Watching eng Argentina last night, can’t they make proper rugby jerseys anymore, the numbers were peeling off the backs and they looked like surf rasshie tops.
In football you can’t stay on the field without correct numbering……any rule officianados know if that’s an issue in thugby.
I enjoyed watching the Argentina – England match on TV. Maybe it wasn’t that spectacular, but it was a heroic Argentine effort against a mostly lackluster England performance – gripping fight to the finish. The Argentina supporters in the crowd looked like they were enjoying themselves.
PS I do get fed up withe the MSM giving headline results of matches as they happen – hard to avoid – and before the matches are shown in delayed mode on FTA TV.
Football as in soccer to most rugby heads, sorry I should realize that by now.
no you have to get it attended to before you can return. Happened in a euro qualifying match a few days ago to Ireland’s Richard dune, ref couldn’t read the number so trainer had to magic marker one on.
Yes, I stopped visiting Stuff this morning because of the large vacuously smiling, pseudo-presidential pic of our Prime Mincer promoting that story.
What does he have to say after the failed transport and other issues on Auckland’s waterfront Friday night, after saying people would eat their words and it would all go smoothly?
Favourite quote: John Key on…how he and Obama differ: “I have more engagement with New Zealand than people might think. Unlike the impression I have of the American president, who sits in the Oval Office and people come to them.”
Yes, that’s how you differ from Obama, John…
Carol – notice the anti-Pharmac article beside that photo? Tory all the way this morning…
No mention of the adverse effects of Warfarin, the drug Pradaxa replaces, which caused the bleeding that almost killed my old man.
And the real problem with Pradaxa, GPs prescribing the drug to people who should never have been given it, gets one line in the article.
The kea were among a group of 38 birds fitted with radio transmitters as part of a four-year programme to assess the risk of 1080 on their population.
The Department of Conservation says the pellets were supposed to be it will now look at a different formula as the baits were previously thought to be bird-repelling.
But the Chairperson of the Kumara Environmental Action Group, Gerard Bullimore says the recent deaths just show that 1080 does indeed kill everything.
“The seven keas that they found dead would be a minute percentage of native birds they have killed. Every time locals go out after a 1080 drop they’re always finding (wood) pigeons, weka, everything – flattened.”
That’s a high proportion of “collateral damage”. Most people will agree that dropping poison over large areas is far from ideal. We should be doing far more to research and trial alternative methods of predator control so we can move towards phasing out 1080 as soon as we can.
A bit subjective I know, but I used to live on a block in the countryside.
Like many people I was rather cynical about dropping poisons.
When we first moved there, there were very few native birds, apart from some pukeko.
Most of the pohutukawa were near death.
After a large 1080 drop in the area we noticed some dead birds, lots of dead rats, possums and feral cats. Also got rid of the possum infestation on our roof.
A year later there were big numbers of native birds. Wood Pigeons, Tui, Kiwi and morepork among others. The native trees had normal foliage.
That particular drop was obviously a resounding success.
There’s no doubt there can be benefits but we shouldn’t ignore the downsides – nor should we ignore looking for non-poisonous alternatives. 1080 is a real risk, and could bite us on our “clean green” and food producer bums.
A simple choice – poison or find something better?
Sounds like you have got something in mind Pete…
Cue Petulant Bean announcing a new UF/ National plan for the unemployed:
‘benificiaries to wrestle bare handed with possums in the bush’
Prime Mincer John Keys says he is comfortable with the plan saying ‘we have a lot of pests in this country, some of them are furry and some of them are lazy, may the best one win’
Yes, there’s a risk but overall 1080 drops seem to increase native flora and fauna rather than being a massive negative. And yes, we should also be looking for better methods but that doesn’t mean that we should stop using the successful methods that we are ATM.
Is this the same incident that happenned a few years ago at Franz Josef??? There (from memory) about 14 kea were fitted with transmitters and after the 1080 drop 7 were found dead – a 50% kill rate!
And what would your solution be Pete? A return to the good old days of the bushman and possum trapper like in the Barry Crump books? Any suggesting that a possum bounty will create jobs through a possum fur industry is tosh, simply because trapping possums and living in the bush is more of a lifestyle choice, rather than a way to earn money to maintain any decent standard of living.
Agree without about the need for R and D to create alternatives though. The government even owns a company that makes pesticides so there is no reason why we cannot channel money through that, and sell the products commerically.
With all due respect, PG, please read the recent report by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment on 1080 rather than scaremongering with such reports. She has evaluated all the evidence and concluded that 1080 is the best way of dealing with threats to our native fauna. Have you done anything at all like that, or are you just basing you judgements on one report here and there and your ‘gut feeling’?
“Where were you when the world stopped turning?” This song is idiotic, preposterous, disgusting. This is the kind of lamebrained, sentimental, and—worst of all—dishonest rubbish that gives country music a bad name.
Why don’t you put up something to commemorate 9/11/73?
Might want to freshen up on reality there Brett,
The Toronto hearings: Scientists, Engineers and Architects present the best evidence to an esteemed panel amongst whom an Italian investigative judge whose expertise is: State crimes against Democracy such as the murder of Aldo Moro, Gladio and the terror attacks in Italy in the 70s. Also a specialist in Mafia related crime and involved in all of these cases. Not someone ready to through his whole distinguished career to the dogs over tinfoiled crazy conspiracy shit.
Walker said many Maori felt the Government allowed too many immigrants to enter the country, at the expense of the indigenous population.
“The problem of Maori under-performance in New Zealand – in terms of education and dependency on welfare – has not been resolved. If we can’t solve our own internal problems, why add to those problems by bringing more people? It just doesn’t make sense.”
Great questions Ranginui, wise words. After all the academic bullshit we argued this week over what was and was not racism the fact remains Maori under perform (sort of a catch all phrase that could mean anything). As a small island melting pot in the South Pacific we wont ever be a cohesive community and society until we resolve the issue of race and colonialism here. I dont have any easy answers but I do know we cant force a cure, we all need to agree.
At minimum regardless of what we think of Mutus opinions she has put the spot light well and truly back onto issues a large part of our community would ignore whilst blithely counting up the personal ebenfits of tax cuts etc.
We need to stop immigration right about now and then look at supporting the population we do have as well as looking at what we need to do due to Peak Oil. I suspect that solving the latter will also help with the former.
We need to stop immigration right about now and then look at supporting the population we do have as well as looking at what we need to do due to Peak Oil.
Oh sorry, I could not agree less! NZ is vastly underpopulated – we could happily fit in twice as many people, or three times as many.
Peak oil will come no matter how many people we have here, and in NZ we’re better placed to cope with it than anywhere else on earth!
We we get our extra 4 or 8 million people in due course, no doubt, but they will most likely be environmental or economic refugees- of course if it gets really bad elsewhere the globel elite will be flocking here in droves too…
Growth for growths sake is a doomed strategy in any situation where there are limited resources and is certainly ill advised when there is no evidence that bigger is better, and plenty to suggest that in times to come we will have to make more out of less or suffer the unpleasant consequences.
100% correct Campbell and Draco about Peak Oil and growth.
Vicky, we should be very concerned, we are well placed to cope if we are prepared but unfortunately we are not: our attitude is not unlike Britain in the 30s blithely moving toward an appointment with a sure fate. Can we cope with no oil…what are you lioke at ploughing with oxen or horses? Now tell me how many we can feed.
Got any proof that NZ is under populated? Considering that over most of history NZ had a population of less than 1m I’d say that the normal carrying capacity is well below what we have.
