or at least much more often as a ‘locum’.
I hope others also inundate RNZ with support of Kim’s return.
So if Auckland’s MUL’s are removed, and Auckland is able to “grow out” as they say, are the people who own the scores of dirt cheap housing that will magically appear going to have access to amenities such as shops, petrol stations, bus stops, parks, libaries, post offices, schools, etc. Or are they just going to suck it up and not have anything?
That’s Massey 1970s redux, or Dannemora 2010 redux.
Another two decade long binge-purge cycle of leaky homes, social isolation, crap urban design, gradual slumming, transport poverty, acute isolation, disengagement between school-home-work-family-community, together with all the social damage for decades.
Which gets fixed two or three decades later with truly massive renewal intervention costing billions and billions, fixing up the mess that poor regulation and low-rent developers leave behind. Which is paid for by us ratepayers and us taxpayers.
Auckland Council’s Auckland Plan debates the Housing Accord draft today. Expect Government to keep in the “reserve the right to override” clause.
The relevant 7 Ministers come up to Auckland to duscuss it with Council July 16th.
And at the same time Smith will act to reduce developer contributions. Apparently such things as Art Galleries are “nice to have” not integral parts of community infrastructure. And the market will provide the perfect solution to Auckland’s woes.
I just spent some time in Sydney. The place has a population density about twice that of Auckland and most sections are much smaller. My sister’s property in a salubrious part of Sydney was 250 square meters, the sort of area that some say will cause the end of civilisation as we know it. But the place works well and the increased density means that public transport works much better.
Not that practical examples of what can be achieved have ever stood in the way of blinkered ideology …
1 for Lanth, yes i concede the point of the debate we were having vis a vis the proportionality of the Parliament being altered by a by-election,
i got that one wrong and that is confirmed this morning by an email from the Electoral Commission saying that if a party won an electoral seat in a by-election that they had not held at the previous election that party’s share of list MP’s would not change,
Will email them later and see if their position is supported by Law or Regulation or they have assumed such a position because the Law and Regulations do not specifically address that issue…
” or they have assumed such a position because the Law and Regulations do not specifically address that issue…” with current form being displayed in the House, that certainly seems a necessary distinction
Have just sent another mail to the Electoral Commission putting the relevant questions to them, there is possibly an amendment or regulation attached to the 1993 electoral act some place where i couldn’t see it that allows for the proportionality of the Parliament to be upset by a by-election but so far i haven’t been able to find it,
i have the sneaking suspicion that such a situation occurring where the proportionality of the Parliament could be altered by a by-election might not have been thought of when the 1993 legislation was drafted and perhaps someone(s) have granted unto themselves without regulatory right the right to alter the proportionality of the Parliament in the unlikely event of a by-election delivering such a result,
That however is mere speculation on my part and we will see what the Electoral Commissions reply contains, i would hate to see the proportionality of the Parliament distorted simply because someone(s) don’t like the idea of the lowest placed MP on a party’s list being given the kick should their party win a by-election…
I think that makes it fairly clear that your suggestion is unworkable: just as a list member resigning after winning a by-election increases the party’s seat count by 1, resigning as a list-member after a colleague won the by-election and becoming an independent that votes along with your former party (a la Horan) would equally allow the party’s effective seat count to increase by 1.
Al Jazeera
Racism: Tolerated and trivialised in New Zealand
Indigenous groups seek to fight back against stereotypes being pushed in mainstream media.
[…]Public support and governmental complacency
But it is not just Nisbet who believes the cartoons are an acceptable part of popular and political culture. Marlborough Express editor Steve Mason claims that although the paper has received complaints, the cartoons have also garnered public support. And then there is governmental leadership that refuses to seriously intervene. New Zealand’s Race Relations Commissioner, Susan Devoy, states that although the cartoons are offensive, they do not exceed a racism threshold established by the Human Rights Commission. Even New Zealand’s Prime Minister, John Key, chimed in, arguing that the racism threshold should not be changed because, like pornography, racism is subjectively defined.
And you obviously don’t get out much as we genuinely have a high reputation for race relations compared to the UK, France and Australia, but what ever floats the chip on your shoulder, eh?
Cheers for backing up my point by listing three of the most ethno-centric nations in the world.
Two colonial nations and Aussie, nice one. Downward comparisons aren’t really my thing, but you go for it
Anything else to offer?
A nice article about putting the culture back into agriculture
“At one point ‘agriculture’ was about the culture of food. Losing that culture, in favor of an American cultural monocrop, joined with an agricultural monocrop, puts us in a perilous state…” says food and Native activist Winona LaDuke.[i]
Her lament is an agribusiness executive’s dream. The CEO of the H.J. Heinz Company said, “Once television is there, people, whatever shade, culture, or origin, want roughly the same things.”[ii] The same things are based on the same technology, same media sources, same global economy, and same food.
“But if the question is do we use the United States or one of our other partners to circumvent New Zealand law then the answer is categorically no.”
John Key, TV3 Firstline, Tuesday 11 June 2013
See also….
No. 19 Matthew Hooton: “It is ridiculous to say that unions deliver higher wages! They DON’T!”
No. 18 Ant Strachan: “The All Blacks won the RWC 2011 because of outstanding defence!”
No. 17 Stephen Franks: “Peter has been such a level-headed, safe pair of hands.”
No. 16 Phil Kafcaloudes: “Tony Abbott…hasn’t made any mistakes over the past eighteen months.”
No. 15 Donald Rumsfeld: “I did not lie… Colin Powell did not lie.”
No. 14 Colin Powell: “a post-9/11 nexus between Iraq and terrorist organizations…connections are now emerging…”
No.13 Barack Obama: “Simply put, these strikes have saved lives.” http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-27052013/#comment-638881
No. 12 U.K. Ministry of Defence: “Protecting the Afghan civilian population is one of ISAF and the UK’s top priorities.”
No. 11 Brendan O’Connor: “Australia’s approach to refugees is compassionate and generous.”
No. 10 Boris Johnson: “Londoners have… the best police in the world to look after us and keep us safe.”
No. 9 NewstalkZB PR dept: “News you NEED! Fast, fair, accurate!”
No. 8 Simon Bridges: “I don’t mean to duck the question….”
No. 7 Nigel Morrison: “Quite frankly, they’ve been VERY tough.”
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-15052013/#comment-633295
No. 6 NZ Herald PR dept: “Congratulations—you’re reading New Zealand’s best newspaper.”
No. 5 Rawdon Christie: “…a FORMIDABLE replacement, it seems, is Claudette Hauiti.” http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-13052013/#comment-632594
No. 4 Willie and J.T.: “The X-Factor. Nah, nah, there’s some GREAT talent there!”
No. 3 John Key: “Yeah we hold MPs to a higher standard.”
No. 2 Colin Craig: “Oh, I have a GREAT sense of humour.”
No. 1 Barack Obama: “Margaret Thatcher was one of the great champions of freedom and liberty.”
Listening to Greg O’Connor this morning he sounded like Peter Dunne with that firm, certain tone in his voice. A bit of uncertainty is called for in these complex days I think. ‘We think this is the best approach but we will be monitoring it for effectiveness and open to suggestions’ sort of thing.
Why do we hear so much about policing matters from the President of the Police Association which is a union (though they call it a service organisation), and why isn’t there an official police spokesperson who is a go-to?
The project to criminalize and marginalize dissent:
Radio NZ’s thoughtless “news” items make it an accomplice to state repression
After listening to Suzy Ferguson read out a “news” item that might have been composed for her by the U.S. State Department, or the Pentagon, I sent her the following e-mail….
Your prejudiced language used to describe Edward Snowden
Dear Suzy,
You have twice said that the whistleblower Edward Snowden is “holed up” in Hong Kong. That is the kind of language that is used to describe a desperado on the run after robbing a bank or murdering someone. When you do that, you (perhaps unwittingly) repeat the U.S. government’s propaganda against this dissenter.
Why do you not say that he has taken refuge in Hong Kong?
Yours in concern at the standards at Radio NZ,
Morrissey Breen
Northcote Point
No reply so far, more than twelve hours later.
I urge others to contact this publicly funded organization and make the same point, then demand a reply.
W Smith
Well don’t be a tease, tell us about it. It’s a dirty job going to WO but you’re the person to do it apparently. And we will await your report.
I think they actually pay them (her) too!
It’s a bit like those deep an meaningful ‘market analysis’ commentaries on nightly news ‘shows’ where the market analysts are the traders and ‘chief economists’ from various institutions. (Impartial of course!)
It reminds me of the late 80s/early 90s when we used to keep score of their various predictions – you could have been more accurate usually with the aid of a dart board.
NewstalkZB host reckons it’s time to “speak out about prejudice”!
This time, however, he’s on the side of the VICTIMS….
NewstalkZB, Monday 10 June 2013, 12:20 p.m.
Your host: DANNY WATSON!
Prince Harry—the heroic “Warrior Prince”—is renowned for drinking till he’s shit-faced, snorting coke, cavorting with prostitutes and killing peasants in Afghanistan. And now, this paragon of English manhood has defended a gay soldier against bullying.
No, I don’t believe that last bit either—but that’s the latest story to come out of the British Army’s enormous, indefatigable PR machine.
One person who evidently DOES believe this unlikely tale of royal heroism is NewstalkZB’s Danny Watson, who used it to set up the topic for today’s learned discussion: “Are we an intolerant society?”
DANNY WATSON: Are we more tolerant these days? I think we are. But when we hear someone using derogatory language against ANY group, it’s our duty to speak out! Michael, hello!
MICHAEL: We hear a lot about gays being discriminated against, but what about them discriminating against others? I was abused by a group of gays just this morning.
DANNY WATSON: What do you mean?
MICHAEL: Well I was in a supermarket andTHEY called ME homophobic. Now to me they are just like robbers and boy racers—I don’t like what robbers and boy racers do either, but I don’t hate the person.
DANNY WATSON:[dubiously] Y-y-yeahhhhh….
MICHAEL: I’m not SCARED of them. They just think they can attack me because I’m a Christian….
He may pretend to be more compassionate than his colleagues but Danny anti-“free money” Watson is just as gross as the others, FoulTalkZB is shit radio imo and more likely to screw your mind or redden your neck than anything else.
It will be very concerning if the opportunistic, pro ’81 Springbok tour supporter John Key decides to attend the seemingly imminent funeral of Nelson Mandela.
Question 4 today in Parliament from Shearer to Key:
“Has he received any information that shows foreign intelligence agencies are routinely collecting emails, other communication or location data on New Zealand citizens and residents while they are in New Zealand; if so, has the resulting information been passed on to the Government Communications Security Bureau?”
I am sure the answer should be yes but Key will never admit that.
Should be getting through to people, how the system could quite easily function, to blackmail MPs, the world , in large chunks , will be run on shame!
The intelligence agencies are out of control, have been since they formed, just now that people are beginning to learn but what sort of reach, and some of the antics, these wankers are capable of!
Even though YOU will not get the irony, it will amuse others here that you have unwittingly chosen an Orwell character’s name to post your adulation of the most anti-democratic government this country has ever suffered.
No unwittingly about it, its more a reaction to every left-wing nutbar that keeps mentioning 1984 whenever the government (sorry the National government) do anything.
I sometimes think that theres more than a few lefty nutbars who wouldn’t mind us coming under big brothers rule just so they could say told you so
No unwittingly about it, its more a reaction to every left-wing nutbar that keeps mentioning 1984 whenever the government (sorry the National government) do anything.
You’re unwitting, all right. Do you even know what George Orwell wrote about?
I sometimes think that theres more than a few lefty nutbars who wouldn’t mind us coming under big brothers rule just so they could say told you so
In case you haven’t noticed, we are very much under Big Brother’s rule.
(Hell, what am I saying? Of course he hasn’t noticed.)
You have the job at the Ministry of Truth don’t you?
National Standards are useless because they’re neither standard nor national. Throw in the fact that teaching to the test dumbs the the children down and decimates their creativity and National Standards are the worst thing that any government could have done to their educational system.
Of course, that’s what National want and, in fact, need. People who actually question what their told will easily see through National’s lies.
Its a shame National’s arithmetic fails them when they need to count the number of Kiwi’s in poverty.
