If our finances are so dire and Joky Hen has identified where we can make serious adjustments that will put us back on the right track, how come he won’t implement those changes with immediate effect? Seems to me that if you are haemorrhaging then you apply the tourniquet now This is a sticking plaster approach to managing the economy, where the bleeding is of the government’s making in the first place.
So what do you say to Phil Goff who, although bleating about the changes to kiwisaver, is also reported to have said that Labour would not reverse them.
Another “Axe the tax” campaign coming up?
Phil Goff is still the best leader of the opposition the government can have.
The Herald reports that Goff said “Labour would spread the burden more evenly, although such cuts were difficult to reverse all at once when there was a big deficit.”
He has not said he will not reverse them, only that the timing will need to be managed because of budgetary constraints.
Remind me never to believe anything you say ever again.
lovely .JM. we should use that in a core-flute at election time.Bye the way how many people picked up Brash’s comment on morning report ‘That the poor spend to much money on groceries. Perhaps he wants us to only eat tinned peas?
Was checking on whether I had typed something or changed my mind at the last minute and found the follow-up comments … you guys might like one previously posted:
The above, is the likely main issue around which the General Election will be about.
– and which all the contending political parties will be judged on.
One of the groups that has sought to make tax an election issue is the Tax Justice Campaign.
One of the main calls of the Tax Justice Campaign is the introduction of a Robin Hood tax, relabelled in this country the Hone Heke Tax, after the popular folk hero of New Zealand history.
Tax Justice are asking Kiwis to send a message to John Key following the release of the budget, next week.
“Employers and employees are going to have to shoulder more of the burden.”
and Phil O’Reilly agrees.
Kerr and his mates in the Round Table, however, have said that it is not
the responsibility of business to be involved in socially responsible issues.
It is their business to be as efficient and as profitable as possible.
Seems they would assert that the employee should be providing for himself, work harder, get more money and find his/her own retirement scheme.
Children and teachers at a fifth of the 1,600 schools in Fukushima are receiving at least 20 millisieverts of radiation per year, said Nakate, according to readings from the government. That’s the limit for a nuclear power plant worker, according to Japan’s nuclear safety commission.
Prior to this thing happening children were legally ‘permitted’ 2 millisieverts per year, the Japanese government has OKed the higher dose.
Fukushima is the latest growing disaster the MSM are ignoring, did anyone hear that reactor buildings 3 & 4 were burning for a few days over the weekend, and might still be? And radio active steam and water are still gushing from the plants? With contaminated ground water moving IN land. ‘We’ got more accurate and up to date information from the Russians re Chernobyl …. which was under control 6 weeks after it shit itself, where as Fukushima is at best 9 months away from being ‘under control’ if ever.
There is song that describes what is going to happen globally regarding cancer – Turning Japanese, oh yes I think so ….
For more info that is way beyond our idiot editors, and the even bigger sacks of shit, you know the ones in the Beehive.
Nuclear collapse looms? Fukushima No. 4 reactor ‘leaning’
Look at 4:27 ish on this clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dxbm7iJTT8U
What you can see is the side of the spent fuel pond gone.
Not that anyone gives a rats arse
Yeah not even to demand the truth out of the ruling cartel, because that would mean learning something themselves …. then dragging themselves off the couch and acting.
There are a few positive moves around the World in terms of closing old Nuclear reactors down and undertaking more inspections. This has been a direct result of people making their voices heard. It’s also a result of some politicians waking up and realising that if they don’t do something, similar “accidents” will occur. However not enough is being done to ensure our safety and the human species survival for that matter.
“The company had “no association” with the contract for the ministerial cars which he said would have been negotiated directly with BMW New Zealand.”
Question: Who has the maintainance contract on these cars. My guess is that it will probably be a Wellington dealership?
There are still questions that need answering…will the great Radio NZ political editor Brent Edwards go looking…or is he happy to regurgitate the National spin.
Speaking of smears and big issues and not fronting them, perhaps the PM might want to put his big boy pants on and do a sit down interview with this guy:
Although deceptive people do not say much, they tend to spontaneously give a justification for what little they are saying, without being prompted.
They are more likely to press their lips when asked a sensitive question and are more likely to play with their hair or engage in other “grooming” behaviors. Gesturing toward one’s self with the hands tends to be a sign of deception; gesturing outwardly is not.
Well this week’s award recipient was pretty easy to choose. Kyle Chapman jumped up and yelled; “I’m an asshole, look at me.” So naturally he was our top candidate. Kyle’s latest ridiculous crusade after taking a break from his National Front duties (to become a Mormon and rut his new wife Claire Clifford), was to start the fundamentalist group Right Wing Resistance (RWRNZ). Incidentally, Claire left the fascist in 2009 when he again became involved in hate campaigns. Wise move.
I started this as an open Letter to old smile and wave, but then I figured he would just ignore and delete so I will put it up here All comments are welcome. BTW I do not write for a living.
John Key You really think you are smart don’t you? you don’t give a flying fuck that you are leading New Zealand to Financial ruin. And you, who worships, and loves nothing more than money, and a job well done, why do you continue to sabotage Ordinary Kiwi’s?? you could have been a good prime minister. however you are a joke now. They Call you Shonky, Jonky, Smile and Wave and other less flattering things. What a legacy. The rich fool who hated his own country so much, that he lived in America. Until he came home to take his revenge against the very system that made him, gave him a safe environment, an education, (school and University) he went on to make millions, and what did he do ? He extracted his revenge on the very system that made him what he is. State Housing (ruined) ACC (ruined ready to be sold) Power Companies (readying them for sale 100% ( Don’t bullshit me)) WINZ ruined (where staff have been gutted, and now are overworked, demoralised, and underpaid). Early learning centres , Kindys and such funding slashed . The Family court that’s screwed now for sure. How will anyone ever get Free legal assistance ever again, or a competent lawyer, the Legal Aid service Slashed and cut. The Womans Refuge for gods sake the last bastion of safety for a battered woman, Funding Gutted. And I am sure others could add many more. And the numerous, faceless public servants that he has ruined, their lives in tatters, Bills to pay, bills that were incurred on a high income, and NO money or help, except to default. Because Winz won’t help if you can get an appointment in under 2 weeks, then you have to be like a performing dog, jumping through what ever hoops they feel like putting you through (You have NO choice in this. No do. NO MONEY). And then along come the vultures your mates they buy up NZ companies that you have ruined for a song. There are no jobs or if there are they don’t hire you. The minimum wage plummets, benefits are slashed, and crime increases and there you have it John Keys Utopia for all to see. A prison country..
Who would have thought Key would have watched Star trek Voyager episode 1 season 1 where a guy called Paris was serving on a prison colony in New Zealand.
Elections tend to be won or lost in Auckland – so, in my considered opinion, opposition to the proposed Auckland ($upercity) Council 4.9% increase, is not to be underestimated.
When the good folk in Epsom, living in their medium/ high value properties, realise that the Citizens and Ratepayer Councillors on 13 December 2010 supported a 3.9% rate increase – when they were led to believe that the Auckland ‘$upercity’ was going to achieve ‘economies of scale’ – I believe that some form of electoral backlash is to be expected….
Nominations are open for an Act candidate to replace Rodney Hide and contest the Epsom electorate in the November 26 election.