Oh sorry, I could not agree less!
That’s probably because you still believe in the delusional growth+ meme of the Catholic Church and the capitalists. Best thing that ever happened to man is birth control and the Catholic Church calls it against gods will.
Peak oil will come no matter how many people we have here…
Yes it will but the fewer people we have here the better off we’ll be as we’ll be more likely to be able to support them on the resources we have. Due to population levels the Northern Hemisphere and some places in the Southern will be hell on Earth with massive amounts of death from famine, disease, war and all the other problems faced by communities that just don’t have enough to support the population that they have.
That’s probably because you still believe in the delusional growth+ meme of the Catholic Church and the capitalists. Best thing that ever happened to man is birth control and the Catholic Church calls it against gods will.
Newsflash, DtB – most Catholics in NZ are leftists.. Plus, do me a favour, and don’t say ‘man’, say humanity, instead… People aren’t the problem, capitalism is.
Peak oil will come no matter how many people we have here…
… Northern Hemisphere and some places in the Southern will be hell on Earth with massive amounts of death from famine, disease, war and all the other problems faced by communities that just don’t have enough to support the population that they have.
See, this is the part that really angers me. You want to say to the rest of the world “bugger you Jack, I’m all right!” and pull up the draw-bridge! Given that some of my family, and 2/3 of my friends are in the Northern Hemipshere, I can’t be that blase about the rest of the world.
Newsflash, DtB – most Catholics in NZ are leftists.
So? The Catholic Church still holds birth control as anathema and yet it is the only thing that can allow us to live within the environments limitations. As that happens to be the case and as you happen to be a Catholic then I will hang the delusional growth meme upon you.
Capitalism is a construct of the people and so is Catholicism and so people are the problem but mostly in the form of ignorance which is what you’re showing.
You want to say to the rest of the world “bugger you Jack, I’m all right!” and pull up the draw-bridge!
Don’t have any choice – it’s probable that we’re already over populated now thus we can’t fit many more here. We certainly can’t fit the tens of millions from the UK that would have to leave there to drop their population down to sustainable levels never mind the hundreds of millions from Europe and the Middle East. And the population centres that I’m most concerned with is Asia/Minor because there’s no way we can fit billions of people here.
As that happens to be the case and as you happen to be a Catholic then I will hang the delusional growth meme upon you
Now that’s the problem – I am not a Catholic! (I am Anglo-Catholic, which is a whole ‘nother matter – and we are not opposed to birth control.) However,often, the issue is that people who hammer birth control are often at heart, racist or at least parochial in their application, or insistence on the application of it. “We must stop those Asians and those third world people from eating us out of house and home”. I am not referring to you specifically here, so don’t get angry!
It’s a fact that world-wide, we could feed the population we’ve got. The problem is distribution, and don’t blame capitalism on Catholicism, or even Anglo-catholicism..
It’s a fact that world-wide, we could feed the population we’ve got.
We can ATM, we won’t be able to in a few years. Actually, it may be true that we can’t feed them now.
don’t blame capitalism on Catholicism, or even Anglo-catholicism.
I didn’t although I admit to thinking that the church’s support the capitalists. They have, after all, always supported the rich and powerful against everyone else.
Of course Mr Keys let himself off the hook after agonizing over ‘misleading the country’ (and is busy demolishing suburbs and the CBD so that his media mates cannot be accused of histrionics either)
Yet somehow misleading the country over the economy, unemployment (‘it’s all relative’) asset sales etc etc and the world over the the state of NZ’s 100% pure environment is something he is comfortable with…
Smile and wave does very little else apart from mislead the country and now is yet again shamelessly using the quake as a means to portray himself in a better light
What happened in and to Christchurch was terrible, but the constant use of other peoples misery for self promotion whilst simultaneously doing not enough to help them is a total disgrace.
NZ’s ‘darkest day’ was when our country elected this charlatan and his government into power
If they have some more urgency, like it seems they probably will, it could easily trample over members bill day and therefore prevent it from being passed (unless the bill itself is put into urgency as well).
VSM, another neoliberal scam to privatise and destroy student services. ‘Freedom’? Like ‘level playing-field’ , leveled to advantage plunderers, and ‘no free lunch’, for you but free banquets for me? Don’t make me puke!
No hate Brett, but righteous anger. Hate is the kind of shite which comes from people like you.
Let’s define victims shall we?
The people who died in the buildings?
Their loved ones who still don’t have answers to 70 % of their questions?
The 70.000 first responders who are ill or dying from the dust and now it turns out the Nano thermite in their lungs and who are still fighting for recognition and some form of compensation and who are treated like they are the terrorists and who have been barred from attending the tenth anniversary of the events?
The American soldiers who died in battle the more then that amount who have killed themselves since they came home or the hundreds of thousands of soldiers who are ill and dying from the exposure to Depleted Uranium?
The more then a million Iraqi dead or the more then 4 million displaced internal and 4 million who fled their country?
The 90% of Afghans who never even heard about 911 and who thought that the burning buildings they saw on photo’s were in Kabul?
Let me tell you something Brett you put a stinking big donation here and I believe you really care. How about doing that!
Otherwise shut the fuck up about remembering these people because doing it once every ten years ain’t nowhere near enough. Take it from me because I remember and fight for these people every day since that 9/11 ten years ago and I find your sentimental drivel quit frankly an abomination in the face of all of these people I mentioned before and who suffered as a result of those atrocities.
It’s not the music, it’s the moronically sentimental and dishonest lyrics. There are lots of brilliant country songs and interesting country singers—but, sadly, Alan Jackson is out of his depth here.
Im sorry that people here dont like any tributes or sympathy to the people of the USA.
Well, I don’t! A handful were “victims” on September 11th, and so they’ve made actual victims out of hundreds of thousands in the rest of the world for the past 10 years.
The link you can put your stonking big donation too are family members who want a new and independent into the events of 911. Most of them are New Yorkers and therefore Americans and they all lost family members on the day itself.
And for a guy you are really very, very passive aggressive!
Was sitting in a Coffee shop in Lyttelton a short time ago, during a quake. Not very pleasant wondering whether to stay inside or run. Most of the customers did not even look up. Must be locals.
The waitress asked if I wanted my coffee stirred, as well as shaken.
I pick up the SST this morning and there is another,” I am going to quit”, from John Keys. I think he has had enough already. He looks like he has aged twenty yeats in the last three. Do yourself and quit while the going is good dude. Miami, Hawaii is much better than hanging out down here with rubes. Take my word for it.
On 9/11 a gang of criminal elites carried out the demolition of buildings which contained large amounts of asbestos, identified as a health hazard long after it had been installed; to have removed the asbestos would have been extraordinarily costly (possibly as much as what the buildings were worth) and would have resulted in a huge loss of rent.
That gang of criminals got together with another gang of criminals who needed a pretext to carry out the invasion of an oil-rich nation which had switched from trading in US dollars to trading in Euros, and to teach an unco-operative government a lesson for blocking the construction of an American-backed oil pipeline. (US oil extraction peaked in 1970 and the US was/is increasingly dependent on imported oil).
There was also the matter of the big reduction in poppy growing that the Taliban had caused, which was impacting badly on the CIA-sponsored drug trade and the laundering operations that were going on via Wall Street.
