So this happened today at Barnes & Noble: I went to take the kids to meet the Paw Patrol characters and this nice man approached me, told me how beautiful the girls are, and conveyed a heartfelt apology for the general anti-Muslim sentiment in our society today. He had tears in his eyes and told me that it must be so hard to turn on the news, that he feels awful about the bigotry my kids might one day experience, and that as a Jewish man whose parents didn’t speak any English growing up, he personally understands what it feels like to be rejected and discriminated against. I asked if I could give him a hug (he looked like he needed one more than me, but I guess I needed one too) and he wanted to reassure me that most Americans are decent people who don’t hate people like me or believe what they hear on the news. He then told me he’s turning 90 on Friday and insisted on buying each of the kids a present as a gift for himself and so they can have something to remember him by. I told him we should just take a picture instead so I can tell them the story one day (he accepted) but insisted on buying them gifts anyway afterwards.
“Sorry Morrissey, but not quite the lovely story you were hoping for”
Yeah it is. Her father is allegedly a convicted terrorist. But she isn’t. All I can see from that article is that she was a radical student when younger. Is that a definition of terrorist now? 🙄 So the story works even better if she comes from a family that is radicalised into violence but she herself isn’t. That’s how we create peace, by creating respectful relationships with people who are different from us.
I also noticed the misogyny in that article, that she is acceptable as a nice little wifey but not if she is overtly political.
Bernie Sanders Denounces Brazil’s Impeachment
as Undemocratic, Calls for New Elections
by Glenn Greenwald , The Intercept, Aug. 10 2016
VERMONT SENATOR BERNIE Sanders yesterday denounced in harsh terms the impeachment of Brazil’s democratically elected president. As the Brazilian Senate heads toward a final vote later this month, Sanders described his position, set forth in a statement posted on his Senate site, as “calling on the United States to take a definitive stand against efforts to remove Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff from office.” He added: “To many Brazilians and observers the controversial impeachment process more closely resembles a coup d’état.”
Sanders also condemned the unelected center-right coalition under Michel Temer that has seized power during Rousseff’s suspension and is now trying to install themselves through 2018. “After suspending Brazil’s first female president on dubious grounds, without a mandate to govern,” he said, ” the new interim government abolished the ministry of women, racial equality and human rights” and “replaced a diverse and representative administration with a cabinet made up entirely of white men.” They are now attempting to implement radical policies that could never be democratically ratified: “impose austerity, increase privatization and install a far right-wing social agenda.”
Sanders’ statement comes as Brazil’s elites – virtually unified in favor of Dilma’s impeachment – have taken extraordinary (and almost comically futile) measures during the Olympics to hide from the domestic public, and the world, how deeply unpopular Temer is. ….
Just a comment on yesterdays thread for all you people who are backing Clinton. The bad news for you is CV is right. Sure , Trump is totally unsuitable but Clinton… she will promise anything but it’s not words that count , it’s her actions. Look at her track record— she is nothing but a tool of big money ,corruption and the military. If she gets in you can expect full on war with Russia ( because of American aggression ). Just look who’s getting in behind Clinton … it’s bloody obvious.
I don’t know the answer to the shit this dying empire is getting us into but I do know Hillary Clinton is not the answer that any of us want.
Little aint saying anything to get anyone onboard, Trump does, the wackos and assorted nuts are loving him. Look what reallt puzzles me is Congress, wht havent they started impeachment yet, doesn’t matter which wins, Congress is going to impeach them.
Reminds me of G.W.B stole the election, was loathed, did absolutely nothing but play golf and dig holes on his ranch, only then to have missed all the reports on Bin Laden, it was not until 9/11 that America got a president, whose agemda was spending taxes oncontractors in Iraq by removing the army.
Watch yourself America, unpopular Presidents need grandstanding events to get popular.
…”A number of emails that the former first lady failed to turn over to the US government, but were released after a Freedom of Information Act request, show donors and associates of the Clinton Foundation and its Global Initiative seemingly having special access inside the State Department.
The conservative group Judicial Watch released 296 pages of unseen State Department records Tuesday, including 44 previously unreleased emails…
You must have had some seriously awful experiences with the midwives who supported you through pregnancy, labour and the post partum period PM for you to make such a negative sweeping generalisation.
Totally agree. Our Midwife trained a number of others while over seeing our pregnancies. All of them were fantastic, dedicated professionals. In the second pregnancy because of severe complications she was not able to directly oversee the birth however even though she wasn’t getting paid she showed up late at night and supported us through the birth.
Midwifery as Feminist Praxis
in
Aotearoa/New Zealand
RUTH JOY SURTEES
“This thesis highlights the ways in which the practices of contemporary midwives in
Aotearoa/New Zealand are caught within the intersection of an array of competing
discourses. The context for this is the reconstruction of midwifery in Aotearoa/New Zealand
as an autonomous feminist profession founded on partnership with women. Interviews and
participant observation with midwives, based mainly in one New Zealand city, are the basis of
an analysis of the complexity of midwives’ praxis as professionals. The analysis draws on
insights from critical and feminist approaches to Foucault’s theories of discourse, power and
the subject. It includes discussion of the conditions which came to produce and authorise the
concept of ‘partnership’. Which subjects can speak about partnership, and when? What claims
are made about it? What challenges it? ”
Builds on much work done over the years recording and analysing the largely patriarchy dominated politics of childbirth.
PM’s comment was out and out bigotry (ignorant bigotry I’d guess).
It’s based on a pretty small sample of midwives, yes. News stories like the above one tend to back up the evidence of my admittedly-small sample, however.
Your conviction that one must have experienced a pregnancy to know whether a midwife’s opinion on something is wildly irrational or not lacks an evidential basis.
Po-mo is short for post-modernism, in this case postmodernist philosophy. It’s often used as shorthand to refer to writing that uses academic-sounding jargon to obfuscate rather than explain.
Po mo- post modernism- is rubbish which is infecting academics (often French or American) who have a lot to say about nothing. I met one once. ..Pretentious emptiness to the extreme
For more information look at http://www.physics.nyu.edu/sokal/dawkins.html
That would be like me saying that doctors are rapists because there are some doctors who sexually abuse their patients. That’s me signposting to the problems with your position, not just the obvious one but the trickier political ones too. There is a deeper level of prejudice going on that culturally sanctions the damage that the medical profession does and tolerates, yet pillories the midwifery profession for mistakes that midwives make. There are some pretty murky gender politics in there around power and who we trust.
