Heard something on TV3 News this morning about National increasing its lead to 55% of something compared to Labour’s 30% whatevers. No context about which questions were asked, who they asked, when the poll was taken, or anything much of all.
Ansell went for broke and may have terminally broken Act. I can’t see them getting many vote from women and I doubt many men will buy into his superiority complex either.
The women who support ACT are not squeamish about speaking bluntly about rational issues (including racial issues). I respect them very much.
In short, theyâve got guts.
More typical women are less rational and more emotional. Theyâd rather preserve relationships than rock the boat. Is that not true?
But women, by a reasonable margin, preferred to cuddle the various minority groups and spend more of other peopleâs money on welfare that to take the hard economic decisions.
New Zealand is awash with parties that represent the female view of the world: Labour, the Greens, the latter-day Nats.
But only ACT represents rational women and rational men. The party should not be ashamed to say so.
Secret Squirrel – I think this response thing could be helped if people first put the name being replied to, and that person can do a search under their own name, and the responses will pop up without time wasting.
Ummm it is an issue especially with the numbers of comments going into the system right now. What if I put an extra tab on the right panel for “Responses” ?
I Â have either the login or the last comment details in the cookies. It wouldn’t be hard to run a query for your last few hundred comment comments and then any direct responses to them.
Computationally it sucks up CPU – but it would only be doing it for the relatively few page loads from people who comment. That also means the spiders and bots won’t read it.
I think the Greens are a niche party, albeit with a strong level of support right now due to Labour’s soft support levels. Greens are trying to position themselves as more mainstream but I think they’ll find this difficult.
They have had and still have MPs who are on the extreme side of our spectrum, eg Sue Bradford and Keith Locke. Green policies on things like exploring for and utilising natural resources are relatively radical.
UF is very middle of the road on most things, not radical. They have low party support because they are seen as a single electorate single person party, Dunne’s personal versus the UF party vote in Ohariu in 2008 illustrates this.UF competes in a large middle ground occupied most byNational and Labour.
I don’t judge niche on level of support, I see it as representing more special interest rather than general appeal.
I support Greens being in parliamanet, and I support some of their policiies, and I have voted for them in the past, but as a niche party, I wouldn’t support them becoming a major mainstream party – unless of course they radically from their current niche positioning.
SS, you’re still just throwing the word “radical” around without defining it. It usually implies some sort of extremism, but in the context you’re using it it can’t possibly mean any such thing.
“UF competes in a large middle ground occupied most by National and Labour.”
And picked up 0.87% of the vote in this “middle ground”. That’s not the score of a party with broad popular appeal. That’s not the score of a party representing the mainstream of NZ.
“I donât judge niche on level of support, I see it as representing more special interest rather than general appeal.”
This is getting closer to a definition, but it still contradicts the facts. The Greens have several times the “general appeal” of UF. So why do you insist that they’re the outlier, the niche, the radical, when by your own measure UF is far more so?
Come on Squirrel, stop running away from the discussions you start.
Anyone considering taking you at your word that you want to encourage a more consultative, more inclusive, more transparent system of govt should have a close look at the way you conduct yourself in discussions on this site.
Couple of thoughts for the day with relevance to RWNJs (BB et al), Randists and free market afficienados…..just listened to a speach from Orlov when he mentioned the following…
Free markets are marginally more efficient than planned economies at using all the resources up until collapse is inevitable
and The free market is like a casino where all the chips end up in a few hands, when that happens the casino collapses, shuts doors and the chips are useless……
And, yeah, the obvious conclusion of the capitalist free-market is, firstly, economic collapse as the money ends up as large pools in the hands of a few followed (after an “economic rescue” ie, New Deal etc) by total collapse as the resources are used up.
The money ends up in a few hands and they don’t spend it trying to live on the interest (Money generated through other peoples work and ideas) rather than being productive. As the money accumulates at the top the interest payments increase resulting in even more of the money going to the few while the money going to everyone else declines. Eventually the economy collapses because there isn’t enough money in the hands of the many to keep it going.
Keynes seems to have seen the problem but his solution appears* to have been to get the government to borrow that money from the rich at interest**. At best this would extend the time between economic collapses but, eventually, the governments would have borrowed so much that nobody would be willing to loan to them.
* The a reason why I use “seems” and “appears” here is because, according to Steve Keen, Keynes’ 1936 work was misinterpreted.
** Now consider just what National wanted to achieve by cutting taxes over the last decade and why they’ve suddenly gone to borrowing far more than they need to.
It is rather sad that we argue left versus right in politics and the respective economics. Both entirely miss the point, they are predicated on continuous growth in consumption and debt. Neither is sustainable on a finite planet, arguing the toss about which version you prefer is deck chair shuffling on the Titanic.
There is one critical need to argue however, as we decline the usual RWNJ suspects will attempt to cushion their fall at the expense of the masses, by way of debt, force, expropriation etc. We conversely must resist and make them observe a good left wing prescription: the sharing of what is available equitably.
Unfortunately, even the economists who see the problems of austerity don’t realise the problems inherent within a socio-economic system that requires larger and larger markets. It is impossible to fulfil their vision of trickle down or even redistributed growth from a finite planet. Hell, the definition of economics given to me at uni was the study of the distribution of limited resources and yet the economists fail to realise that the theory they postulate and teach must result in the destruction of the environment,all the resources being used up and the few ending up with all the wealth (not that it’ll do them much good once the environments fucked).
We need to move to an socio-economic system that’s based around resource use and then we might get round to having some prosperity.
Labour’s flyers/pamphleets had been vetted and checked by Parliamentary Services where they were assessed as being neither electioneering or party promotional material. Therefore, at the time, those materials were given the independent OK to contain the Parliamentary Services seal.
Saw it BB and posted on it. I had a read of the legislation and can understand how someone would see it differently to the EC. From now on IMHO all parties should put “Authorised by …” on everything.
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It misses the point though. The authorisation requirement was to address the Exclusive Bretheren scenario where shadowy entities put out publications and no one had the chance to see where the publication was coming from.
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It aint called “stealing” BB it is called “mucking up the paper work”.Â
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BTW I thought you were all for freedom of speech and against Nanny State? This is pretty aggressive nanny statism doncha think?
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I support Phil. I reckon he has a good chance of creating history and in defeating a National Government after only one term. If he does not succeed and resigns then Cunliffe would be a wonderful replacement.
Labour had those materials independently checked and vetted by Parliamentary Services b.b. As for theft, check out the $7B asset give away that Key and English are sponsoring – those assets belong to the children and great grandchildren of NZ, not to the Chinese and Saudis.
The AG deemed it to be theft, remember how Clark had to change the law to make her theft legal?
You lot really do like rewriting history don’t you.
As for the 49% sale of the “assets” well the people of NZ don’t seem to mind much about that Viper, the coming election will prove that. Mind you, I know that will not stop you guys moaning about it, democracy is not something you really bother with.
So..one again I ask you, do you lot think stealing is OK?. we know that your MP’s think it is perfectly fine to steal from the tax payer I just want to know if you are of the same opinion.
[lprent: The AG never said it was theft as far as I’m aware. A three week ban for putting words into the AG’s mouth unless you can link to something where the AG explicitly said it was “theft”.
Arggh reading your comments – I can’t be bothered with idiot trolling. You are on probation for a ban until after the election and the only reason you didn’t get it is because you don’t normally act quite as much of a dickhead. ]
Bruv
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There is no suggestion that Labour has been stealing. The pamphlet is being reported to the police because the law says it has to. This is only happening because “Authorised by …” was not printed on the pamphlet although given the fact that it is clearly a Labour Party publication and has Phil’s details all over it I think it is pretty clear that it was authorised.
âŠremember how Clark had to change the law to make her theft legal?
Don’t forget all the other parties that got caught up in the AG’s rule change which included National who also overspent their allowed electioneering spend by the amount of GST.
Working conditions in the US IT industry : My current company, has no vacations. You simply tell them when you are not going to be there, and they decide if they want to fire you for the absence.
They also do not have weekends. On the Friday before each customary “3-day” weekend the owner declares an emergency that, somehow, MUST be finished by Tuesday.
No one wants to work there for very long. Turnover is very high. Projects don’t get finished, precisely because of the turnover. Other projects do get “finished’, but don’t work, also because of the turnover
The owner doesn’t seem to realize that he is sabotaging his own projects.
Obama hasn’t tried socialism bruv. His health care plan was stolen from the republicans, his ‘stimulus’ (which is now dropping off, expect to see further contraction and more unemoployment) was weighted heavily towards tax cuts at the top end.
About the only thing that has worked was the auto industry bail out.
No, it was the greed, outsourcing and the bad (because their boards are populated by oil guys)strategic decisions with regards to their designs (Bigger, more gas guzzling as opposed to small energy efficient) that made the industry collapse and the bailout worked because it allowed them to screw the US workers even more by financing more outsourcing making the fat cats and their shareholders happy.
Yawn. If the us had a proper health care system like grown up countries do then the unions wouldn’t have to negotiate that stuff.
And your idea that the US union movement is either powerful or socialist only goes to prove that you wouldn’t know socialism if it nationalised your nutsack
it was the unions (socialist to the core) who fucked the auto industry
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Yep you go to the Bahamas now and the beaches are full of retired auto workers drinking their pina coladas and living it up on their ill gotten gains.
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And you then go back to Pensylvania and there are all these ex merchant bankers and Wall Street types living out of scraps they get from Dumpsters and sleeping rough.
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Those god forsaken communist unions sure knew what they were doing …
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Big Bruv, you really need to gen up on the term ‘Fordism’ – Henry T Ford paid wages way above the market rate for two reasons; firstly the jobs were tedious and boring, secondly nobody could afford his new cars, hence he paid his staff nearly double the average wage and they all bought cars too. Guess what, he started a thing called commercialisation, where everyone was envious of their neighbours vehicle.
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Blame the companies not the unions – BTWÂ can you actually tell me the real root of socialism? Let’s see….
Something called “big bruv” is, unwisely, trying to be clever….
So the next step is for you to admit that Socialism is a failed ideology,
Do you even know what you are talking about?
Obama has tried it
No he has not. It’s clear you don’t know what you’re talking about.
and near destroyed the Yankee economy.
“Yankee”? Clearly, as well as knowing nothing about political and economic theory, you also know nothing about American culture.