“Act has always had a strong presence in Epsom – from 1996, when the party won 22% of the party vote, to the present day,” Auckland South board member Barbara Steinijans said.
“In Rodney Hide the people of Epsom have had strong local representation for the past six years. Once again, Act will be running a strong electorate vote based campaign.”
The incumbent MP, Mr Hide, does not have the support of new party leader Don Brash, although Mr Hide is yet to formally rule himself out from standing in the seat.
Mr Hide won 56% of the vote in the 2008 election, although National won 63% of the party vote.
John Banks was a loud and proud ‘$upercity’ supporter from Day One.
But – the first thing the $upercity -$uper RIP OFF Auckland Council wants to do is to put up residential and commercial rates 4.9%.
So much for the ‘economies of scale’ that were to be achieved by forcibly amalgamating our 8 former Councils, in another ‘Rogernomic$ blitzkrieg’ (without a binding poll of citizens and ratepayers).
For those who just want to jump on the band wagon and blame Mayor Len Brown and the ‘left-leaning’ majority on the Auckland Council – here are the FACTS:
C&R Councillors on 13 December 2010 voted in support of a 3.9% rates increase.
(You will note that young National Party ‘Wonder boy’ (?) Jami-Lee Ross supported a 3.9% rate increase? )
Auckland Council Finance and Strategy Committee meeting 13 December 2010 (Pgs 7-8)
12. Annual Plan 2011/2012 – High Level Budget Review
(c) That the Strategy and Finance Committee agrees a rates target of 4.9% for 2011 -2012 to inform the Mayor’s development of the draft annual plan.
MOVED by Councillor Wood seconded Councillor Fletcher
That a rates increase of not more than 3.9% be struck and officers work to identify further savings.
A division was called for, voting on which was as follows:
For
Councillors
Cameron Brewer
Hon Chris Fletcher
Des Morrison
Callum Penrose
Noelene Raffills
Jami-Lee Ross
Sharon Stewart
George Wood
Against
Councillors
Anae Arthur Anae
Len Brown
Dr Cathy Casey
Sandra Coney
Alf Filipaina
Ann Hartley
Penny Hulse
Richard Northey
Sir John Walker
Wayne Walker
Penny Webster
Councillors Michael Goudie and Mike Lee were absent.
The division was declared lost 8 votes to 11
________________________________________________________________________________
The Auckland Council ‘books’ are NOT open.
If a giant scalpel were to be applied to all that consultant and private contractor BLUBBER, and core council services returned to ‘in-house’ provision (cutting out all these private ‘piggies-in-the-middle’), in my considered opinion, rates could be slashed by hundreds of millions of dollars.
That’s why I’m standing in the Howick by-election.
To help achieve that.
‘OPEN THE BOOKS! – CUT OUT THE CONTRACTORS!’
PS: If you think replacing the ‘bureaucracy’ with the ‘contractocracy’ is so ‘efficient’ – ask yourself this one simple question.
Over the last 20 years – have YOUR rates gone up or down?
Penney I fully sympathasise because we are experiencing the same phenomenon with the Selwyn District Council who have just put up our rates nearly 15% on top of a 20% increase last year for Lake Coleridge Village.
The situation is a wee bit different as these increases are mostly on targeted rates like water and sewage on a small village of 40 households, but having said that we have to pay for a new swimming pool at Rolleston that is about 2 hours drive from here.
This pool cost about 14 million was approved regardless of earthquake damage in the area and on top of $14 million that was spent on building the new council chambers two years ago.
A couple of weeks ago I wrote to Mr Hide (a bit late) but I also wrote to Sue Kedgley we are trying to get the audit office in to have a look at the books.
Yes I agree the more it is outscoursed the less accountability there is, well I guess the most obvious example is contractors putting in their tenders, that has to be treated as commercially sensitive information. Still an auditor can still go through the books without compromising anyones privacy.
Yet they seem powerless and furthermore there doesn’t seem to be any political will to back them up.
So much for Rodney Hide’s promise to put a cap on Rates that exceed the rate of inflation, that promise can’t even be held in a supercity such as Auckland where the economies of scale is vastly different to the Selwyn District in Canterbury.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her colleagues from Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia and Sweden will gather in Greenland’s tiny capital of Nuuk to discuss how to manage the [Arctic’s] development while protecting its fragile ecosystem….
…It “is a historic turning point to deepen and strengthen international cooperation in the Arctic as we seek to meet the dramatic challenges of the equivalent of a melting continent over the next several decades,”…
…”By working together to ensure the safety of human life in a newly emerging region of human activity we can show in particular that Russia and the United States are key actors in helping to propel cooperation on core issues.”
…Earlier this month scientists said that warming in the Arctic is occurring at twice the global average and is on track to lift sea levels by up to 1.6 metres (5.3 feet) by 2100, a far steeper jump than predicted a few years ago…
wait for it, wait for iiiiit…
…
…Washington wants the Nuuk talks to launch a task force designed to negotiate an instrument for handling Arctic oil spills.
“We know that there are significant deposits of oil and gas that were in the past difficult to access and may become more accessible over time,” he said.
The United States wants the Arctic countries to be prepared to both prevent oil spills or other disasters and to create “effective mechanisms to deal with accidents should they happen,” Steinberg said.
More than one fifth of the world’s undiscovered but technically recoverable reserves of hydrocarbons are located north of the Arctic Circle, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).
The region accounts for about 13 percent of the world’s undiscovered oil and 30 percent of the undiscovered natural gas, USGS data shows. About 84 percent of the resources are offshore.
Exploration off Greenland has yet to produce any commercially exploitable reserves, but that did not stop British firm Cairn from boosting its investment there by one billion dollars on the back of “encouraging” first results.
I’ve always been puzzled by the apparent certainty that the Arctic holds huge amounts of ‘undiscovered’ resources. Isn’t it also possible that it actually holds very little? Or that some other part on the planet that hasn’t been thoroughly explored (and there are lots) could actually turn out to have the motherlode?
Anthropocene: Have humans created a new geological age?.
Dr Jan Zalasiewicz of the University of Leicester is one of the leading proponents of the Anthropocene theory. He told BBC News: “Simply put, our planet no longer functions in the way that it once did. Atmosphere, climate, oceans, ecosystems… they’re all now operating outside Holocene norms. This strongly suggests we’ve crossed an epoch boundary.”
Yeah. Hopefully he’ll be able to sort EQC out and get some proper co-ordination going there.
I really think they need to move to a model where people have case managers to deal with their claims so there’s some continuity of information and handling, instead of getting the ridiculous run-around of ringing up the call center, being put on hold for 20 minutes only to be told “no, we have no information for you”.
Interesting the thought of lowering taxes for business to a really low rate.
Had a mate just come back from living in Vegas for many years and he talked to me about how well that’s not gone over there.
As a result of lowering business taxes to low levels, and in some case state taxes to zero, new business has not been attracted to states like Nevada because as they now have no money services and infrastructure and education has been cut and no business wants to move there – you can’t for instance get skilled staff because the education system doesn’t produce any.
Sure Nevada for instance has other problems such as billions of dollars of clean up needed from now absent mining companies but lowering taxes has made things worse not better.