I remember reading a novel in the eighties set in a busy US hospital.
Young interns gasping in awe and wonder that a woman had actually given birth without the benefit of anaesthesia, analgesia or forceps.
And, shock horror, the mother was alive! The baby was alive!
And, by god the baby was spontaneously breastfeeding!
And, and , all was well despite the Doctors not being able to do anything (because the woman had eaten and couldn’t be anaesthetised) other than catch the baby.
Goodness gracious me…how on earth did humanity survive before the word “obstetrician” was invented?
That would be silly. Two of my kids were delivered by midwives, who were both highly competent, practical people and did a great job. The only one of mine that was delivered by a doctor in a hospital was dead, so you won’t hear any disparaging of midwife competence from me – the doctor/midwife success ratio in my own life overwhelmingly supports midwifery.
My comment was that midwifery “seems to attract a significant proportion of nut jobs,” ie in my experience (the above-mentioned births, multiple sets of ante-natal classes, serving the ones undergoing training at my institution, individuals I’ve known who’ve taken up the profession) a higher proportion of them are irrationalists than in other professions. That’s still a low proportion overall.
“…midwifery “seems to attract a significant proportion of nut jobs,”
Hmmm…I remember at varsity in the late seventies the psychology majors having a preponderance of ‘nut jobs’ in their ranks.
We (the non- nut jobs) wondered if they were drawn to psychology as a way of working through their own psychological issues.
My midwife, for all three kids, was trained in the Netherlands and was one of the first Independent Midwives in the country. Forever grateful I am for her saving No.1 son from the unnecessary forceps delivery demanded by the hospital specialist…for whom speed of delivery was the priority…there was a golf game waiting for him…I kid ye not.
Most of the early independent midwives (the eighties) were true professionals…which sometimes upset “home – birth societies”. These groups were often former hippies who eschewed all medical intervention for anything, and took umbrage when this midwife arrived bearing not only the obligatory birthing stool, but the newborn resuscitation equipment. She was, for this one ‘crime of medicalisation’, blacklisted by the Society. I imagine the forerunners of the nut jobs you are talking about are the midwives that were accepted by these groups.
I think the naturopath needs to be held to account there as well. It seems to me that she held a position of power of the woman and used it inappropriately.
Probably because she wasn’t practicing medicine, and to charge her with that would create massive problems legally regarding the large number of health care providers who aren’t medical ones.
I agree she should be charged with something though, and her professional body (if she has one) needs a bloody good rark up.
Yeah, (evidence base aside) the semantic difference between “practicing medicine” and giving assurances on what to do “if you want to see him better” is lost on me.
And if she was getting any sort of payment she should be done for fraud.
Fortunately it’s not lost on the justice system. Unless one wants to ban all non-medical health care, then there is a distinction between helping people with their health and practicing medicine. This is important because most healthcare in the world is done by non-medical people.
I hope they throw every book they can at that naturopath.
I wonder if the sevens losing and the generally dismal performance of our over-rated Olympians will finally puncture the miasma of self delusional complacency and smug self satisfaction of our middle class?
Nothing like shattering the assumptions of racial superiority of our settler class to get them whining about everything else as well.
Apparently Sanctuary spent six months in Europe and know considers himself so much more enlightened than us backward, uncultured proles and it’s become his duty to point this out where ever he goes.
Lots of eye rolling and what a wanker, seems to be the general response.
Well it seems a bit churlish to have a go at the athletes, I’m sure they went out there and did their best and its hardly the athletes fault the media went overboard on the medal chances
Ok so sure the media have played them up but generally dismal is certainly harsh and uncalled for, the Olympics aren’t halfway over yet and I’m pretty sure that all of the athletes there have put in their best efforts
So you’ve got some reject from sociology 101 insulting athletes just to make some point about the middle class
“I am sad because I don’t particularly derive my sense of identity from sport?” Totally! Had a customer abuse some staff & when I went to intervene it turned out he was pissed off at the 7s losing! & then on my way home I had dumb radio jocks saying Mark Todd had “let down New Zealand.”
If that were true you’d be off rubbing shoulders with your fellow rightwingers instead of trying to impose your sad lack of character and morality here.
Of course I’m unhappy – you criminal arseholes are wrecking my country and hurting my people.
No – you are merely a probable criminal. You are poorly socialised, antisocial, and prefer the views and company of criminals. If we were profiling you’d be a good bet, but you may not in fact be a criminal.
Oh Stuart you poor, misguided, fool, the majority of NZ voters gave enough votes for National to be the largest (by a great margin) party in NZ nad were able to form a government and will continue to do so until 2020
You only really like democracy (and be honest) when the party you support is in power
Mr Munro – you make my day. It makes me happy that people like you are so miserable – because the way you interact with people you disagree with – you deserve it.
There are plenty of lefties on here that make really interesting comments – you on the other hand add nothing to the quality of debate, and to be perfectly honest are the kind of example that will give the standard a bad name.
With comments like yours, and others who have posted things like “hang yourself”, and the people who (it appears from some post) to have made this a unhappy place for women to comment – it is disappointing that the comments section of this blog are making this blog IMHO a poorer place.
It is interesting that people often spew at Wh….O.. blog and the comments there – indeed they were terrible (and a lot of his post) – but credit where credit is due – he cleaned up his act. You sir – are the opposite and are making tis blog worse.
Why dont we all try to raise the game and drop the insults – and try to respect the place a bit more.
I was once optimistic that commentators here would change. But on reflection, the vile rudeness on display simply reflects the personalities and life outlook of these people. There is nothing that can be done. They don’t want to change and don’t want to hear any ideas that challenge their deeply pessimistic world view, and tendency to blame both the Government and “rich’ people for every real or imagined problem they see.
There is no discussing with you, you are not sincere. You are here to prevent conversation, to disseminate fictions and to cause trouble.
You disgust me – you and your fellow trolls – you are a form of pollution, both of blogs and of the world at large.
I don’t go on RWNJ sites attempting to impose my views on the participants. That would be arrogant and illmannered. Such considerations do not appear to trouble you.
Do not pretend to be a ‘plausible righty’ there is no such thing.
There has been a concerted effort by the moderators here in recent months to encourage positive discussions and to discourage pointless abuse. However, robust debate is often the norm and sometimes it’s witty, intelligent and enlightening. Sometimes it’s way too personal, which is a drag.