But make up some incomparable and questionable stats, and the monkeys will clap
With War Crimes Argument Banned,
Manning’s Military Trial Is Judicial Lynching
by CHRIS HEDGES, 10 June 2013
The military trial of Bradley Manning is a judicial lynching. The government has effectively muzzled the defense team. The Army private first class is not permitted to argue that he had a moral and legal obligation under international law to make public the war crimes he uncovered. The documents that detail the crimes, torture and killing Manning revealed, because they are classified, have been barred from discussion in court, effectively removing the fundamental issue of war crimes from the trial. Manning is forbidden by the court to challenge the government’s unverified assertion that he harmed national security. Lead defense attorney David E. Coombs said during pretrial proceedings that the judge’s refusal to permit information on the lack of actual damage from the leaks would “eliminate a viable defense, and cut defense off at the knees.” And this is what has happened.
Manning is also barred from presenting to the court his motives for giving the website WikiLeaks hundreds of thousands of classified diplomatic cables, war logs from Afghanistan and Iraq, and videos. The issues of his motives and potentially harming national security can be raised only at the time of sentencing, but by then it will be too late.
The draconian trial restrictions, familiar to many Muslim Americans tried in the so-called war on terror, presage a future of show trials and blind obedience. Our email and phone records, it is now confirmed, are swept up and stored in perpetuity on government computers. Those who attempt to disclose government crimes can be easily traced and prosecuted under the Espionage Act. Whistle-blowers have no privacy and no legal protection. This is why Edward Snowden—a former CIA technical assistant who worked for a defense contractor with ties to the National Security Agency and who leaked to Glenn Greenwald at the Guardian the information about the National Security Council’s top-secret program to collect Americans’ cellphone metadata, e-mail and other personal data—has fled the United States. The First Amendment is dead. There is no legal mechanism left to challenge the crimes of the power elite. We are bound and shackled. And those individuals who dare to resist face the prospect, if they remain in the country, of joining Manning in prison, perhaps the last refuge for the honest and the brave.
Coombs opened the trial last week by pleading with the judge, Army Col. Denise Lind, for leniency based on Manning’s youth and sincerity. Coombs is permitted by Lind to present only circumstantial evidence concerning Manning’s motives or state of mind. He can argue, for example, that Manning…..
Back in 1995, the UK government set up a national DNA databank to hold the DNA profiles of people arrested and imprisoned. Since then it has become one of the most extensive DNA databases in the world, holding profiles on almost 6 million people (many of whom have not been charged with any crime). But that’s not enough for the police – it turns out they’ve been keeping a parallel secret database without statutory authority:
Police and intelligence services have been sending terror suspects’ DNA to counterparts around the world with no official scrutiny over their actions, a government watchdog has warned.
The National DNA Database Ethics Group has demanded an explanation as fears emerged that a little-known archive of thousands of samples, often taken without permission from innocent people during counter-terrorism operations, had been operating with “no statutory basis”.
The group has also asked ministers to detail exactly what information from the Counter Terrorism DNA database – operated by the Metropolitan Police as an “adjunct” to the national database – has been handed to foreign governments and intelligence services, and what safeguards govern how the information is used.
This likely violates the Data Protection Act and possibly other legislation. The question now is whether the police will be punished for it, or whether they are in fact above the law.
Meanwhile, this raises an obvious question: are our police doing the same?
Posted by Idiot/Savant at 6/11/2013 02:21:00 PM
It’s people like you that make me despair sometimes. We can recognise people like Key or Hooton for what they are and act accordingly, but people like you, who are supposedly on the same side, but have almost no capacity to build relationship because you believe that your views are the most important thing and never wrong, well you just suck the lifeblood out of any useful movement towards change. It’s a pity you cannot stand dissent (irony alert), because you do bring in useful POVs and information. But then so much gets lost in the aftermath.
Of course what will follow now will be:
1. no link
2. apparent refutation of what I say, but completely devoid of anything of substance that addresses my points, and full of pseudo-clever phrasings about how terrible weka is – because that’s the most important thing, isn’t it? What is apparently wrong with me, as opposed to intelligently critiquing my views or actions.
Let me give you some clues: instead of calling me all the variations of an idiot, why not try and explain what you disagree with by referring to what I have said.
(you won’t of course be able to use yesterday as an example, because I wasn’t being fascist, nor was I ‘gang-banging’* dissenters).
1.) Link, so I know what the fuck you are on about.
Have a look at our little contre-temps on yesterday’s Open Mike. That’s what I was referring to.
2.) Nice early Godwin btw.
Oh God, we’re back on the Godwin’s train, are we? All right, let’s agree that, although those fellows who were pouring scorn on Edward Snowden—Populuxe1 sneering at him as a “desk jockey” with a “narcissistic personality disorder and fantasies of being James Bond”—may not be signed up members of the S.S. Trust or the Nazi Party, they are certainly keen to recycle official lies, as soon as they are promulgated. Snowden’s unveiling only happened a couple of days ago; Populuxe was repeating the official line on him within 24 hours.
3.) It’s people like you that make me despair sometimes. We can recognise people like Key or Hooton for what they are and act accordingly, but people like you, who are supposedly on the same side, but have almost no capacity to build relationship because you believe that your views are the most important thing and never wrong, well you just suck the lifeblood out of any useful movement towards change.
Your claims about me are both extreme and unfair. In what way have I shown I “have almost no capacity to build a relationship”? I am more than willing to enter into a good faith discussion; I am also perfectly willing to modify my views, and even discard some of them after being convinced.
4.) It’s a pity you cannot stand dissent (irony alert),
Again, that is an unfair and entirely erroneous statement.
5.) ….because you do bring in useful POVs and information. But then so much gets lost in the aftermath.
I think you are blaming me for the hysterical denunciations engaged in by a few people—with, yes, Populuxe1 being the most unhinged of those denouncers.
6.) Of course what will follow now will be:
1. no link
I gave the link.
7.) 2. apparent refutation of what I say, but completely devoid of anything of substance that addresses my points, and full of pseudo-clever phrasings about how terrible weka is – because that’s the most important thing, isn’t it? What is apparently wrong with me, as opposed to intelligently critiquing my views or actions.
No, I don’t think that, and I’ve never thought it. I think you’re a valuable contributor to this forum.
8.) Let me give you some clues: instead of calling me all the variations of an idiot, why not try and explain what you disagree with by referring to what I have said.
(you won’t of course be able to use yesterday as an example, because I wasn’t being fascist, nor was I ‘gang-banging’* dissenters).
I accept your word in good faith. But just take a good luck at what I write in future.
Ok, fair enough Morrissey, and thanks for your considered reply.
I’m still not really sure what you were referring to yesterday (I read alot of comments, but not all of them). I don’t consider any of the regulars here to be fascists. Nor myself.
I probably disagree with some of the same people you do, but IMO the point of Godwin’s law is to stop comparisons of relatively ordinary behaviour with the extremities of the Holocaust because once those comparisons start we may as well all call each other fuckwits and go home (ie the debate is nearing pointlessness). Reading Godwin yesterday, I understand that one of his primary motivations was to prevent that kind of dishonour of Holocaust victims. In other words we should save the word fascist for when we really need it.
btw, I don’t think I’ve expressed an opinion about Snowden yet, but fwiw, on the basis of what I’ve seen so far, I think he is brave and doing the US and the world a great service. I also think that it’s almost impossible for us to know the truth about him as a person, and that his motivations may be more complex that what we are being shown presently.
It may help to know that reasonably often I will argue something in a discussion on principle that has little bearing on what I think about the actual topic eg my first comments recently about Godwin were aimed at people on both sides of the debate, and were irrespective of what I thought about fluoridation of public water supplies. Sometimes people get confused about which side I am on.
This from wikipedia
“The UK DNA database is one of the world’s largest, and has prompted concerns from some quarters as to its scope and usage. The database helps in solving crime and prosecuting runaway criminals years after the crime has been committed. Recordable offences include begging, being drunk and disorderly and taking part in an illegal demonstration.”
Yep we are fucked and it would be nice to know if our law enforcement are doing the same or similar but it is a rhetorical question really because they will be.
Every month my heart sinks when I collect the offerings from our letterbox, and included within it is the free eLocal magazine.
(I live in Franklin, and while there are some salt of the earth types around, I think it is reasonable to say that a book of Al Nisbet’s cartoons would be a popular stocking filler around Christmas time.)
Every edition of the eLocal contains at least one diatribe against Māori. This month’s edition contains the feature Twi$ting the Treaty – A Tribal Grab for Wealth and Power along with a couple of other articles denigrating in some way our tangata whenua.
To give some indication of the tone of the feature articles (and indeed the whole publication): the opening paragraph:
The big question out of dozens that this book raises for me, is this: Is New Zealand moving towards an apartheid style of Government, where the Māori race prevails over all others?”
Every month I put aside the magazine in order to compile an email list of the advertisers, so that I can vent to those that pay to have this drivel delivered for free to my address. To my dismay, I find that each month that list gets bigger and bigger and now over half of the 64 pages of this magazine are advertisements of some sort for local businesses.
So, once again I’ll put my magazine aside for my to-do list, but thought I would post the link to the publication here, along with the information that a new political party 1Law4All that supports this view is also being promoted in this business subsidised rubbish.
You can view back editions to read what residents of Franklin and the local tangata whenua have to put up with.
Moderation is used for comments – so I’m waiting to see whether mine will be published.
Feel free to add your own and give the moderators something to do…
Surprise… did get published.. along with this answer from the editor.
(Don’t even want to comment on the repeated spelling errors from this editor.)
Molly
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
I consider most of your articles offensive, and ill informed. It is a shame that constant denigration of a treaty partner is considered to be still acceptable in NZ society today.
Perhaps you should read books that expand your world view, instead of selecting only those that reinforce it.
editor
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Thank you for your comment Molly. I would like to ask you which books that can expand my view that you feel is making elocal an ill informed product. I would like to point out that we are pointing out the obvious in that the traty partner has privilaged rights over all other ethnic groups. Here are a just a few of those rights that non Maori can not participate in. I’m not sure why you would not see the obvious?
MAORI-ONLY PRIVILAGES …
Schools
Education scholarships
Housing projects
Health prioritisation and initiatives
Welfare (whanau ora)
Prisoner programmes
Positions on government agencies
Consultation rights under the RMA
Parks, rivers, lakes, coastline
Maori authority tax rates
Maori authority tax-free status
Seats on local councils
Local government statutory boards
Local government liaison committees
Seats in parliament
Sports teams
Maori Land Owners Trustee Organisation Brand
Maori electoral roll
Agribusiness Awards
Maori TV Channel
Billions of $ of Government payouts
Music Awards
Forest Rental Trust, which only Maori can use to finance their claims however the forests are owned by the public. (“Let the Truth be known” by Hilda Philips she found there were about 269 Acts giving Maori preference over non-Maori).
Sole Rights to Greenstone in the South Island
Sole Rights to whale watching and beached whales
Surprise… did get published.. along with this answer from Franklin Elocal.
(Don’t even want to comment on the repeated spelling errors from this editor.)
Surprise… did get published.. along with this answer from Franklin Elocal.
(Don’t even want to comment on the repeated spelling errors from this editor.)
[karol: deleted most of the repeated content – won’t trash the whole repeat post as it will disrupt the discussions that follow]
Molly I’m afraid that Franklin eLocal whateveritis has a history of racism and stupidity – good luck with fighting it – check out Reading the Maps for other attempts
Firstly I looked at the advertising rates and the 1st three months is free and I wouldn’t mind betting that it gets rolled over for free too. So if you ask a local business how it came to their attention you may be able to confirm that the “free” was a large part of the deal.
The I tracked the Elocal back thr’ the companies office etc. and after going thr’ various directors etc I found an “Edward Brian DAY” who looks like he owns the company that owns the company etc etc. and he signs petitions hosted by nzcpr.com.
This site hosts this “Constitutional Reform – join our campaign to oppose a new Treaty-based Constitution ”
and the site is supposedly founded and run by “Dr Muriel Newman is the founder and Director of the New Zealand Centre for Political Research.” ex Actoid.
So I suppose the questions are:
Who funds the Elocal site
Who funds Muriel Newman’s site – it is supposedly funded by donations but that is a pretty wide statement. Maybe they get one or two large donations from some where.
So I guess the killer questions to ask the local businesses is “Do you know you are supporting Muriel Newman and ACT?
But really annoyed that here we are in 2013 still receiving this publication, and approving comments on the website just reinforce the impression that racism lies under a very thin skin here.
Wait…. wait… I feel a Morrisey Breen interlude coming on.