The idea of flying planes into buidlings had been discussed on many occasions and there had even been a film made about it. The problem was, the Twin Towers had been built to withstand multiple impacts by aircraft. The central colums were just too damed strong to be brought down without being cut. And Thermite (finely divided aluminium/magnesum/iron oxide mix) is about the only practical way of cutting though large steel columsn quickly. Termnite burns at around 2,500 oC, well above the 1500oC needed to melt steel.
By the way, aviation fuel burning in air reaches only 300oC, and in the absence of sufficient air -as evidenced by the black smoke on 9/11- at a considerably lower temperature.
The other problem was that the US Air Force had a ‘nasty’ habit of quickly intercepting planes that were off course; they did it about 67 times in the year 2000. So on 9/11, Dick Cheney sent the jet fighters that were based in the region well away from the region to carry out exercises based on the hijacking of aricraft -just to ensure there would be total confusion should any real hijackings be reported. That allowed aircraft to fly around for up to an hour-and-a-half without being intercepted.
One of those planes supposedly crashed in a field leaving no wreckage. Another supposedly crashed into the Pentagon, resulting in a tiny hole in the building and again leaving no significant wreckage.
There were a few ‘important people’ who had to be kept out of the carnage that was palnned for that day, so they were advised not to go to work. Needless to say, the elites were not the least concerned about deaths of ‘proles’: the elitesd have always regarded the masses as ‘cannon-fodder’ and always will (58,000 casualties in one week in the Battle of the Somme: run towards that machine gun or be shor here).
The event on the day went well for the elites and the preplanned attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq were soon underway.
However, after the event were many reports of serious inconsistencies in the official narrative. After stonewalling for months Bush and company decided it would be best to set up a ‘commision’ that could ignore all the evidence that blew holes in the official narrative and could churn out a whitewash report that validated the lies. That was done by several other members of the gang.
So there you have it. In all of history only three concrete and steel buidling have ever fallen down as a result of short-lived, low temperature fires, and they all did it on the same day, one (Building Seven) not even having been hit by a plane. In all of history only two passenger airliners have crashed in such a way that the titanium alloy engines ‘evaporated’ on impact.
Just ensure that the ‘proles’ were sufficiently brainwashed, the footage was shown again and again and again and again and again, with the words terreor, terrorist, terrorism bleated incessantly.
The sad thing is, we live in a scientifically illiterate society in which any kind of drivel is believed by the masses.
Interestingly, the Project New American Century website that promoted rampant militarism and listed the names of so many of the criminals involved in the 9/11 scam has been amended and it now looks quite innocuous.
We can be quite certain that the myths promoted by the eltites are now so firmly established in the moinds of most people they are irremovable. After all ‘they saw it on TV so it must be true’.
Presumably next year there will be yet another ‘celebration’ of one of the biggest lies in all of history. Howevre, the collapse of the economy due to global peak oil will have progressed a bit further by then and few more people might have woken from the collective trance.
“they have one of those honest Italian judges” – Mr Smith
Ferdinando Imposimato is the Honorary President of the Supreme Court of Italy. As a former Senior Investigative Judge in Italy, he presided over several terrorism-related cases, including the kidnapping and ultimate assassination of President Aldo Moro, the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II, and other political assassinations and kidnapping cases and several cases against the Mafia. He is a former Senator who served on the Anti-Mafia Commission in three administrations and a former legal consultant to the United Nations regarding institution of laws to control drug trafficking.
To Pete George and to Mr Smith and every other denier who thinks they know best
If you thought the past ten years were annoying as Truthers bugged you with their silly stories then you had better be prepared. Soon there is going to be a unifying core of information, The Toronto Hearings Report. You and all the other hollow minded minions are going to be downright swarmed by Truth. It does not mean that every post in every blog is going to be inundated or the Newspapers are going to suddenly make reality a news story. It means that as the information being presented goes through the natural stages of conversion, i would step back a bit from the hearth. Currently it just being discussed then it gets digested and then converted into action. That is when it will get really interesting.
The Toronto Hearings will be producing a comprehensive formal report and an appendix heavy DVD which will be unlike any before. The call of the deniers is always the same, where is the evidence, well right now it is sitting in hard drives and vaults in Toronto and in a few months the panelists will release their findings. The Report will be published and you can all see for the first time the incontravertable reality that the events of September 11 2001 did not occur as presented in the (everchanging) accounts of the Official Story . Remember Truth is not about us deciding what did and did not happen, it is about securing an honest and open investigation into the events of that day so the survivors, the families and the World, know the crime was at least investigated. The chance of pointing a finger and getting a conversion is slim to none, we all know that. This is about an Investigation. An Investigation which through the events described and the evidence being discovered would be its own trial, judgement and sentence. A lasting sentence, woven into the fabric of Society, more permanent and more damning than any court could ever provide. We often hear of the thousands killed on 9/11. Would it shock you to discover that to date there has still not been a single murder inquiry regarding any of the deaths on 9/11.
I have ‘attended’ every minute of the past three days of the Toronto Hearings, with one more day to go. One thing is clear though, ‘Impossible’ does not begin to describe the shitstorm mission that deniers have in front of them when this evidence gets into the Public Domain, let alone when it arrives in a court of law.
Your dreams of safety in the warm and bloodsoaked arms of the Official Lie are going to get a very rude awakening. If you do not open your eyes soon then you will only have yourself to blame when that sick feeling in your gut spreads to destroy more of your life and the lives of those you love.
The evidence presented by and in front of experts in many fields has been disturbing in the clear, concise and damning nature of its accuracy, validity and legitimacy. No doubt the lengths some will go to ensure this evidence goes no further is what really will be the nail in the coffin of the deniers. If the Truth is so easy to refute, why are you not watching the Hearings and commenting. If your denials are so strong where are your questions that will show up the expert witnesses.
In short if you thought the matter was over because of a few songs and some coordinated media strikes reminding you of an illusion you swallowed ten years ago, then i have a little message
WAKE UP
This hearing is as real as it gets! There will be a lot more to come but for now just look at your families friends and loved ones, imagine they have all been slaughtered and quietly ask yourself:
Would the investigaton of their murder really matter?
or would you just shrug and accept someone’s word because they said so?
the Objectives of the Hearings, the attending panelists, moderators and guests are all here http://torontohearings.org/
Videos of the past three days and tomorrow’s live stream can be found here http://www.ustream.tv/channel/thetorontohearings
Day four
NZT Monday, September 12, 2011
01:00 – 01:15 Moderators: Opening remarks and Moment of Silence
01:15 – 02:45 David Ray Griffin: Anomalies of Flights 77 and 93
02:45 – 04:00 Peter Dale Scott: 9/11 and Deep State Politics
05:00 – 06:00 Laurie Manwell: SCADs and Psychological Resistance to
Alternative Accounts
07:00 – 8:15 Senator Mike Gravel: State Deception in the Past and Today
08:30 – 09:15 Audience Question and Answer
Well certainly looking forward to all those people coming forward that conspired Freedom, and the up coming trail should be great, but won’t be holding my breath. Maybe I will just wait for the movie with the hollywood ending.
There won’t be any sinking feeling for me either Freedom and to be honest, I couldn’t give a flying fuck about the USA or their conspiracy theories, I live in New Zealand and realized a long time ago that I’m not going to change the world, especially if I can’t even change my neighbors outlook first, so I try to keep it local, but I don’t forget to have my fun and live my life.
Your hubris is juvenile and selfish. Again you miss the point and your movie crack only proves how vacuous are the views of those who deny what happened. That sort of ‘joke’ only emphasises the ignorance of your outlook. Do you honestly believe we exist in some magical isolation from the web of this world. The search for Truth is not about a trial.