But overall, the site enjoys a huge readership, a lively commentariat and some of the best political bloggers in NZ writing posts. It won’t always to be to your taste, but you should take heart that there are many right of centre commenters who are regulars here and who generally get a fair go.
So I welcome your call to minimise the abuse. However, I think that’s already happening in a very meaningful way and that TS is the better for it. it won’t be perfect and all of us are capable of letting our frustration get the better of us, but I genuinely think we’re heading in the right direction.
You disgust me – you and your fellow trolls – you are a form of pollution, both of blogs and of the world at large.
Oh, very persuasive. There’s no comments thread that can’t be improved by a steadfast refusal to see people who disagree with you as fellow humans, right?
I don’t go on RWNJ sites attempting to impose my views on the participants. That would be arrogant and illmannered.
Given your commenting style, it certainly would be. On the other hand, if you tried stringing together an actual argument once in a while, you might find those right-wing sites interesting places to visit – hanging out only with people you agree with is corrosive of your reasoning skills.
@PM – I don’t come here to demonstrate my reasoning skills to the nuts – if they had any to speak of they wouldn’t be nuts.
It has to do with the epidemiology of movements – Key’s strategy guys know all about this stuff – that’s why they shut down Campbell. Semantic warfare.
“…BTW – the country in general is going just fine and most agree with that (see polls re country direction)…”
If I had a dollar for everytime some idiot said “NZ is a great little place that punches above it’s weight and is doing just fine” I’d be a rich man indeed. It is a line particularly peddled by Mike Hoskings. Now, to me this opinion can only be founded on smugly racist assumptions about some sort of cultural and/or racial superiority on our part that makes us somehow exceptional. A set of smug assumptions and myths about New Zealand exceptionalism – NZ is paradise, a great place to have a family and bring up kids, is egalitarian, and it punches above it’s weight – underlay the belief system of our middle class and act as rationalising tool to explain away our filthy rivers, our child poverty, our massive domestic violence problems, our massive wealth disparity and our poor economic performance.
Sport is an important bulwark of these middle class myths. Racist assertions of sporting prowess and success are seen as vindications of the existing social and economic order, just like it was with rugby in racist South Africa. Sport has always been a powerful propaganda tool. The fact is the successes of our Olympic team will be used by cheerleaders of the current system as proof we are on the right track. Failure, I would hope, will serve to do the opposite.
By the way – I think our athletes will do about as well as you’d expect from a modestly funded program from one of the poorer first world countries. The idea we are a genetically superior, outdoor bred, virile Aryan super nation of athletic over-achievers is rubbish.
“a great place to have a family and bring up kids” yeah hear that a lot, & in NZ we have had a 5 year commit suicide! But nah all good, nothing to whine about, the sun is shining, the Chiefs are wonderful role models for our young men etc…(sarc).
A policy of rehabilitation, hope, post jail employment, diversion and cooperation from Media to stop filling us with dreadful over-inflated crime reports.
But with the insistent push for bigger punishment, longer sentences, ethnic targeting, and political pandering, it would take very brave politicians to make a move to get us down from such high rates of imprisonments.
All hail the Netherlands.
Wonder of their decriminalisation of some drugs had an effect?
A relly has just joined the Dutch police as a forensic accountant from KPMG where he did the same job.
He reckons they are arsedeep in white collar fraud there and he will never be out of a job.
It just takes forever to nail the bastards.
His best story? Sitting opposite a bloke , and while the relly was pretty sure it was a computing mistake, watching the guys face and asking ” So where’s the missing 75 trillion ?” . Priceless.
P.S, I asked 75 trillion? indisbelief, and he said that was not an unusual amount to be dealing with, it only needs to be out of sight for a few hours for somebody to make a shitload. We’re still in kindy in this country.
….and the CC again taking issue with the Gummint (through the Select Committee) that the new legislation which will guide the ‘re-structuring’ has…
“”…missed the opportunity” to go far enough.
Becroft, the former Principal Youth Court Judge, took issue with four aspects of the proposed legislation. He called for the Youth Justice Age to be raised to 17, and said the bill did not go far enough in giving the child’s voice weight.
“The change half-step, and not full-step, to include Youth Justice seems to us to be burdensome, and it will add administrative complexity, it’s wrong in principle and it’s in flat flagrant breach of the United Nations Convention obligations.
The terms surrounding the creation of a new advocacy system for children were weak, and “delegation powers”, which would allow certain non-Government social workers to uplift children from their families, was concerning.
“Some very invasive state powers have been vested into those whom the chief executive might delegate those powers to, with very little prescription.
“There are dangers in leaving such significant discretionary powers to be developed behind the scenes, non-transparently, by policy make”‘
If there is a god who strengthens the resolve of Government appointed Commissioners….
Can’t remember when but a week or so ago had one of the resident righties (Chuck?) supporting the name change when I made disparaging remarks, I thought that you could rename the ministries with a bunch of more imaginative titles & the title of ‘Ministry of Vulnerable Children’ is just bizarre.
Can’t but help agreeing with the Auckland Action Against Poverty on this one. The bullying nature of Work and Income, and its failed policies – are just not working.
yep, many people do everything they can to avoid WINZ since the old social security turned into the current sadistic punishment maze, ever wonder why some of the local beggars are getting more insistent?
it is time for some direct action by and for the homeless too–organised squats in proven long term empty private and state houses and moneybags boats in marinas too
WINZ needs to be urgently retired in favour of some form of UBI, and in the meantime the PSA could stop accepting as members govt. staff in WINZ and MSD that spend their working day making other citizens lives a misery–“I am only following orders–doing my job”–should not cut it in this instance
I don’t have much fear of actually losing my job, but I do have fear about ever having to visit WINZ because of job loss, so their actions are working as they scare workers like me (& because of technology my job is in constant flux like most people I suppose.)
you are correct gangnam and it is scary for many others who could just do with some short term assistance that often their taxes have paid for, endless condescending seminars on how to write a CV, losing your documents etc. blaming you personally for the changing nature of work…
and income splitting is needed for couples, WINZ will not pay job seeker support if say one partner loses their job if they are living in a relationship of the ‘nature of a marriage’
WINZ is meant to be a nasty experience as the Household Labourforce Survey has long shown–there are more unemployed people than people actually in receipt of “jobseeker support”, and as signalled by the departments classic “Catch 22”, WINZ staff can be rewarded for denying the very assistance they are meant to supply!, and for applying sanctions and getting people off the books inclusive of paying and or receiving a fee to and from ACC and MSD…
+100…yes this is good that the MSM is starting to take notice …it should be there to protect democracy after all! ..this is what the MSM has traditionally been stated as being for
“In a statement to Business Insider on Wednesday, Rich family spokesperson Brad Bauman thanked investigators and implored high-profile figures to stop attempting to “politicize” Rich’s death by perpetuating unfounded theories about the shooting.