That nicest man on Earth has (once again hooked up with the Irish sage – Her, once accused of plagiarism who took a break in the hope that a return would be seen through a red filter, rather than the Blue one we’re accustomed to)
Christ! Err Her Err Her – no – can’t frikken stand it any longer. I suspect (judging by the wee her err her err) indicatetes a Farrar muppet about to pop up seeking the credibility of the masses.
I heard it too, Tim, and will be posting my thoughts on the grievous (as usual) “Pre-show” segment. I missed everything after 4 o’clock, but I am sure it was as awful as I suspect it was.
Perhaps the low point of the day, however, came at about 1:30, when Jim Mora introduced the utterly useless Nicky Pellegrino as “the celebrated novelist.”
But remember, the real problem is the likes of us (“corporate box? I can barely afford a telly”) not all working harder for a Labour victory. Coz, you know, they totally deserve it.
That is a stupid move on his part.
It would be interesting to see what sort of process such gifts should be declared/vetted through the various parties, too.
Why shouldn’t a politician be allowed to have a taste of the high life, as a just reward for all that hard work and self sacrifice they perform on behalf of the public? Especially as an Opposition MP’s salary is pretty minimal by real standards and these people are real leaders who can get far better paying jobs in the private sector if that was their motivation.
Talk about the politics of envy you lefties.
Anyhows, corporates have a real business need to forge ties with all different political parties, it helps reduce the material risk of important and profitable business arrangements with Government being arbitrarily undone.
Today, Shearer had a well written speech to read in the urgent debate on Dunne’s resignation, but oh my, the over-emphasised, shouty speech full of hesitancies.
Missed Shearer’s beginning with a phone call but saw the rest, and enjoyed the speech- one hesitancy worth remarking on and picked up by the opposition benches. But I liked the glare and the retort he gave to an interjection “Woken up, have you?”
His content was good and I note that Key did not defend his actions but left it to English.
Labour kept to one theme- that this government and its ugly programme is kept in office by two minor parties of one MP each who are involved with money in brown paper bags or are so untrustworthy that they cannot be left on an intelligence committee.
Key was dreadful to watch at question time, and is allowed far too much room by the Speaker to put in, almost for him obligatory, digs at the opposition along ‘You did it, too” lines.
The “woken up have you?” and the quality of the speech writing were the bright points. But listening to it, rather than watching, I found somewhat painful. He is still no where near good enough for a party leader, and just doesn’t spark..
I caught a bit of Cunliffe speaking on the immigration Bill just before the dinner break – it was excellent as usual, and much more front bench quality than what Shearer is coming up with.
Banks was more painful in his points of order. He tried to divert from Shearer’s comments about Key’s support partners (including Banks facing court) in quite a nasty way. Banks comments about Shearer’s NY “money laundering account” were wide of the mark, and in no way equivalent to the funding issues and corporate cronyism Banks is associated with.
Shearer’s bank account is not a good look for a labour movement party leader, but there’s been no evidence of money laundering.
OK, It seems that when they returned from dinner, Maggie Barry managed to get a point of order calling for the vote. What a disgrace that Unite Future had a vote.
But Cunliffe was just warming up when he was interrupted: on the immigration Bill aiming to prevent mass arrivals of “boat people” – Cunliffe calls it a distraction from a government teetierng on the brink: a government that is trashing people’s rights etc.
Tomorrow afternoon, if things go really really badly, I may find myself down to one eye. People who used to sneer at me on Twitter will no doubt say So what's changed? Nothing, that's what, you one-eyed lefty.I don’t mean to be dramatic, it’s just a routine bit of cataract ...
A few weeks ago an invitation dropped into my email inbox to attend a joint Treasury/Motu seminar on recent, rather major, changes that had apparently been made to the discount rates used by The Treasury to evaluate proposals from government agencies. It was all news to me, but when ...
All your life is Time magazineI read it tooWhat does it mean?PressureI'm sure you'll have some cosmic rationaleBut here you are with your faithAnd your Peter Pan adviceYou have no scars on your faceAnd you cannot handle pressureSongwriter: Billy Joel.Christopher Luxon is under pressure from all sides. The reviews are ...
After seeing yet-more-months of political debate and policy decisions to ‘go for growth’ by pulling the same old cheap migration and cheap tourism levers without nearly-enough infrastructure, or any attempt to address the same old lack of globally conventional tax incentives for investment, I thought it would be worth issuing ...
The plans for the buildings that will replace the downtown carpark have been publicly notified giving us the first detailed glance at what is proposed for one of the biggest and best development sites in the city centre. The council agreed to sell the site to Precinct Properties for $122 ...
With the Reserve Bank expected today to return the Official Cash Rate to where it was in mid-2022 comes a measure of how much of a psychological impact the rate has. Federated Farmers has published its latest six-monthly farm confidence survey, which shows that profit expectations have fallen and risen ...
Kiwis Disallowed From Waiting Lists Based on Arbitrary MeasuresWellington hospital are now rejecting patients from specialist waiting lists due to BMI (body mass index).This article from Rachel Thomas for The Post says it all (emphasis mine):A group of Porirua GPs are sounding alarm bells after patients with body mass indexes ...
The Prime Minister says he's really comfortable with us not knowing the reoffending rate for his boot camp programme.They asked him for it at yesterday’s press conference, and he said, nah, not telling, have to respect people's privacy.Okay I'll bite. Let's say they release this information to us:The rate of ...
Warning 1: There is a Nazi theme at the end of this article related to the disabled community. Warning 2: This article could be boring!One day, last year, I excitedly opened up a Substack post that was about how to fight back, and the answer at the end was disappointing ...
This may be rhetorical but here goes: did any of you invest in the $Libra memecoin endorsed and backed by Argentine president and darling of the global Right Javier Milei (who admitted to being paid a fee for his promotion of the token)? You know, the one that soared above ...
Last week various of the great and good of New Zealand economics and public policy trooped off to Hamilton (of all places) for the annual Waikato Economics Forum, one of the successful marketing drives of university’s Vice-Chancellor. My interest was in the speeches delivered by the Minister of Finance and ...
The Prime Minister says the Government would be open to sending peacekeepers to Ukraine if a ceasefire was reached. The government has announced a $30 million spend on tourism infrastructure and biodiversity projects, including $11m spent to improve popular visitor sites and further $19m towards biodiversity efforts. A New Zealand-born ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler “But what about when the sun doesn't shine?!” Ah yes, the energy debate’s equivalent of “The Earth is flat!” Every time someone mentions solar or wind power, some self-proclaimed energy expert emerges from the woodwork to drop this supposedly devastating truth bomb: ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission.In this article I look into data on how well the rail network serve New Zealanders, and how many people might be able to travel by train… if we ran more than a ...
Hi,Before we get into Hayden Donnell’s new column about how yes, Donald Trump is definitely the Antichrist, I wanted to touch on something feral that happened in New Zealand last week.Members of Destiny Church pushed and punched their way into an Auckland library, apparently angry it was part of Pride ...
Despite delays, logjams and overcrowding in our emergency departments, funding constraints are limiting the numbers of nurses and doctors being trained. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, February 18 are:A NZ Herald investigation ...
Now that the US has ripped up the Atlantic alliance, Europe is more vulnerable now than at any time since the mid-1930s. Apparently, Europe and Ukraine itself will not have a seat at the table in the talks between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin that will ...
Olivia and Noah and Hana are going to the library!It is fun to go to the library. It has books and songs and mat time and people who smile at you and say, Hello Olivia, what have you been doing this morning?The library is more fun than the mall. At ...
New World Orders: The challenge facing Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins is how to keep their small and vulnerable nation safe and stable in a world whose economic and political climate the forty-seventh American president is changing so profoundly.IT IS, SURELY, the ultimate Millennial revenge fantasy. Calling senior Baby-Boomer and Gen-X ...
“This might surprise you, Laurie, but I reckon Trump’s putting on a bloody impressive performance.”“GOODNESS ME, HANNAH, just look at all those Valentine’s Day cards!”“Occupational hazard, Laurie, the more beer I serve, the more my customers declare their undying love!”“Crikey! I had no idea business was so good.” Laurie squinted ...
In 2005, Labour repealed the long-standing principle of birthright citizenship in Aotearoa. Why? As with everything else Labour does, it all came down to austerity: "foreign mothers" were supposedly "coming to this country to give birth", and this was "put[ting] pressure on hospitals". Then-Immigration Minister George Hawkins explicitly gave this ...
And I just hope that you can forgive usBut everything must goAnd if you need an explanation, nationThen everything must goSongwriters: James Dean Bradfield / Sean Anthony Moore / Nicholas Allen Jones.Today, I’d like to talk about a couple of things that happened over the weekend:Brian Tamaki’s Library Invasion and ...
New reporting highlights how Brooke van Velden refuses to meet with the CTU but is happy to meet with fringe Australian-based unions. Van Velden is pursuing reckless changes to undermine the personal grievance system against the advice of her own officials. Engineering New Zealand are saying that hundreds of engineers ...
The NZCTU strongly supports the Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill. This Bill represents a positive step towards addressing serious issues around unlawful disparities in pay by protecting workers’ rights to discuss their pay and conditions. This Bill also provides welcome support for helping tackle the prevalent gender and ...
Years of hard work finally paid off last week as the country’s biggest and most important transport project, the City Rail Link reached a major milestone with the first test train making its way slowly though the tunnels for the first time. This is a fantastic achievement and it is ...
Engineers are pleading for the Government to free up funds to restart stalled projects. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, February 17 are:Engineering New Zealand CEO Richard Templer said yesterday hundreds of ...
It’s one of New Zealand’s great sustaining myths: the spirit of ANZAC, our mates across the ditch, the spirit of Earl’s Court, Antipodeans united against the world. It is also a myth; it is not reality. That much was clear from a series of speakers, including a former Australian Prime ...
Many people have been unsatisfied for years that things have not improved for them, some as individuals, many more however because their families are clearly putting in more work, for less money – and certainly far less purchase on society. This general discontent has grown exponentially since the GFC. ...
A listing of 34 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 9, 2025 thru Sat, February 15, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report shows worsening food poverty and housing shortages mean more than 400,000 people now need welfare support, the highest level since the 1990s. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and ...
You're just too too obscure for meOh you don't really get through to meAnd there's no need for you to talk that wayIs there any less pessimistic things to say?Songwriters: Graeme DownesToday, I thought we’d take a look at some of the most cringe-inducing moments from last week, but don’t ...
Please note: I’ve delayed my “What can we do?” article for this video.The video above shows Destiny Church members assaulting staff and librarians as they pushed through to a room of terrified parents and young children.It was posted to social media last night.But if you read Sinead Boucher’s Stuff, you ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is sea level rise exaggerated? Sea levels are rising at an accelerating rate, not stagnating or decreasing. Warming global temperatures cause land ice ...
Here is a scenario, but first a historical parallel. Hitler and the Nazis could well have accomplished everything that they wanted to do within German borders, including exterminating Jews, so long as they confined their ambitious to Germany itself. After all, the world pretty much sat and watched as the ...
I’ve spent the last couple of days in Hamilton covering Waikato University’s annual NZ Economics Forum, where (arguably) three of the most influential people in our political economy right now laid out their thinking in major speeches about the size and role of Government, their views on for spending, tax ...
Simeon Brown’s Ideology BentSimeon Brown once told Kiwis he tries to represent his deep sense of faith by interacting “with integrity”.“It’s important that there’s Christians in Parliament…and from my perspective, it’s great to be a Christian in Parliament and to bring that perspective to [laws, conversations and policies].”And with ...
Severe geological and financial earthquakes are inevitable. We just don’t know how soon and how they will play out. Are we putting the right effort into preparing for them?Every decade or so the international economy has a major financial crisis. We cannot predict exactly when or exactly how it will ...
Questions1. How did Old Mate Grabaseat describe his soon-to-be-Deputy-PM’s letter to police advocating for Philip Polkinghorne?a.Ill-advisedb.A perfect letterc.A letter that will live in infamyd.He had me at hello2. What did Seymour say in response?a.What’s ill-advised is commenting when you don’t know all the facts and ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff has called on OJI Fibre Solutions to work with the government, unions, and the community before closing the Kinleith Paper Mill. “OJI has today announced 230 job losses in what will be a devastating blow for the community. OJI needs to work with ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is sounding the alarm about the latest attack on workers from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden, who is ignoring her own officials to pursue reckless changes that would completely undermine the personal grievance system. “Brooke van Velden’s changes will ...
Hi,When I started writing Webworm in 2020, I wrote a lot about the conspiracy theories that were suddenly invading our Twitter timelines and Facebook feeds. Four years ago a reader, John, left this feedback under one of my essays:It’s a never ending labyrinth of lunacy which, as you have pointed ...