A recent article by the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), concerning a number of peer reviewed scientific papers, has received widespread global condemnation from environmentalists, scientists and some of the authors of the papers themselves. The article references more than 900 papers which, according to the GWPF, refute “concern relating to a negative environmental or socio-economic effect of AGW.
Roger Sutton will start in the role in mid-June, as the permanent chief executive of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority. CERRA
Crikey. That was suggested by many including Jim Anderton at least 2months ago. A great leader for the job, as long as he can manage Brownlie.
# David Farrar (1,467) Says:
May 12th, 2011 at 1:52 pm
I might donate to Kelvin also.
Kelvin has no chance … labour party policy don’t give him the room to capture enough votes, and why vote your Kelvin he is already in next term at 23 on the list.
Hey David I think the last thing Kelvin would want is an endorsement from yourself, that would surely lower his mana in the north.
In the last Election Hone had a 32% mayority over Kelvin. If Kelvin wants a mandate he should also stand down from the Parliament, and remove himself from the list for the general election to test his mandate at this by election. I doubt he would.
“A number of jobs currently being advertised on Work and Income’s ‘Find a Job website offer positions below the legal minimum wage and without employment rights such as holiday pay and sick leave.
This is what I’ve been saying for years now about the building industry in Auckland especially but around the country in general. It’s possible to be offered a position as a builder (4 years on the job training) for $15/hr +GST and for that one low price you have to supply all your own tools and vehicle (and old junker won’t cut it either as it will be unreliable). The tools aren’t cheap and need to be maintained and certified every three months.
Basically, once you take into account all your expenses for that hourly rate you’re quite literally paying to go to work. Paula Bennett’s “any job’s a good job” just shows how out of touch she is.
If you’re on the UE benefit WINZ will cut you off if you turn down said job because you must accept any reasonable offer of a job and the idiots at WINZ just look at the $15/hr and think it’s reasonable.
Hon PAULA BENNETT: I suppose the difference between this side of the House and the other side is that this side thinks that any job is a good job. We do not always get to do our dream job. Sometimes we have to work hard, sometimes we have to get a bit stuck in, sometimes we have to prove ourselves to get promoted, and sometimes we have to wash dishes in a rest home for a while, or dig drains. But there are opportunities out there, and that is a great thing. Work and Income currently has 5,386 open positions, and over the last 12 months it has listed more than 65,000 positions on its website. I cannot guarantee that every single one of them is right, but I think it has got the criteria pretty strong, as much as they are.
My thought at the time was that she was assuming only young people would be looking for such jobs. But what of the people who have already proved themselves, have a lot of experience and have been made redundant, especially older people? I heard a section on Nine-to-Noon this week about discrimination against older workers by recruitment practices, making it hard for older people to get jobs.
That website is utter shite! Having been told that we have to make x applications per month through it, I look every so often. Many of the vacancies listed are old (and actually the positions are closed) and one can’t apply directly, but have to go through a case manager…
Getting the ‘case manager’ to pull finger and put in an application within the time specified is a job in itself (I have missed out on being considered for many jobs because of lazy or incompetent case managers and job brokers one of whom could not find my CV on time, although I followed her instructions and sent it to her time and time again, and it was already on their system!
All of the jobs seem to be unskilled, and some of them are frankly scams (telemarketing, pyramid selling etc.) One job broker referred me for a job I had already applied for and been turned down for, and then referred me for a job way above my competence. I was very embarassed when the employer (DOS of a language school) phoned to tell me gently that I wasn’t qualified, sorry, and I told her “I know. I didn’t want to be referred for the job, but WINZ wouldn ‘t listen”
WINZ don’t know their rectums from their ante-cubital fossae..
Summing up Goldman Sachs business practice: Finangle a sale of paper to the client that we get paid a commission for, when the paper fucks over the client it we will benefit again because we took bets out that the paper we sold the client will collapse.
Yeah, I don’t think that getting G/S to help AMI will help AMI – probably do G/S real good though.
Today on my way to Parnell, I had the misfortune to sit right behind a chatty bus driver who insisted on pointing out John Key’s house, and telling me how much better he is under NACT, and how NACT will force his ‘malingerer’ brother on a sickness benefit to get a job, and force his prisoner ‘good for nothing’ brother in law to go straight…
Then he showed some more of his true charm by letting me off outside off at the primary school where I was going to interview for a special needs teacher aide job – and as I got off the bus saying to me “There they are, the little bastards. Rich kids!” * as he drove away.
As my son said later when I told him about it, the guy is the second type of RWNJ, a poor or middle class guy who thinks that a leader like Shonkey will make him (Mr Bus Driver) into a plutocrat, who can crap on the poor, as in his perception the ‘dictator’ Helen Clark used to do. By him Phil Goff is a weak ninny who wouldn’t stand up to Helen, and John Key is a brave knight who has rescued our economy. (Above all, my making beneficiaries ‘shape up’! )
*As the school principal interviewing me said, the school is decile 10, but it takes children from all over the show, including the children of doctoral candidates from University of Auckland, and its make up is changing. Not all “rich kids” by any means.
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This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Much like 2023, many climate and energy records were broken in 2024. It was Earth’s hottest year on record by a wide margin, breaking the previous record that was set just last year by an even larger margin. Human-caused climate-warming pollution and ...
Submissions on National's racist, white supremacist Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill are due tomorrow! So today, after a good long holiday from all that bullshit, I finally got my shit together to submit on it. As I noted here, people should write their own submissions in their own ...
Ooh, baby (ooh, baby)It's making me crazy (it's making me crazy)Every time I look around (look around)Every time I look around (every time I look around)Every time I look aroundIt's in my faceSongwriters: Alan Leo Jansson / Paul Lawrence L. Fuemana.Today, I’ll be talking about rich, middle-aged men who’ve made ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 29, 2024 thru Sat, January 4, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Hi,The thing that stood out at me while shopping for Christmas presents in New Zealand was how hard it was to avoid Zuru products. Toy manufacturer Zuru is a bit like Netflix, in that it has so much data on what people want they can flood the market with so ...
And when a child is born into this worldIt has no conceptOf the tone of skin it's living inAnd there's a million voicesAnd there's a million voicesTo tell you what you should be thinkingSong by Neneh Cherry and Youssou N'Dour.The moment you see that face, you can hear her voice; ...
While we may not always have quality political leadership, a couple of recently published autobiographies indicate sometimes we strike it lucky. When ranking our prime ministers, retired professor of history Erik Olssen commented that ‘neither Holland nor Nash was especially effective as prime minister – even his private secretary thought ...
Baby, be the class clownI'll be the beauty queen in tearsIt's a new art form, showin' people how little we care (yeah)We're so happy, even when we're smilin' out of fearLet's go down to the tennis court and talk it up like, yeah (yeah)Songwriters: Joel Little / Ella Yelich O ...
Open access notables Why Misinformation Must Not Be Ignored, Ecker et al., American Psychologist:Recent academic debate has seen the emergence of the claim that misinformation is not a significant societal problem. We argue that the arguments used to support this minimizing position are flawed, particularly if interpreted (e.g., by policymakers or the public) as suggesting ...