“The family welcomes any and all information that could lead to the identification of the individuals responsible, and certainly welcomes contributions that could lead to new avenues of investigation,” Bauman said in the statement.
He added:
“That said, some are attempting to politicize this horrible tragedy, and in their attempts to do so, are actually causing more harm that good and impeding on the ability for law enforcement to properly do their job. For the sake of finding Seth’s killer, and for the sake of giving the family the space they need at this terrible time, they are asking for the public to refrain from pushing unproven and harmful theories about Seth’s murder.””
‘NSA leaks show worries over intelligence gaps, training tips for media leaks’
“Among the latest batch of internal NSA documents leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden are tips for analysts on what to notice about media leaks, playing catch-up over intelligence, and medical surveillance.
On Wednesday, The Intercept released a batch of 263 internal agency reports, called ‘SIDToday’, from the agency’s most important division, the Signals Intelligence Directorate. Dating back to 2003, the documents reveal the department’s culture and operations with a roster of tips on training analysts to spot leaks to the media, internet monitoring, and notices about seminars on Latin American countries…
Buzz from the Beehive Transport Minister Simeon Brown dutifully issued advice to all road users to keep safe on our roads during the Easter weekend. He encouraged them to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. ...
Oliver Hartwich writes – New Zealanders recently learned about a new feature film. It will be about former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – and taxpayers will subsidise it to the tune of NZ$800,000. Ardern had nothing personally to do with either the film or the subsidy. But her government’s ...
TL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above that was recorded yesterday afternoon above between and The Kākā’s climate correspondent : An independent review panel into the emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawkes Bayconcluded “that ...
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
Analysis - Nicola Willis is holding firm on tax cuts despite the economic outlook being worse than forecast and critics urging her to wait, writes Peter Wilson for The Week In Politics. ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
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A Note of Hope
Leena Al-Arian, 27 July 2016
So this happened today at Barnes & Noble: I went to take the kids to meet the Paw Patrol characters and this nice man approached me, told me how beautiful the girls are, and conveyed a heartfelt apology for the general anti-Muslim sentiment in our society today. He had tears in his eyes and told me that it must be so hard to turn on the news, that he feels awful about the bigotry my kids might one day experience, and that as a Jewish man whose parents didn’t speak any English growing up, he personally understands what it feels like to be rejected and discriminated against. I asked if I could give him a hug (he looked like he needed one more than me, but I guess I needed one too) and he wanted to reassure me that most Americans are decent people who don’t hate people like me or believe what they hear on the news. He then told me he’s turning 90 on Friday and insisted on buying each of the kids a present as a gift for himself and so they can have something to remember him by. I told him we should just take a picture instead so I can tell them the story one day (he accepted) but insisted on buying them gifts anyway afterwards.
Read more….
http://normanfinkelstein.com/2016/08/04/if-we-could-just-load-the-one-percent-of-earthling-monsters-on-a-one-way-spaceship-to-pluto-the-world-would-be-a-beautiful-place/
Nice way to start the day, Morrissey. I think most people are fundamentally decent and will show that when the opportunity arises.
Sorry Morrissey, but not quite the lovely story you were hoping for
https://www.jihadwatch.org/2016/08/jewish-man-apologizes-to-muslim-woman-for-bigotry-she-turns-out-to-be-jihad-supporter
Hmm, smear by association? And it doesn’t change the essence of the story anyway.
The sicko comments on that story tell the real story.
Politics (especially US are a bit of a concern at present).
“Sorry Morrissey, but not quite the lovely story you were hoping for”
Yeah it is. Her father is allegedly a convicted terrorist. But she isn’t. All I can see from that article is that she was a radical student when younger. Is that a definition of terrorist now? 🙄 So the story works even better if she comes from a family that is radicalised into violence but she herself isn’t. That’s how we create peace, by creating respectful relationships with people who are different from us.
I also noticed the misogyny in that article, that she is acceptable as a nice little wifey but not if she is overtly political.
Bernie Sanders Denounces Brazil’s Impeachment
as Undemocratic, Calls for New Elections
by Glenn Greenwald , The Intercept, Aug. 10 2016
VERMONT SENATOR BERNIE Sanders yesterday denounced in harsh terms the impeachment of Brazil’s democratically elected president. As the Brazilian Senate heads toward a final vote later this month, Sanders described his position, set forth in a statement posted on his Senate site, as “calling on the United States to take a definitive stand against efforts to remove Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff from office.” He added: “To many Brazilians and observers the controversial impeachment process more closely resembles a coup d’état.”
Sanders also condemned the unelected center-right coalition under Michel Temer that has seized power during Rousseff’s suspension and is now trying to install themselves through 2018. “After suspending Brazil’s first female president on dubious grounds, without a mandate to govern,” he said, ” the new interim government abolished the ministry of women, racial equality and human rights” and “replaced a diverse and representative administration with a cabinet made up entirely of white men.” They are now attempting to implement radical policies that could never be democratically ratified: “impose austerity, increase privatization and install a far right-wing social agenda.”
Sanders’ statement comes as Brazil’s elites – virtually unified in favor of Dilma’s impeachment – have taken extraordinary (and almost comically futile) measures during the Olympics to hide from the domestic public, and the world, how deeply unpopular Temer is. ….
Read more…
https://theintercept.com/2016/08/09/as-temer-weakens-sanders-denounces-brazils-impeachment-as-undemocratic-calls-for-new-elections/
Just a comment on yesterdays thread for all you people who are backing Clinton. The bad news for you is CV is right. Sure , Trump is totally unsuitable but Clinton… she will promise anything but it’s not words that count , it’s her actions. Look at her track record— she is nothing but a tool of big money ,corruption and the military. If she gets in you can expect full on war with Russia ( because of American aggression ). Just look who’s getting in behind Clinton … it’s bloody obvious.