And if you said this life ain't good enoughI would give my world to lift you upI could change my life to better suit your moodBecause you're so smoothAnd it's just like the ocean under the moonOh, it's the same as the emotion that I get from youYou got the ...
Aotearoa remains the minority’s birthright, New Zealand the majority’s possession. WAITANGI DAY commentary see-saws manically between the warmly positive and the coldly negative. Many New Zealanders consider this a good thing. They point to the unexamined patriotism of July Fourth and Bastille Day celebrations, and applaud the fact that the ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: and on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump’s administration over Gaza and Ukraine; on the ...
Up until now, the prevailing coalition view of public servants was that there were simply too many of them. But yesterday the new Public Service Commissioner, handpicked by the Luxon Government, said it was not so much numbers but what they did and the value they produced that mattered. Sir ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guests and ...
In a moment we explore the question: What is Andrew Bayly wanting to tell ACC, and will it involve enjoying a small wine tasting and then telling someone to fuck off? But first, for context, a broader one: What do we look for in a government?Imagine for a moment, you ...
As expected, Donald Trump just threw Ukraine under the bus, demanding that it accept Russia's illegal theft of land, while ruling out any future membership of NATO. Its a colossal betrayal, which effectively legitimises Russia's invasion, while laying the groundwork for the next one. But Trump is apparently fine with ...
A ballot for a single member's bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Employment Relations (Collective Agreements in Triangular Relationships) Amendment Bill (Adrian Rurawhe) The bill would extend union rights to employees in triangular relationships, where they are (nominally) employed by one party, but ...
This is a guest post by George Weeks, reviewing a book called ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin AshtonBook review: ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin Ashton (2015) – and what it means for Auckland. The title of this article might unnerve any Greater Auckland ...
This story was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Within just a week, the sheer devastation of the Los Angeles wildfires has pushed to the fore fundamental questions about the impact of the climate crisis that have been ...
In this world, it's just usYou know it's not the same as it wasSongwriters: Harry Edward Styles / Thomas Edward Percy Hull / Tyler Sam JohnsonYesterday, I received a lovely message from Caty, a reader of Nick’s Kōrero, that got me thinking. So I thought I’d share it with you, ...
In past times a person was considered “unserious” or “not a serious” person if they failed to grasp, behave and speak according to the solemnity of the context in which they were located. For example a serious person does not audibly pass gas at Church, or yell “gun” at a ...
Long stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, February 13 are:The coalition Government’s early 2024 ‘fiscal emergency’ freeze on funding, planning and building houses, schools, local roads and hospitals helped extend and deepen the economic and jobs recession through calendar ...
For obvious reasons, people feel uneasy when the right to be a citizen is sold off to wealthy foreigners. Even selling the right to residency seems a bit dubious, when so many migrants who are not millionaires get turned away or are made to jump through innumerable hoops – simply ...
A new season of White Lotus is nearly upon us: more murder mystery, more sumptuous surroundings, more rich people behaving badly.Once more we get to identify with the experience of the pampered tourist or perhaps the poorly paid help; there's something in White Lotus for all New Zealanders.And unlike the ...
In 2016, Aotearoa shockingly plunged to fourth place in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. Nine years later, and we're back there again: New Zealand has seen a further slip in its global ranking in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). [...] In the latest CPI New Zealand's score ...
1. You’ve started ranking your politicians on how much they respect the rule of law2. You’ve stopped paying attention to those news publications3. You’ve developed a sudden interest in a particular period of history4. More and more people are sounding like your racist, conspiracist uncle.5. Someone just pulled a Nazi ...
Transforming New Zealand: Brian EastonBrian Easton will discuss the above topic at 2/57 Willis Street, Wellington at 5:30pm on Tuesday 26 February at 2/57 Willis Street, WellingtonThe sub-title to the above is "Why is the Left failing?" Brian Easton's analysis is based on his view that while the ...
Salvation Army’s State of the Nation 2025 report highlights falling living standards, the highest unemployment rates since the 1990s and half of all Pacific children going without food. There are reports of hundreds if not thousands of people are applying for the same jobs in the wake of last year’s ...
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Correction: On the article The Condundrum of David Seymour, Luke Malpass conducted joint reviews with Bryce Wilkinson, the architect of the Regulatory Standards Bill - not Bryce Edwards. The article ...
Tomorrow the council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee meet and agenda has a few interesting papers. Council’s Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport Every year the council provide a Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport which is part of the process for informing AT of the council’s priorities and ...
All around in my home townThey're trying to track me down, yeahThey say they want to bring me in guiltyFor the killing of a deputyFor the life of a deputySongwriter: Robert Nesta Marley.Support Nick’s Kōrero today with a 20% discount on a paid subscription to receive all my newsletters directly ...
Hi,I think all of us have probably experienced the power of music — that strange, transformative thing that gets under our skin and helps us experience this whole life thing with some kind of sanity.Listening and experiencing music has always been such a huge part of my life, and has ...
Business frustration over the stalled economy is growing, and only 34% of voters are confidentNicola Willis can deliver. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 12 are:Business frustration is growing about a ...
I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
“The ACT Party can’t be bothered putting an MP on one of the Justice subcommittees hearing submissions on their own Treaty Principles Bill,” Labour Justice Spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
The Government’s newly announced funding for biodiversity and tourism of $30-million over three years is a small fraction of what is required for conservation in this country. ...
The Government's sudden cancellation of the tertiary education funding increase is a reckless move that risks widespread job losses and service reductions across New Zealand's universities. ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Ngāi Tahu wants to introduce contamination charges to address contamination in Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere, the High Court has been told.In the second week of the two-month case against the Attorney-General over wai māori (freshwater), Dr Elizabeth Brown, the Rangatira of Taumutu, which sits on the lake’s edge, told Justice Melanie ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra ASIO chief Mike Burgess has warned that over the next five years Australia’s security environment will become more dynamic, diverse and degraded, with “more security surprises” in the second half of the decade than in ...
There is certainly plenty of room for better police training for dealing with protest activity that starts with a rights-based approach to ensuring people can fully exercise their human rights. ...
“We are thrilled that this Bill is making its way through the House and looks set to become law,” said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Isaac Gross, Lecturer in Economics, Monash University Gumbariya/Shutterstock The Reserve Bank’s decision to cut interest rates for the first time in four years has triggered a round of celebration. Mortgage holders are cheering the fact their monthly repayments are now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Housing supply in Australia will be a key battleground in the election campaign. With home ownership more and more out of reach for young and not so young Australians, red tape and low productivity are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Korolev, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, UNSW Sydney The United States and Russia agreed to work on a plan to end the war in Ukraine at high-level talks in Saudi Arabia this week. Ukrainian and European representatives were pointedly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karleen Gribble, Adjunct Professor, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University BaLL LunLa/Shutterstock Sleep is the holy grail for new parents. So no wonder many tired parents are looking for something to help their babies sleep. A TikTok trend claims ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ranjana Gupta, Senior Lecturer, Accounting Department, Auckland University of Technology Jirsak/Shutterstock The profit made on every breakfast bowl of weet-bix is tax exempt, giving Sanitarium Health Food Company, owned by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, an advantage over other breakfast food companies. ...
A closer look at some of the homegrown talent currently commanding television screens around the globe. The new season of The White Lotus hit our screens this week, and with it a familiar face in New Zealand actor Morgana O’Reilly. To secure a role in one of the world’s most ...
"This is a crisis of the Government’s own making and the unit is another sign of desperation," said PSA acting national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Francesca Perugia, Senior Lecturer, School of Design and the Built Environment, Curtin University Australia’s housing crisis has created a push for fast-tracked construction. Federal, state and territory governments have set a target of 1.2 million new homes over five years. Increasing housing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ash Watson, Scientia Fellow and Senior Lecturer, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock When we’re uncomfortable we say the “vibe is off”. When we’re having a good time we’re “vibing”. To assess the mood we do a “vibe check”. And when the atmosphere in ...
What’s up with the man from Epsom? The leader of the Act Party has been in plenty of headlines in the last two weeks, ranging from a controversial letter to police on behalf of constituent Philip Polkinghorne (written before David Seymour was a minister) to an attempt to drive ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Stephenson, Deputy Director, Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, Australian National University Newly published research has found clear evidence that openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, and queer+ (LGBTIQ+) Australian politicians were disproportionately targeted with personal abuse on social media at the ...
Gilmore Girls, Schitt’s Creek, even The Vampire Diaries – they’re all set in tight-knit neighbourhoods where everyone knows everyone. So what is it like to actually know your neighbours? My favourite television shows are set in tight-knit neighbourhoods where everyone knows everyone. Characters attend town meetings where they debate local ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yanyan Hong, PhD Candidate in Communication and Media Studies, University of Adelaide IMDB On the surface, Ne Zha 2: The Sea’s Fury (2025), the sequel to the 2019 Chinese blockbuster Nezha: Birth of the Demon Child, is a high-octane, action-packed and ...
Wellington travellers say their buses are so hot they’re often forced to get off early and walk. Shanti Mathias explores the impact of non-functioning air conditioning on public transport. When Bella, a young professional living in Wellington, thinks about taking the bus, her first thought is “Ugh”. The bus might ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Annette Kroen, Research Fellow Planning and Transport, RMIT University The cleanup is underway in northern Queensland following the latest flooding catastrophe to hit the state. More than 7,000 insurance claims have already been lodged, most of them for inundated homes and other ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Subha Parida, Lecturer in Property, University of South Australia Carl Oberg/Shutterstock Houses and fire do not mix. The firestorm which hit Los Angeles in January destroyed nearly 2,000 buildings and forced 130,000 people to evacuate. The 2019–20 Australian megafires destroyed ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Bowman, Professor of Pyrogeography and Fire Science, University of Tasmania Tasmania has been burning for more than two weeks, with no end in sight. Almost 100,000 hectares of bushland in the northwest has burned to date. This includes the Tarkine rainforest ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Martin Loosemore, Professor of Construction Management, University of Technology Sydney This week, the Productivity Commission released its much-awaited report into productivity growth in Australia’s housing construction sector. It wasn’t a glowing appraisal. The commission found physical productivity – the total number ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pascale Lubbe, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Molecular Ecology, University of Otago Royal spoonbills are among several new species that have crossed the Tasman and naturalised in New Zealand. JJ Harrison/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA When people arrived on the shores of Aotearoa ...
Stats NZ’s head is stepping down over the agency’s failure to safeguard census data, and more officials may soon be in the firing line, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. An ‘absolutely unacceptable’ failure Stats NZ chief ...
Health NZ is under greater government scrutiny, with the new health minister setting up a unit he says will "drive greater accountability and performance". ...
Key may be over Dunne.
But is Key over the GCSB?
Despite strong assurances from Winston Peters that he does. John Key says he doubts that Peters has the Dunne/Vance emails:
Our spooks are the only other ones privy to everyone’s emails. Despite keeping Key in the dark, this puts them squarely in the picture as responsible for the leak to Peters.
The question is; Are our secretive spy agencies heading for a clash with our democracy at this time?
Our spooks despite their belief that they are above the law, may have gone to far this time.
John Key is the sole minister responsible for oversight of the GCSB, and SIS. If the spooks bypassed Key to leak the emails to Peters. And if Key finds out this is the case. Then the Prime Minister may consider them to be out of control. And a personal embarrassment to himself, and an insult to the office of Prime Minister.
This may lead to a serious clash of wills between our spooks and the Prime Minister. Who could demand that someone inside these agencies be held accountable.
This would actually be an unprecedented situation. These secretive and arrogant spies may never have been held accountable for their behaviour ever before. It will be a new experience for them.
These secretive goons may think they are in trouble now…… And this is what led them to leak the Dunne/Vance emails to Peters, as revenge against Dunne for Dunne putting the evidence of their illegal spying on 88 New Zealanders into the public domain.
Which really is where this whole scandal actually springs from.
“Our spooks are the only other ones privy to everyone’s emails”
You don’t need access to everyone’s emails to have access to Dunne’s. You just need access to the servers they are on. The list isn’t long, but it’s not empty.
In any case, there is no evidence Winston has the emails. He was obviously tipped off about something, but he’s not shown any cards yet that go beyond what we know from Henry’s report.
Recall the tea pot saga, Wiwnston blowing hot air about *holding informatioton*.
His claims then, as now, are hot air!1
Recall the tea pot saga, Winston blowing hot air about “holding information”. His claims then, as now, are hot air!