What I’ve Been Doing: I buried a close family member.What I’ve Been Watching: Andor, Jack Reacher, Xmas movies.What I’ve Been Reflecting On: The Usefulness of Writing and the Worthiness of Doing So — especially as things become more transparent on their own.I also hate competing on any day, and if ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by John Wihbey. A version of this article first appeared on Yale Climate Connections on Nov. 11, 2008. (Image credits: The White House, Jonathan Cutrer / CC BY 2.0; President Jimmy Carter, Trikosko/Library of Congress; Solar dedication, Bill Fitz-Patrick / Jimmy Carter Library; Solar ...
Morena folks,We’re having a good break, recharging the batteries. Hope you’re enjoying the holiday period. I’m not feeling terribly inspired by much at the moment, I’m afraid—not from a writing point of view, anyway.So, today, we’re travelling back in time. You’ll have to imagine the wavy lines and sci-fi sound ...
Completed reads for 2024: Oration on the Dignity of Man, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola A Platonic Discourse Upon Love, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola Of Being and Unity, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola The Life of Pico della Mirandola, by Giovanni Francesco Pico Three Letters Written by Pico ...
Welcome to 2025, Aotearoa. Well… what can one really say? 2024 was a story of a bad beginning, an infernal middle and an indescribably farcical end. But to chart a course for a real future, it does pay to know where we’ve been… so we know where we need ...
Welcome to the official half-way point of the 2020s. Anyway, as per my New Years tradition, here’s where A Phuulish Fellow’s blog traffic came from in 2024: United States United Kingdom New Zealand Canada Sweden Australia Germany Spain Brazil Finland The top four are the same as 2023, ...
Completed reads for December: Be A Wolf!, by Brian Strickland The Magic Flute [libretto], by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Emanuel Schikaneder The Invisible Eye, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Owl’s Ear, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Waters of Death, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Spider, by Hanns Heinz Ewers Who Knows?, by Guy de Maupassant ...
Well, it’s the last day of the year, so it’s time for a quick wrap-up of the most important things that happened in 2024 for urbanism and transport in our city. A huge thank you to everyone who has visited the blog and supported us in our mission to make ...
Leave your office, run past your funeralLeave your home, car, leave your pulpitJoin us in the streets where weJoin us in the streets where weDon't belong, don't belongHere under the starsThrowing light…Song: Jeffery BuckleyToday, I’ll discuss the standout politicians of the last 12 months. Each party will receive three awards, ...
Hi,A lot’s happened this year in the world of Webworm, and as 2024 comes to an end I thought I’d look back at a few of the things that popped. Maybe you missed them, or you might want to revisit some of these essay and podcast episodes over your break ...
Hi,I wanted to share this piece by film editor Dan Kircher about what cinema has been up to in 2024.Dan edited my documentary Mister Organ, as well as this year’s excellent crowd-pleasing Bookworm.Dan adores movies. He gets the language of cinema, he knows what he loves, and writes accordingly. And ...
Without delving into personal details but in order to give readers a sense of the year that was, I thought I would offer the study in contrasts that are Xmas 2023 and Xmas 2024: Xmas 2023 in Starship Children’s Hospital (after third of four surgeries). Even opening presents was an ...
Heavy disclaimer: Alpha/beta/omega dynamics is a popular trope that’s used in a wide range of stories and my thoughts on it do not apply to all cases. I’m most familiar with it through the lens of male-focused fanfic, typically m/m but sometimes also featuring m/f and that’s the situation I’m ...
Hi,Webworm has been pretty heavy this year — mainly because the world is pretty heavy. But as we sprint (or limp, you choose) through the final days of 2024, I wanted to keep Webworm a little lighter.So today I wanted to look at one of the biggest and weirdest elements ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 22, 2024 thru Sat, December 28, 2024. This week's roundup is the second one published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, ...
We’ll have a climate change ChristmasFrom now until foreverWarming our hearts and mindsAnd planet all togetherSpirits high and oceans higherChestnuts roast on wildfiresIf coal is on your wishlistMerry Climate Change ChristmasSong by Ian McConnellReindeer emissions are not something I’d thought about in terms of climate change. I guess some significant ...
KP continues to putt-putt along as a tiny niche blog that offers a NZ perspective on international affairs with a few observations about NZ domestic politics thrown in. In 2024 there was also some personal posts given that my son was in the last four months of a nine month ...
I can see very wellThere's a boat on the reef with a broken backAnd I can see it very wellThere's a joke and I know it very wellIt's one of those that I told you long agoTake my word I'm a madman, don't you knowSongwriters: Bernie Taupin / Elton JohnIt ...
.Acknowledgement: Tim PrebbleThanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work..With each passing day of bad headlines, squandering tax revenue to enrich the rich, deep cuts to our social services and a government struggling to keep the lipstick on its neo-liberal pig ...
This is from the 36th Parallel social media account (as brief food for thought). We know that Trump is ahistorical at best but he seems to think that he is Teddy Roosevelt and can use the threat of invoking the Monroe Doctrine and “Big Stick” gunboat diplomacy against Panama and ...
Don't you cry tonightI still love you, babyAnd don't you cry tonightDon't you cry tonightThere's a heaven above you, babyAnd don't you cry tonightSong: Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin“Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so”, said possibly the greatest philosopher ever to walk this earth, Douglas Adams.We have entered the ...
The Green Party welcomes the extension of the deadline for Treaty Principles Bill submissions but continues to call on the Government to abandon the Bill. ...
Complaints about disruptive behaviour now handled in around 13 days (down from around 60 days a year ago) 553 Section 55A notices issued by Kāinga Ora since July 2024, up from 41 issued during the same period in the previous year. Of that 553, first notices made up around 83 ...
The time it takes to process building determinations has improved significantly over the last year which means fewer delays in homes being built, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “New Zealand has a persistent shortage of houses. Making it easier and quicker for new homes to be built will ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is pleased to announce the annual list of New Zealand’s most popular baby names for 2024. “For the second consecutive year, Noah has claimed the top spot for boys with 250 babies sharing the name, while Isla has returned to the most popular ...
Work is set to get underway on a new bus station at Westgate this week. A contract has been awarded to HEB Construction to start a package of enabling works to get the site ready in advance of main construction beginning in mid-2025, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“A new Westgate ...
Minister for Children and for Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour is encouraging people to use the resources available to them to get help, and to report instances of family and sexual violence amongst their friends, families, and loved ones who are in need. “The death of a ...
Uia te pō, rangahaua te pō, whakamāramatia mai he aha tō tango, he aha tō kāwhaki? Whitirere ki te ao, tirotiro kau au, kei hea taku rātā whakamarumaru i te au o te pakanga mo te mana motuhake? Au te pō, ngū te pō, ue hā! E te kahurangi māreikura, ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says people with diabetes and other painful conditions will benefit from a significant new qualification to boost training in foot care. “It sounds simple, but quality and regular foot and nail care is vital in preventing potentially serious complications from diabetes, like blisters or sores, which can take a long time to heal ...
Associate Health Minister with responsibility for Pharmac David Seymour is pleased to see Pharmac continue to increase availability of medicines for Kiwis with the government’s largest ever investment in Pharmac. “Pharmac operates independently, but it must work within the budget constraints set by the government,” says Mr Seymour. “When this government assumed ...