Why don’t you take some time off, my friend, and read a few books? Seriously, you need to do that. You are way out of your depth at the moment.
Reminds me of a joke doing the rounds: A CEO, a worker and an unionist sit down at a table. On the table are a plate with 12 cookies. The CEO takes 11 cookies and puts them in his pocket than he points the finger at the union guy and tells the worker:” Be afraid boy, be very afraid because that union guy wants part of your cookie”!
Tell me BB what don’t you get about 1% owning 50% of all wealth and resources of the US while 50% have to make do with 2% being unfair and those 50% organising themselves to get a bigger part of the pie being with unions being a good idea?
More than likely management that did for GM etc., parasitic, low life management.
Remember Reagan, Bush etc.? Unmitigated disasters for many Americans except for a few wealthy ones, funny that.
You and I agree that the management of GM were pathetic.
Pathetic for giving into parasitic union thugs
Pathetic for agreeing to pension demands that sent the company bankrupt
Pathetic for not taking on the low life unions and smashing them.
The tax payer owns GM. GM should have been left to fail, however Obama is so closely tied to the scum union movement that he wasted billions of tax payer dollars propping up GM.
Do a bit of research Viper, have a look at the facts, GM could not compete with other car makers because their wage and pension plans were crippling the company.
Unions are crucial to any strong well paid, successful industry. There are of course right and wrong ways to do union/industry relationships.
And remember, the unions did not negotiate the Private Jets for GM executives đ
GM could not compete with other car makers because their wage and pension plans were crippling the company.
This was only 40%-50% of GM’s problems.
Their repeated string of dud designs, over reliance on fuel guzzling trucks, unwillingness to support new pollution and fuel efficiency measures, and slow progress in closing the quality gap with the Japanese formed the rest.
Obama isn’t a failure for his “Socialism” BB but for his sleazy surrender to the banksters and the Military industrial complex, pandering to their insatiable thirst for more wars and more looting while the populations of the countries they invade and destroy and the American population die and wither as a result.
That’s the problem with you socialists, you cannot defend your beloved system despite the fact that it has failed everywhere it has been tried so you resort to abuse.
What a lot of tripe you utter BB. Socialism failed ? Not in the Scandinavian countries who have the highest standard of living in the world. Nearer to home how about Fonterra which is pure Socialism. Something you and farmers conveniently forget.
The price of oil won’t go above about $130/barrel as the economy can’t sustain that. Of course, the economy will still collapse once we start going down the other side of Hubbert’s Peak.
[lprent: Removed the excess bold. There was no need to make your text shout. You might think that it is IMPORTANT and requiring emphasis – others do not. It didn’t have a reason in doing it, went beyond the permitted minor emphasis, and I’m really really uninterested in having an emphasis war.
I could start emphasizing how much I disapprove by removing the offenders to save my eyes. ]
It was only one line! I always make sure to avoid excess bold or excess capital letters. I understand what you’re saying, but I didn’t think one line was excessive.
[lprent: Two single lines – your complete contribution to the comment in fact :twisted:. It is hard to figure out a point that it was being used for when it is the whole comment. You comment above is a lot better – the bold was an emphasis on your point (even if that was incorrect). ]
He’s heading that way. poor bruv. He had such high hopes. Turns out the country doesn’t like racist old misanthropes. Whocoodanode?
Speaking of Brash Bruv, where do you stand in the great Brash v Ansell throwdown? Brash was for Ansell before he was against him, so you could go that route too, I suppose. Like you were for Hide before you were against him, IIRC.
Don Brash this morning: “I can speak for most NZers that they don’t want Maorisation.”
Don Brash this morning: “I can’t speak for the others in my Party about how they regard the current publicity.”
On National Radio on Sunday morning they had a retrospective on the homosexual law reform, passed 25 years ago.
Didn’t listen to much of it, but did catch a speech by John Banks MP saying it would be a sad day long remembered in New Zealand because of what was being passed, with a very dark cloud hanging over parliament. Seems like he couldn’t have been more wrong.
Be nice if this little speech could be brought up around Epsom: 25 years ago John Banks said this, do you really want to be represented by a small-minded bigot from the past?
Banksie tried to chum up with gays during the supercity mayoral contest and it looked most unconvincing. Todays voters should know what a cockroach he is.
Homosexual law reform was indeed a reform that worked and has lasted, not perfect but made life that bit more bearable and fair for part of our community. Anyone remember the straight supporters little pink HUG buttons (Heterosexuals Unafraid of Gays) and Blue Jeans Day which could be hilarious?
The poor working conditions on NZ-chartered fishing trawlers is an ongoing disgrace to this country. Stuff reports on the latest saga here, but gives few details. Another article summarises the background and specific allegations:
 Slave labour conditions in NZ’s fishing industry
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If what this latter article states about the collaboration/indifference of Iwi company owners and the Maritime Union in perpetuating this situation is true, it is a sad day.
Intermittent signal July 2011/3
Great sounding NZ research that should make a big difference in energy, finding non-food sources, and can reduce waste. Don’t know what the disadvantages are – I guess that there is some law that for every improvement there is one. http://www.lanzatech.co.nz/
Hear interview on Radio nz – Can’t provide instant control, but your own work can get there in a few seconds.
Details from RadioNZ 9 to Noon program.
Feature Guest – Sean Simpson
Sean Simpson is the co-founder, and head of the science team at Lanzatech – a privately owned, NZ-based company which has developed and patented a microbe that eats polluting gases and excretes ethanol. (30âČ48âł)
Download: Ogg Vorbis MP3 (He makes some comments on the effects of our present tax system on forward-looking research and development in NZ, I think it’s called imputation.)
Seeing as how everyones labelling everyone a racist these days. Let’s have a debate about ‘race’ as it applies specifically to NZ ?
First we’ll define the terms of reference, then we’ll compare racial characteristics by a number of indicators to determine whether in fact some ‘races’ are indeed superior/inferior to others.
We’ll naturally include assimilated phenotypes, genetic markers, social norms, cultural values and ideals as indicators of any evolutionary oneupmanship with regards to adaptibility and natural selection/survival of the fittest.
…and then based on the outcome we’ll determine which ‘race’, if any, has the right to determine the “one rule of law, irrespective of race by which we as NZers should all live by”. and whether promoting any such rule of law is indeed racist.
yeah, nah…is that a radical idea whose time has come or are we still too chickenshit as a nation to truly confront our fears and prejudices ?
Further to my comments on young women, careless boozing, irresponsibility, and reliance on men to have superior standards to their own: nz herald 11/7/2011
A Timaru gynaecologist wants a campaign against promiscuity after encountering a shocking number of pregnant patients who cannot remember whom they had sex with.
Dr Albert Makary, who has been in Timaru for 20 years, called on national leaders, sports stars, schools and the media at a Forum on the Family in Auckland yesterday to “stigmatise” both promiscuity and the binge drinking that usually preceded it.
He cited a survey by a condom maker that said New Zealand women were the most promiscuous in the world, with 20.3 sexual partners on average. The world average was 7.3.
Kiwi men were also above average with 16.8 partners. New Zealand was the only country where women had more sexual partners than men.
“I get women coming in and saying, ‘Doctor, I can’t remember who I slept with yesterday.’
“It is very, very frequent. I’m not talking about one or two or three or 1000 cases. I’m talking about thousands and thousands of cases a year [nationally].” What’s more, they’re proud of it.
He said such promiscuity undermined stable life-long relationships.
The symptoms were increasing violence, sexual assault, alcohol and drug-fuelled car accidents, a growing incidence of depression and the world’s highest rates of both chlamydia and youth suicide.
It only takes one fundamentalist to discover a whole lot of sinners
I rather think you missed the point, Campbell. The reason these things have been called sins in the first place, is because of the damage they do to relationships and to people. There are examples in my own family – my somewhat dim-witted nephew has a wife who is hell-bent on churning out baby after baby despite repeated bouts of post-natal depression, because her own family life was so f***ed up. The reason they married in the first place, I have been told is because she was preggers, and because she was “easy”. Result, 4 children under 5 years old, and my sister is going round the bend trying to support this dysfunctional family (financially and emotionally). They’re both under 25 years old.
Hi Vicky, apologies for not being clearer. There are serious issues raised and I do not mean to make light of them. I do think that the articles could have done a better job of avoiding the potential reinforcement of negative stereotypes of woman and was wondering if the promiscuity debate was going to be used as part of a UFuture (or others) election campaign around family values.
and was wondering if the promiscuity debate was going to be used as part of a UFuture (or others) election campaign around family values.
That’s always possible – but I would stick my neck out as far as to say that “family values” aren’t necessarily a bad thing! Saving young women from STDS, broken hearts and a broken family can only be a good thing, I’d have thought.
As a woman (and back when I was a younger woman I felt the same way) I always felt a mixture of pity and revulsion towards promiscuous girls. (That applied to myself when I was one! đ )
Given that in some (but by no means all) cases there are underlying issues which promiscuity is but a symptom of don’t you think revulsion is a quite a negitive emotion/ tag which if normalized as a response is likely to cause further distress to the very people that you want to help?
…Chaste does not imply moral – there are no doubt many ‘promiscuous’ people who would object to the assertion that they are somehow less caring or functional because of the way they express thier sexuality.
Campbell Larsen – This is a sticky mixture of sentimentality and political correctness which does not give the women involved the respect due to them as adults who need to find adult ways to cope with life.
Prism – ‘sentimental’ ‘PC’ and somehow disrespectful at the same time?
Easy up on the name calling tiger – I don’t think we disagree as much as you think – the issue is health, both individual and societal – the approach to any problems should also be health focused and not come from a faith based or religious perspective, or from claims to the moral high ground.
Campbell Larsen – My point was that there is a sticky trap for those trained in political correctness often through social work courses, which actually involves fudging the issues of those people supposedly being helped. The focus of attention may be to the difficulties they face – their disadvantaged position in society, bad parent role models, constant sexual emphasis in advertising even to the very young girl etc.
In the case of promiscuous females this would occur if their behaviour was not directly discussed, with an emphasis on their own agency in the unfortunate result. Understanding the societal pressures should not prevent helping the person to develop their own adult competency to handle those societal problems. That is what I mean by having respect – that is respect for their own abilities, understandings and strengths. Anything else is patronising and infantilising.
well, seeing as we’re in the “pc gone mad” stage, why are you talking about female promiscuity and not male promiscuity?