Indeed.
In view of Mr Peters’ reluctance or inability to supply more evidence, and bearing in mind that he is fond of baffling us with a blizzard of bullshit, technically known as “snowing”, it might be an opportune time to remind people that
“Winston Peters, Dunne-hunter”
anagrammizes to….
“Unpenitent thunderer snows.”
Mor +1
Recall the tea pot saga, Wiwnston blowing hot air about *holding information*.
His claims then, as now, are hot air!1
True, Winston would only have needed heard on the Parliament gossip line that Dunne had refused to co-operate fully with Henry to put 2 and 2 together,
Of course if we are speculating, we might think that Slippery the PM realizing that it was odds on that Dunne would not stand for the Parliament again in 2014 and has simply tossed him to the wolves in the form of Winston Peters,
That’s pretty machiavelian, but National will need NZFirst in 2014 and giving Peters such a juicy piece of red meat and thus NZFirst a large dose of electoral oxygen would have been easily accomplished with a whisper from anyone employed on the 9th floor or a couple of National MP’s discussing Dunne’s refusal to fully co-operate within ear-shot of anyone from NZFirst…
When interviewed this morning on Morning Report, I got the distinct impression that Winston had ‘seen something’, probably not the emails themselves, but was not in possession of whatever it was.
Similar to the teapot saga as muzza alludes to, where it turns out Peter had seen a transcript of them at the TV3 office, but didn’t actually have copies himself.
Mr Key says Winston has the emails. Winston has never said he had the emails. Just access to some “electronic information.” Winston says he has enough to supports his view.
Of course regardless of when, how, or if the emails are released, everyone will be very cautious now about emails for ever, especially in the light of PRISM.
Winston was also ahead of the pack in talking about what was in Brash’s emails, just quietly.
Do Peter Dunne’s tweets count as ‘electronic information’ ?
Yes, it seems that though Winston Peters has claimed to have seen the emails and is privy to their contents. He is not in possession of them.
The GCSB and the SIS being the paranoiacs they are. Wouldn;t trust Winston Peters with the Dunne/Vance emails.
But someone with access (and authorisation), could have met with Peters, pulled out their laptop or smartphone and shown them to him.
This must be considered a possibility.
An investigation is called for into the GCSB.
As the stink gets higher and the spooks keep up their arrogant misbehavior, and law breaking, even a tory administration will start gaging at the smell and get sick of them eventually.
If a coalition of parties received enough votes to form a government which was pledged to cancel laws that serve the security interests of our allies, and the Governer-General unconstitutionally refused to sign such legislation; who would the Army follow? Former; Chief of Defense Force, &; Director of GCSB, Lt General Jerry Mateparae, or a civilan hodgepodge of parties led by; an ex-UN aid worker, an Australian, and a Maori Radical?
[Cut & pasted from a (in retrospect; otherwise rather pissy) comment I made in response to Phoebe Fletcher’s excellent article on the daily blog.] Link: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/06/08/a-dunne-drama-lets-focus-on-the-important-bit-the-policy/%5D
If it actually came to that level of action, the lines would be even clearer than in ’81. I suspect many kiwi soldiers would choose defending New Zealand over defending America.
Placard waving civilians wearing motorcycle crash helmets and cricket pads vs experienced soldiers in full bullet-resistant body armour? Then there are; the LAVs, the drone (if they ever get it to work), fully automatic weapons, artillary, plus whatever goodies that the inevitable military aid will throw into the mix. Speaking as someone with military on both sides of the family (been a few heated discussions there, as you can imagine), soldiers are best at following orders down the chain of command. Deserters in a time of war are hunted down and shot.
But what am I thinking? Such things could never happen here…
[We really need that “sarcastica” font that Arj Barker talks about!]
maybe you misunderstood what I said.
I suspect many kiwi soldiers would choose to defend New Zealand, not attack it”
As far as any other Nation [read USA] having a go at us, if it gets to that point we are fubar anyway
But what if these soldiers believe they are defending NZ (as represented in the Queen’s representative; the Governor General), against the forces of terroristic anarchy? They may in fact be propping up a corrupt kleptcracy run in the economic interests of another nation; but that kind of thinking is not exactly encouraged in the defence forces.
It was hard enough too end my the last comment on an upbeat, it’s just beyond me here… The best I can do is to point out when the Bolivian army was ordered to slaughter their own families when they tried to collect rain-water to drink rather than pay the exorbitant cost of tap-water (the infrastructure having been hocked off Haliburton), they did refuse, and rebelled. Which led to the socialist government of Evo Morales. It was a long hard road to that happy ending though, and there were many corpses left on the wayside.
You are thinking of Smith’s Dream. Not unrealistic …… it happens elsewhere.
@JK
Good call!
My initial comment at 1.2 was in response to Frank Macskasy’s comment to Phoebe Fletcher’s article on The Daily Blog. Link: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/06/08/a-dunne-drama-lets-focus-on-the-important-bit-the-policy/
Which read in part:
“….It’s a dark irony that the morphing of New Zealand society occurred not with a Far Right government overthrowing our democratic institutions, as in CK Stead’s “Sleeping Dogs/Smith’s Dream” – but because the public and especially the media wasn’t paying attention…”
The GCSB may think that they have it all over the Prime Minister. But John Key may have the power to make them think again.
If Key cannot get the GCSB to play ball, and own up for going over his head to Winston Peters. In response the Prime Minister may demand the release of the names of those illegally spied on, so that these people can take their own cases against this out of control spy agency. A scenario that they would not welcome at all.
There is no evidence that the GCSB leaked information to Winston Peters so what you are saying is merely speculation which is all good if you label it as such instead of publishing such as ‘fact’ as you seem to have done…
Beyond the possible clash between the prime minister and the spies. The spies and the government may also be set on a collision course with our journalists and the media.
Who knows who will come out on top in this dispute?
The ongoing rolling maul that started with revelations of illegal spying activity by the NZ and US state spy agencies against Kim Dotcom. Just seems to lead to more and more revelations, and is gathering a bigger and bigger head of steam every day.
The story so far:
Revelations of illegal GCSB spying uncovered by the high powered Dotcom defence team.
Leaks from Dunne that illegal spying went way further than Dotcom.
Prime Minister Key is “irked” by Dunne’s release of the report.
Subsequent snooping in Dunne’s dirty laundry basket for reasons of possible revenge and humiliation. The minister responsible for spying, John Key, is kept in the dark. Instead; Mysterious retaliatory leaks to a conservative opposition MP.
And the latest; Revelations from a CIA defector who fled to communist China, about a wider illegal global spying conspiracy. A conspiracy in which our spy agencies let this country be used as a test bed for. Revelations of this intrusive and illegal spying operation first tested on New Zealanders, has become a scandal engulfing both the US and British governments.
The orwellian horror revealed just grows in scope and size.
And there are many more revelations yet to come out.
Stay tuned
http://i.stuff.co.nz/national/8779068/Judge-told-he-should-surrender-knighthood
Judge told his knighthood may corrupt him.
There’s a way to fix this. Trash the honours system. All of it. It is very often political anyway. Do things because you want or need to, not in the hope someone might give you a meaningless title.
Labour did trash it Tigger.
Key brought the system back. Guess why.
Labour did NOT trash the Honours system. They REPLACED it.
Can’t see that happening. This Judge is gullible but not that gullible, looks after himself craps on the nation’s kids.
Exchange rate rapid drop.
Who in NZ is in a position to profit from the recent change in the exchange rate?
People who had some “surplus” and have been moving it offshore waiting for the inevitable drop?
Institutions in the know (i.e. privy to inside knowledge)?
People saddled with mortgages?
Ordinary mums and dads?
People living on subsistence salaries?
If you had Sterling then a 7% gain in the last two weeks is not a bad return if you were to cash up.
Who???? Well Shearer for one.
Funny you should say that.
Actually Shearer’s money was apparently already in the overseas account.
I was more interested in the people in NZ who were in the know who were in a position to move money around and make transfers while the dollar was high. People who were close to the action, or people who were in a position to influence the situation. In the last two years the dollar has gone steadily from 44pence to the dollar to 56pence to the dollar, and then within a matter of weeks dropped to 50pence. The sort of movements the trading floors love…
Apparently the Transport agency wants a name for the motorway tunnel in Auckland.
I heard a suggestion they call it the “Underwater View”.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10889686
Just heard Winston on Morning Report regarding his source of the Dunne emails. He’s got nothing! What a performance.
No fool like an old fool eh? 😉
Well he got Dunne to, resign.
Hardly nothing…….
I think ending Peter Dunne’s career counts as a little bit more than nothing, Geoff. If Winston was bluffing, he should consider a career playing poker, because he’s the only winner in this affair. And he was dead right about the real question, which is ‘why won’t Key check the emails?’.
Settle down you two, I’m not denying he did nothing, I’m just pointing out he’s over played his hand.
The scary thing is he’ll probably be in power with either National or Labour…I’m not sure thats a good thing for either party
Oh, bollox. The scary thing for you is that it won’t be National.
I would rather see National in power (obviously) but my second choice would be Labour (without NZfirst or the Greens)
There hasn’t been a non-coalition government possible since 1996. What makes you think that it is feasible it could happen now? In fact National will probably be the largest party in the coming election, but more than likely be unable to form a coalition, as they have sucked up and dessicated (or pissed off) all of their potential coalition parties and still will get no where close to having a single party majority.
In the current mis-government they have coalition agreements with the Maori party, John Banks (in court), and Peter Dunne (in disgrace). After the election they are likely to have just one or two MP’s from the Maori party if they are lucky. It isn’t exactly meant to be a “National in power”, although that is what it appears to be (as they suck the remaining political vitality out of the husk of their coalition parties).
I’m kind of curious about the delusion
I’m just saying what I’d like to see not what will happen.
But if you want a prediction, here goes: National wins a third term with NZfirst.
I’d guess NZFirst supporters would be more comfortable with National than the Greens and thats what will tip the balance.
National will win the most seats and Winston will go with the biggest party (as he should)
But I won’t be doing cart wheels as it’ll probably mean the coilition will implode thus ruining Judith Collins chances of being PM
Hah!.. A “coilition”; yes, that is the perfect term for a potential Natland First government. I imagine two ouroborean snakes slowly choking on one another.
I would have added Act but much like the Greens they really have no where else to go so…
National/WinstonFirst/Act will be the next government (and maybe Peter Dunne might sneak in as well)
Can’t see Act getting in at all. The voters of Epsom (even the most right wing ones I know) are quite literally champing at the bit in their eagerness to get rid of John Banks, and the they’re not much more happy with Act. National’s only chance to get a Act candidate from there is not put up a National candidate – and then watch votes disappear to Labour, Conservatives, or NZ First.
Can’t see NZ First getting on board with John Key at the helm.Assuming that NZF is within range of being a suitable size, then John Key would have to be ditched and preferably (from the viewpoint of the National MPs) before the election. That scalp from 2008 would probably be sufficient to get Winston to consider it.
Judith Collins has displayed no qualities that indicate that she will be any good at coalition building. In fact I’d go so far to say that she has impressed me as being a politician with no obvious redeeming characteristics apart from a relentless personal promotion. I certainly don’t think that two like minded useless egotists in coalition talks will work and I rather suspect that is the way that many of the National MPs will view it.
Joyce or almost anyone else is a better bet for the National MPs. Besides they’d bring more useful skills to the job.
“Winston will go with the biggest party (as he should)”
And right there Winston Smith you demonstrate that you’re still thinking in FPP.
@ O’Brien
Given that your first choice would be Big Brother (currently trading under the NACT brand), I fail to see why I should care what you’d rather see.
But, at least; today, you’re not mocking Peters for having the very same first name as the pseudonym you’ve adopted for this site.
Best hope for preventing Winston being in power, Winston, is to party vote Green.
Do you really believe Labour/Greens will be able to govern without anyone else?
It’s the only way Winnie won’t be a minister.
I suppose Labour/Greens/Maori Party and Mana might be able to scrape up enough votes…
Very very tight and Labour would have to get a very minimum of 33% or 34% on E-Day to pull it off, with the Greens on no less than 14% or so.
Potentially possible but I wouldn’t bet my grandma on it.
And getting the Maori Party onboard? Another stretch there.
The soundings round Ratana way suggest that the Maori party will have a grand total of no seats at all next election. Turia was their lifeline and they apparently have no obvious candidate in the wings good enough to win her seat in 2014.