I don’t know the answer to the shit this dying empire is getting us into but I do know Hillary Clinton is not the answer that any of us want.
” Trump is totally unsuitable…”
Yet 9% of NZers prefer him, versus 7% for Little.
Little aint saying anything to get anyone onboard, Trump does, the wackos and assorted nuts are loving him. Look what reallt puzzles me is Congress, wht havent they started impeachment yet, doesn’t matter which wins, Congress is going to impeach them.
Reminds me of G.W.B stole the election, was loathed, did absolutely nothing but play golf and dig holes on his ranch, only then to have missed all the reports on Bin Laden, it was not until 9/11 that America got a president, whose agemda was spending taxes oncontractors in Iraq by removing the army.
Watch yourself America, unpopular Presidents need grandstanding events to get popular.
What was the question then?
+100 Garibaldi…and more on Hillary !
‘#PayToPlay: Hillary Clinton faces corruption scandal after links between donors & State Dept exposed’
https://www.rt.com/usa/355447-clinton-emails-state-department-foundation/
…”A number of emails that the former first lady failed to turn over to the US government, but were released after a Freedom of Information Act request, show donors and associates of the Clinton Foundation and its Global Initiative seemingly having special access inside the State Department.
The conservative group Judicial Watch released 296 pages of unseen State Department records Tuesday, including 44 previously unreleased emails…
I wouldn’t have thought a nurse would fall for this:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/83046590/australian-midwife-given-suspended-jail-sentence-after-nearly-starving-her-baby-to-death
A nurse probably wouldn’t, but midwifery’s another story – it seems to attract a significant proportion of nut jobs.
You must have had some seriously awful experiences with the midwives who supported you through pregnancy, labour and the post partum period PM for you to make such a negative sweeping generalisation.
Wishing healing and peace to you sister. 🙂
Lol.
PM’s comment was out and out bigotry (ignorant bigotry I’d guess).
Totally agree. Our Midwife trained a number of others while over seeing our pregnancies. All of them were fantastic, dedicated professionals. In the second pregnancy because of severe complications she was not able to directly oversee the birth however even though she wasn’t getting paid she showed up late at night and supported us through the birth.
Oh god! How tempting it is to have a “if it wasn’t for my midwife…” session!
However, it’s academic…
http://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10092/1662/Thesis_fulltext.pdf;jsessionid=1A555AD39D5789A0462C993096F73B60?sequence=1
Midwifery as Feminist Praxis
in
Aotearoa/New Zealand
RUTH JOY SURTEES
“This thesis highlights the ways in which the practices of contemporary midwives in
Aotearoa/New Zealand are caught within the intersection of an array of competing
discourses. The context for this is the reconstruction of midwifery in Aotearoa/New Zealand
as an autonomous feminist profession founded on partnership with women. Interviews and
participant observation with midwives, based mainly in one New Zealand city, are the basis of
an analysis of the complexity of midwives’ praxis as professionals. The analysis draws on
insights from critical and feminist approaches to Foucault’s theories of discourse, power and
the subject. It includes discussion of the conditions which came to produce and authorise the
concept of ‘partnership’. Which subjects can speak about partnership, and when? What claims
are made about it? What challenges it? ”
Builds on much work done over the years recording and analysing the largely patriarchy dominated politics of childbirth.
It’s all about power…..
From the abstract, it appears to be all about po-mo bullshit.
PM’s comment was out and out bigotry (ignorant bigotry I’d guess).
It’s based on a pretty small sample of midwives, yes. News stories like the above one tend to back up the evidence of my admittedly-small sample, however.
“It’s based on a pretty small sample of midwives, yes.”
Exactly how many midwives have you personally sampled, PM?
Oh, and explain “po-mo”….I freely admit to ignorance on that….
“Bullshit”, I get. 🙂
Your conviction that one must have experienced a pregnancy to know whether a midwife’s opinion on something is wildly irrational or not lacks an evidential basis.
Po-mo is short for post-modernism, in this case postmodernist philosophy. It’s often used as shorthand to refer to writing that uses academic-sounding jargon to obfuscate rather than explain.
Po mo- post modernism- is rubbish which is infecting academics (often French or American) who have a lot to say about nothing. I met one once. ..Pretentious emptiness to the extreme
For more information look at http://www.physics.nyu.edu/sokal/dawkins.html
Bet you can’t see where the prejudice is though.
I admit to a very strong prejudice against irrationalists.
Agree
You think midwives are irrationalists?
That would be like me saying that doctors are rapists because there are some doctors who sexually abuse their patients. That’s me signposting to the problems with your position, not just the obvious one but the trickier political ones too. There is a deeper level of prejudice going on that culturally sanctions the damage that the medical profession does and tolerates, yet pillories the midwifery profession for mistakes that midwives make. There are some pretty murky gender politics in there around power and who we trust.
weka…save it. PM will never get it.
….hasn’t evolved enough.
I remember reading a novel in the eighties set in a busy US hospital.
Young interns gasping in awe and wonder that a woman had actually given birth without the benefit of anaesthesia, analgesia or forceps.
And, shock horror, the mother was alive! The baby was alive!
And, by god the baby was spontaneously breastfeeding!
And, and , all was well despite the Doctors not being able to do anything (because the woman had eaten and couldn’t be anaesthetised) other than catch the baby.
Goodness gracious me…how on earth did humanity survive before the word “obstetrician” was invented?
You think midwives are irrationalists?
That would be silly. Two of my kids were delivered by midwives, who were both highly competent, practical people and did a great job. The only one of mine that was delivered by a doctor in a hospital was dead, so you won’t hear any disparaging of midwife competence from me – the doctor/midwife success ratio in my own life overwhelmingly supports midwifery.
My comment was that midwifery “seems to attract a significant proportion of nut jobs,” ie in my experience (the above-mentioned births, multiple sets of ante-natal classes, serving the ones undergoing training at my institution, individuals I’ve known who’ve taken up the profession) a higher proportion of them are irrationalists than in other professions. That’s still a low proportion overall.
“…midwifery “seems to attract a significant proportion of nut jobs,”
Hmmm…I remember at varsity in the late seventies the psychology majors having a preponderance of ‘nut jobs’ in their ranks.
We (the non- nut jobs) wondered if they were drawn to psychology as a way of working through their own psychological issues.