The chances of getting anyone prosecuted is slim to none.
9/11 Truth is about AN OPEN AND LEGITIMATE INVESTIGATION.
What about that can you not understand?
Freedom calling me Juvenile and selfish gets you no closer to your truth.
“The chances of getting anyone prosecuted is slim to none.”
That tends to happen when you don’t have a case Freedom, but thats right you are only after the truth.
“What about that can you not understand?”
What I don’t understand is why you can’t just let it go and move on, there was no conspiracy, and even if there was there is no way you will ever prove it or find the truth now, let it go.
“What I don’t understand is why you can’t just let it go and move on”
True, It takes the focus of investigating possible war crimes that have occurred since 9/11. I hear Tony Blair is calling for regime change in Syria and Iran now. Middle East peace envoy …. pfft.
Secondly I dont believe it was a control demolition, but thats another post.
I posted what i did, because its the tenth anniversary, and it was posted to remember the victims and the victims famalies and what americans went through.
The best way to honour the victims of 9/11 and the multitude of people who have died in wars following on from 9/11 is to establish the truth and have the criminals who orchestrated 9/11 brought to justice.
The chance of that is close zero of course, since the elites who were responsible for 9/11 -Bush, Cheney, Rice etc, pehaps even Tony B Liar- are all above the law and are closely connected to the present gang of elites -Obama, Clinton, Cameron, Harper, Key etc. who are destroying the economies of the western world and are destroying the global environment in the name of oil company profits.
BTW Brett an explanation regarding events at the Pentagon would be really useful also, especially after the official Story got annihilated top to bottom at Toronto over the weekend
More good interviews on Chris Laidlaw Radionz this morning. One on Chile. Comment that the present, or recent leader of that country is right wing, but an affable chap, wealthy – sound like the stereotype of Joky Hen? Also the Chilean one went to Harvard the nest of neo liberals or am I wrong.
Most of their young economists trained at Uni of Chicago under Milton Friedman who was developing his theory on the free market and neo liberalism. It is said that Chile was his first proving ground for his ideas. I wish I could get the ear of NZ govt for some of the good social theories that aren’t new, they have been around for long time. (But like what they say of Christianity – sounds like a good idea pity no-one has ever tried it yet.) But no the education here is directed along lines that run through the dollar – strictly uncatholic (with a small ‘c’ note).
That ‘Ideas’ slot this morning was excellent. That Chilean you mention was very articulate and moving. Then there was the VUW academic who provided an excellent analysis of the major protests and political (neo-liberal entrapped) environment.
Oh, yes, and I noticed the remarkable similarity between the Chilean Prime Minister and ours. Affable, smiley, made his millions before becoming PM, has unified the right and centre …
The only difference is that their PM (and government) is facing protests by hundreds of thousands – ‘Someone else’s Country’ all over again.
Hey Puddleglum – Did you note the theme that continues through the Chilean system – that there are many wealthy people who have bought into the government infrastructure and own the major top earning companies?
And the public have supported a centrist coalition in the belief that things were going to improve, even if slowly, but now that there is a change to the right they have galvanised for action because that means a worse life for the majority, less opportunities to improve living conditions. And that university education has been privatised and is now out of reach of most of the young people.
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Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
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 ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nick Chartres, Senior Research Fellow, Faculty of Medicine & Health, University of Sydney shutterstockAhmet Misirligul/Shutterstock You go to the gym, eat healthy and walk as much as possible. You wash your hands and get vaccinated. You control your health. This is ...
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The campaign will engage the community and encourage submissions on the bill to the New Zealand government by the closing submission deadline of Friday 31st of May 2024 4pm. ...
The paper raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand's political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency plays in that. ...
The Urban Habitat Collective was an attempt to built an innovative new form of apartment building in Wellington. Here’s why it failed, and why the idea could still work, writes co-founder Bronwen Newton. When we started the Urban Habitat Collective in November 2018, we thought we were starting a revolution, ...
Two decades ago this week, a controversial law that attempted to define ownership of the foreshore and seabed prompted a formidable display of outrage and kōtahitanga as 15,000 marched to parliament. Jamie Tahana looks back.‘Hīkoi, hīkoi,” they chanted by the thousands as the biggest Māori march in a generation ...
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Why has New Zealand slipped from third to 12th on Quality of Death Indexes over the past decade or so? Hospice New Zealand Chief Executive Wayne Naylor has a list of reasons. “We don’t have a current national strategy – the Government hasn’t renewed our 2001 strategy, so we don’t ...
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On an unusually hot night in January 2019, a little boy’s lifeless body was found face up in a small town’s sewage oxidation pond. To the police, it was an open and shut case: three-year-old Lachlan Jones had run away from his home in the Southland town of Gore, climbed ...
A Labour Party Member’s Bill aims to plug a culpability gap between manslaughter and health and safety breaches The post New push for corporate killing laws appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Terence O’Brien had the rare and no doubt undesired distinction of rising to one of the most exalted positions in New Zealand diplomacy, then being unceremoniously recalled to Wellington without explanation just when his career was at its zenith. What is perhaps more surprising is that he appears to have ...
Rongotai MP Julie Anne Genter has apologised in Parliament after National accused her of intimidating and attacking one of its ministers in the House. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Prime Minister and state and territory leaders met on Wednesday as the national cabinet to discuss a crisis gripping Australia – the horrific number of women murdered this year. The killings have shocked ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Radhika Raghav, Teaching Fellow, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Otago Netflix Indian director Sanjay Leela Bhansali is known for his big-budget Bollywood production, featuring grand sets, star casts, meticulously choreographed dance sequences and lavish costumes, jewellery and furnishings. ...
Sir Robert devoted his life to disability rights after living in institutions in his younger years, says Kaihautū Tika Hauātanga | Disability Rights Commissioner Prudence Walker. ...
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Responding to the long-awaited release of judges’ special allowances, including free air travel and hotels for spouses, generous sabbaticals, and access to limousines, Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Alex Murphy said: “In what world does your employer ...
Analysis - The United States has unveiled plans to boost the weapons trade with Australia and the UK, on the same day that Winston Peters is expected to sketch NZ's position on AUKUS. ...
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The PSA is warning the Government that the sensitive information of New Zealanders held by various agencies will fall into the wrong hands if the latest round of proposed cuts goes ahead. ...
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http://www.ustream.tv/channel/thetorontohearings
NZT 07:45 – 09:00 Niels Harrit: Incendiary/Explosive Residue in the WTC Dust
LIVE RIGHT NOW WORLD EXPERT IN HIS FIELD
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/09/08/national-archive-keeps-bulk-of-911-commission-report-sealed/
Also: http://www.archive.org/details/sept_11_tv_archive
Cheers for the TV archive link J!
Watching eng Argentina last night, can’t they make proper rugby jerseys anymore, the numbers were peeling off the backs and they looked like surf rasshie tops.
In football you can’t stay on the field without correct numbering……any rule officianados know if that’s an issue in thugby.
The quality of the numbers was about as good as the quality of the rugby, but the crowd rocked!
It was an alien experience in my home town.
I enjoyed watching the Argentina – England match on TV. Maybe it wasn’t that spectacular, but it was a heroic Argentine effort against a mostly lackluster England performance – gripping fight to the finish. The Argentina supporters in the crowd looked like they were enjoying themselves.
PS I do get fed up withe the MSM giving headline results of matches as they happen – hard to avoid – and before the matches are shown in delayed mode on FTA TV.