Males get tracked down by IRD for 18 years of maintenance, have the emotional upheaval, and also find out that it really CAN fall off. And males are the ones who wear the major prophylactic against these issues.
But then of course, male “promiscuity” doesn’t seem to be the public health tragedy that female “promiscuity” is.
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… there are no doubt many âpromiscuousâ people who would object to the assertion that they are somehow less caring or functional because of the way they express thier sexuality.
True, but these are not the girls referred to in the original source! The ones referred to are living pretty dysfunctional lives, and have such bad relationships with alcohol, that they can’t have good relationships with guys.
‘The symptoms were increasing violence, sexual assault, alcohol and drug-fuelled car accidents, a growing incidence of depression and the worldâs highest rates of both chlamydia and youth suicide.’
Hm, most of which were instigated by said young [drunk at time of conception] women.
Scarlet As, people? Of course this problem is young women’s fault. Nothing to do with the rest of us.
Jim Nald Promiscuity? It takes two to tango?
The excerpt covers the two sexes and their promiscuity. (Doesn’t mention anything about the third), ie
He cited a survey by a condom maker that said New Zealand women were the most promiscuous in the world, with 20.3 sexual partners on average. The world average was 7.3.
Kiwi men were also above average with 16.8 partners. New Zealand was the only country where women had more sexual partners than men.
Also from CV’s link – “She said times have changed so much that the fear of getting pregnant or catching a sexually transmitted disease were no longer seen as reasons for not having sex.
“We don’t even call them sexually transmitted diseases anymore, we’ve changed that to infections which kind of downgrades it and makes it not as serious as they can be.”
A Timaru gynaecologist wants a campaign against promiscuity after encountering a shocking number of pregnant patients who cannot remember whom they had sex with.
My giddy aunt! No one can possibly think that’s a good thing can they? Aside from anything else, if they keep the child, what will they tell her when she is 5 and asks “who’s my Daddy, Mum, and why don’t we ever see him?” (She/he will ask, you can depend on that…)
Agreed.
We need to distribute more condoms and increase the availability of abortions and other family planning services.
Oh, is that not what you meant?
Agreed.
We need to distribute more condoms and increase the availability of abortions and other family planning services.
Yeah, that’ll help! Not! The issue as I see it, is the emotional harm done to both boys and girls, by a pattern of behaviour that causes huge problems for them and the children they have who escape being slaughtered! (Abortion also causes huge emotional problems especially if the girl allows herself to be pressured into it, either by her parents or the boy’s..) I’ve seen this in my own family.
When my son went to his school ball (he went only once, for the experience, as she and his friends were the designated nerds, therefore not interested.) He was both amused and embarassed to be issued condoms and pamphlets about STIs and what we used to call ‘the clap clinic’, with his ball tickets. He had no intention of either getting trolleyed or having sex that or any othert night.
If instead of being issued condoms and even more sex ed., (by year 11 they will have years of it years of it), girls and boys were taught more about the benefits of further education, there’d be far fewer teen pregnancies to abort…
Right – because tertiary education really lowers the libido!
Basically, from a public health perspective, getting 17-24y.o. who are all piled into a concentrated area to not shag each other is pushing shit uphill. The best you can do is throw rubbers at anyone and everyone so that they’re available when the impulse strikes, and they don’t have to overcome embarrassment to buy a french tickler themselves. “Promise rings” and other abstinence bs just plain doesn’t work, and they end up having unprotected sex (or unprotected anal sex on the grounds that it “doesn’t count”) and that leads to all sorts of bad stuff.
Drinking is another matter – price controls and licensing restrictions (not to mention better tools to enforce the current law) should take the edge off the worst of the binge drinking culture.
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Right â because tertiary education really lowers the libido!
Basically, from a public health perspective, getting 17-24y.o. who are all piled into a concentrated area to not shag each other is pushing shit uphill. The best you can do is throw rubbers at anyone and everyone so that theyâre available when the impulse strikes, and they donât have to overcome embarrassment to buy a french tickler themselves. âPromise ringsâ and other abstinence bs just plain doesnât work, and they end up having unprotected sex (or unprotected anal sex on the grounds that it âdoesnât countâ) and that leads to all sorts of bad stuff.
I never said it lowers the libido. But what it does do, is give these people a sense of having a future that they don’t want to risk. Do you know any 17-24 year olds? My son and his friends didn’t shag their way through university, neither did I when it was my turn. You seem to be very cynical about students. The ones who drank and shagged their way through uni rather than studying, are the ones who graduate (or not) and instead of being doctors, cardiac nurses (as my son now is) or lawyers, work in insurance companies, regretting their lost opportunities.
Your cynicism shows itself in the unsupported assertion that “âPromise ringsâ and other abstinence bs just plain doesnât work, and they end up having unprotected sex (or unprotected anal sex on the grounds that it âdoesnât countâ) and that leads to all sorts of bad stuff.” Your assertion is widely believed but it’s not true. People are perfectly capable of abstinence if they feel they have a reason, and I mean abstinence from sex and also from binge drinking! Sex is not a physiological necessity, no one dies from the absence of it, Shortland Street and other NZ TV drama notwithstanding. You seem to have a very low opinion of human nature, and you remind me of that satirical song by the Bloodhound Gang which my abstinent son used to quote: “You and me, baby/We ain’t nothing but mammals/So let’s do it like they do/On the Discovery channel”. Possibly you didn’t even get that it was satirical?
Years ago, I read a book about adoption, and the girls who in the 60s and early 70s, who were pressured into giving up their babies. The author (whose name escapes me right now) talked about the fact that the girls who devoted themselves to getting an education instead of an STI were on the whole much happier.
You’re also wronger than a professor of wrong at Oxford University that these people don’t want relationships, they just want to shag. That attitude is one I’ve heard put forward by the middle aged and older male, not by young women or young men. 17-24 year olds are terribly hung up on romance. Every time a teenage girl (or boy) has sex with a new partner she’s secretly hoping he might be “the one”. Trust me on this – my son is 24, and I remember my 17-24 years far more vividly than I ought to!
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âYou and me, baby/We ainât nothing but mammals/So letâs do it like they do/On the Discovery channelâ.
Actually apart from our nearest genetic cousins the bonobos and chimps, most mammals have sex quite at quite limited seasons or stages of their lives. Many species will get by quite well with only several dozen acts of intercourse in their entire lives. Contrast that to the many thousands of times we are capable of engaging in it more or less anytime any place…with anyone… if we so desire.
So actually comparing us to animals isn’t right… they are usually far more restrained than us.
The abstinence debate has been well-travelled especially regarding the states and Africa. There is a reason that e.g. the Catholic missionaries went from Abstinence-only to ABC (abstinence – but if doing it, use a condom). Heck, armies have been trying to stop soldiers getting stds for centuries, and success only started with antibiotics and distribution of condoms. And, on occasion, regulated military brothels.
I worked in a university providing various services to students for many years. It might be cynical, but I think it’s realistic for at least 25% of the tertiary population, if not treble that (according to various NZ studies in the area). Not all students have sex at university, but quite a few do. Not all of those who have sex have it for reasons that are healthy, and not all who have sex practise safe sex. It’s the last two that are problems.
Oh, and your idea that everytime a teenager has sex they think s/he’s “the one”? Don’t make me laugh – and that goes for quite a few women as well as men.
Human beings are the most extraordinarily hyper-sexual creature evolution has ever produced. Yet the amazing thing really is how few partners most people have, compared with our physical capacity to have sex. Most people actually make pretty restrained choices around sex the vast majority of the time…so let’s not get too morally panicky here.
The real issue I believe, and lots of others have said this, is the prevalence of alochol abuse. And while both genders are responsible for their behaviour, ultimately it’s the dissolving of inhibitions that results in girls drunk in charge of their pussy.. and then having to wear the consequences.
And that is what has changed in the last decade or so. Now I do recall sometime in the 70’s ‘chaperoning’ a good friend of mine (later we almost married… but that’s another story) around a pub crawl to celebrate the end of the uni year. She held together remarkably well almost to the end, and I eventually got her home safe and sound… and unfucked as agreed. But it was pretty much a one off, we never made a habit of that sort of thing.
But these days the sheer numbers of scantily clad young women staggering about in public, utterly muntered is what has changed. The unplanned, unsafe sex is the consequence of this unsafe, out-of-control alcohol abuse. It’s the drinking that’s the root cause here; address that.
not all is as it seems that median vs average problem seems to be behind the high rates of sexual activity.
The long-running Otago multi-disciplinary study, which has tracked just over 1000 people since they were born in Dunedin in 1973, has found that half of the men had 10 or fewer sexual partners by age 32, and half the women had eight or fewer partners.
But a small group of highly active men and women pushed up the average number of sexual partners by age 32 – the total of all sexual partners divided by the number of people surveyed – to 20.8 for men and 13.3 for women.
Those figures are comparable, although gender-reversed, with a survey of 26 nations by a condom maker that found Kiwi men had an average of 16.8 partners and Kiwi women an average of 20.4 partners. The women’s figure was the highest in the world.
I blame the booze. Oh and maybe women here are more accurate in their counting or more likely to treat the survey as a joke – a cultural difference?
Brave Little Israel fights off Non-Violent Peace Protestors
Radio New Zealand National “World Watch”, 12.45 p.m. Monday 11 July 2011
Israel’s paranoid and increasingly insane political leaders are worried—they’re certainly working hard to stop dissenters focusing international attention on the illegal blockade of Gaza. More than 30 human rights and peace protestors from many countries, after being prevented from sailing from Athens, have now tried to enter Jerusalem’s Ben-Gurion Airport, but have again been blocked by Israeli machinations.
To cover this, Radio New Zealand National chose to run a ridiculously biased, cynical Deutsche-Welle “report” by the notorious Irris Makler. After approvingly outlining how the Israelis had inveigled several airlines, including Lufthansa, to actually do their dirty work for them, Makler said this: “Some Canadian pilgrims, however, found that it’s easy to get into Israel if you come in with a less aggressive agenda.”
But Makler was not finished. “A group of Israeli families of suicide bomb victims,” she sneered, “wants to meet with the protestors—if they get through.”