Mā mua ka kite a muri, mā muri ka ora e mua - Those who lead give sight to those who follow, those who follow give life to those who lead. Māori recipients in the New Year 2025 Honours list show comprehensive dedication to improving communities across the motu that ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is wishing all New Zealanders a great holiday season as Kiwis prepare for gatherings with friends and families to see in the New Year. It is a great time of year to remind everyone to stay fire safe over the summer. “I know ...
From 1 January 2025, first-time tertiary learners will have access to a new Fees Free entitlement of up to $12,000 for their final year of provider-based study or final two years of work-based learning, Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds says. “Targeting funding to the final year of study ...
“As we head into one of the busiest times of the year for Police, and family violence and sexual violence response services, it’s a good time to remind everyone what to do if they experience violence or are worried about others,” Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence ...
Opinion: As I reflect on the tumultuous year that has passed and look forward to the year ahead, I wonder what it will hold.For me I can’t look past the middle of February right now as that is when my dissertation must be submitted, hopefully completing my master’s degree. It ...
Opinion: 2025 is a critical year for Aotearoa New Zealand’s natural world. With the entire environmental management system slated for reform, it’s the most important year in decades. If the hot-headed excesses of last year’s law-making continue, it will lead to terrible long-term outcomes. But if sense prevails, we could ...
An anticipated move to tax charities’ business operations would reduce charitable activity and may cause businesses to leave New Zealand, a lawyer warns. In a push to find new sources of revenue the Government is looking at implementing a charity tax, which would see the business arm of companies such as ...
As parliamentary staff start to read through thousands of submissions on the Treaty principles bill, Shanti Mathias explores how submitting became the go-to way to engage with politics – and asks whether it makes a difference. While the exact number is currently being confirmed, it seems almost certain that submissions ...
A plan about ferries, highly anticipated select committee hearings and a new deputy prime minister are all on the cards for Aotearoa in the 2025 political year. Here’s a rundown of what to expect and when to expect it. The ‘brace for impact, it’s coming soon’ bitsThe political calendar ...
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Summer reissue: Six months on from the tale of a homeless man making street coffee, Lyric Waiwiri-Smith reflects on the story that became a hit, and then a punchline. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read ...
Summer reissue: Over 10,000 school students in New Zealand learn outside of school, but that doesn’t mean they’re always learning at home. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Manisha Caleb, Senior Lecturer in Astrophysics, University of Sydney Artist’s impression of ASKAP J1839-0756.James Josephides When some of the biggest stars reach the end of their lives, they explode in spectacular supernovas and leave behind incredibly dense cores called neutron stars. ...
Democracy Now!AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.We turn now to Gaza, where Israel’s assault on the besieged strip continues despite ongoing talks over a possible ceasefire. Palestinian authorities say 5000 people are missing or have been killed in this ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Walker-Munro, Senior Lecturer (Law), Southern Cross University Elon Musk is no stranger to news headlines. His purchase of Twitter and subsequent decision to rebrand the platform as X has seen it called “a true black mirror of the most worrying parts ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor in Port Vila The electoral commission in Vanuatu is trying its best to clear up some confusion with the voting process for tomorrow’s snap election. Principal Electoral Officer Guilain Malessas said this is due to the tight turnaround to deliver this election after Parliament ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gemma King, Senior Lecturer in French Studies, ARC DECRA Fellow in Screen Studies, Australian National University Universal Pictures In two of the biggest films released this summer, Gladiator II and Nosferatu, most actors seem to be speaking like they’re in a ...
Alex Casey reviews the first and possibly last ever musical biopic to star a CGI ape. Sometime over the fuzzy holiday break, I watched a Subway Take on Instagram which stuck with me. “Musician biopics should be illegal,” opined guest Charlene Kaye. “I’m so sick of the trope of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Whitcombe-Dobbs, Senior Lecturer in Child and Family Psychology, University of Canterbury After last year’s budget cuts to social services, including a NZ$14 million cut to early home visits, social services providers in New Zealand raised concerns about what the move would ...
COMMENTARY:By Maire Leadbeater Aotearoa New Zealand’s coalition government has introduced a bill to criminalise “improper conduct for or on behalf of a foreign power” or foreign interference that echoes earlier Cold War times, and could capture critics of New Zealand’s foreign and defence policy, especially if they liaise with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kristine Crous, Senior Lecturer, School of Science and Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University Researchers study leaves in the Daintree rainforest in North Queensland, Australia, using a canopy crane. Alexander Cheesman On the east coast of Australia, in tropical ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Louise Baur, Professor, Discipline of Child and Adolescent Health, University of Sydney World Obesity Federation Obesity is linked to many common diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, fatty liver disease and knee osteoarthritis. Obesity is currently defined using ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kelvin (Shiu Fung) Wong, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology, Swinburne University of Technology Sad, anxious or lacking in motivation? Chances are you have just returned to work after a summer break. January is the month when people are most likely to quit ...
Is warning people about police on Google Maps aiding your fellow citizens, or abetting dangerous drivers? Anna Rawhiti-Connell debates Anna Rawhiti-Connell.For over a decade, the navigation app Waze has used a crowdsourcing feature that allows you to report incidents on your route. With your phone plugged into Apple CarPlay ...
With dozens of Māori seats up for referendum, this year’s local elections will reveal where Aotearoa truly stands on representation.Last year, the government introduced legislation requiring all local authorities that had established Māori wards and constituencies to hold a referendum on these seats during this year’s local government elections. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Williams, Associate Professor, Griffith University, Griffith University Queensland’s Bruce Highway is a bit like a 1980s family sedan: dated, worn in places, and often more than a little dangerous. But it’s also a necessary part of life for people just trying ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julie Collins, Research Fellow and Curator, Architecture Museum, University of South Australia South Australian Home Builders’ Club members at work.SAHBC collection S284, Architecture Museum, University of South Australia Australians are no strangers to housing crises. Some will even remember the crisis ...
A new report from Australian charity Action Aid reveals how the New Zealand banks’ Australian owners manage to sign up to international climate goals while continuing to fund fossil fuel companies. Most people in New Zealand bank with four large banks, all of which are owned by overseas companies. BNZ’s ...
The only way forward is for workers to build a new party that fights for the socialist reorganisation of society, on the basis of human need, not private profit. This is the program of the Socialist Equality Group in New Zealand and the International ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milad Haghani, Senior Lecturer of Urban Risk & Resilience, UNSW Sydney MIA Studio We are surrounded by random events every day. Will the stock market rise or fall tomorrow? Will the next penalty kick in a soccer match go left or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Athena Lee, Lecturer and Researcher, Centre for Indigenous Australian Education and Research, Edith Cowan University When we think of writing systems we likely think of an Alphabetic writing system, where each symbol (letter) in the alphabet represents a basic sound unit, such ...
David Seymour has welcomed the huge amount of public interest in his controversial proposed law, explains The Bulletin’s Stewart Sowman-Lund. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Parliament's justice committee will find out tomorrow how many submissions were made on the Treaty Principles Bill after the deadline was extended by nearly a week after website issues. ...
A parent shares their experience and fears as public submissions are sought on the use of puberty blockers for gender-affirming care. Both the author and daughter’s names have been changed to protect their privacy.When my daughter Marie was born, everyone, including me, thought she was a boy. She started ...