The quality of the numbers was about as good as the quality of the rugby, but the crowd rocked!
Actually, it was a tremendously tense and engaging match. That’s why the crowd rocked—it was a rugby match as absorbing as anyone could hope to see.
Pity the Pumas lost. The game needs well performing and strong second tier nations to keep the top teams on their toes.
In football you can’t stay on the field without correct numbering…
Yes, you can stay on the football field without correct numbering—as you have just pointed out, they did exactly that last night.
I share your concern about the poorly made jerseys and poorly attached numbers.
Football as in soccer to most rugby heads, sorry I should realize that by now.
no you have to get it attended to before you can return. Happened in a euro qualifying match a few days ago to Ireland’s Richard dune, ref couldn’t read the number so trainer had to magic marker one on.
Ah the latest lovefest : http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/5601825/A-prime-ministers-view
Was quite enjoying my Sunday morning too
Yes, I stopped visiting Stuff this morning because of the large vacuously smiling, pseudo-presidential pic of our Prime Mincer promoting that story.
What does he have to say after the failed transport and other issues on Auckland’s waterfront Friday night, after saying people would eat their words and it would all go smoothly?
Favourite quote: John Key on…how he and Obama differ: “I have more engagement with New Zealand than people might think. Unlike the impression I have of the American president, who sits in the Oval Office and people come to them.”
Yes, that’s how you differ from Obama, John…
Carol – notice the anti-Pharmac article beside that photo? Tory all the way this morning…
Yes, I also registered the anti-Pharmac slant and wondered where that came from.
No mention of the adverse effects of Warfarin, the drug Pradaxa replaces, which caused the bleeding that almost killed my old man.
And the real problem with Pradaxa, GPs prescribing the drug to people who should never have been given it, gets one line in the article.
The five uses of the word “actually” are all quotes from Key.
16 arrested for the ‘Anonymous’ hacks. The mugshots of a surprisingly diverse group of people.
Further proof of the dangers of widespread use of 1080:
That’s a high proportion of “collateral damage”. Most people will agree that dropping poison over large areas is far from ideal. We should be doing far more to research and trial alternative methods of predator control so we can move towards phasing out 1080 as soon as we can.
A bit subjective I know, but I used to live on a block in the countryside.
Like many people I was rather cynical about dropping poisons.
When we first moved there, there were very few native birds, apart from some pukeko.
Most of the pohutukawa were near death.
After a large 1080 drop in the area we noticed some dead birds, lots of dead rats, possums and feral cats. Also got rid of the possum infestation on our roof.
A year later there were big numbers of native birds. Wood Pigeons, Tui, Kiwi and morepork among others. The native trees had normal foliage.
That particular drop was obviously a resounding success.
There’s no doubt there can be benefits but we shouldn’t ignore the downsides – nor should we ignore looking for non-poisonous alternatives. 1080 is a real risk, and could bite us on our “clean green” and food producer bums.
A simple choice – poison or find something better?
Sounds like you have got something in mind Pete…
Cue Petulant Bean announcing a new UF/ National plan for the unemployed:
‘benificiaries to wrestle bare handed with possums in the bush’
Prime Mincer John Keys says he is comfortable with the plan saying ‘we have a lot of pests in this country, some of them are furry and some of them are lazy, may the best one win’
Yes, there’s a risk but overall 1080 drops seem to increase native flora and fauna rather than being a massive negative. And yes, we should also be looking for better methods but that doesn’t mean that we should stop using the successful methods that we are ATM.
Is this the same incident that happenned a few years ago at Franz Josef??? There (from memory) about 14 kea were fitted with transmitters and after the 1080 drop 7 were found dead – a 50% kill rate!
And what would your solution be Pete? A return to the good old days of the bushman and possum trapper like in the Barry Crump books? Any suggesting that a possum bounty will create jobs through a possum fur industry is tosh, simply because trapping possums and living in the bush is more of a lifestyle choice, rather than a way to earn money to maintain any decent standard of living.
Agree without about the need for R and D to create alternatives though. The government even owns a company that makes pesticides so there is no reason why we cannot channel money through that, and sell the products commerically.
With all due respect, PG, please read the recent report by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment on 1080 rather than scaremongering with such reports. She has evaluated all the evidence and concluded that 1080 is the best way of dealing with threats to our native fauna. Have you done anything at all like that, or are you just basing you judgements on one report here and there and your ‘gut feeling’?
See: http://www.pce.parliament.nz/media/media-releases/1080-must-not-be-banned-environment-commissioner
“Where were you when the world stopped turning?” This song is idiotic, preposterous, disgusting. This is the kind of lamebrained, sentimental, and—worst of all—dishonest rubbish that gives country music a bad name.
Why don’t you put up something to commemorate 9/11/73?
Or have you not heard of that?
Jeez Brett that’s fricking awful.
Might want to freshen up on reality there Brett,
The Toronto hearings: Scientists, Engineers and Architects present the best evidence to an esteemed panel amongst whom an Italian investigative judge whose expertise is: State crimes against Democracy such as the murder of Aldo Moro, Gladio and the terror attacks in Italy in the 70s. Also a specialist in Mafia related crime and involved in all of these cases. Not someone ready to through his whole distinguished career to the dogs over tinfoiled crazy conspiracy shit.
If Tama iti is the face of Maori terrorism then we have little to worry about, the police could have saved heaps of money and angst if they had only picked up the phone!
http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.com/2011/09/tama-iti-terrorist.html
From todays Dom more comments on Mutu and racism.
Walker said many Maori felt the Government allowed too many immigrants to enter the country, at the expense of the indigenous population.
“The problem of Maori under-performance in New Zealand – in terms of education and dependency on welfare – has not been resolved. If we can’t solve our own internal problems, why add to those problems by bringing more people? It just doesn’t make sense.”
Great questions Ranginui, wise words. After all the academic bullshit we argued this week over what was and was not racism the fact remains Maori under perform (sort of a catch all phrase that could mean anything). As a small island melting pot in the South Pacific we wont ever be a cohesive community and society until we resolve the issue of race and colonialism here. I dont have any easy answers but I do know we cant force a cure, we all need to agree.
At minimum regardless of what we think of Mutus opinions she has put the spot light well and truly back onto issues a large part of our community would ignore whilst blithely counting up the personal ebenfits of tax cuts etc.
We need to stop immigration right about now and then look at supporting the population we do have as well as looking at what we need to do due to Peak Oil. I suspect that solving the latter will also help with the former.
Oh sorry, I could not agree less! NZ is vastly underpopulated – we could happily fit in twice as many people, or three times as many.
Peak oil will come no matter how many people we have here, and in NZ we’re better placed to cope with it than anywhere else on earth!
We we get our extra 4 or 8 million people in due course, no doubt, but they will most likely be environmental or economic refugees- of course if it gets really bad elsewhere the globel elite will be flocking here in droves too…
Growth for growths sake is a doomed strategy in any situation where there are limited resources and is certainly ill advised when there is no evidence that bigger is better, and plenty to suggest that in times to come we will have to make more out of less or suffer the unpleasant consequences.
100% correct Campbell and Draco about Peak Oil and growth.
Vicky, we should be very concerned, we are well placed to cope if we are prepared but unfortunately we are not: our attitude is not unlike Britain in the 30s blithely moving toward an appointment with a sure fate. Can we cope with no oil…what are you lioke at ploughing with oxen or horses? Now tell me how many we can feed.