In spite of the dire and depressing quality of this travesty of journalism, it’s still interesting for what it reveals about the state of Israeli apologetics. People like Irris Makler really have only two weapons: defamation and diversion. Note how, after working hard at defaming the protestors with their “aggressive agenda” of peaceful protest, Irris Makler also played the diversion card—avoid the real and continuing oppression of Gaza, and talk about something else, in this case, suicide bombings which happened more than a decade ago.
I think a report as flagrantly dishonest as this one could be a case for an official complaint to Radio New Zealand, as well as Deutsch-Welle. What do others think?
I think a report as flagrantly dishonest as this one could be a case for an official complaint to Radio New Zealand, as well as Deutsch-Welle. What do others think?
I agree absolutely!
P.S., I am trying to post this comment and keep getting an error message, fill in name & email yet I am logged in. Was gibt? 3rd try… 5th try and for some insane reason I’ve been logged out. What on earth is wrong?
The login actually has a time limit that does not renew every time you come to the site. Unfortunately it can strike while you’re reading a thread so, even though the page says that you’re logged in, you’re actually logged out. You have to refresh the page and log in again.
Good description. I looked at it in 2009 and decided that there was bugger all that I could do to improve it. I didn’t want to play with the login cookie system. I should have another peek at it and see if they opened up the convoluted login code.
Warren Buffet knows that the rich have waged class war upon the poor for years; he said it publicly.
Edit – wait, he gave most of that money to Bill Gates???? Who in return seems to be giving most of that money to already well paid professionals at big universities and pharma companies??? If I may politely say, wtf.
Once again we’re witness to the horrendous images of starving people arriving at refugee camps in east Africa, with nearly 12 million people facing starvation across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia…
This is one of those problems where the more we spend the worse the problem gets. Ensuring that a group of people don’t starve to death just ensures that their children probably will because we haven’t addressed the underlying problem of over population. As long as we don’t address that these things will just keep getting worse.
The cronyism you note is par for the course for National.
It’s pretty despicable to cut foreign aid at a time when it’s most needed. Most of what National does I’m reasonably indifferent to, but this really pisses me off! National really are a bunch of heartless old bastards!
It’s an issue that isn’t going to go away anytime soon. Some of the problem lies with administration costs whereby a lot of the aid funds don’t get to where they are required. Controlling distribution lines would also help to ensure aid got to where it is most needed.
Another issue is that many areas affected by drought don’t have the means to irrigate or produce seed to grow their own crops, which is usually the underlying issue to starvation. Supporting farmers in areas of food insecurity through such measures as free or subsidized fertilizers and seeds increases food harvest and reduces food prices.
Crop failure will become more prevalent with the increased effects of climate change. That could be a serious issue considering the UN recently said food production will need to double by 2050 to meet demand.
Overpopulation is a tricky one. Education is probably the best remedy there. The more education the less incidence of starvation or implementation of more draconian policies.
The earth can in fact sustain many more humans with proper wealth distribution and measures to increase food production such as proper crop selection. Restricting the use of genetically engineered seeds, helping countries develop proper irrigation systems and education goes a long way to developing self reliance.
It’s not all bad news though. The share of malnourished and starving people in the world has been more or less continually decreasing for at least several centuries. This is due to an increasing supply of food and to overall gains in economic efficiency.
Share of undernourished people in the developing world
we can add single generation seeds onto the list of current threats to global food production. It is one that will continue to become more prominent as the decades roll on. They are in the EcoSystem. What this will eventually do to the Environment, no-one can honestly know.
Re -McFlock âŠ
12 July 2011 at 5:29 pm
I agree about promiscuity of both sexes. But what appears to have happened is a race to the bottom with women trying to echo mens attitudes, or what they imagine these are.
Women are likely to come off worse in this situation, diseases, unwanted pregnancies, interruption of their education which was supposed to set them up for an adult life. They might end up sterile because of chlamydia or despising sex which would affect future close loving relationships.
As opposed to men who end up viewing women as strictly a vagina? Or the couple who got married as virgins and it turned out one party was hoping that heterosexual sex would get rid of their inclinations? Or the teen who believed that you couldn’t get pregnant the first time you did it? Or the guy who doesn’t take his warty leaking appendage to the doctor until it’s far to late? Or etc etc etc.
Some people like and can handle higher volume sex than others, without it being the result of (or resulting in) some sort of emotional disorder – everyone is different. This is not a problem. As long as people are doing it for reasons they recognise and are at home with is fine. Not having the good sense to roll a johnny on the wee chap (or, for that matter, use dental dams, spermicide, sponges, caps, rubber gloves and so on) IS a problem.
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Te PÄti MÄori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. âReinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of MÄori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. âThis legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whÄnau out onto the street for no reasonâ said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. âTheir solution to the housing ...
âNationalâs campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,â Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
âThere are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,â Jan Tinetti said. ...
âThis government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this governmentâs agenda and the future of our mokopuna,â said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
âTodayâs climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,â Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how theyâre taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. âThe Abuse in Care Inquiryâs report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faithâbased institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Governmentâs online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. âIt is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
TÄnÄ tÄtou katoa, NgÄ mihi te rangi, ngÄ mihi te whenua, ngÄ mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealandâs payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. âThe Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre â Te PokapĆ« WÄina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. âThe research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. âRegions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesiaâs Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. âIndonesia is important to New Zealandâs security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,â says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kĆrero, he kĆrero, he kĆrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of NgÄti Maniapoto, Minister for MÄori Development Tama Potaka says. âMy thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust â NgÄti Maniapoto for bringing their important kĆrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.âI have received Ms Fredricâs resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,â Mr Brown says.âOn behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliamentâs test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. âSection 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are âdangerous changesâ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. âIssues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. âThe level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations Iâve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatƫ rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawkeâs Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. Itâs the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care âWhanaketia â through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,â was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry âWhanaketia â through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. âTax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. âIt includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. âCompetitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. âUnder current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and WhangÄrei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. âFor too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. âIt is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,â Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. âI am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. âASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,â Mr Peters says. âThis will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. âThis $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,â Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. âThis support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealandâs commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. âCabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. âThe previous governmentâs botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. âNew Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. âAttending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,â Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the regionâs fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministersâ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Governmentâs plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. âOn the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.âIncreasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. âNew Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,â Mr Peters says. âWe are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, itâs a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealandâs foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kÄkÄ shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro â winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 â died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Wattsâ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Governmentâs emissions reduction plan. Now Iâve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayersâ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. âThey didnât explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still havenât. Thereâs no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character sheâd like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. âIf the phone rings, I have to answer it,â Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of PĆneke writer Flora Feltham.In âThe Raw Materialâ, the longest essay in Flora Felthamâs dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. âPounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the bandâs perfect weekend and new release. âGood speakers, good food, good music, no distractionsâ: thatâs all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Prettiesâ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this yearâs showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing â a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our Whatâs Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babuâs humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field â especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the âteal waveâ into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the worldâs most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman â specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Googleâs parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the cityâs eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, itâs predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Ă kerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether youâd have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out whatâs next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because itâs not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te RĆ«nanga Nui o NgÄ Kura Kaupapa MÄori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa MÄori ...
If you havenât started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. Thereâs the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my motherâs furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The governmentâs announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old MÄori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,â Mr Tipa says. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Booksâ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkinsâ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any MÄori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among MÄori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this weekâs mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its âget tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing â the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the bodyâs immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are youâll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshullâs anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the warâs early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Slee, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, Flinders University Francisco Gonzelez/Unsplash Migraine is many things, but one thing itâs not is âjust a headacheâ. âMigraineâ comes from the Greek word âhemicraniaâ, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earthâs land area â particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Heynen, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy, The University of Queensland A temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars, ParisEkaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sustainability of the event is coming under scrutiny. The organisers have promoted ...
A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. Youâd barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capitalâs last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Professor in Marine Geology, University of Canterbury Louise Corcoran/Getty Images The decline in the number of doctoral candidates at New Zealand universities is a worrying sign for the countryâs effort to build a knowledge-based economy. Aotearoa New Zealandâs ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laurie Berg, Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney defotoberg/Shutterstock Migrant worker exploitation is entrenched in workplaces across Australia. Tragically, a deep fear of immigration consequences means most unlawful employer conduct goes unreported. On Wednesday, however, the government officially launched a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vaughan Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania Paris is about to host its third summer Olympics. While we donât yet know what the legacy of this yearâs games will be, letâs take the opportunity to reflect on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Griffith University In the wake of the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, there were calls from bothsides of US politics, as well as internationally, to reduce the brutal, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Keith Rathbone, Senior Lecturer, Modern European History and Sports History, Macquarie University Two high-profile assaults on Australians in Paris have raised concerns about security ahead of the Olympic Games. On Saturday evening, a young woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by a ...
Dying is inevitable and, so it seems, is it costing a lot, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in todayâs extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.The cost of dying ...
The government took Joyce Harris's first baby and sent her off to a girls' home. Half a century on - and out of oceans of hurt - it asked her to be a mother figure. ...
Itâs the deadliest fictional town in the country, but which death has been the most bonkers? Alex Casey looks back at 10 seasons of The Brokenwood Mysteries to find out. Warning: The following ranking story contains famous New Zealand actors appearing to be dead (not alive). The Spinoff has been ...
Water cremation is the biggest thing to happen to the death industry in the last 100 years. Alex Casey meets the people trying to bring it to Aotearoa. Through a set of mirrored doors down the industrial end of Christchurchâs St Asaph Street, death is getting a new lease on ...
So chaps, how much has the Labour party stolen from the tax payer this week?
So chaps how much has the National Party lied to the tax payer this week?
How many government minister have stayed in expensive hotels whilst war veterans were left to fend for themselves?
Heard something on TV3 News this morning about National increasing its lead to 55% of something compared to Labour’s 30% whatevers. No context about which questions were asked, who they asked, when the poll was taken, or anything much of all.
Haha it reminds me of the polls saying that Gaddaffi has the support of 97% of his people.
When will we see Goff rolled?, will it be before Wednesday?
Oh no, the goon squad has arrived again!
Keep dreaming big bruv, keep dreaming.