Thrice thwarted previously, the Act Party’s Regulatory Standards Bill is set to pass in 2025, ushering in a new – and potentially controversial – era for government rule-making. Here’s everything you need to know. Before public submissions for the Treaty principles bill came to a close on Tuesday, a separate ...
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Summer reissue: Adopted in 1834 the first national flag of New Zealand (Te Kara o Te Whakaminenga o Ngā Hapū o Nu Tīreni) symbolises more than just necessity – it represents Māori autonomy and a legacy of self-determination that continues today.The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying ...
Summer reissue: Shortsightedness in kids is skyrocketing overseas. Is New Zealand next? The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today.“Hey bro, are you blind now?” ...
If our finances are so dire and Joky Hen has identified where we can make serious adjustments that will put us back on the right track, how come he won’t implement those changes with immediate effect? Seems to me that if you are haemorrhaging then you apply the tourniquet now This is a sticking plaster approach to managing the economy, where the bleeding is of the government’s making in the first place.
Labour: KiwiSaver
National: KiwiSlaver
So what do you say to Phil Goff who, although bleating about the changes to kiwisaver, is also reported to have said that Labour would not reverse them.
Another “Axe the tax” campaign coming up?
Phil Goff is still the best leader of the opposition the government can have.
Bullshirt Sam, Bullshirt.
The Herald reports that Goff said “Labour would spread the burden more evenly, although such cuts were difficult to reverse all at once when there was a big deficit.”
He has not said he will not reverse them, only that the timing will need to be managed because of budgetary constraints.
Remind me never to believe anything you say ever again.
lovely .JM. we should use that in a core-flute at election time.Bye the way how many people picked up Brash’s comment on morning report ‘That the poor spend to much money on groceries. Perhaps he wants us to only eat tinned peas?
Great Jim! 🙂
Was checking on whether I had typed something or changed my mind at the last minute and found the follow-up comments … you guys might like one previously posted:
Helen Kelly: Working Bros
National: Warner Bros
🙂
‘
The Big Issues
Social Spending Cuts vs. Tax Cuts for the Rich.
The above, is the likely main issue around which the General Election will be about.
– and which all the contending political parties will be judged on.
One of the groups that has sought to make tax an election issue is the Tax Justice Campaign.
One of the main calls of the Tax Justice Campaign is the introduction of a Robin Hood tax, relabelled in this country the Hone Heke Tax, after the popular folk hero of New Zealand history.
Tax Justice are asking Kiwis to send a message to John Key following the release of the budget, next week.
Join the campaign, read all about it here.
“Employers and employees are going to have to shoulder more of the burden.”
and Phil O’Reilly agrees.
Kerr and his mates in the Round Table, however, have said that it is not
the responsibility of business to be involved in socially responsible issues.
It is their business to be as efficient and as profitable as possible.
Seems they would assert that the employee should be providing for himself, work harder, get more money and find his/her own retirement scheme.
Conservative bloggers use the repatriation of a head to accuse Maori of barbarism and praise European colonisation, but what about the European role in the nineteenth century head trade?
http://readingthemaps.blogspot.com/2011/05/white-headhunters.html
Children and teachers at a fifth of the 1,600 schools in Fukushima are receiving at least 20 millisieverts of radiation per year, said Nakate, according to readings from the government. That’s the limit for a nuclear power plant worker, according to Japan’s nuclear safety commission.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-11/fukushima-students-wear-masks-as-radiation-looms.html
Prior to this thing happening children were legally ‘permitted’ 2 millisieverts per year, the Japanese government has OKed the higher dose.
Fukushima is the latest growing disaster the MSM are ignoring, did anyone hear that reactor buildings 3 & 4 were burning for a few days over the weekend, and might still be? And radio active steam and water are still gushing from the plants? With contaminated ground water moving IN land. ‘We’ got more accurate and up to date information from the Russians re Chernobyl …. which was under control 6 weeks after it shit itself, where as Fukushima is at best 9 months away from being ‘under control’ if ever.
There is song that describes what is going to happen globally regarding cancer – Turning Japanese, oh yes I think so ….
For more info that is way beyond our idiot editors, and the even bigger sacks of shit, you know the ones in the Beehive.
But we will be ok as we have Kiwi Saver 😉
Nuclear collapse looms? Fukushima No. 4 reactor ‘leaning’
Look at 4:27 ish on this clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dxbm7iJTT8U
What you can see is the side of the spent fuel pond gone.
Not that anyone gives a rats arse
Oh I think most people give a rat’s arse, but there is nothing – repeat – nothing – they can do about it.
Yeah not even to demand the truth out of the ruling cartel, because that would mean learning something themselves …. then dragging themselves off the couch and acting.
There are a few positive moves around the World in terms of closing old Nuclear reactors down and undertaking more inspections. This has been a direct result of people making their voices heard. It’s also a result of some politicians waking up and realising that if they don’t do something, similar “accidents” will occur. However not enough is being done to ensure our safety and the human species survival for that matter.
Ground level photos of the damage at the Fukushima Daiichi NPP.
“The company had “no association” with the contract for the ministerial cars which he said would have been negotiated directly with BMW New Zealand.”
Question: Who has the maintainance contract on these cars. My guess is that it will probably be a Wellington dealership?
There are still questions that need answering…will the great Radio NZ political editor Brent Edwards go looking…or is he happy to regurgitate the National spin.
Storm in a tea cup.
Now that Hodgson is retiring Labour gets a new attack dog – Hipkins??
Speaking of smears and big issues and not fronting them, perhaps the PM might want to put his big boy pants on and do a sit down interview with this guy:
http://www.tv3.co.nz/John-Stephenson-re-Take-No-Prisoners-Apr-27/tabid/1833/articleID/70759/Default.aspx
Yeah, nah.
He would need to take his clown pants off first.
The amazing thing about Emperors Clothes is that they never need changing 😈
How to tell when someone’s lying.
Although deceptive people do not say much, they tend to spontaneously give a justification for what little they are saying, without being prompted.
They are more likely to press their lips when asked a sensitive question and are more likely to play with their hair or engage in other “grooming” behaviors. Gesturing toward one’s self with the hands tends to be a sign of deception; gesturing outwardly is not.
Ya reckon?.
Asshole of the Week Award – Kyle Chapman
http://thejackalman.blogspot.com/2011/05/asshole-of-week-award-kyle-chapman.html
Well this week’s award recipient was pretty easy to choose. Kyle Chapman jumped up and yelled; “I’m an asshole, look at me.” So naturally he was our top candidate. Kyle’s latest ridiculous crusade after taking a break from his National Front duties (to become a Mormon and rut his new wife Claire Clifford), was to start the fundamentalist group Right Wing Resistance (RWRNZ). Incidentally, Claire left the fascist in 2009 when he again became involved in hate campaigns. Wise move.
Aye and a progressive counter march is planned at the same time. Details are here.
todd, why did you change Nazi in the actual blog, to fundamentalist when quoting it here? Odd…
I started this as an open Letter to old smile and wave, but then I figured he would just ignore and delete so I will put it up here All comments are welcome. BTW I do not write for a living.