Got any proof that NZ is under populated? Considering that over most of history NZ had a population of less than 1m I’d say that the normal carrying capacity is well below what we have.
That’s probably because you still believe in the delusional growth+ meme of the Catholic Church and the capitalists. Best thing that ever happened to man is birth control and the Catholic Church calls it against gods will.
Yes it will but the fewer people we have here the better off we’ll be as we’ll be more likely to be able to support them on the resources we have. Due to population levels the Northern Hemisphere and some places in the Southern will be hell on Earth with massive amounts of death from famine, disease, war and all the other problems faced by communities that just don’t have enough to support the population that they have.
Draco T Bastard,
Beatrice Hill (Tinsley), a famous NZ cosmologist, apparently also belonged to a group who believed in population control.
Maybe its time has come.
Newsflash, DtB – most Catholics in NZ are leftists.. Plus, do me a favour, and don’t say ‘man’, say humanity, instead… People aren’t the problem, capitalism is.
See, this is the part that really angers me. You want to say to the rest of the world “bugger you Jack, I’m all right!” and pull up the draw-bridge! Given that some of my family, and 2/3 of my friends are in the Northern Hemipshere, I can’t be that blase about the rest of the world.
So? The Catholic Church still holds birth control as anathema and yet it is the only thing that can allow us to live within the environments limitations. As that happens to be the case and as you happen to be a Catholic then I will hang the delusional growth meme upon you.
Capitalism is a construct of the people and so is Catholicism and so people are the problem but mostly in the form of ignorance which is what you’re showing.
Don’t have any choice – it’s probable that we’re already over populated now thus we can’t fit many more here. We certainly can’t fit the tens of millions from the UK that would have to leave there to drop their population down to sustainable levels never mind the hundreds of millions from Europe and the Middle East. And the population centres that I’m most concerned with is Asia/Minor because there’s no way we can fit billions of people here.
Now that’s the problem – I am not a Catholic! (I am Anglo-Catholic, which is a whole ‘nother matter – and we are not opposed to birth control.) However,often, the issue is that people who hammer birth control are often at heart, racist or at least parochial in their application, or insistence on the application of it. “We must stop those Asians and those third world people from eating us out of house and home”. I am not referring to you specifically here, so don’t get angry!
It’s a fact that world-wide, we could feed the population we’ve got. The problem is distribution, and don’t blame capitalism on Catholicism, or even Anglo-catholicism..
We can ATM, we won’t be able to in a few years. Actually, it may be true that we can’t feed them now.
I didn’t although I admit to thinking that the church’s support the capitalists. They have, after all, always supported the rich and powerful against everyone else.
No that’s just not true? Haven’t you ever heard of liberation theology?
That would be the liberation theology criticised by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith?
Just had a good 4.5-5M-ish jolt. About 2-3 seconds between the P and S waves so I’d guess out by Lyttleton or the Rolleston fault again.
just felt that now…from a long way away
4.5M, out at Lyttleton: http://geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/3577039g.html
Also: http://xkcd.com/723/
That seemed to go on for a long long time.
So did your bloody song.
@CV
Remember when back in Feb (27th) we were debating about whether or not Shonkey was scaremongering over the quake?
Apparently he was debating it too – according to the SST the prime mincer was ready to resign over his comments if they were found to be ‘terribly terribly wrong’ (yeah right)
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/5602498/Key-almost-quit-over-quake/
Of course Mr Keys let himself off the hook after agonizing over ‘misleading the country’ (and is busy demolishing suburbs and the CBD so that his media mates cannot be accused of histrionics either)
Yet somehow misleading the country over the economy, unemployment (‘it’s all relative’) asset sales etc etc and the world over the the state of NZ’s 100% pure environment is something he is comfortable with…
Smile and wave does very little else apart from mislead the country and now is yet again shamelessly using the quake as a means to portray himself in a better light
What happened in and to Christchurch was terrible, but the constant use of other peoples misery for self promotion whilst simultaneously doing not enough to help them is a total disgrace.
NZ’s ‘darkest day’ was when our country elected this charlatan and his government into power
Hey guys, VSM is about to become law, I am sure you will join me in celebrating this freedom.
The bill hasn’t actually been passed yet.
If they have some more urgency, like it seems they probably will, it could easily trample over members bill day and therefore prevent it from being passed (unless the bill itself is put into urgency as well).
This already happened once.
VSM, another neoliberal scam to privatise and destroy student services. ‘Freedom’? Like ‘level playing-field’ , leveled to advantage plunderers, and ‘no free lunch’, for you but free banquets for me? Don’t make me puke!
Just something to remember the victims by, no need for all the hate.
Crap music is crap music, whatever your reasons. I’ll never hate you though buddy.
No hate Brett, but righteous anger. Hate is the kind of shite which comes from people like you.
Let’s define victims shall we?
The people who died in the buildings?
Their loved ones who still don’t have answers to 70 % of their questions?
The 70.000 first responders who are ill or dying from the dust and now it turns out the Nano thermite in their lungs and who are still fighting for recognition and some form of compensation and who are treated like they are the terrorists and who have been barred from attending the tenth anniversary of the events?
The American soldiers who died in battle the more then that amount who have killed themselves since they came home or the hundreds of thousands of soldiers who are ill and dying from the exposure to Depleted Uranium?
The more then a million Iraqi dead or the more then 4 million displaced internal and 4 million who fled their country?
The 90% of Afghans who never even heard about 911 and who thought that the burning buildings they saw on photo’s were in Kabul?
Let me tell you something Brett you put a stinking big donation here and I believe you really care. How about doing that!
Otherwise shut the fuck up about remembering these people because doing it once every ten years ain’t nowhere near enough. Take it from me because I remember and fight for these people every day since that 9/11 ten years ago and I find your sentimental drivel quit frankly an abomination in the face of all of these people I mentioned before and who suffered as a result of those atrocities.
travellerev:
Again I posted the video, to remember the victims of the attack.
yes Brett you remembered the victims as you remind yourself to forget the crime
Yiou know guys, my post wasnt about politics, wasnt about ideology, wasnt about what country does what to who.
Like the song it was about the victims and their loved ones, it was about the rescue teams and what they went through.
That was it really, Im sorry that people here dont like any tributes or sympathy to the people of the USA.
That was all it was posted for.
I just don’t like bullshit music Brett.
Felix:
I might think the same about yuor taste in music.
Each to their own.
I just don’t like bullshit music Brett.
It’s not the music, it’s the moronically sentimental and dishonest lyrics. There are lots of brilliant country songs and interesting country singers—but, sadly, Alan Jackson is out of his depth here.
Yeah I’m quite fond of country music myself Morrissey. Not so keen on bullshit though.
Actually, by picking only the direct victims in New York you are making a political statement.
Well, I don’t! A handful were “victims” on September 11th, and so they’ve made actual victims out of hundreds of thousands in the rest of the world for the past 10 years.
I dont think I was doing that, I also dont think I should have to sorry for remembering the victims of 9/11 just because they are American.
“just because they are American”
No-one’s saying that Brett. Thing is you only seem to care about the American victims.
Felix:
Again its the anniversary of 9/11, thats why i posted it.
I never expected this type of reaction, sure I may of thought there woould be the odd comment on American Policies.
Im not sure whats passive aggressive about it.
Oh Felix go over to the DU (democratic underground) search my posts during the Bush admin, search my posts about the DSM, you will know where I stand.