RWNJs are so out of ideas, just like Key and English đ
Yeah, even C/T seem to have run out of spin. BB seems to have been forced to use his own limited repertoire of memorised anti-Labour slogans.
When will we see English Dumped?, will it be before Wednesday?
Ansell went for broke and may have terminally broken Act. I can’t see them getting many vote from women and I doubt many men will buy into his superiority complex either.
What is it with Women and Act?
SS, your daily links raise interesting issues from time to time.
It gets a little annoying, however, that you start a discussion and then won’t engage with the responses.
For example, I’m still waiting for a response here: http://thestandard.org.nz/exit-stage-right/#comment-350166
It doesn’t bode well for your new way of doing democracy if you want all the communication to be one way.
I try to engage, but it’s easy to miss responses. I’ll have a look at that one.
Secret Squirrel – I think this response thing could be helped if people first put the name being replied to, and that person can do a search under their own name, and the responses will pop up without time wasting.
Ummm it is an issue especially with the numbers of comments going into the system right now. What if I put an extra tab on the right panel for “Responses” ?
I Â have either the login or the last comment details in the cookies. It wouldn’t be hard to run a query for your last few hundred comment comments and then any direct responses to them.
Computationally it sucks up CPU – but it would only be doing it for the relatively few page loads from people who comment. That also means the spiders and bots won’t read it.
Re Greens and “niche”.
I think the Greens are a niche party, albeit with a strong level of support right now due to Labour’s soft support levels. Greens are trying to position themselves as more mainstream but I think they’ll find this difficult.
They have had and still have MPs who are on the extreme side of our spectrum, eg Sue Bradford and Keith Locke. Green policies on things like exploring for and utilising natural resources are relatively radical.
UF is very middle of the road on most things, not radical. They have low party support because they are seen as a single electorate single person party, Dunne’s personal versus the UF party vote in Ohariu in 2008 illustrates this.UF competes in a large middle ground occupied most byNational and Labour.
I don’t judge niche on level of support, I see it as representing more special interest rather than general appeal.
I support Greens being in parliamanet, and I support some of their policiies, and I have voted for them in the past, but as a niche party, I wouldn’t support them becoming a major mainstream party – unless of course they radically from their current niche positioning.
SS, you’re still just throwing the word “radical” around without defining it. It usually implies some sort of extremism, but in the context you’re using it it can’t possibly mean any such thing.
“UF competes in a large middle ground occupied most by National and Labour.”
And picked up 0.87% of the vote in this “middle ground”. That’s not the score of a party with broad popular appeal. That’s not the score of a party representing the mainstream of NZ.
“I donât judge niche on level of support, I see it as representing more special interest rather than general appeal.”
This is getting closer to a definition, but it still contradicts the facts. The Greens have several times the “general appeal” of UF. So why do you insist that they’re the outlier, the niche, the radical, when by your own measure UF is far more so?
Sorry, I presumed you would know what they meant.
niche: a distinct segment of a market, derivative of Latin nÄ«dus – nest
It’s got nothing to do with size, it’s about being distinctive. The Green Party has one of the more distinct market segments in our politics.
radical: favoring drastic political, economic, or social reforms
That description fits Green far more than UF policies.
And how are you determining that either of those descriptions befits the Greens but not UF?
What is “mainstream” if it’s not defined by numbers?
If UF is a “mainstream” party rather than a “niche” party then why do they only attract a tiny niche of voters?
Come on Squirrel, stop running away from the discussions you start.
Anyone considering taking you at your word that you want to encourage a more consultative, more inclusive, more transparent system of govt should have a close look at the way you conduct yourself in discussions on this site.
Quite simply your words don’t match your actions.
And what is it with your site which is currently advertising “hot colombian beauties.”
Cos he makes $ from doing so
hope ur payuing your tax squirrel and not stashing it away
Couple of thoughts for the day with relevance to RWNJs (BB et al), Randists and free market afficienados…..just listened to a speach from Orlov when he mentioned the following…
Free markets are marginally more efficient than planned economies at using all the resources up until collapse is inevitable
and The free market is like a casino where all the chips end up in a few hands, when that happens the casino collapses, shuts doors and the chips are useless……
Have fun all you monetized rationalist morons.
Orlov is pretty good eh.
Got link?
And, yeah, the obvious conclusion of the capitalist free-market is, firstly, economic collapse as the money ends up as large pools in the hands of a few followed (after an “economic rescue” ie, New Deal etc) by total collapse as the resources are used up.
The money ends up in a few hands and they don’t spend it trying to live on the interest (Money generated through other peoples work and ideas) rather than being productive. As the money accumulates at the top the interest payments increase resulting in even more of the money going to the few while the money going to everyone else declines. Eventually the economy collapses because there isn’t enough money in the hands of the many to keep it going.
Keynes seems to have seen the problem but his solution appears* to have been to get the government to borrow that money from the rich at interest**. At best this would extend the time between economic collapses but, eventually, the governments would have borrowed so much that nobody would be willing to loan to them.
* The a reason why I use “seems” and “appears” here is because, according to Steve Keen, Keynes’ 1936 work was misinterpreted.
** Now consider just what National wanted to achieve by cutting taxes over the last decade and why they’ve suddenly gone to borrowing far more than they need to.
Draco, the video is well worth while, link is http://cluborlov.blogspot.com/2011/06/road-ahead-for-community-action.html
It is rather sad that we argue left versus right in politics and the respective economics. Both entirely miss the point, they are predicated on continuous growth in consumption and debt. Neither is sustainable on a finite planet, arguing the toss about which version you prefer is deck chair shuffling on the Titanic.
There is one critical need to argue however, as we decline the usual RWNJ suspects will attempt to cushion their fall at the expense of the masses, by way of debt, force, expropriation etc. We conversely must resist and make them observe a good left wing prescription: the sharing of what is available equitably.
Unfortunately, even the economists who see the problems of austerity don’t realise the problems inherent within a socio-economic system that requires larger and larger markets. It is impossible to fulfil their vision of trickle down or even redistributed growth from a finite planet. Hell, the definition of economics given to me at uni was the study of the distribution of limited resources and yet the economists fail to realise that the theory they postulate and teach must result in the destruction of the environment,all the resources being used up and the few ending up with all the wealth (not that it’ll do them much good once the environments fucked).
We need to move to an socio-economic system that’s based around resource use and then we might get round to having some prosperity.
Micky
You missed this story?
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2011/07/labour_referred_to_the_police_for_electoral_act_breach.html
It’s called stealing Micky, something your lot don’t seem to have a problem with.
BTW Micky, are you behind Goff or Cunliffe?
Labour’s flyers/pamphleets had been vetted and checked by Parliamentary Services where they were assessed as being neither electioneering or party promotional material. Therefore, at the time, those materials were given the independent OK to contain the Parliamentary Services seal.
Saw it BB and posted on it. I had a read of the legislation and can understand how someone would see it differently to the EC. From now on IMHO all parties should put “Authorised by …” on everything.
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It misses the point though. The authorisation requirement was to address the Exclusive Bretheren scenario where shadowy entities put out publications and no one had the chance to see where the publication was coming from.
Â
It aint called “stealing” BB it is called “mucking up the paper work”.Â
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BTW I thought you were all for freedom of speech and against Nanny State? This is pretty aggressive nanny statism doncha think?
Â
I support Phil. I reckon he has a good chance of creating history and in defeating a National Government after only one term. If he does not succeed and resigns then Cunliffe would be a wonderful replacement.
Oh Come on Viper…are you still sticking to that pathetic line?….reminds me of the 850k you lot nicked back in 05.
Tell me Viper, do you lot think stealing is OK?
Labour had those materials independently checked and vetted by Parliamentary Services b.b. As for theft, check out the $7B asset give away that Key and English are sponsoring – those assets belong to the children and great grandchildren of NZ, not to the Chinese and Saudis.
Stop telling lies Viper
The AG deemed it to be theft, remember how Clark had to change the law to make her theft legal?
You lot really do like rewriting history don’t you.
As for the 49% sale of the “assets” well the people of NZ don’t seem to mind much about that Viper, the coming election will prove that. Mind you, I know that will not stop you guys moaning about it, democracy is not something you really bother with.
So..one again I ask you, do you lot think stealing is OK?. we know that your MP’s think it is perfectly fine to steal from the tax payer I just want to know if you are of the same opinion.
[lprent: The AG never said it was theft as far as I’m aware. A three week ban for putting words into the AG’s mouth unless you can link to something where the AG explicitly said it was “theft”.
Arggh reading your comments – I can’t be bothered with idiot trolling. You are on probation for a ban until after the election and the only reason you didn’t get it is because you don’t normally act quite as much of a dickhead. ]
Bruv
Â
There is no suggestion that Labour has been stealing. The pamphlet is being reported to the police because the law says it has to. This is only happening because “Authorised by …” was not printed on the pamphlet although given the fact that it is clearly a Labour Party publication and has Phil’s details all over it I think it is pretty clear that it was authorised.
Micky
There is every suggestion that Labour have had their dirty hands in the tap payer pocket once again.
Once a thief always a thief.
[lprent: See http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-11072011/#comment-350555 ]
So also those blue budget leaflets and letters are also legal – my arse!
What’s a “tap payer pocket”, BBÂ ?
Good to see Big Suze is so strongly in favour of strict transparent electoral finance regulation.
Don’t forget all the other parties that got caught up in the AG’s rule change which included National who also overspent their allowed electioneering spend by the amount of GST.
Anything done by Labour recently pales into insignificance compared to the theft of our wealth that NACT are intent on carrying out.
Working conditions in the US IT industry :
My current company, has no vacations. You simply tell them when you are not going to be there, and they decide if they want to fire you for the absence.
They also do not have weekends. On the Friday before each customary “3-day” weekend the owner declares an emergency that, somehow, MUST be finished by Tuesday.
No one wants to work there for very long. Turnover is very high. Projects don’t get finished, precisely because of the turnover. Other projects do get “finished’, but don’t work, also because of the turnover
The owner doesn’t seem to realize that he is sabotaging his own projects.
http://it.slashdot.org/story/11/07/10/1410234/IT-Crises-vs-Vacation-Sometimes-It-Isnt-Pretty
US is 6 to 12 months from a breakdown moment. Oil at $175-$200 barrel should do it.
Ready to admit that Obama is a failure yet Viper?