However, even if they do scrape back in, without Turia the spiteful anybody but Labour position disappears, so they are just as likely to back Shearer in coalition talks. I’d have no problem with a LP/G/MP government if that’s how it plays out. Or a LP/G/Mana one, for that matter.
Agreed.
Except you seem to have forgotten that (at least as far as I know, and I know rather a lot) neither the Greens or NZF have flat out refused to work with each other this time around.
nope, haven’t forgotten it, it’s just not relevant.
If Labour need Greens and NZF to govern, then it’s highly likely that NZF would go with National (seeing you ‘know rather a lot’ I guess I don’t need to explain why that is).
Ergo, the best way to ensure Winston isn’t in a position to be in government is to make sure that governments can be formed without him.
Heard that report also, interesting interpretation there geoff. Peters stated in plain english, it is the PM not being asked the real questions that should be the focus of journalists, not what cards he himself may or may not hold.
Indeed. Winston is correct and spot on.
The focus is on the responsibility and accountability of John Key as the PM and Minister of GCSB.
The issues are major as they have been of such gravity involving the ministerial resignation of a coalition partner. And that has happened with such speed and opaqueness, tied to a related negotiated deal involving Speaker’s wrong and bad ruling.
Don’t let the PM and his spinners distract you and get away with this. The emails are damaging to them and they will do what it takes to suppress their release or to draw things out as long as possible.
I wish I can post some more this morning but I need to get to the office (and I can’t do that there with Judith, in her designer dresses about to burst at their seams, swanning in and out of the office with a self-satisfied smirk ….. maybe joking here hehe). Not a good idea to post comments on blogs while using work facilities anyway! Have a nice day you all and stay focused on the real issues!
Just a few more quick words.
It wasn’t so clear to Dunne then but the PM/GCSB Minister had more to lose than Dunne himself. It was just that Dunne had the party de-registration thing hanging over his head. He thought he needed something which actually the PM was going to give him anyway because John Key would take a bigger dent.
At least another opposition party should continue putting pressure about the Speaker’s latest ruling … and someone else need to dig deeper into the circumstances triggering the UF party president requesting the Electoral Commission to cancel UF’s party registration cough cough.
Here’s the very entertaining audio:
http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/mnr/mnr-20130611-0737-winston_peters_bats_away_pms_suggestion_of_a_bluff-048.mp3
OK so Peters is in a death dance with Dunne. Only one will survive. Both of them appear to be blowing smoke of a certain quality. A slightly calmer analysis may show that this is the case.
For instance Peters previously made a great deal about how Dunne was questioned on oath by Henry. But Henry’s report seems to say nothing of the sort because it acknowledges that he had no power to coerce an answer out of anyone.
And Dunne says that he did not leak the report to Vance. This may be so. It may be that with a deft Clintonian distortion of the truth he is telling the truth because he did not show Vance a copy of the report but one of his many emails may have contained snippets that then formed the guts of Vance’s article. So no leaking of the report but some leaking of the details.
To get to the truth we need a media that asks the right questions. Just like Kim Hill did yesterday.
How can Dunne be allowed a weeks leave from Parliament at this time?
Mallard was right. Our Parliament is a farce!
“For instance Peters previously made a great deal about how Dunne was questioned on oath by Henry.”
MS – my recollection is that Peters asked repeatedly whether Dunne was questioned under oath – not how. That is, Peters appeared to be implying that he knew that the questioning was not under oath, and that he considered that it should have been. You no doubt understand the difference.
I totally agree with the rest of your comment.
Re Kim Hill, high on my to do list for today is to email RNZ on how refreshing it is to have Kim back on Morning Report albeit for just two weeks asking the hard questions compared to the insipid interviewing that has become the standard there over recent years. Kim herself sounds like she has got a new lease of life and is really enjoying being back. It would be great to have her back fulltime or at least much more often as a ‘locum’.
I hope others also inundate RNZ with support of Kim’s return.
Agreed Veuto that the questioning was very targeted and he did not way that Dunne was questioned on oath but he did make it sound like Dunne was.
So if Auckland’s MUL’s are removed, and Auckland is able to “grow out” as they say, are the people who own the scores of dirt cheap housing that will magically appear going to have access to amenities such as shops, petrol stations, bus stops, parks, libaries, post offices, schools, etc. Or are they just going to suck it up and not have anything?
Dont really get it.
That’s Massey 1970s redux, or Dannemora 2010 redux.
Another two decade long binge-purge cycle of leaky homes, social isolation, crap urban design, gradual slumming, transport poverty, acute isolation, disengagement between school-home-work-family-community, together with all the social damage for decades.
Which gets fixed two or three decades later with truly massive renewal intervention costing billions and billions, fixing up the mess that poor regulation and low-rent developers leave behind. Which is paid for by us ratepayers and us taxpayers.
Auckland Council’s Auckland Plan debates the Housing Accord draft today. Expect Government to keep in the “reserve the right to override” clause.
The relevant 7 Ministers come up to Auckland to duscuss it with Council July 16th.
Aye.
And at the same time Smith will act to reduce developer contributions. Apparently such things as Art Galleries are “nice to have” not integral parts of community infrastructure. And the market will provide the perfect solution to Auckland’s woes.
I just spent some time in Sydney. The place has a population density about twice that of Auckland and most sections are much smaller. My sister’s property in a salubrious part of Sydney was 250 square meters, the sort of area that some say will cause the end of civilisation as we know it. But the place works well and the increased density means that public transport works much better.
Not that practical examples of what can be achieved have ever stood in the way of blinkered ideology …
perhaps Kim Hill cold agree to do a Tuesday and Wednesday slot, that bizarre time when real stories so often are left to die.
note: not sure how 9.2 ended up here, was a response to veutoviper 8.5.2
1 for Lanth, yes i concede the point of the debate we were having vis a vis the proportionality of the Parliament being altered by a by-election,
i got that one wrong and that is confirmed this morning by an email from the Electoral Commission saying that if a party won an electoral seat in a by-election that they had not held at the previous election that party’s share of list MP’s would not change,
Will email them later and see if their position is supported by Law or Regulation or they have assumed such a position because the Law and Regulations do not specifically address that issue…
Ta, bad.
” or they have assumed such a position because the Law and Regulations do not specifically address that issue…” with current form being displayed in the House, that certainly seems a necessary distinction
Have just sent another mail to the Electoral Commission putting the relevant questions to them, there is possibly an amendment or regulation attached to the 1993 electoral act some place where i couldn’t see it that allows for the proportionality of the Parliament to be upset by a by-election but so far i haven’t been able to find it,
i have the sneaking suspicion that such a situation occurring where the proportionality of the Parliament could be altered by a by-election might not have been thought of when the 1993 legislation was drafted and perhaps someone(s) have granted unto themselves without regulatory right the right to alter the proportionality of the Parliament in the unlikely event of a by-election delivering such a result,
That however is mere speculation on my part and we will see what the Electoral Commissions reply contains, i would hate to see the proportionality of the Parliament distorted simply because someone(s) don’t like the idea of the lowest placed MP on a party’s list being given the kick should their party win a by-election…
Gobsmacked posted this yesterday:
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-09062013/#comment-645950
I think that makes it fairly clear that your suggestion is unworkable: just as a list member resigning after winning a by-election increases the party’s seat count by 1, resigning as a list-member after a colleague won the by-election and becoming an independent that votes along with your former party (a la Horan) would equally allow the party’s effective seat count to increase by 1.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/06/2013691024183680.html
Thanks to National and Nisbet, New Zealand’s international reputation has been brought into a disrepute, for refusing to act over racism. Like people didn’t see this coming.
Thanks to National and Nisbet, New Zealand’s international reputation has been brought into a disrepute
I think this issue has strengthened our (negative) international reputation. We are well known around the world for our racism
And you obviously don’t get out much as we genuinely have a high reputation for race relations compared to the UK, France and Australia, but what ever floats the chip on your shoulder, eh?
Cheers for backing up my point by listing three of the most ethno-centric nations in the world.
Two colonial nations and Aussie, nice one. Downward comparisons aren’t really my thing, but you go for it
Anything else to offer?
If racisim is “subjectively defined”, how can you have a threshold at all?
because all forms of violence (racism being on of them) can be subjective.
Probably best if you don’t use Plant Key logic in your arguments
A nice article about putting the culture back into agriculture
http://intercontinentalcry.org/putting-the-culture-back-in-agriculture-reviving-native-food-and-farming-traditions/
The article offers some solutions and continues the discussion some have been having on this forum about this subject.
LIARS OF OUR TIME
No. 20: John Key
“But if the question is do we use the United States or one of our other partners to circumvent New Zealand law then the answer is categorically no.”
John Key, TV3 Firstline, Tuesday 11 June 2013
See also….
No. 19 Matthew Hooton: “It is ridiculous to say that unions deliver higher wages! They DON’T!”
No. 18 Ant Strachan: “The All Blacks won the RWC 2011 because of outstanding defence!”
No. 17 Stephen Franks: “Peter has been such a level-headed, safe pair of hands.”
No. 16 Phil Kafcaloudes: “Tony Abbott…hasn’t made any mistakes over the past eighteen months.”
No. 15 Donald Rumsfeld: “I did not lie… Colin Powell did not lie.”
No. 14 Colin Powell: “a post-9/11 nexus between Iraq and terrorist organizations…connections are now emerging…”
No.13 Barack Obama: “Simply put, these strikes have saved lives.”
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-27052013/#comment-638881
No. 12 U.K. Ministry of Defence: “Protecting the Afghan civilian population is one of ISAF and the UK’s top priorities.”
No. 11 Brendan O’Connor: “Australia’s approach to refugees is compassionate and generous.”
No. 10 Boris Johnson: “Londoners have… the best police in the world to look after us and keep us safe.”
No. 9 NewstalkZB PR dept: “News you NEED! Fast, fair, accurate!”
No. 8 Simon Bridges: “I don’t mean to duck the question….”
No. 7 Nigel Morrison: “Quite frankly, they’ve been VERY tough.”
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-15052013/#comment-633295
No. 6 NZ Herald PR dept: “Congratulations—you’re reading New Zealand’s best newspaper.”
No. 5 Rawdon Christie: “…a FORMIDABLE replacement, it seems, is Claudette Hauiti.” http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-13052013/#comment-632594
No. 4 Willie and J.T.: “The X-Factor. Nah, nah, there’s some GREAT talent there!”
No. 3 John Key: “Yeah we hold MPs to a higher standard.”
No. 2 Colin Craig: “Oh, I have a GREAT sense of humour.”
No. 1 Barack Obama: “Margaret Thatcher was one of the great champions of freedom and liberty.”
Listening to Greg O’Connor this morning he sounded like Peter Dunne with that firm, certain tone in his voice. A bit of uncertainty is called for in these complex days I think. ‘We think this is the best approach but we will be monitoring it for effectiveness and open to suggestions’ sort of thing.
Why do we hear so much about policing matters from the President of the Police Association which is a union (though they call it a service organisation), and why isn’t there an official police spokesperson who is a go-to?
Because Greg O’connor is a drunk, and thats the sort of front face, easily bent over, ideal for taking the public lashing, and happy to do so.
Thats Greg!
The project to criminalize and marginalize dissent:
Radio NZ’s thoughtless “news” items make it an accomplice to state repression
After listening to Suzy Ferguson read out a “news” item that might have been composed for her by the U.S. State Department, or the Pentagon, I sent her the following e-mail….
Date: 10 June 2013
Time: 5:35 p.m.
From: morrisseybreen@gmail.com
To: checkpoint@radionz.co.nz
Your prejudiced language used to describe Edward Snowden
Dear Suzy,
You have twice said that the whistleblower Edward Snowden is “holed up” in Hong Kong. That is the kind of language that is used to describe a desperado on the run after robbing a bank or murdering someone. When you do that, you (perhaps unwittingly) repeat the U.S. government’s propaganda against this dissenter.
Why do you not say that he has taken refuge in Hong Kong?
Yours in concern at the standards at Radio NZ,
Morrissey Breen
Northcote Point
No reply so far, more than twelve hours later.
I urge others to contact this publicly funded organization and make the same point, then demand a reply.
http://i0.wp.com/www.whaleoil.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Norman-11062013.png
Now thats interesting, what brought the change of heart on…
Sorry, I don’t click on whaleoil links.
Probably better if you paraphrase what he’s said. Some of us have self respect
Oh arn’t we sooo superior, if you’d checked you’d see its a screenshot of a detailed post from Russell Norman
W Smith
Well don’t be a tease, tell us about it. It’s a dirty job going to WO but you’re the person to do it apparently. And we will await your report.