Tomorrow is the anniversary Brett. Also, you mean 11/9.
In fact Brett,
The link you can put your stonking big donation too are family members who want a new and independent into the events of 911. Most of them are New Yorkers and therefore Americans and they all lost family members on the day itself.
And for a guy you are really very, very passive aggressive!
Was sitting in a Coffee shop in Lyttelton a short time ago, during a quake. Not very pleasant wondering whether to stay inside or run. Most of the customers did not even look up. Must be locals.
The waitress asked if I wanted my coffee stirred, as well as shaken.
After a while you get to use to these quakes.
I pick up the SST this morning and there is another,” I am going to quit”, from John Keys. I think he has had enough already. He looks like he has aged twenty yeats in the last three. Do yourself and quit while the going is good dude. Miami, Hawaii is much better than hanging out down here with rubes. Take my word for it.
Spotted on the
interest.co.nz
website
by Carpetbagger | 10 Sep 11, 12:57pm
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/5598136/German-investment-fun…
So remind me again why we should be so smug about our agriculture sector when slowly but surely it’s being sold to overseas interests who then export the profits?
by Plan B | 11 Sep 11, 5:35am
It is all OK, the farms are being sold to German ‘Mums and Dads’, boy I was worried for a minute!
Wasn’t it choice to hear Pasifikan names pronounced properly, by a Scotsman no less, in the NZ Tonga match ?
Mad props to Gavin Hastings !!!
Shows what ignorant douchebags Ian Smith and Grant Nesbitt are. Even Keith Quinn was nailing the pronunciation with relative ease.
+1 wtl
Lets never let the truth get in the way of whipping up some hysteria for a small party in election year, Ah Pete.
Brett.
On 9/11 a gang of criminal elites carried out the demolition of buildings which contained large amounts of asbestos, identified as a health hazard long after it had been installed; to have removed the asbestos would have been extraordinarily costly (possibly as much as what the buildings were worth) and would have resulted in a huge loss of rent.
That gang of criminals got together with another gang of criminals who needed a pretext to carry out the invasion of an oil-rich nation which had switched from trading in US dollars to trading in Euros, and to teach an unco-operative government a lesson for blocking the construction of an American-backed oil pipeline. (US oil extraction peaked in 1970 and the US was/is increasingly dependent on imported oil).
There was also the matter of the big reduction in poppy growing that the Taliban had caused, which was impacting badly on the CIA-sponsored drug trade and the laundering operations that were going on via Wall Street.
The idea of flying planes into buidlings had been discussed on many occasions and there had even been a film made about it. The problem was, the Twin Towers had been built to withstand multiple impacts by aircraft. The central colums were just too damed strong to be brought down without being cut. And Thermite (finely divided aluminium/magnesum/iron oxide mix) is about the only practical way of cutting though large steel columsn quickly. Termnite burns at around 2,500 oC, well above the 1500oC needed to melt steel.
By the way, aviation fuel burning in air reaches only 300oC, and in the absence of sufficient air -as evidenced by the black smoke on 9/11- at a considerably lower temperature.
The other problem was that the US Air Force had a ‘nasty’ habit of quickly intercepting planes that were off course; they did it about 67 times in the year 2000. So on 9/11, Dick Cheney sent the jet fighters that were based in the region well away from the region to carry out exercises based on the hijacking of aricraft -just to ensure there would be total confusion should any real hijackings be reported. That allowed aircraft to fly around for up to an hour-and-a-half without being intercepted.
One of those planes supposedly crashed in a field leaving no wreckage. Another supposedly crashed into the Pentagon, resulting in a tiny hole in the building and again leaving no significant wreckage.
There were a few ‘important people’ who had to be kept out of the carnage that was palnned for that day, so they were advised not to go to work. Needless to say, the elites were not the least concerned about deaths of ‘proles’: the elitesd have always regarded the masses as ‘cannon-fodder’ and always will (58,000 casualties in one week in the Battle of the Somme: run towards that machine gun or be shor here).
The event on the day went well for the elites and the preplanned attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq were soon underway.
However, after the event were many reports of serious inconsistencies in the official narrative. After stonewalling for months Bush and company decided it would be best to set up a ‘commision’ that could ignore all the evidence that blew holes in the official narrative and could churn out a whitewash report that validated the lies. That was done by several other members of the gang.
So there you have it. In all of history only three concrete and steel buidling have ever fallen down as a result of short-lived, low temperature fires, and they all did it on the same day, one (Building Seven) not even having been hit by a plane. In all of history only two passenger airliners have crashed in such a way that the titanium alloy engines ‘evaporated’ on impact.
Just ensure that the ‘proles’ were sufficiently brainwashed, the footage was shown again and again and again and again and again, with the words terreor, terrorist, terrorism bleated incessantly.
The sad thing is, we live in a scientifically illiterate society in which any kind of drivel is believed by the masses.
Interestingly, the Project New American Century website that promoted rampant militarism and listed the names of so many of the criminals involved in the 9/11 scam has been amended and it now looks quite innocuous.
We can be quite certain that the myths promoted by the eltites are now so firmly established in the moinds of most people they are irremovable. After all ‘they saw it on TV so it must be true’.
Presumably next year there will be yet another ‘celebration’ of one of the biggest lies in all of history. Howevre, the collapse of the economy due to global peak oil will have progressed a bit further by then and few more people might have woken from the collective trance.
Your promotion of conspiracy fairies like this doesn’t help your credibility on your “the end of the world as we know it is imminent” warnings.
Have to agree with you pete, some people are flogging a dead here for sure.
But don’t worry they have one of those honest Italian judges looking into it, and I have know doubt he will get to the bottom of something.
Typo sorry that was meant to read “flogging a dead horse”
“they have one of those honest Italian judges” – Mr Smith
Ferdinando Imposimato is the Honorary President of the Supreme Court of Italy. As a former Senior Investigative Judge in Italy, he presided over several terrorism-related cases, including the kidnapping and ultimate assassination of President Aldo Moro, the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II, and other political assassinations and kidnapping cases and several cases against the Mafia. He is a former Senator who served on the Anti-Mafia Commission in three administrations and a former legal consultant to the United Nations regarding institution of laws to control drug trafficking.
What, fairies at the bottom of the garden! I like the concept of conspiracy fairies. Let’s adopt it.
To Pete George and to Mr Smith and every other denier who thinks they know best
If you thought the past ten years were annoying as Truthers bugged you with their silly stories then you had better be prepared. Soon there is going to be a unifying core of information, The Toronto Hearings Report. You and all the other hollow minded minions are going to be downright swarmed by Truth. It does not mean that every post in every blog is going to be inundated or the Newspapers are going to suddenly make reality a news story. It means that as the information being presented goes through the natural stages of conversion, i would step back a bit from the hearth. Currently it just being discussed then it gets digested and then converted into action. That is when it will get really interesting.
The Toronto Hearings will be producing a comprehensive formal report and an appendix heavy DVD which will be unlike any before. The call of the deniers is always the same, where is the evidence, well right now it is sitting in hard drives and vaults in Toronto and in a few months the panelists will release their findings. The Report will be published and you can all see for the first time the incontravertable reality that the events of September 11 2001 did not occur as presented in the (everchanging) accounts of the Official Story . Remember Truth is not about us deciding what did and did not happen, it is about securing an honest and open investigation into the events of that day so the survivors, the families and the World, know the crime was at least investigated. The chance of pointing a finger and getting a conversion is slim to none, we all know that. This is about an Investigation. An Investigation which through the events described and the evidence being discovered would be its own trial, judgement and sentence. A lasting sentence, woven into the fabric of Society, more permanent and more damning than any court could ever provide. We often hear of the thousands killed on 9/11. Would it shock you to discover that to date there has still not been a single murder inquiry regarding any of the deaths on 9/11.