Mate, that became bloody obvious when he hired Geithner, Bernanke and Summers. And decided to sideline Volker, Warren and Krugman.
Plus, despite overwhelming public support, he couldn’t/wouldn’t get a public healthcare option through.
OK…we are getting there Viper.
So the next step is for you to admit that Socialism is a failed ideology, Obama has tried it and near destroyed the Yankee economy.
I see you emerging from the dark hole of socialism Viper, keep up the good work.
Obama hasn’t tried socialism bruv. His health care plan was stolen from the republicans, his ‘stimulus’ (which is now dropping off, expect to see further contraction and more unemoployment) was weighted heavily towards tax cuts at the top end.
About the only thing that has worked was the auto industry bail out.
Lol…how ironic given it was the unions (socialist to the core) who fucked the auto industry in the first place.
No, it was the greed, outsourcing and the bad (because their boards are populated by oil guys)strategic decisions with regards to their designs (Bigger, more gas guzzling as opposed to small energy efficient) that made the industry collapse and the bailout worked because it allowed them to screw the US workers even more by financing more outsourcing making the fat cats and their shareholders happy.
Yawn. If the us had a proper health care system like grown up countries do then the unions wouldn’t have to negotiate that stuff.
And your idea that the US union movement is either powerful or socialist only goes to prove that you wouldn’t know socialism if it nationalised your nutsack
it was the unions (socialist to the core) who fucked the auto industry
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Yep you go to the Bahamas now and the beaches are full of retired auto workers drinking their pina coladas and living it up on their ill gotten gains.
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And you then go back to Pensylvania and there are all these ex merchant bankers and Wall Street types living out of scraps they get from Dumpsters and sleeping rough.
Â
Those god forsaken communist unions sure knew what they were doing …
Â
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Big Bruv, you really need to gen up on the term ‘Fordism’ – Henry T Ford paid wages way above the market rate for two reasons; firstly the jobs were tedious and boring, secondly nobody could afford his new cars, hence he paid his staff nearly double the average wage and they all bought cars too. Guess what, he started a thing called commercialisation, where everyone was envious of their neighbours vehicle.
Â
Blame the companies not the unions – BTWÂ can you actually tell me the real root of socialism? Let’s see….
Democracy heaven forbid giving the vote to the poor peasants or even allowing them to have an opinion they might vote for some income redistribution
Something called “big bruv” is, unwisely, trying to be clever….
So the next step is for you to admit that Socialism is a failed ideology,
Do you even know what you are talking about?
Obama has tried it
No he has not. It’s clear you don’t know what you’re talking about.
and near destroyed the Yankee economy.
“Yankee”? Clearly, as well as knowing nothing about political and economic theory, you also know nothing about American culture.
Why don’t you take some time off, my friend, and read a few books? Seriously, you need to do that. You are way out of your depth at the moment.
Morrissey:Â My guess is the only books Burv reads are Penthouse and Playboy and he only reads the pictures.
I think Penthouse Forum banned him from writing any more letters, and he dispels all that pent-up energy by coming onto fora like this.
I think he gets one of those braille copies……….
Very funny grumpy – đ I have the image of Penthouse in braille – a whole new touch sensation.
lol you get that Obama tried socialism by rehiring a bunch of senior Goldman Sachs hacks to be his economic team?
You’re an idiot.
Hilarious Big Bruv! Obama, a socialist? It is to laugh… Really… Prove it! đ
It’s the neoliberal agenda that has fucked the USA.
Not really, that’s just the label of the day for too much interwoven power and money.
marsman
And yet the facts don’t back up your claim….funny that.
Want to know what “fucked” GM, Chrysler and to a lesser extend Ford?
Yep..unions, low life, parasitic unions.
Reminds me of a joke doing the rounds: A CEO, a worker and an unionist sit down at a table. On the table are a plate with 12 cookies. The CEO takes 11 cookies and puts them in his pocket than he points the finger at the union guy and tells the worker:” Be afraid boy, be very afraid because that union guy wants part of your cookie”!
Tell me BB what don’t you get about 1% owning 50% of all wealth and resources of the US while 50% have to make do with 2% being unfair and those 50% organising themselves to get a bigger part of the pie being with unions being a good idea?
More than likely management that did for GM etc., parasitic, low life management.
Remember Reagan, Bush etc.? Unmitigated disasters for many Americans except for a few wealthy ones, funny that.
marsman
You and I agree that the management of GM were pathetic.
Pathetic for giving into parasitic union thugs
Pathetic for agreeing to pension demands that sent the company bankrupt
Pathetic for not taking on the low life unions and smashing them.
Unions need to become stronger and more active with larger memberships. A rise in unions = a rise in worker pay and condition.
GM fucked up by not producing cars that people wanted, and when the oil crunch came they were fully unprepared.
The unions now own GM lol.
Stop telling lies Viper.
The tax payer owns GM. GM should have been left to fail, however Obama is so closely tied to the scum union movement that he wasted billions of tax payer dollars propping up GM.
Do a bit of research Viper, have a look at the facts, GM could not compete with other car makers because their wage and pension plans were crippling the company.
[lprent: Talking about lying – see http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-11072011/#comment-350555 ]
đ
Unions are crucial to any strong well paid, successful industry. There are of course right and wrong ways to do union/industry relationships.
And remember, the unions did not negotiate the Private Jets for GM executives đ
This was only 40%-50% of GM’s problems.
Their repeated string of dud designs, over reliance on fuel guzzling trucks, unwillingness to support new pollution and fuel efficiency measures, and slow progress in closing the quality gap with the Japanese formed the rest.
And through economics academia, central banks and various international bankster institutions, the rest of the western world.
There is now many times more debt and financial obligations in existence than the real economy has the resources to deliver on.
Obama isn’t a failure for his “Socialism” BB but for his sleazy surrender to the banksters and the Military industrial complex, pandering to their insatiable thirst for more wars and more looting while the populations of the countries they invade and destroy and the American population die and wither as a result.
trav
Obama is a failure for socialism, just as socialism has failed everywhere else it has been tried.
What part of that do you not get?
BB, you’re so brain dead it’s not even funny any more.
Given up already Trav?
That’s the problem with you socialists, you cannot defend your beloved system despite the fact that it has failed everywhere it has been tried so you resort to abuse.
Shame.
From ultra right wing to socialist in a few comments! Wow.
No, BB unlike you I actually have life and besides I’ve come to the conclusion that your Ignotrance lifestyle choices are a waste of time to me.
Have a nice day!
Troll
What a lot of tripe you utter BB. Socialism failed ? Not in the Scandinavian countries who have the highest standard of living in the world. Nearer to home how about Fonterra which is pure Socialism. Something you and farmers conveniently forget.
I don’t think we’ll see $175-200 within 12 months. The economy will simply collapse and won’t sustain that price.
/agreed
The price of oil won’t go above about $130/barrel as the economy can’t sustain that. Of course, the economy will still collapse once we start going down the other side of Hubbert’s Peak.
Imagine if a Palestinian or Zimbabwean protestor did THIS to an official supervising a house destruction…
http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/a-proactive-approach-to-eviction-orders/
A proactive approach to eviction orders
http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/a-proactive-approach-to-eviction-orders/
[lprent: Removed the excess bold. There was no need to make your text shout. You might think that it is IMPORTANT and requiring emphasis – others do not. It didn’t have a reason in doing it, went beyond the permitted minor emphasis, and I’m really really uninterested in having an emphasis war.
I could start emphasizing how much I disapprove by removing the offenders to save my eyes. ]
It was only one line! I always make sure to avoid excess bold or excess capital letters. I understand what you’re saying, but I didn’t think one line was excessive.
[lprent: Two single lines – your complete contribution to the comment in fact :twisted:. It is hard to figure out a point that it was being used for when it is the whole comment. You comment above is a lot better – the bold was an emphasis on your point (even if that was incorrect). ]
So..how about them polls then?
Is Brash on 40 yet? 4 even?
Is Brash on 40 yet? 4 even?
Actually, it’s 1.7 per cent, and falling. Once again: that’s ONE POINT SEVEN.
0.4?
He’s heading that way. poor bruv. He had such high hopes. Turns out the country doesn’t like racist old misanthropes. Whocoodanode?
Speaking of Brash Bruv, where do you stand in the great Brash v Ansell throwdown? Brash was for Ansell before he was against him, so you could go that route too, I suppose. Like you were for Hide before you were against him, IIRC.
Don Brash this morning: “I can speak for most NZers that they don’t want Maorisation.”
Don Brash this morning: “I can’t speak for the others in my Party about how they regard the current publicity.”
It’s an issue, but to be fair it shouldnât be looked at in isolation, there are many competing -ifications.
How bad is Maorification?
Compared to the rest?
I am in awe!
On National Radio on Sunday morning they had a retrospective on the homosexual law reform, passed 25 years ago.
Didn’t listen to much of it, but did catch a speech by John Banks MP saying it would be a sad day long remembered in New Zealand because of what was being passed, with a very dark cloud hanging over parliament. Seems like he couldn’t have been more wrong.
Be nice if this little speech could be brought up around Epsom: 25 years ago John Banks said this, do you really want to be represented by a small-minded bigot from the past?
Banksie tried to chum up with gays during the supercity mayoral contest and it looked most unconvincing. Todays voters should know what a cockroach he is.
Homosexual law reform was indeed a reform that worked and has lasted, not perfect but made life that bit more bearable and fair for part of our community. Anyone remember the straight supporters little pink HUG buttons (Heterosexuals Unafraid of Gays) and Blue Jeans Day which could be hilarious?
The poor working conditions on NZ-chartered fishing trawlers is an ongoing disgrace to this country. Stuff reports on the latest saga here, but gives few details. Another article summarises the background and specific allegations:
Â
Slave labour conditions in NZ’s fishing industry
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If what this latter article states about the collaboration/indifference of Iwi company owners and the Maritime Union in perpetuating this situation is true, it is a sad day.
The maritime unions are not exactly happy about it, but as they no longer have the right to strike there is not much they can do about it.
ITF and the maritime unions in NZ have done what they can for the welfare of the fishing crews.
Unfortunately we have a Government who believes that all workers should have the same lack of rights.
With 25000 unemployed youth in Northland, why are fishing boat owners allowed to exploit foreign crews, anyway?