My midwife, for all three kids, was trained in the Netherlands and was one of the first Independent Midwives in the country. Forever grateful I am for her saving No.1 son from the unnecessary forceps delivery demanded by the hospital specialist…for whom speed of delivery was the priority…there was a golf game waiting for him…I kid ye not.
Most of the early independent midwives (the eighties) were true professionals…which sometimes upset “home – birth societies”. These groups were often former hippies who eschewed all medical intervention for anything, and took umbrage when this midwife arrived bearing not only the obligatory birthing stool, but the newborn resuscitation equipment. She was, for this one ‘crime of medicalisation’, blacklisted by the Society. I imagine the forerunners of the nut jobs you are talking about are the midwives that were accepted by these groups.
I think the naturopath needs to be held to account there as well. It seems to me that she held a position of power of the woman and used it inappropriately.
I agree
“Bodnar has been charged with reckless grevious bodily harm”.
Why practising medicine without a license isn’t added to the list I have no idea.
Probably because she wasn’t practicing medicine, and to charge her with that would create massive problems legally regarding the large number of health care providers who aren’t medical ones.
I agree she should be charged with something though, and her professional body (if she has one) needs a bloody good rark up.
Yeah, (evidence base aside) the semantic difference between “practicing medicine” and giving assurances on what to do “if you want to see him better” is lost on me.
And if she was getting any sort of payment she should be done for fraud.
Fortunately it’s not lost on the justice system. Unless one wants to ban all non-medical health care, then there is a distinction between helping people with their health and practicing medicine. This is important because most healthcare in the world is done by non-medical people.
I hope they throw every book they can at that naturopath.
I wonder if the sevens losing and the generally dismal performance of our over-rated Olympians will finally puncture the miasma of self delusional complacency and smug self satisfaction of our middle class?
Nothing like shattering the assumptions of racial superiority of our settler class to get them whining about everything else as well.
“Nothing like shattering the assumptions of racial superiority of our settler class to get them whining about everything else as well.”
huh?
Apparently Sanctuary spent six months in Europe and know considers himself so much more enlightened than us backward, uncultured proles and it’s become his duty to point this out where ever he goes.
Lots of eye rolling and what a wanker, seems to be the general response.
I have to say its one of the more mean-spirited comments I’ve read on here and I wasn’t sure the point he was trying to make (if any)
You reckon it’s down to all them Murrays, do you?
And nicely BM, you never fail to make Sanctuary’s point.
Well it seems a bit churlish to have a go at the athletes, I’m sure they went out there and did their best and its hardly the athletes fault the media went overboard on the medal chances
I think you missed his point too, he wasn’t having a go at the athletes.
“generally dismal performance” sure sounds like hes having a go at the athletes
Read the rest – the target is very plain.
I know he thinks hes making a point but really hes just coming off sounding like a bit of a twat
We all have our wee ways of making our points.
It was a pretty pointless point then
Perhaps a ptretty pointless point puck but a pretty pointless point perfectly pertaining to the point.
Possibly a pertinent point, probably a petty point, pretty much purposeless
You come across as someone who knows he fucked up but won’t admit it.
“generally dismal performance of our over-rated Olympians ” please tell me how that isn’t an attack on the athletes?
Who do you think is over-rating the athletes?
HINT: It’s not the athletes.
Ok so sure the media have played them up but generally dismal is certainly harsh and uncalled for, the Olympics aren’t halfway over yet and I’m pretty sure that all of the athletes there have put in their best efforts
So you’ve got some reject from sociology 101 insulting athletes just to make some point about the middle class
I don’t get the point, maybe someone could explain?
sanctuary, very sad man or woman, whatever
I am sad because I don’t particularly derive my sense of identity from sport? Your the sad sack, chum.
“I am sad because I don’t particularly derive my sense of identity from sport?” Totally! Had a customer abuse some staff & when I went to intervene it turned out he was pissed off at the 7s losing! & then on my way home I had dumb radio jocks saying Mark Todd had “let down New Zealand.”
“Nothing like shattering the assumptions of racial superiority of our settler class to get them whining about everything else as well.”
Sadly this actually sums up the believe of some people.
Im thinking a good, hard, honest look in the mirror would help sanctuary.
Judging by the response Sanctuary made a palpable hit. Did the cap fit?
Stuart, equally sad
Meh – if it burns the RWNJ trolls so antisocial they have to hang out here rather than on Whalefail where they belong so much the better.
Nope. Not at all. Im really happy with life and have little to whine about. Having said that I notice you do a lot – perhaps it was your cap?
If that were true you’d be off rubbing shoulders with your fellow rightwingers instead of trying to impose your sad lack of character and morality here.
Of course I’m unhappy – you criminal arseholes are wrecking my country and hurting my people.
Who are your people, Stuart.?
My people are the real New Zealanders.
🙂
Without the Chinese sounding surnames!
I’ve found his theme music, it only needs a couple of minor tweaks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKJDAVvs_JA
You probably sing that in the shower you yankee sellout.
I’m not bragging but this more like my showers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO1Jm4N4rlA
I think most people here would prefer not to know what you do in the shower PR.
You brought it up remember 😉
“you criminal arseholes” – so you believe that everyone that doesn’t vote left is a criminal arsehole?
Not everyone – but certainly the major players in this government, and their more vociferous supporters are.
Damn straight: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enemy_of_the_people
So you infer that Im a criminal – any evidence to back this up?
BTW – the country in general is going just fine and most agree with that (see polls re country direction).
As for hurting “your” people. Im guessing if they are bitter, sad, people like yourself – it sounds more like self harm.
You should seek help.
No – you are merely a probable criminal. You are poorly socialised, antisocial, and prefer the views and company of criminals. If we were profiling you’d be a good bet, but you may not in fact be a criminal.
You should offer your services to the Labour party, you’d be a hit coming up with slogans 🙂
Yeah and you should offer yours to the reptilian infiltrators – but I guess you already have you treacherous piece of shite.
That’s the thing about democracy I guess, its great until right up until a party you don’t like gets voted in 🙂
You don’t know or care shit about democracy.
You could learn something here
http://robertounger.com/english/pdfs/demore.pdf
But in general RWNJ are irredeemably corrupt.