Short story: someone got to Norman, told him whats what and now hes changed his tune
nice story bro
So, why didn’t you just link to Russel Norman’s post?
As I am about to head to the shower, I clicked on it and as WS says, it is purely a screenshot of Norman’s post – not a link to WO itself.
And it is worth reading.
and it did come from Norman’s FB page
theres enough paranoid conspicracies on here as it is (don’t mention fluride!) but it is quite a a quick turn around
Who got to him, why get to him and what leverage was used to get to him…or did he just realise he was overeacting…
What’s Norman done a turn around on? Can you please link to something to compare the FB bit to?
Yes Winston, show us the “turnaround”. Has Norman contradicted an earlier statement?
You wouldn’t just be taking Slater’s word for that would you? He’s well known to have hated Australians since the age of 6.
Still waiting Winston. What exactly did Norman do a turn around on?
The Eloquence of Fran O’Sullivan
Fran O’Sullivan, interviewed by Kathryn Ryan
Radio NZ National, 11 June 2013, 11:07 to 11:24 a.m.
“um, ahh”….89
“Well” …….11
I think they actually pay them (her) too!
It’s a bit like those deep an meaningful ‘market analysis’ commentaries on nightly news ‘shows’ where the market analysts are the traders and ‘chief economists’ from various institutions. (Impartial of course!)
It reminds me of the late 80s/early 90s when we used to keep score of their various predictions – you could have been more accurate usually with the aid of a dart board.
Maybe they pay her for each “um”.
NewstalkZB host reckons it’s time to “speak out about prejudice”!
This time, however, he’s on the side of the VICTIMS….
NewstalkZB, Monday 10 June 2013, 12:20 p.m.
Your host: DANNY WATSON!
Prince Harry—the heroic “Warrior Prince”—is renowned for drinking till he’s shit-faced, snorting coke, cavorting with prostitutes and killing peasants in Afghanistan. And now, this paragon of English manhood has defended a gay soldier against bullying.
No, I don’t believe that last bit either—but that’s the latest story to come out of the British Army’s enormous, indefatigable PR machine.
One person who evidently DOES believe this unlikely tale of royal heroism is NewstalkZB’s Danny Watson, who used it to set up the topic for today’s learned discussion: “Are we an intolerant society?”
DANNY WATSON: Are we more tolerant these days? I think we are. But when we hear someone using derogatory language against ANY group, it’s our duty to speak out! Michael, hello!
MICHAEL: We hear a lot about gays being discriminated against, but what about them discriminating against others? I was abused by a group of gays just this morning.
DANNY WATSON: What do you mean?
MICHAEL: Well I was in a supermarket andTHEY called ME homophobic. Now to me they are just like robbers and boy racers—I don’t like what robbers and boy racers do either, but I don’t hate the person.
DANNY WATSON: [dubiously] Y-y-yeahhhhh….
MICHAEL: I’m not SCARED of them. They just think they can attack me because I’m a Christian….
NewstalkZB. Tune Your Mind.
He may pretend to be more compassionate than his colleagues but Danny anti-“free money” Watson is just as gross as the others, FoulTalkZB is shit radio imo and more likely to screw your mind or redden your neck than anything else.
It will be very concerning if the opportunistic, pro ’81 Springbok tour supporter John Key decides to attend the seemingly imminent funeral of Nelson Mandela.
Question 4 today in Parliament from Shearer to Key:
“Has he received any information that shows foreign intelligence agencies are routinely collecting emails, other communication or location data on New Zealand citizens and residents while they are in New Zealand; if so, has the resulting information been passed on to the Government Communications Security Bureau?”
I am sure the answer should be yes but Key will never admit that.
he’ll refuse to answer on the grounds of security. Cocksucker.
yeah, the grounds of his job security.
he’ll refuse to answer on the grounds of security. Cocksucker.
Stick with the handle “McFlock”, my friend.
Did you need a computer to help you with that joke, too?
Did you need a computer to help you with that joke, too?
Nope. It was a spontaneous human reaction, even if on reflection it was a bit puerile.
I used a computer for this one, however….
McFlock’s now known as “Cocksucker”—-his new handle.
which, significantly, anagrammizes to….
Wreckful condom slackens. Check! Now wash on sink.
We having a competition to replicate the Sewer?
We having a competition to replicate the Sewer?
McCocksucker started it.
[RL: Good place to end it.]
Should be getting through to people, how the system could quite easily function, to blackmail MPs, the world , in large chunks , will be run on shame!
The intelligence agencies are out of control, have been since they formed, just now that people are beginning to learn but what sort of reach, and some of the antics, these wankers are capable of!
For Mr W Smith, and all who need new nightmares
http://postimg.org/image/ft18zsqtf/
apologies to the various cartoonists involved
Could also be Shearer on one end…
Let’s play Soundbite Bingo!
Guess the prepared lines given to David Shearer by his staff before today’s press conference …
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1306/S00076/david-shearers-pre-caucus-press-conference-11-june-2013.htm
Oh well in his defence , he probably has his mind on other issues, like how many of the $1000 tickets he will sell to his lunch with Sir Ian McKellan.
And now for some good news:
http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/national-standards-and-ng%C4%81-whanaketanga-rumaki-m%C4%81ori-data-released
“Pasifika children showed the greatest increase on last year, improving by around 3 per cent in all three standards.”
Of course its early days and theres still a ways to go but this is a promising start.
Well done Anne Tolley and National standards
An ignorant right wing dope blithers thusly….
Well done Anne Tolley and National standards
Even though YOU will not get the irony, it will amuse others here that you have unwittingly chosen an Orwell character’s name to post your adulation of the most anti-democratic government this country has ever suffered.
No unwittingly about it, its more a reaction to every left-wing nutbar that keeps mentioning 1984 whenever the government (sorry the National government) do anything.
I sometimes think that theres more than a few lefty nutbars who wouldn’t mind us coming under big brothers rule just so they could say told you so
No unwittingly about it, its more a reaction to every left-wing nutbar that keeps mentioning 1984 whenever the government (sorry the National government) do anything.
You’re unwitting, all right. Do you even know what George Orwell wrote about?
I sometimes think that theres more than a few lefty nutbars who wouldn’t mind us coming under big brothers rule just so they could say told you so
In case you haven’t noticed, we are very much under Big Brother’s rule.
(Hell, what am I saying? Of course he hasn’t noticed.)
You have the job at the Ministry of Truth don’t you?
National Standards are useless because they’re neither standard nor national. Throw in the fact that teaching to the test dumbs the the children down and decimates their creativity and National Standards are the worst thing that any government could have done to their educational system.
Of course, that’s what National want and, in fact, need. People who actually question what their told will easily see through National’s lies.
Its a shame National’s arithmetic fails them when they need to count the number of Kiwi’s in poverty.
But make up some incomparable and questionable stats, and the monkeys will clap
With War Crimes Argument Banned,
Manning’s Military Trial Is Judicial Lynching
by CHRIS HEDGES, 10 June 2013
The military trial of Bradley Manning is a judicial lynching. The government has effectively muzzled the defense team. The Army private first class is not permitted to argue that he had a moral and legal obligation under international law to make public the war crimes he uncovered. The documents that detail the crimes, torture and killing Manning revealed, because they are classified, have been barred from discussion in court, effectively removing the fundamental issue of war crimes from the trial. Manning is forbidden by the court to challenge the government’s unverified assertion that he harmed national security. Lead defense attorney David E. Coombs said during pretrial proceedings that the judge’s refusal to permit information on the lack of actual damage from the leaks would “eliminate a viable defense, and cut defense off at the knees.” And this is what has happened.
Manning is also barred from presenting to the court his motives for giving the website WikiLeaks hundreds of thousands of classified diplomatic cables, war logs from Afghanistan and Iraq, and videos. The issues of his motives and potentially harming national security can be raised only at the time of sentencing, but by then it will be too late.
The draconian trial restrictions, familiar to many Muslim Americans tried in the so-called war on terror, presage a future of show trials and blind obedience. Our email and phone records, it is now confirmed, are swept up and stored in perpetuity on government computers. Those who attempt to disclose government crimes can be easily traced and prosecuted under the Espionage Act. Whistle-blowers have no privacy and no legal protection. This is why Edward Snowden—a former CIA technical assistant who worked for a defense contractor with ties to the National Security Agency and who leaked to Glenn Greenwald at the Guardian the information about the National Security Council’s top-secret program to collect Americans’ cellphone metadata, e-mail and other personal data—has fled the United States. The First Amendment is dead. There is no legal mechanism left to challenge the crimes of the power elite. We are bound and shackled. And those individuals who dare to resist face the prospect, if they remain in the country, of joining Manning in prison, perhaps the last refuge for the honest and the brave.
Coombs opened the trial last week by pleading with the judge, Army Col. Denise Lind, for leniency based on Manning’s youth and sincerity. Coombs is permitted by Lind to present only circumstantial evidence concerning Manning’s motives or state of mind. He can argue, for example, that Manning…..
Read more….
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/16861-with-war-crimes-argument-banned-mannings-military-trial-is-judicial-lynching
I/S –
An illegal DNA databank in the UK
Back in 1995, the UK government set up a national DNA databank to hold the DNA profiles of people arrested and imprisoned. Since then it has become one of the most extensive DNA databases in the world, holding profiles on almost 6 million people (many of whom have not been charged with any crime). But that’s not enough for the police – it turns out they’ve been keeping a parallel secret database without statutory authority:
Police and intelligence services have been sending terror suspects’ DNA to counterparts around the world with no official scrutiny over their actions, a government watchdog has warned.
The National DNA Database Ethics Group has demanded an explanation as fears emerged that a little-known archive of thousands of samples, often taken without permission from innocent people during counter-terrorism operations, had been operating with “no statutory basis”.
The group has also asked ministers to detail exactly what information from the Counter Terrorism DNA database – operated by the Metropolitan Police as an “adjunct” to the national database – has been handed to foreign governments and intelligence services, and what safeguards govern how the information is used.
This likely violates the Data Protection Act and possibly other legislation. The question now is whether the police will be punished for it, or whether they are in fact above the law.
Meanwhile, this raises an obvious question: are our police doing the same?
Posted by Idiot/Savant at 6/11/2013 02:21:00 PM
http://norightturn.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/an-illegal-dna-databank-in-uk.html
I remember when that DNA database was set up, and the concerns about how it would eventually be used.
We are so fucked. Might be time to batten down the hatches.
We are so fucked. Might be time to batten down the hatches.
Hmmmm. If you’re so concerned about civil liberties, how come you were joining our resident fascists in yesterday’s gang-bang against dissenters?
Link, so I know what the fuck you are on about.
Nice early Godwin btw.
It’s people like you that make me despair sometimes. We can recognise people like Key or Hooton for what they are and act accordingly, but people like you, who are supposedly on the same side, but have almost no capacity to build relationship because you believe that your views are the most important thing and never wrong, well you just suck the lifeblood out of any useful movement towards change. It’s a pity you cannot stand dissent (irony alert), because you do bring in useful POVs and information. But then so much gets lost in the aftermath.
Of course what will follow now will be:
1. no link
2. apparent refutation of what I say, but completely devoid of anything of substance that addresses my points, and full of pseudo-clever phrasings about how terrible weka is – because that’s the most important thing, isn’t it? What is apparently wrong with me, as opposed to intelligently critiquing my views or actions.
Let me give you some clues: instead of calling me all the variations of an idiot, why not try and explain what you disagree with by referring to what I have said.
(you won’t of course be able to use yesterday as an example, because I wasn’t being fascist, nor was I ‘gang-banging’* dissenters).
* 🙁
1.) Link, so I know what the fuck you are on about.
Have a look at our little contre-temps on yesterday’s Open Mike. That’s what I was referring to.
2.) Nice early Godwin btw.
Oh God, we’re back on the Godwin’s train, are we? All right, let’s agree that, although those fellows who were pouring scorn on Edward Snowden—Populuxe1 sneering at him as a “desk jockey” with a “narcissistic personality disorder and fantasies of being James Bond”—may not be signed up members of the S.S. Trust or the Nazi Party, they are certainly keen to recycle official lies, as soon as they are promulgated. Snowden’s unveiling only happened a couple of days ago; Populuxe was repeating the official line on him within 24 hours.