Intermittent signal July 2011/3
Great sounding NZ research that should make a big difference in energy, finding non-food sources, and can reduce waste. Don’t know what the disadvantages are – I guess that there is some law that for every improvement there is one.
http://www.lanzatech.co.nz/
Hear interview on Radio nz – Can’t provide instant control, but your own work can get there in a few seconds.
Details from RadioNZ 9 to Noon program.
Feature Guest – Sean Simpson
Sean Simpson is the co-founder, and head of the science team at Lanzatech – a privately owned, NZ-based company which has developed and patented a microbe that eats polluting gases and excretes ethanol. (30âČ48âł)
Download: Ogg Vorbis MP3 (He makes some comments on the effects of our present tax system on forward-looking research and development in NZ, I think it’s called imputation.)
Seeing as how everyones labelling everyone a racist these days. Let’s have a debate about ‘race’ as it applies specifically to NZ ?
First we’ll define the terms of reference, then we’ll compare racial characteristics by a number of indicators to determine whether in fact some ‘races’ are indeed superior/inferior to others.
We’ll naturally include assimilated phenotypes, genetic markers, social norms, cultural values and ideals as indicators of any evolutionary oneupmanship with regards to adaptibility and natural selection/survival of the fittest.
…and then based on the outcome we’ll determine which ‘race’, if any, has the right to determine the “one rule of law, irrespective of race by which we as NZers should all live by”. and whether promoting any such rule of law is indeed racist.
yeah, nah…is that a radical idea whose time has come or are we still too chickenshit as a nation to truly confront our fears and prejudices ?
“NZ dollar strength depends on US: Key”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10737756
New Zealand’s future is grim.
And we’re not even locked into a free trade with the US. Yet.
Imagine how much freer we are now?
And on free trade … how come the more free trade agreements we sign up to, the less free we become in controlling our own economy?
How come it feels like we’re more like losers when we play this global game called free trade? What’s wrong with us?
Jane Kelsey’s blog has some good info on the Trans-pacific partnership our Goverment is negotiating at the moment. http://web.me.com/jane_kelsey/Jane/Welcome.html
Further to my comments on young women, careless boozing, irresponsibility, and reliance on men to have superior standards to their own:
nz herald 11/7/2011
A Timaru gynaecologist wants a campaign against promiscuity after encountering a shocking number of pregnant patients who cannot remember whom they had sex with.
Dr Albert Makary, who has been in Timaru for 20 years, called on national leaders, sports stars, schools and the media at a Forum on the Family in Auckland yesterday to “stigmatise” both promiscuity and the binge drinking that usually preceded it.
He cited a survey by a condom maker that said New Zealand women were the most promiscuous in the world, with 20.3 sexual partners on average. The world average was 7.3.
Kiwi men were also above average with 16.8 partners. New Zealand was the only country where women had more sexual partners than men.
“I get women coming in and saying, ‘Doctor, I can’t remember who I slept with yesterday.’
“It is very, very frequent. I’m not talking about one or two or three or 1000 cases. I’m talking about thousands and thousands of cases a year [nationally].” What’s more, they’re proud of it.
He said such promiscuity undermined stable life-long relationships.
The symptoms were increasing violence, sexual assault, alcohol and drug-fuelled car accidents, a growing incidence of depression and the world’s highest rates of both chlamydia and youth suicide.
Promiscuity?
It takes two to tango? đ
It only takes one fundamentalist to discover a whole lot of sinners
I rather think you missed the point, Campbell. The reason these things have been called sins in the first place, is because of the damage they do to relationships and to people. There are examples in my own family – my somewhat dim-witted nephew has a wife who is hell-bent on churning out baby after baby despite repeated bouts of post-natal depression, because her own family life was so f***ed up. The reason they married in the first place, I have been told is because she was preggers, and because she was “easy”. Result, 4 children under 5 years old, and my sister is going round the bend trying to support this dysfunctional family (financially and emotionally). They’re both under 25 years old.
Hi Vicky, apologies for not being clearer. There are serious issues raised and I do not mean to make light of them. I do think that the articles could have done a better job of avoiding the potential reinforcement of negative stereotypes of woman and was wondering if the promiscuity debate was going to be used as part of a UFuture (or others) election campaign around family values.
That’s always possible – but I would stick my neck out as far as to say that “family values” aren’t necessarily a bad thing! Saving young women from STDS, broken hearts and a broken family can only be a good thing, I’d have thought.
As a woman (and back when I was a younger woman I felt the same way) I always felt a mixture of pity and revulsion towards promiscuous girls. (That applied to myself when I was one! đ )
Given that in some (but by no means all) cases there are underlying issues which promiscuity is but a symptom of don’t you think revulsion is a quite a negitive emotion/ tag which if normalized as a response is likely to cause further distress to the very people that you want to help?
…Chaste does not imply moral – there are no doubt many ‘promiscuous’ people who would object to the assertion that they are somehow less caring or functional because of the way they express thier sexuality.
Campbell Larsen – This is a sticky mixture of sentimentality and political correctness which does not give the women involved the respect due to them as adults who need to find adult ways to cope with life.
Prism – ‘sentimental’ ‘PC’ and somehow disrespectful at the same time?
Easy up on the name calling tiger – I don’t think we disagree as much as you think – the issue is health, both individual and societal – the approach to any problems should also be health focused and not come from a faith based or religious perspective, or from claims to the moral high ground.
Campbell Larsen – My point was that there is a sticky trap for those trained in political correctness often through social work courses, which actually involves fudging the issues of those people supposedly being helped. The focus of attention may be to the difficulties they face – their disadvantaged position in society, bad parent role models, constant sexual emphasis in advertising even to the very young girl etc.
In the case of promiscuous females this would occur if their behaviour was not directly discussed, with an emphasis on their own agency in the unfortunate result. Understanding the societal pressures should not prevent helping the person to develop their own adult competency to handle those societal problems. That is what I mean by having respect – that is respect for their own abilities, understandings and strengths. Anything else is patronising and infantilising.
well, seeing as we’re in the “pc gone mad” stage, why are you talking about female promiscuity and not male promiscuity?
Males get tracked down by IRD for 18 years of maintenance, have the emotional upheaval, and also find out that it really CAN fall off. And males are the ones who wear the major prophylactic against these issues.
But then of course, male “promiscuity” doesn’t seem to be the public health tragedy that female “promiscuity” is.
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True, but these are not the girls referred to in the original source! The ones referred to are living pretty dysfunctional lives, and have such bad relationships with alcohol, that they can’t have good relationships with guys.
Really? Maybe they don’t want a “good relationship” with one guy at that stage of their life?
Binge drinking is a major issue, but “promiscuity” is a judgement.
‘The symptoms were increasing violence, sexual assault, alcohol and drug-fuelled car accidents, a growing incidence of depression and the worldâs highest rates of both chlamydia and youth suicide.’
Hm, most of which were instigated by said young [drunk at time of conception] women.
Scarlet As, people? Of course this problem is young women’s fault. Nothing to do with the rest of us.
Jim Nald Promiscuity? It takes two to tango?
The excerpt covers the two sexes and their promiscuity. (Doesn’t mention anything about the third), ie
Also from CV’s link – “She said times have changed so much that the fear of getting pregnant or catching a sexually transmitted disease were no longer seen as reasons for not having sex.
“We don’t even call them sexually transmitted diseases anymore, we’ve changed that to infections which kind of downgrades it and makes it not as serious as they can be.”
bingo, thanks JN
This is related as well
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10737698
My giddy aunt! No one can possibly think that’s a good thing can they? Aside from anything else, if they keep the child, what will they tell her when she is 5 and asks “who’s my Daddy, Mum, and why don’t we ever see him?” (She/he will ask, you can depend on that…)
Agreed.
We need to distribute more condoms and increase the availability of abortions and other family planning services.
Oh, is that not what you meant?
Yeah, that’ll help! Not! The issue as I see it, is the emotional harm done to both boys and girls, by a pattern of behaviour that causes huge problems for them and the children they have who escape being slaughtered! (Abortion also causes huge emotional problems especially if the girl allows herself to be pressured into it, either by her parents or the boy’s..) I’ve seen this in my own family.
When my son went to his school ball (he went only once, for the experience, as she and his friends were the designated nerds, therefore not interested.) He was both amused and embarassed to be issued condoms and pamphlets about STIs and what we used to call ‘the clap clinic’, with his ball tickets. He had no intention of either getting trolleyed or having sex that or any othert night.
If instead of being issued condoms and even more sex ed., (by year 11 they will have years of it years of it), girls and boys were taught more about the benefits of further education, there’d be far fewer teen pregnancies to abort…
Right – because tertiary education really lowers the libido!
Basically, from a public health perspective, getting 17-24y.o. who are all piled into a concentrated area to not shag each other is pushing shit uphill. The best you can do is throw rubbers at anyone and everyone so that they’re available when the impulse strikes, and they don’t have to overcome embarrassment to buy a french tickler themselves. “Promise rings” and other abstinence bs just plain doesn’t work, and they end up having unprotected sex (or unprotected anal sex on the grounds that it “doesn’t count”) and that leads to all sorts of bad stuff.
Drinking is another matter – price controls and licensing restrictions (not to mention better tools to enforce the current law) should take the edge off the worst of the binge drinking culture.
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I never said it lowers the libido. But what it does do, is give these people a sense of having a future that they don’t want to risk. Do you know any 17-24 year olds? My son and his friends didn’t shag their way through university, neither did I when it was my turn. You seem to be very cynical about students. The ones who drank and shagged their way through uni rather than studying, are the ones who graduate (or not) and instead of being doctors, cardiac nurses (as my son now is) or lawyers, work in insurance companies, regretting their lost opportunities.
Your cynicism shows itself in the unsupported assertion that “âPromise ringsâ and other abstinence bs just plain doesnât work, and they end up having unprotected sex (or unprotected anal sex on the grounds that it âdoesnât countâ) and that leads to all sorts of bad stuff.” Your assertion is widely believed but it’s not true. People are perfectly capable of abstinence if they feel they have a reason, and I mean abstinence from sex and also from binge drinking! Sex is not a physiological necessity, no one dies from the absence of it, Shortland Street and other NZ TV drama notwithstanding. You seem to have a very low opinion of human nature, and you remind me of that satirical song by the Bloodhound Gang which my abstinent son used to quote: “You and me, baby/We ain’t nothing but mammals/So let’s do it like they do/On the Discovery channel”. Possibly you didn’t even get that it was satirical?