Oh Stuart you poor, misguided, fool, the majority of NZ voters gave enough votes for National to be the largest (by a great margin) party in NZ nad were able to form a government and will continue to do so until 2020
You only really like democracy (and be honest) when the party you support is in power
But don’t worry 2020 isn’t that far away 🙂
This is where you show your true colours, fascist.
Democracy consists in government listening to and acting upon the concerns of its citizens.
It does not consist of manipulating media and disenfranchising voters to secure a bare majority to facilitate the plunder of public assets.
This is not a democratic government, and you are, and always were nothing more than a despicable authoritarian, a vile satrap, a despot.
Shame on you!
Mr Munro – you make my day. It makes me happy that people like you are so miserable – because the way you interact with people you disagree with – you deserve it.
There are plenty of lefties on here that make really interesting comments – you on the other hand add nothing to the quality of debate, and to be perfectly honest are the kind of example that will give the standard a bad name.
With comments like yours, and others who have posted things like “hang yourself”, and the people who (it appears from some post) to have made this a unhappy place for women to comment – it is disappointing that the comments section of this blog are making this blog IMHO a poorer place.
It is interesting that people often spew at Wh….O.. blog and the comments there – indeed they were terrible (and a lot of his post) – but credit where credit is due – he cleaned up his act. You sir – are the opposite and are making tis blog worse.
Why dont we all try to raise the game and drop the insults – and try to respect the place a bit more.
I was once optimistic that commentators here would change. But on reflection, the vile rudeness on display simply reflects the personalities and life outlook of these people. There is nothing that can be done. They don’t want to change and don’t want to hear any ideas that challenge their deeply pessimistic world view, and tendency to blame both the Government and “rich’ people for every real or imagined problem they see.
Nah James Stuart is a good commenter imo – for proof look at all the buzzy bugs disturbed by his pithy comments. Lump it if you don’t like it James.
Oh sly why hang around then – you won’t be missed if you go – I’d recommend it.
There is no discussing with you, you are not sincere. You are here to prevent conversation, to disseminate fictions and to cause trouble.
You disgust me – you and your fellow trolls – you are a form of pollution, both of blogs and of the world at large.
I don’t go on RWNJ sites attempting to impose my views on the participants. That would be arrogant and illmannered. Such considerations do not appear to trouble you.
Do not pretend to be a ‘plausible righty’ there is no such thing.
Well said Marty Mars and Stuart Munro.
Hi, James.
There has been a concerted effort by the moderators here in recent months to encourage positive discussions and to discourage pointless abuse. However, robust debate is often the norm and sometimes it’s witty, intelligent and enlightening. Sometimes it’s way too personal, which is a drag.
But overall, the site enjoys a huge readership, a lively commentariat and some of the best political bloggers in NZ writing posts. It won’t always to be to your taste, but you should take heart that there are many right of centre commenters who are regulars here and who generally get a fair go.
So I welcome your call to minimise the abuse. However, I think that’s already happening in a very meaningful way and that TS is the better for it. it won’t be perfect and all of us are capable of letting our frustration get the better of us, but I genuinely think we’re heading in the right direction.
You disgust me – you and your fellow trolls – you are a form of pollution, both of blogs and of the world at large.
Oh, very persuasive. There’s no comments thread that can’t be improved by a steadfast refusal to see people who disagree with you as fellow humans, right?
I don’t go on RWNJ sites attempting to impose my views on the participants. That would be arrogant and illmannered.
Given your commenting style, it certainly would be. On the other hand, if you tried stringing together an actual argument once in a while, you might find those right-wing sites interesting places to visit – hanging out only with people you agree with is corrosive of your reasoning skills.
@PM – I don’t come here to demonstrate my reasoning skills to the nuts – if they had any to speak of they wouldn’t be nuts.
It has to do with the epidemiology of movements – Key’s strategy guys know all about this stuff – that’s why they shut down Campbell. Semantic warfare.
“…BTW – the country in general is going just fine and most agree with that (see polls re country direction)…”
If I had a dollar for everytime some idiot said “NZ is a great little place that punches above it’s weight and is doing just fine” I’d be a rich man indeed. It is a line particularly peddled by Mike Hoskings. Now, to me this opinion can only be founded on smugly racist assumptions about some sort of cultural and/or racial superiority on our part that makes us somehow exceptional. A set of smug assumptions and myths about New Zealand exceptionalism – NZ is paradise, a great place to have a family and bring up kids, is egalitarian, and it punches above it’s weight – underlay the belief system of our middle class and act as rationalising tool to explain away our filthy rivers, our child poverty, our massive domestic violence problems, our massive wealth disparity and our poor economic performance.
Sport is an important bulwark of these middle class myths. Racist assertions of sporting prowess and success are seen as vindications of the existing social and economic order, just like it was with rugby in racist South Africa. Sport has always been a powerful propaganda tool. The fact is the successes of our Olympic team will be used by cheerleaders of the current system as proof we are on the right track. Failure, I would hope, will serve to do the opposite.
By the way – I think our athletes will do about as well as you’d expect from a modestly funded program from one of the poorer first world countries. The idea we are a genetically superior, outdoor bred, virile Aryan super nation of athletic over-achievers is rubbish.
“a great place to have a family and bring up kids” yeah hear that a lot, & in NZ we have had a 5 year commit suicide! But nah all good, nothing to whine about, the sun is shining, the Chiefs are wonderful role models for our young men etc…(sarc).
🙂
Netherlands Closes Prisons due to Shortage of Criminals
http://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/netherlands-closes-prisons-due-to-shortage-of-criminals/
A policy of rehabilitation, hope, post jail employment, diversion and cooperation from Media to stop filling us with dreadful over-inflated crime reports.
But with the insistent push for bigger punishment, longer sentences, ethnic targeting, and political pandering, it would take very brave politicians to make a move to get us down from such high rates of imprisonments.
All hail the Netherlands.
Wonder of their decriminalisation of some drugs had an effect?
A relly has just joined the Dutch police as a forensic accountant from KPMG where he did the same job.
He reckons they are arsedeep in white collar fraud there and he will never be out of a job.
It just takes forever to nail the bastards.
His best story? Sitting opposite a bloke , and while the relly was pretty sure it was a computing mistake, watching the guys face and asking ” So where’s the missing 75 trillion ?” . Priceless.
P.S, I asked 75 trillion? indisbelief, and he said that was not an unusual amount to be dealing with, it only needs to be out of sight for a few hours for somebody to make a shitload. We’re still in kindy in this country.