I have ‘attended’ every minute of the past three days of the Toronto Hearings, with one more day to go. One thing is clear though, ‘Impossible’ does not begin to describe the shitstorm mission that deniers have in front of them when this evidence gets into the Public Domain, let alone when it arrives in a court of law.
Your dreams of safety in the warm and bloodsoaked arms of the Official Lie are going to get a very rude awakening. If you do not open your eyes soon then you will only have yourself to blame when that sick feeling in your gut spreads to destroy more of your life and the lives of those you love.
The evidence presented by and in front of experts in many fields has been disturbing in the clear, concise and damning nature of its accuracy, validity and legitimacy. No doubt the lengths some will go to ensure this evidence goes no further is what really will be the nail in the coffin of the deniers. If the Truth is so easy to refute, why are you not watching the Hearings and commenting. If your denials are so strong where are your questions that will show up the expert witnesses.
In short if you thought the matter was over because of a few songs and some coordinated media strikes reminding you of an illusion you swallowed ten years ago, then i have a little message
WAKE UP
This hearing is as real as it gets! There will be a lot more to come but for now just look at your families friends and loved ones, imagine they have all been slaughtered and quietly ask yourself:
Would the investigaton of their murder really matter?
or would you just shrug and accept someone’s word because they said so?
the Objectives of the Hearings, the attending panelists, moderators and guests are all here
http://torontohearings.org/
Videos of the past three days and tomorrow’s live stream can be found here
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/thetorontohearings
Day four
NZT Monday, September 12, 2011
01:00 – 01:15 Moderators: Opening remarks and Moment of Silence
01:15 – 02:45 David Ray Griffin: Anomalies of Flights 77 and 93
02:45 – 04:00 Peter Dale Scott: 9/11 and Deep State Politics
05:00 – 06:00 Laurie Manwell: SCADs and Psychological Resistance to
Alternative Accounts
07:00 – 8:15 Senator Mike Gravel: State Deception in the Past and Today
08:30 – 09:15 Audience Question and Answer
Respect, Aroha and Peace
Well certainly looking forward to all those people coming forward that conspired Freedom, and the up coming trail should be great, but won’t be holding my breath. Maybe I will just wait for the movie with the hollywood ending.
There won’t be any sinking feeling for me either Freedom and to be honest, I couldn’t give a flying fuck about the USA or their conspiracy theories, I live in New Zealand and realized a long time ago that I’m not going to change the world, especially if I can’t even change my neighbors outlook first, so I try to keep it local, but I don’t forget to have my fun and live my life.
Your hubris is juvenile and selfish. Again you miss the point and your movie crack only proves how vacuous are the views of those who deny what happened. That sort of ‘joke’ only emphasises the ignorance of your outlook. Do you honestly believe we exist in some magical isolation from the web of this world. The search for Truth is not about a trial.
The chances of getting anyone prosecuted is slim to none.
9/11 Truth is about AN OPEN AND LEGITIMATE INVESTIGATION.
What about that can you not understand?
Freedom calling me Juvenile and selfish gets you no closer to your truth.
“The chances of getting anyone prosecuted is slim to none.”
That tends to happen when you don’t have a case Freedom, but thats right you are only after the truth.
“What about that can you not understand?”
What I don’t understand is why you can’t just let it go and move on, there was no conspiracy, and even if there was there is no way you will ever prove it or find the truth now, let it go.
“What I don’t understand is why you can’t just let it go and move on”
True, It takes the focus of investigating possible war crimes that have occurred since 9/11. I hear Tony Blair is calling for regime change in Syria and Iran now. Middle East peace envoy …. pfft.
Afewknowthetruth:
Again, my post was for the victims of 9/11.
Secondly I dont believe it was a control demolition, but thats another post.
I posted what i did, because its the tenth anniversary, and it was posted to remember the victims and the victims famalies and what americans went through.
The best way to honour the victims of 9/11 and the multitude of people who have died in wars following on from 9/11 is to establish the truth and have the criminals who orchestrated 9/11 brought to justice.
The chance of that is close zero of course, since the elites who were responsible for 9/11 -Bush, Cheney, Rice etc, pehaps even Tony B Liar- are all above the law and are closely connected to the present gang of elites -Obama, Clinton, Cameron, Harper, Key etc. who are destroying the economies of the western world and are destroying the global environment in the name of oil company profits.
ok Brett, if you do not think it was controlled demo, how did WTC 1, WTC 2 & WTC 7 fail?
BTW Brett an explanation regarding events at the Pentagon would be really useful also, especially after the official Story got annihilated top to bottom at Toronto over the weekend
More good interviews on Chris Laidlaw Radionz this morning. One on Chile. Comment that the present, or recent leader of that country is right wing, but an affable chap, wealthy – sound like the stereotype of Joky Hen? Also the Chilean one went to Harvard the nest of neo liberals or am I wrong.
Most of their young economists trained at Uni of Chicago under Milton Friedman who was developing his theory on the free market and neo liberalism. It is said that Chile was his first proving ground for his ideas. I wish I could get the ear of NZ govt for some of the good social theories that aren’t new, they have been around for long time. (But like what they say of Christianity – sounds like a good idea pity no-one has ever tried it yet.) But no the education here is directed along lines that run through the dollar – strictly uncatholic (with a small ‘c’ note).
That ‘Ideas’ slot this morning was excellent. That Chilean you mention was very articulate and moving. Then there was the VUW academic who provided an excellent analysis of the major protests and political (neo-liberal entrapped) environment.
Here’s the audio here
Oh, yes, and I noticed the remarkable similarity between the Chilean Prime Minister and ours. Affable, smiley, made his millions before becoming PM, has unified the right and centre …
The only difference is that their PM (and government) is facing protests by hundreds of thousands – ‘Someone else’s Country’ all over again.
Hey Puddleglum – Did you note the theme that continues through the Chilean system – that there are many wealthy people who have bought into the government infrastructure and own the major top earning companies?
And the public have supported a centrist coalition in the belief that things were going to improve, even if slowly, but now that there is a change to the right they have galvanised for action because that means a worse life for the majority, less opportunities to improve living conditions. And that university education has been privatised and is now out of reach of most of the young people.
Is it possibly true that Don Brash is claiming a Leaders Salary from Parliament in his capacity as a vote losing Leader of the ACT party?
The man hasn’t been a democratically elected cretin Member of Parliament, so therefore has no right to claim a salary.
Can anyone confirm this?
Another tornado hits Auckland.
No deaths reported, but there could easily have been.
Can we just ignore this anymore?
I am over 50 and have lived my whole life in Auckland and this threatening weather phenomenon has never impinged my consciousness before.
How many more of these events can we expect this year, or the next?
When will my suburb/home be hit?
Test bug with auto-embeds enabled and Jetpack short-code embeds enabled allowing video embedding in comments
http://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/1316
Turned off Jetpack short-code embeds and the problem is fixed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0olef0e4JM&feature=related
Fixed. Problem with wordpress auto-embeds and jetpack
Typical: I go and die for a few days with the flu and a new feature bug turns up
Oh there there. Seems you’re over it and sparking, hope that’s the case.
‘
Auckland’s Tornado Ally