Years ago, I read a book about adoption, and the girls who in the 60s and early 70s, who were pressured into giving up their babies. The author (whose name escapes me right now) talked about the fact that the girls who devoted themselves to getting an education instead of an STI were on the whole much happier.
You’re also wronger than a professor of wrong at Oxford University that these people don’t want relationships, they just want to shag. That attitude is one I’ve heard put forward by the middle aged and older male, not by young women or young men. 17-24 year olds are terribly hung up on romance. Every time a teenage girl (or boy) has sex with a new partner she’s secretly hoping he might be “the one”. Trust me on this – my son is 24, and I remember my 17-24 years far more vividly than I ought to!
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âYou and me, baby/We ainât nothing but mammals/So letâs do it like they do/On the Discovery channelâ.
Actually apart from our nearest genetic cousins the bonobos and chimps, most mammals have sex quite at quite limited seasons or stages of their lives. Many species will get by quite well with only several dozen acts of intercourse in their entire lives. Contrast that to the many thousands of times we are capable of engaging in it more or less anytime any place…with anyone… if we so desire.
So actually comparing us to animals isn’t right… they are usually far more restrained than us.
That Bloodhound Gang Song certainly is satirical.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xat1GVnl8-k
As is the song âHell Yeahâ from the same album, âHooray for boobiesâ.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4JDYD_0-mM
I always figured the target for the satire was the same in both songs. But Iâd love to be corrected if Iâm wrong.
The abstinence debate has been well-travelled especially regarding the states and Africa. There is a reason that e.g. the Catholic missionaries went from Abstinence-only to ABC (abstinence – but if doing it, use a condom). Heck, armies have been trying to stop soldiers getting stds for centuries, and success only started with antibiotics and distribution of condoms. And, on occasion, regulated military brothels.
I worked in a university providing various services to students for many years. It might be cynical, but I think it’s realistic for at least 25% of the tertiary population, if not treble that (according to various NZ studies in the area). Not all students have sex at university, but quite a few do. Not all of those who have sex have it for reasons that are healthy, and not all who have sex practise safe sex. It’s the last two that are problems.
Oh, and your idea that everytime a teenager has sex they think s/he’s “the one”? Don’t make me laugh – and that goes for quite a few women as well as men.
Human beings are the most extraordinarily hyper-sexual creature evolution has ever produced. Yet the amazing thing really is how few partners most people have, compared with our physical capacity to have sex. Most people actually make pretty restrained choices around sex the vast majority of the time…so let’s not get too morally panicky here.
The real issue I believe, and lots of others have said this, is the prevalence of alochol abuse. And while both genders are responsible for their behaviour, ultimately it’s the dissolving of inhibitions that results in girls drunk in charge of their pussy.. and then having to wear the consequences.
And that is what has changed in the last decade or so. Now I do recall sometime in the 70’s ‘chaperoning’ a good friend of mine (later we almost married… but that’s another story) around a pub crawl to celebrate the end of the uni year. She held together remarkably well almost to the end, and I eventually got her home safe and sound… and unfucked as agreed. But it was pretty much a one off, we never made a habit of that sort of thing.
But these days the sheer numbers of scantily clad young women staggering about in public, utterly muntered is what has changed. The unplanned, unsafe sex is the consequence of this unsafe, out-of-control alcohol abuse. It’s the drinking that’s the root cause here; address that.
not all is as it seems that median vs average problem seems to be behind the high rates of sexual activity.
I blame the booze. Oh and maybe women here are more accurate in their counting or more likely to treat the survey as a joke – a cultural difference?
Brave Little Israel fights off Non-Violent Peace Protestors
Radio New Zealand National “World Watch”, 12.45 p.m. Monday 11 July 2011
Israel’s paranoid and increasingly insane political leaders are worried—they’re certainly working hard to stop dissenters focusing international attention on the illegal blockade of Gaza. More than 30 human rights and peace protestors from many countries, after being prevented from sailing from Athens, have now tried to enter Jerusalem’s Ben-Gurion Airport, but have again been blocked by Israeli machinations.
To cover this, Radio New Zealand National chose to run a ridiculously biased, cynical Deutsche-Welle “report” by the notorious Irris Makler. After approvingly outlining how the Israelis had inveigled several airlines, including Lufthansa, to actually do their dirty work for them, Makler said this: “Some Canadian pilgrims, however, found that it’s easy to get into Israel if you come in with a less aggressive agenda.”
Excuse me? Protesting against an illegal blockade and against the continual harassment, brutalization and killing of Gaza’s population is an “aggressive agenda”, now? Even in the Looking Glass world of Israeli state propaganda, that statement is meshuga and Ś ŚÖ·ŚšŚŚ©.
But Makler was not finished. “A group of Israeli families of suicide bomb victims,” she sneered, “wants to meet with the protestors—if they get through.”
In spite of the dire and depressing quality of this travesty of journalism, it’s still interesting for what it reveals about the state of Israeli apologetics. People like Irris Makler really have only two weapons: defamation and diversion. Note how, after working hard at defaming the protestors with their “aggressive agenda” of peaceful protest, Irris Makler also played the diversion card—avoid the real and continuing oppression of Gaza, and talk about something else, in this case, suicide bombings which happened more than a decade ago.
I think a report as flagrantly dishonest as this one could be a case for an official complaint to Radio New Zealand, as well as Deutsch-Welle. What do others think?
I think you need a good little lie down……….
Come on, grumpy, planking is so last month.
I agree absolutely!
P.S., I am trying to post this comment and keep getting an error message, fill in name & email yet I am logged in. Was gibt? 3rd try… 5th try and for some insane reason I’ve been logged out. What on earth is wrong?
The login actually has a time limit that does not renew every time you come to the site. Unfortunately it can strike while you’re reading a thread so, even though the page says that you’re logged in, you’re actually logged out. You have to refresh the page and log in again.
Good description. I looked at it in 2009 and decided that there was bugger all that I could do to improve it. I didn’t want to play with the login cookie system. I should have another peek at it and see if they opened up the convoluted login code.
Thanks DtB and lprent for the explanation… It’s great! đ
Morrissey – Agree. I hope for good stuff from National Radio. How much are they paying Makler for this partisan slop?
Warren Buffett has just given away 99% of his US$1.87 billion fortune
http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/81436,business,warren-buffett-gives-away-178bn-shares
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Therefore not all the mega rich are twats; also he has some interesting views on tax
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http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/71836,business,tax-the-rich-says-billionaire-warren-buffett-
Warren Buffet knows that the rich have waged class war upon the poor for years; he said it publicly.
Edit – wait, he gave most of that money to Bill Gates???? Who in return seems to be giving most of that money to already well paid professionals at big universities and pharma companies??? If I may politely say, wtf.
Don Brash Vs Pita Sharples on Native Affairs tonight. 830 MÄori TV. .
National Contributes to Africa’s Misery
Once again we’re witness to the horrendous images of starving people arriving at refugee camps in east Africa, with nearly 12 million people facing starvation across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia…
This is one of those problems where the more we spend the worse the problem gets. Ensuring that a group of people don’t starve to death just ensures that their children probably will because we haven’t addressed the underlying problem of over population. As long as we don’t address that these things will just keep getting worse.
The cronyism you note is par for the course for National.
It’s pretty despicable to cut foreign aid at a time when it’s most needed. Most of what National does I’m reasonably indifferent to, but this really pisses me off! National really are a bunch of heartless old bastards!
It’s an issue that isn’t going to go away anytime soon. Some of the problem lies with administration costs whereby a lot of the aid funds don’t get to where they are required. Controlling distribution lines would also help to ensure aid got to where it is most needed.
Another issue is that many areas affected by drought don’t have the means to irrigate or produce seed to grow their own crops, which is usually the underlying issue to starvation. Supporting farmers in areas of food insecurity through such measures as free or subsidized fertilizers and seeds increases food harvest and reduces food prices.
Crop failure will become more prevalent with the increased effects of climate change. That could be a serious issue considering the UN recently said food production will need to double by 2050 to meet demand.
Overpopulation is a tricky one. Education is probably the best remedy there. The more education the less incidence of starvation or implementation of more draconian policies.
The earth can in fact sustain many more humans with proper wealth distribution and measures to increase food production such as proper crop selection. Restricting the use of genetically engineered seeds, helping countries develop proper irrigation systems and education goes a long way to developing self reliance.
It’s not all bad news though. The share of malnourished and starving people in the world has been more or less continually decreasing for at least several centuries. This is due to an increasing supply of food and to overall gains in economic efficiency.
Share of undernourished people in the developing world
1970 1980 1990 2005 2007 2009
37 % 28 % 20 % 16 % 17 % 16 %
What peak oil is going to do to that trend is another question.
we can add single generation seeds onto the list of current threats to global food production. It is one that will continue to become more prominent as the decades roll on. They are in the EcoSystem. What this will eventually do to the Environment, no-one can honestly know.
There’s definitely no question as to what peak oil will do to that trend.
What peak oil does to the trend in the Developed World should also be asked.
Re -McFlock âŠ
12 July 2011 at 5:29 pm
I agree about promiscuity of both sexes. But what appears to have happened is a race to the bottom with women trying to echo mens attitudes, or what they imagine these are.
Women are likely to come off worse in this situation, diseases, unwanted pregnancies, interruption of their education which was supposed to set them up for an adult life. They might end up sterile because of chlamydia or despising sex which would affect future close loving relationships.
As opposed to men who end up viewing women as strictly a vagina? Or the couple who got married as virgins and it turned out one party was hoping that heterosexual sex would get rid of their inclinations? Or the teen who believed that you couldn’t get pregnant the first time you did it? Or the guy who doesn’t take his warty leaking appendage to the doctor until it’s far to late? Or etc etc etc.
Some people like and can handle higher volume sex than others, without it being the result of (or resulting in) some sort of emotional disorder – everyone is different. This is not a problem. As long as people are doing it for reasons they recognise and are at home with is fine. Not having the good sense to roll a johnny on the wee chap (or, for that matter, use dental dams, spermicide, sponges, caps, rubber gloves and so on) IS a problem.