These 50 Images Capture The Rare Beauty Of Rio’s Street Art Scene
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/street-art-tour-rio-de-janeiro-olympics_us_57a8d469e4b0aae2a5a0bcda
Incredible save nz. In much misery there is room for much colour.
a visual feast…thanks!
Snz -Thanks for that. Another place Valpariso has such amazing street art. Our ‘graffiti artist ‘ kids should be sent there to see how it’s done.
Now, for some GOOD news.
The other evening I shared this….
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/faces-of-innocents/82699004/Ministry-for-Vulnerable-Children-name-stigmatising-and-labelling
in which the new Children’s Commissioner diplomatically throws down the gauntlet to the Gummint on the ‘re-structuring’ of CYFs.
The name “Ministry for Vulnerable Children has gone down like a cup of cold sick with, well, practically everyone.
Becroft describes it as “…stigmatising and labelling.
It is depressing, even crushing. It focuses on the problem not the solution. We do not call the Ministry of Health the “Ministry of Sick People”.”
Fairfax did a poll, and Becroft promises to make sure the Gummint knows what folk think of the new name.
Hope springs that this latest ‘re-structuring’ is going to get more active attention from the Children’s watchdog.
And then another article…http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/83021330/raise-the-youth-justice-age-mps-told-at-evidence-hearing-for-cyf-overhaul
….and the CC again taking issue with the Gummint (through the Select Committee) that the new legislation which will guide the ‘re-structuring’ has…
“”…missed the opportunity” to go far enough.
Becroft, the former Principal Youth Court Judge, took issue with four aspects of the proposed legislation. He called for the Youth Justice Age to be raised to 17, and said the bill did not go far enough in giving the child’s voice weight.
“The change half-step, and not full-step, to include Youth Justice seems to us to be burdensome, and it will add administrative complexity, it’s wrong in principle and it’s in flat flagrant breach of the United Nations Convention obligations.
The terms surrounding the creation of a new advocacy system for children were weak, and “delegation powers”, which would allow certain non-Government social workers to uplift children from their families, was concerning.
“Some very invasive state powers have been vested into those whom the chief executive might delegate those powers to, with very little prescription.
“There are dangers in leaving such significant discretionary powers to be developed behind the scenes, non-transparently, by policy make”‘
If there is a god who strengthens the resolve of Government appointed Commissioners….
Andrew Becroft….good on you sir!
Can’t remember when but a week or so ago had one of the resident righties (Chuck?) supporting the name change when I made disparaging remarks, I thought that you could rename the ministries with a bunch of more imaginative titles & the title of ‘Ministry of Vulnerable Children’ is just bizarre.
Can’t but help agreeing with the Auckland Action Against Poverty on this one. The bullying nature of Work and Income, and its failed policies – are just not working.
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/08/11/auckland-action-against-poverty-uni-research-highlights-deficiencies-in-govt-job-policies/
yep, many people do everything they can to avoid WINZ since the old social security turned into the current sadistic punishment maze, ever wonder why some of the local beggars are getting more insistent?
it is time for some direct action by and for the homeless too–organised squats in proven long term empty private and state houses and moneybags boats in marinas too
WINZ needs to be urgently retired in favour of some form of UBI, and in the meantime the PSA could stop accepting as members govt. staff in WINZ and MSD that spend their working day making other citizens lives a misery–“I am only following orders–doing my job”–should not cut it in this instance
I don’t have much fear of actually losing my job, but I do have fear about ever having to visit WINZ because of job loss, so their actions are working as they scare workers like me (& because of technology my job is in constant flux like most people I suppose.)
you are correct gangnam and it is scary for many others who could just do with some short term assistance that often their taxes have paid for, endless condescending seminars on how to write a CV, losing your documents etc. blaming you personally for the changing nature of work…
and income splitting is needed for couples, WINZ will not pay job seeker support if say one partner loses their job if they are living in a relationship of the ‘nature of a marriage’
WINZ is meant to be a nasty experience as the Household Labourforce Survey has long shown–there are more unemployed people than people actually in receipt of “jobseeker support”, and as signalled by the departments classic “Catch 22”, WINZ staff can be rewarded for denying the very assistance they are meant to supply!, and for applying sanctions and getting people off the books inclusive of paying and or receiving a fee to and from ACC and MSD…
I really enjoyed this one for how fickle and cosmically unjust campaign coverage can be in determining U.S. Presidential races:
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/film-how-to-destroy-a-presidential-candidate/
Finally the MSM, but not yet in US, is starting to catch on
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3726250/Enemies-Hillary-Bill-say-27-year-old-murder-victim-Seth-Rich-suspected-leaking-DNC-emails-belongs-Clinton-Death-List-people-ties-couple-died-time.html
+100…yes this is good that the MSM is starting to take notice …it should be there to protect democracy after all! ..this is what the MSM has traditionally been stated as being for
not sure who is right, but the family would like for people to stop spreading this rumor.
but then they must be paid of by the clinton machine.
http://www.businessinsider.com.au/dnc-seth-rich-wikileaks-politicize-2016-8?r=US&IR=T
“In a statement to Business Insider on Wednesday, Rich family spokesperson Brad Bauman thanked investigators and implored high-profile figures to stop attempting to “politicize” Rich’s death by perpetuating unfounded theories about the shooting.
“The family welcomes any and all information that could lead to the identification of the individuals responsible, and certainly welcomes contributions that could lead to new avenues of investigation,” Bauman said in the statement.
He added:
“That said, some are attempting to politicize this horrible tragedy, and in their attempts to do so, are actually causing more harm that good and impeding on the ability for law enforcement to properly do their job. For the sake of finding Seth’s killer, and for the sake of giving the family the space they need at this terrible time, they are asking for the public to refrain from pushing unproven and harmful theories about Seth’s murder.””
…and on the subject of the mainstream media:
‘NSA leaks show worries over intelligence gaps, training tips for media leaks’
“Among the latest batch of internal NSA documents leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden are tips for analysts on what to notice about media leaks, playing catch-up over intelligence, and medical surveillance.
On Wednesday, The Intercept released a batch of 263 internal agency reports, called ‘SIDToday’, from the agency’s most important division, the Signals Intelligence Directorate. Dating back to 2003, the documents reveal the department’s culture and operations with a roster of tips on training analysts to spot leaks to the media, internet monitoring, and notices about seminars on Latin American countries…