John Key You really think you are smart don’t you? you don’t give a flying fuck that you are leading New Zealand to Financial ruin. And you, who worships, and loves nothing more than money, and a job well done, why do you continue to sabotage Ordinary Kiwi’s?? you could have been a good prime minister. however you are a joke now. They Call you Shonky, Jonky, Smile and Wave and other less flattering things. What a legacy. The rich fool who hated his own country so much, that he lived in America. Until he came home to take his revenge against the very system that made him, gave him a safe environment, an education, (school and University) he went on to make millions, and what did he do ? He extracted his revenge on the very system that made him what he is. State Housing (ruined) ACC (ruined ready to be sold) Power Companies (readying them for sale 100% ( Don’t bullshit me)) WINZ ruined (where staff have been gutted, and now are overworked, demoralised, and underpaid). Early learning centres , Kindys and such funding slashed . The Family court that’s screwed now for sure. How will anyone ever get Free legal assistance ever again, or a competent lawyer, the Legal Aid service Slashed and cut. The Womans Refuge for gods sake the last bastion of safety for a battered woman, Funding Gutted. And I am sure others could add many more. And the numerous, faceless public servants that he has ruined, their lives in tatters, Bills to pay, bills that were incurred on a high income, and NO money or help, except to default. Because Winz won’t help if you can get an appointment in under 2 weeks, then you have to be like a performing dog, jumping through what ever hoops they feel like putting you through (You have NO choice in this. No do. NO MONEY). And then along come the vultures your mates they buy up NZ companies that you have ruined for a song. There are no jobs or if there are they don’t hire you. The minimum wage plummets, benefits are slashed, and crime increases and there you have it John Keys Utopia for all to see. A prison country..
Who would have thought Key would have watched Star trek Voyager episode 1 season 1 where a guy called Paris was serving on a prison colony in New Zealand.
Maybe that’s his goal a prison country.
Elections tend to be won or lost in Auckland – so, in my considered opinion, opposition to the proposed Auckland ($upercity) Council 4.9% increase, is not to be underestimated.
When the good folk in Epsom, living in their medium/ high value properties, realise that the Citizens and Ratepayer Councillors on 13 December 2010 supported a 3.9% rate increase – when they were led to believe that the Auckland ‘$upercity’ was going to achieve ‘economies of scale’ – I believe that some form of electoral backlash is to be expected….
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FYI:
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/act-begins-search-epsom-candidate-replace-hide-ne-92821#comment-121262
Colin Williscroft | Wednesday May 11, 2011 | 13 comments
Act begins search for Epsom candidate to replace Hide
Nominations are open for an Act candidate to replace Rodney Hide and contest the Epsom electorate in the November 26 election.
“Act has always had a strong presence in Epsom – from 1996, when the party won 22% of the party vote, to the present day,” Auckland South board member Barbara Steinijans said.
“In Rodney Hide the people of Epsom have had strong local representation for the past six years. Once again, Act will be running a strong electorate vote based campaign.”
The incumbent MP, Mr Hide, does not have the support of new party leader Don Brash, although Mr Hide is yet to formally rule himself out from standing in the seat.
Mr Hide won 56% of the vote in the 2008 election, although National won 63% of the party vote.
Nominations close at 5pm on May 24.
__________________________________________________________________
MY COMMENT:
John Banks was a loud and proud ‘$upercity’ supporter from Day One.
But – the first thing the $upercity -$uper RIP OFF Auckland Council wants to do is to put up residential and commercial rates 4.9%.
So much for the ‘economies of scale’ that were to be achieved by forcibly amalgamating our 8 former Councils, in another ‘Rogernomic$ blitzkrieg’ (without a binding poll of citizens and ratepayers).
For those who just want to jump on the band wagon and blame Mayor Len Brown and the ‘left-leaning’ majority on the Auckland Council – here are the FACTS:
C&R Councillors on 13 December 2010 voted in support of a 3.9% rates increase.
(You will note that young National Party ‘Wonder boy’ (?) Jami-Lee Ross supported a 3.9% rate increase? )
http://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/EN/AboutCouncil/meetings_agendas/committees/Pages/strategyandfinancecommittee.aspx
Auckland Council Finance and Strategy Committee meeting 13 December 2010 (Pgs 7-8)
12. Annual Plan 2011/2012 – High Level Budget Review
(c) That the Strategy and Finance Committee agrees a rates target of 4.9% for 2011 -2012 to inform the Mayor’s development of the draft annual plan.
MOVED by Councillor Wood seconded Councillor Fletcher
That a rates increase of not more than 3.9% be struck and officers work to identify further savings.
A division was called for, voting on which was as follows:
For
Councillors
Cameron Brewer
Hon Chris Fletcher
Des Morrison
Callum Penrose
Noelene Raffills
Jami-Lee Ross
Sharon Stewart
George Wood
Against
Councillors
Anae Arthur Anae
Len Brown
Dr Cathy Casey
Sandra Coney
Alf Filipaina
Ann Hartley
Penny Hulse
Richard Northey
Sir John Walker
Wayne Walker
Penny Webster
Councillors Michael Goudie and Mike Lee were absent.
The division was declared lost 8 votes to 11
________________________________________________________________________________
The Auckland Council ‘books’ are NOT open.
If a giant scalpel were to be applied to all that consultant and private contractor BLUBBER, and core council services returned to ‘in-house’ provision (cutting out all these private ‘piggies-in-the-middle’), in my considered opinion, rates could be slashed by hundreds of millions of dollars.
That’s why I’m standing in the Howick by-election.
To help achieve that.
‘OPEN THE BOOKS! – CUT OUT THE CONTRACTORS!’
PS: If you think replacing the ‘bureaucracy’ with the ‘contractocracy’ is so ‘efficient’ – ask yourself this one simple question.
Over the last 20 years – have YOUR rates gone up or down?
Penny Bright
http://waterpressure.wordpress.com
http://www.stopthesupercity.org.nz
http://www.stopprivatisation.org.nz
http://www.pennybright4mayor.org.nz
Penney I fully sympathasise because we are experiencing the same phenomenon with the Selwyn District Council who have just put up our rates nearly 15% on top of a 20% increase last year for Lake Coleridge Village.
The situation is a wee bit different as these increases are mostly on targeted rates like water and sewage on a small village of 40 households, but having said that we have to pay for a new swimming pool at Rolleston that is about 2 hours drive from here.
This pool cost about 14 million was approved regardless of earthquake damage in the area and on top of $14 million that was spent on building the new council chambers two years ago.
A couple of weeks ago I wrote to Mr Hide (a bit late) but I also wrote to Sue Kedgley we are trying to get the audit office in to have a look at the books.
Yes I agree the more it is outscoursed the less accountability there is, well I guess the most obvious example is contractors putting in their tenders, that has to be treated as commercially sensitive information. Still an auditor can still go through the books without compromising anyones privacy.
Yet they seem powerless and furthermore there doesn’t seem to be any political will to back them up.
So much for Rodney Hide’s promise to put a cap on Rates that exceed the rate of inflation, that promise can’t even be held in a supercity such as Auckland where the economies of scale is vastly different to the Selwyn District in Canterbury.