3.) It’s people like you that make me despair sometimes. We can recognise people like Key or Hooton for what they are and act accordingly, but people like you, who are supposedly on the same side, but have almost no capacity to build relationship because you believe that your views are the most important thing and never wrong, well you just suck the lifeblood out of any useful movement towards change.
Your claims about me are both extreme and unfair. In what way have I shown I “have almost no capacity to build a relationship”? I am more than willing to enter into a good faith discussion; I am also perfectly willing to modify my views, and even discard some of them after being convinced.
4.) It’s a pity you cannot stand dissent (irony alert),
Again, that is an unfair and entirely erroneous statement.
5.) ….because you do bring in useful POVs and information. But then so much gets lost in the aftermath.
I think you are blaming me for the hysterical denunciations engaged in by a few people—with, yes, Populuxe1 being the most unhinged of those denouncers.
6.) Of course what will follow now will be:
1. no link
I gave the link.
7.) 2. apparent refutation of what I say, but completely devoid of anything of substance that addresses my points, and full of pseudo-clever phrasings about how terrible weka is – because that’s the most important thing, isn’t it? What is apparently wrong with me, as opposed to intelligently critiquing my views or actions.
No, I don’t think that, and I’ve never thought it. I think you’re a valuable contributor to this forum.
8.) Let me give you some clues: instead of calling me all the variations of an idiot, why not try and explain what you disagree with by referring to what I have said.
(you won’t of course be able to use yesterday as an example, because I wasn’t being fascist, nor was I ‘gang-banging’* dissenters).
I accept your word in good faith. But just take a good luck at what I write in future.
Ok, fair enough Morrissey, and thanks for your considered reply.
I’m still not really sure what you were referring to yesterday (I read alot of comments, but not all of them). I don’t consider any of the regulars here to be fascists. Nor myself.
I probably disagree with some of the same people you do, but IMO the point of Godwin’s law is to stop comparisons of relatively ordinary behaviour with the extremities of the Holocaust because once those comparisons start we may as well all call each other fuckwits and go home (ie the debate is nearing pointlessness). Reading Godwin yesterday, I understand that one of his primary motivations was to prevent that kind of dishonour of Holocaust victims. In other words we should save the word fascist for when we really need it.
btw, I don’t think I’ve expressed an opinion about Snowden yet, but fwiw, on the basis of what I’ve seen so far, I think he is brave and doing the US and the world a great service. I also think that it’s almost impossible for us to know the truth about him as a person, and that his motivations may be more complex that what we are being shown presently.
It may help to know that reasonably often I will argue something in a discussion on principle that has little bearing on what I think about the actual topic eg my first comments recently about Godwin were aimed at people on both sides of the debate, and were irrespective of what I thought about fluoridation of public water supplies. Sometimes people get confused about which side I am on.
Very good weka; that was exceptionally well said.
This from wikipedia
“The UK DNA database is one of the world’s largest, and has prompted concerns from some quarters as to its scope and usage. The database helps in solving crime and prosecuting runaway criminals years after the crime has been committed. Recordable offences include begging, being drunk and disorderly and taking part in an illegal demonstration.”
Yep we are fucked and it would be nice to know if our law enforcement are doing the same or similar but it is a rhetorical question really because they will be.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/5638737/Changes-to-access-of-babies-heel-pricks
NZ has a database, all of its own, a *crime flighting one*, too!
Agreed, we are rooted!
thanks, that’s interesting muzza.
Agreed marty. I think we are at the point now where we can’t trust ourselves as a nation, hence we’re fucked.
Hi Weka, some more links on the subject…
Third parties increasingly access material from blood bank DNA
No follow-upon newborn blood spot card consent
Blood database deal close
THE DISCLOSURE OF NEWBORN BLOOD SPOT SAMPLES AND RELATED INFORMATION – MoH
Every month my heart sinks when I collect the offerings from our letterbox, and included within it is the free eLocal magazine.
(I live in Franklin, and while there are some salt of the earth types around, I think it is reasonable to say that a book of Al Nisbet’s cartoons would be a popular stocking filler around Christmas time.)
Every edition of the eLocal contains at least one diatribe against Māori. This month’s edition contains the feature Twi$ting the Treaty – A Tribal Grab for Wealth and Power along with a couple of other articles denigrating in some way our tangata whenua.
To give some indication of the tone of the feature articles (and indeed the whole publication): the opening paragraph:
The big question out of dozens that this book raises for me, is this: Is New Zealand moving towards an apartheid style of Government, where the Māori race prevails over all others?”
Every month I put aside the magazine in order to compile an email list of the advertisers, so that I can vent to those that pay to have this drivel delivered for free to my address. To my dismay, I find that each month that list gets bigger and bigger and now over half of the 64 pages of this magazine are advertisements of some sort for local businesses.
So, once again I’ll put my magazine aside for my to-do list, but thought I would post the link to the publication here, along with the information that a new political party 1Law4All that supports this view is also being promoted in this business subsidised rubbish.
You can view back editions to read what residents of Franklin and the local tangata whenua have to put up with.
Moderation is used for comments – so I’m waiting to see whether mine will be published.
Feel free to add your own and give the moderators something to do…
Surprise… did get published.. along with this answer from the editor.
(Don’t even want to comment on the repeated spelling errors from this editor.)
Molly
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
I consider most of your articles offensive, and ill informed. It is a shame that constant denigration of a treaty partner is considered to be still acceptable in NZ society today.
Perhaps you should read books that expand your world view, instead of selecting only those that reinforce it.
editor
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Thank you for your comment Molly. I would like to ask you which books that can expand my view that you feel is making elocal an ill informed product. I would like to point out that we are pointing out the obvious in that the traty partner has privilaged rights over all other ethnic groups. Here are a just a few of those rights that non Maori can not participate in. I’m not sure why you would not see the obvious?
MAORI-ONLY PRIVILAGES …
Schools
Education scholarships
Housing projects
Health prioritisation and initiatives
Welfare (whanau ora)
Prisoner programmes
Positions on government agencies
Consultation rights under the RMA
Parks, rivers, lakes, coastline
Maori authority tax rates
Maori authority tax-free status
Seats on local councils
Local government statutory boards
Local government liaison committees
Seats in parliament
Sports teams
Maori Land Owners Trustee Organisation Brand
Maori electoral roll
Agribusiness Awards
Maori TV Channel
Billions of $ of Government payouts
Music Awards
Forest Rental Trust, which only Maori can use to finance their claims however the forests are owned by the public. (“Let the Truth be known” by Hilda Philips she found there were about 269 Acts giving Maori preference over non-Maori).
Sole Rights to Greenstone in the South Island
Sole Rights to whale watching and beached whales
Heading off to Bill McKibbens talk at the moment. Please feel free to send the editor of the Franklin Elocal some reading literature that might help him out.
Maybe the editor would also like to get a share of high Maori unemployment and imprisonment ‘privalages’?
Surprise… did get published.. along with this answer from Franklin Elocal.
(Don’t even want to comment on the repeated spelling errors from this editor.)
[karol – deleted repeated content]
Surprise… did get published.. along with this answer from Franklin Elocal.
(Don’t even want to comment on the repeated spelling errors from this editor.)
[karol: deleted most of the repeated content – won’t trash the whole repeat post as it will disrupt the discussions that follow]
Crap… don’t know what happened. Moderator feel free to delete multiple posts.
Sorry, double hit…
Molly I’m afraid that Franklin eLocal whateveritis has a history of racism and stupidity – good luck with fighting it – check out Reading the Maps for other attempts
http://readingthemaps.blogspot.co.nz/2009/11/mykeljon-picks-another-loser.html
http://readingthemaps.blogspot.co.nz/2009/01/pseudo-history-countering-cranks.html
Firstly I looked at the advertising rates and the 1st three months is free and I wouldn’t mind betting that it gets rolled over for free too. So if you ask a local business how it came to their attention you may be able to confirm that the “free” was a large part of the deal.
The I tracked the Elocal back thr’ the companies office etc. and after going thr’ various directors etc I found an “Edward Brian DAY” who looks like he owns the company that owns the company etc etc. and he signs petitions hosted by nzcpr.com.
This site hosts this “Constitutional Reform – join our campaign to oppose a new Treaty-based Constitution ”
and the site is supposedly founded and run by “Dr Muriel Newman is the founder and Director of the New Zealand Centre for Political Research.” ex Actoid.
So I suppose the questions are:
Who funds the Elocal site
Who funds Muriel Newman’s site – it is supposedly funded by donations but that is a pretty wide statement. Maybe they get one or two large donations from some where.
So I guess the killer questions to ask the local businesses is “Do you know you are supporting Muriel Newman and ACT?
Good work RB!
Thanks RB. Will get onto that advertiser’s list sometime soon.
Did read Scott Hamilton’s post and his open letter to the editor, Mykeljon Winckel in 2008 and only wish I was as articulate.
But really annoyed that here we are in 2013 still receiving this publication, and approving comments on the website just reinforce the impression that racism lies under a very thin skin here.
Wait…. wait… I feel a Morrisey Breen interlude coming on.
That nicest man on Earth has (once again hooked up with the Irish sage – Her, once accused of plagiarism who took a break in the hope that a return would be seen through a red filter, rather than the Blue one we’re accustomed to)
Christ! Err Her Err Her – no – can’t frikken stand it any longer. I suspect (judging by the wee her err her err) indicatetes a Farrar muppet about to pop up seeking the credibility of the masses.
I heard it too, Tim, and will be posting my thoughts on the grievous (as usual) “Pre-show” segment. I missed everything after 4 o’clock, but I am sure it was as awful as I suspect it was.
Perhaps the low point of the day, however, came at about 1:30, when Jim Mora introduced the utterly useless Nicky Pellegrino as “the celebrated novelist.”
Labour leadership stupidity … part 378
https://twitter.com/oneforthedr/status/344308204194377728
But remember, the real problem is the likes of us (“corporate box? I can barely afford a telly”) not all working harder for a Labour victory. Coz, you know, they totally deserve it.
That is a stupid move on his part.
It would be interesting to see what sort of process such gifts should be declared/vetted through the various parties, too.
Why shouldn’t a politician be allowed to have a taste of the high life, as a just reward for all that hard work and self sacrifice they perform on behalf of the public? Especially as an Opposition MP’s salary is pretty minimal by real standards and these people are real leaders who can get far better paying jobs in the private sector if that was their motivation.
Talk about the politics of envy you lefties.
Anyhows, corporates have a real business need to forge ties with all different political parties, it helps reduce the material risk of important and profitable business arrangements with Government being arbitrarily undone.
Today, Shearer had a well written speech to read in the urgent debate on Dunne’s resignation, but oh my, the over-emphasised, shouty speech full of hesitancies.
Missed Shearer’s beginning with a phone call but saw the rest, and enjoyed the speech- one hesitancy worth remarking on and picked up by the opposition benches. But I liked the glare and the retort he gave to an interjection “Woken up, have you?”
His content was good and I note that Key did not defend his actions but left it to English.
Labour kept to one theme- that this government and its ugly programme is kept in office by two minor parties of one MP each who are involved with money in brown paper bags or are so untrustworthy that they cannot be left on an intelligence committee.
Key was dreadful to watch at question time, and is allowed far too much room by the Speaker to put in, almost for him obligatory, digs at the opposition along ‘You did it, too” lines.
The “woken up have you?” and the quality of the speech writing were the bright points. But listening to it, rather than watching, I found somewhat painful. He is still no where near good enough for a party leader, and just doesn’t spark..
I caught a bit of Cunliffe speaking on the immigration Bill just before the dinner break – it was excellent as usual, and much more front bench quality than what Shearer is coming up with.
Banks was more painful in his points of order. He tried to divert from Shearer’s comments about Key’s support partners (including Banks facing court) in quite a nasty way. Banks comments about Shearer’s NY “money laundering account” were wide of the mark, and in no way equivalent to the funding issues and corporate cronyism Banks is associated with.
Shearer’s bank account is not a good look for a labour movement party leader, but there’s been no evidence of money laundering.
OK, It seems that when they returned from dinner, Maggie Barry managed to get a point of order calling for the vote. What a disgrace that Unite Future had a vote.
But Cunliffe was just warming up when he was interrupted: on the immigration Bill aiming to prevent mass arrivals of “boat people” – Cunliffe calls it a distraction from a government teetierng on the brink: a government that is trashing people’s rights etc.
Funniest moment in Parliament today had to be Carter thrice referring to Winston Peters as the Prime Minister.
Runner up today undoubtedly when English ‘forgot’ how many jobs National promised to deliver by 2014
Test follow up messages
The followup comments should be working. now