World’s Satirists Jump Under Buses
“Just can’t compete with this shit”
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/arctic-countries-seek-cooperation-ice-melts-150250967.html
wait for it, wait for iiiiit…
…
I’ve always been puzzled by the apparent certainty that the Arctic holds huge amounts of ‘undiscovered’ resources. Isn’t it also possible that it actually holds very little? Or that some other part on the planet that hasn’t been thoroughly explored (and there are lots) could actually turn out to have the motherlode?
Obviously, the concern about the 1.6m rise in sea levels is about how much more it’s going to cost to build the offshore oil rigs.
Anthropocene: Have humans created a new geological age?.
Dr Jan Zalasiewicz of the University of Leicester is one of the leading proponents of the Anthropocene theory. He told BBC News: “Simply put, our planet no longer functions in the way that it once did. Atmosphere, climate, oceans, ecosystems… they’re all now operating outside Holocene norms. This strongly suggests we’ve crossed an epoch boundary.”
Read this..
Funny photo of John Key too.. lol
http://www.webcitation.org/5VxD4yxyR
On the face of it looks like a good choice for once.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch-earthquake-2011/4995021/Roger-Sutton-chief
Yeah. Hopefully he’ll be able to sort EQC out and get some proper co-ordination going there.
I really think they need to move to a model where people have case managers to deal with their claims so there’s some continuity of information and handling, instead of getting the ridiculous run-around of ringing up the call center, being put on hold for 20 minutes only to be told “no, we have no information for you”.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/4992150/PM-announces-Tai-Tokerau-by-election-date
25th June. Hone has till 31 May get his 500 members or he’ll have to run as an independant.
Would love Michael Cullen back:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10336666
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10336779
Interesting the thought of lowering taxes for business to a really low rate.
Had a mate just come back from living in Vegas for many years and he talked to me about how well that’s not gone over there.
As a result of lowering business taxes to low levels, and in some case state taxes to zero, new business has not been attracted to states like Nevada because as they now have no money services and infrastructure and education has been cut and no business wants to move there – you can’t for instance get skilled staff because the education system doesn’t produce any.
Sure Nevada for instance has other problems such as billions of dollars of clean up needed from now absent mining companies but lowering taxes has made things worse not better.
90% of Climate Denial Papers linked to ExxonMobil
http://thejackalman.blogspot.com/2011/05/90-of-climate-denial-papers-linked-to.html
A recent article by the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), concerning a number of peer reviewed scientific papers, has received widespread global condemnation from environmentalists, scientists and some of the authors of the papers themselves. The article references more than 900 papers which, according to the GWPF, refute “concern relating to a negative environmental or socio-economic effect of AGW.
Roger Sutton will start in the role in mid-June, as the permanent chief executive of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority. CERRA
Crikey. That was suggested by many including Jim Anderton at least 2months ago. A great leader for the job, as long as he can manage Brownlie.
# David Farrar (1,467) Says:
May 12th, 2011 at 1:52 pm
I might donate to Kelvin also.
Kelvin has no chance … labour party policy don’t give him the room to capture enough votes, and why vote your Kelvin he is already in next term at 23 on the list.
Hey David I think the last thing Kelvin would want is an endorsement from yourself, that would surely lower his mana in the north.
In the last Election Hone had a 32% mayority over Kelvin. If Kelvin wants a mandate he should also stand down from the Parliament, and remove himself from the list for the general election to test his mandate at this by election. I doubt he would.
Ok serious issues now, what the frack was Maurice Williamson on today?
Check out what he’s saying at 1:57, 2:00, and 2:17 in this vid: http://inthehouse.co.nz/node/8742
What’s he playing at meow?
http://labour.org.nz/news/national-shows-further-contempt-for-workers%E2%80%99-rights
This is what I’ve been saying for years now about the building industry in Auckland especially but around the country in general. It’s possible to be offered a position as a builder (4 years on the job training) for $15/hr +GST and for that one low price you have to supply all your own tools and vehicle (and old junker won’t cut it either as it will be unreliable). The tools aren’t cheap and need to be maintained and certified every three months.
Basically, once you take into account all your expenses for that hourly rate you’re quite literally paying to go to work. Paula Bennett’s “any job’s a good job” just shows how out of touch she is.
If you’re on the UE benefit WINZ will cut you off if you turn down said job because you must accept any reasonable offer of a job and the idiots at WINZ just look at the $15/hr and think it’s reasonable.
Yes, I saw that live today:
http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/Business/QOA/9/5/2/49HansQ_20110512_00000009-9-Find-a-Job-Website-Vacancies-Employment.htm
My thought at the time was that she was assuming only young people would be looking for such jobs. But what of the people who have already proved themselves, have a lot of experience and have been made redundant, especially older people? I heard a section on Nine-to-Noon this week about discrimination against older workers by recruitment practices, making it hard for older people to get jobs.
The great right wing myth that the min wage is just something kids get paid until they “move up”.
Or move to Australia.
That website is utter shite! Having been told that we have to make x applications per month through it, I look every so often. Many of the vacancies listed are old (and actually the positions are closed) and one can’t apply directly, but have to go through a case manager…
Getting the ‘case manager’ to pull finger and put in an application within the time specified is a job in itself (I have missed out on being considered for many jobs because of lazy or incompetent case managers and job brokers one of whom could not find my CV on time, although I followed her instructions and sent it to her time and time again, and it was already on their system!
All of the jobs seem to be unskilled, and some of them are frankly scams (telemarketing, pyramid selling etc.) One job broker referred me for a job I had already applied for and been turned down for, and then referred me for a job way above my competence. I was very embarassed when the employer (DOS of a language school) phoned to tell me gently that I wasn’t qualified, sorry, and I told her “I know. I didn’t want to be referred for the job, but WINZ wouldn ‘t listen”
WINZ don’t know their rectums from their ante-cubital fossae..
I heard that Goldman Sachs has been hired to help AMI Insurance.
Learn a bit more about Goldman Sachs on the excellent Keiser Report. NB some offensive language 🙂
Summing up Goldman Sachs business practice: Finangle a sale of paper to the client that we get paid a commission for, when the paper fucks over the client it we will benefit again because we took bets out that the paper we sold the client will collapse.
Yeah, I don’t think that getting G/S to help AMI will help AMI – probably do G/S real good though.
Today on my way to Parnell, I had the misfortune to sit right behind a chatty bus driver who insisted on pointing out John Key’s house, and telling me how much better he is under NACT, and how NACT will force his ‘malingerer’ brother on a sickness benefit to get a job, and force his prisoner ‘good for nothing’ brother in law to go straight…
Then he showed some more of his true charm by letting me off outside off at the primary school where I was going to interview for a special needs teacher aide job – and as I got off the bus saying to me “There they are, the little bastards. Rich kids!” * as he drove away.
As my son said later when I told him about it, the guy is the second type of RWNJ, a poor or middle class guy who thinks that a leader like Shonkey will make him (Mr Bus Driver) into a plutocrat, who can crap on the poor, as in his perception the ‘dictator’ Helen Clark used to do. By him Phil Goff is a weak ninny who wouldn’t stand up to Helen, and John Key is a brave knight who has rescued our economy. (Above all, my making beneficiaries ‘shape up’! )
*As the school principal interviewing me said, the school is decile 10, but it takes children from all over the show, including the children of doctoral candidates from University of Auckland, and its make up is changing. Not all “rich kids” by any means.