Given Paul usually starts the day with providing “dire news”, from the MSM that he dislikes (paradox), I thought I would start the day with something more interesting;
Posting about the kardashians seems pretty dicky to me … go waste you’re own time
Or was it just an excuse for a tory dick pic to spurt out an unpleasant comment about Paul ….
If you would like to talk about something relevant to New Zealand ….
I’m interested to know if you think Key was being cheeky and having a private laugh when he was reported as extolling New Zealanders to be more charitable and generous like u.s.a citizens??? …..
he was saying things like ………” develop an American-style culture of giving.” ……”like to see New Zealanders become more like Americans, who give twice as much”
And he did this after their charity and bailout to him for $5 million?, $10 million?, $15 million ? ( we are not sure of the exact amount yet ) went through …. January 2009 it was all finalized
“Merrill Lynch was sold to Bank of America for 0.8595 shares of Bank of America common stock for each Merrill Lynch common share”
“lousy deal for Bank of America and its shareholders. On January16, the bank’s stock closed around $7 per share, as investors worried about both the size of the losses and the need for another government bailout. It reached its nadir of $3.14 per share six weeks later, a collapse of 90 percent since before Lewis decided to do the Merrill deal”
“The government would invest another $20 billion into Bank of America—bringing the total TARP funds at the bank to $45 billion—and would also “provide protection against further losses” on $118 billion in toxic assets, primarily taken from the Merrill Lynch balance sheet.”
“Getting to grips with Trump” – a great critical interview. My only reservation is that it empowers Clinton – but that is what you get in a simplistic two party system.
Hmm, plausible…. but then we already know Trump is racist from the days when he put (c) on the applications of blacks seeking housing.
Theory: Trump surrogates attack on hip-hop is pre-emptive move, to prepare for release of video of Trump using n-word. https://t.co/bQ2BrSa25H— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) October 11, 2016
This seems as apposite a place as any to reference this post I read earlier (because it is good to be precise about things):
an active trauma therapist… I am a licensed social worker, and I am a member of a team that includes forensic investigators, child protection workers, child advocates, and law enforcement…
What Donald Trump describes on those tapes is not sexual assault. It is sexual battery. He talks about not just intimidating, harassing, and threatening women without their consent; he talks about putting his mouth and his hands on women’s bodies without their permission, on places that we consider private and protected. The Department of Justice’s definition of sexual assault is any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient. The definition of Sexual battery is an unwanted form of contact with an intimate part of the body that is made for purposes of sexual arousal, sexual gratification or sexual abuse. Sexual battery may occur whether the victim is clothed or not. It is a crime.
For me, all of this day in and day out misogyny, leads me to a place of righteous anger. I mean, you’re reading a columnist right now who has had numerous rape and death threats merely for expressing an opinion. I totally comprehend the degree of hatred some men have for women. I get it.
Watching Trump, for example, stalking Hillary Clinton around the stage and standing close behind her in the second debate made me want an American bald eagle to grab his pudgy orange face. We know they don’t like him either.
Yep. Similarly, Trump’s behaviour on stage at the 2nd debate was difficult for some of us to watch as it was threatening, intimidating and stalking – right there in an officially condoned setting. WHY did neither of the mods call a halt to it? It was disgusting. If Donald Trump had meant to reassure voters, as he said, that “no one respects women more than I do,” the ways in which his behavior mirrored that of a stalker and a rapist sent a signal to women that they received, even if many of the post-debate analyses chose to ignore it. While pundits commented on Trump’s declaration that, if he is elected, he will appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Clinton, and then, less than a minute later, told her if he were president, “you would be in jail,” — which they rightly called out for its similarity to Putin’s policy toward his political “enemies” in autocratic Russia — they failed to note just how physically threatening Trump was in his demeanor toward Clinton herself.
But women noticed. In a culture in which 1 in 5 women will REPORT being raped in their lifetime, women are aware that they live in rape culture, which “is a complex of beliefs that encourages male sexual aggression and supports violence against women. It is a society where violence is seen as sexy and sexuality as violent. In a rape culture, women perceive a continuum of threatened violence that ranges from sexual remarks to sexual touching to rape itself. A rape culture condones physical and emotional terrorism against women as the norm.” (from Transforming a Rape Culture.) [emph added] http://www.rawstory.com/2016/10/trump-stalked-clinton-onstage-at-the-debate-and-women-recognized-him-as-a-threat/
Ta.
Re misogyny – pity it took forty something years and the revelations of a loved one, have dig around in the archives, I would but reading it again would jigger my day, before the scales were shed.
…”
The October 2015 email from Tony Carkk contains a list of the Clinton campaign’s “hits” on Sanders. A conversation between the campaign and the pollsters in February 2016, after Sanders won New Hampshire discusses “new possible negatives” to test in the poll, “since most of our attacks haven’t been working.” One of the ideas is to condemn Sanders for “socialism” and say he wants to “gut America’s national security.”
In February 2016, after the Sanders campaign broadcast a TV ad against fracking, the Clinton camp drafted a response painting his proposal as“extreme, unfeasible and ignores the contribution natural gas has made to our economy and our efforts to reduce carbon pollution.”
Also included is an email chain from February 15, 2016 titled ‘Pushback on immigration,’ which shows a request for Ken Salazar, who was the US secretary of the interior from 2009 to 2013, to write an op-ed to smear Bernie Sanders'”professed support for immigration.”
‘Pro-fracking insider appointed by Clinton to head presidential transition team”
Back to the real world, there’s not 5ppm difference between Trump and Clinton.
Clinton admittedly, says the nicer, more soothing words about acting on climate change.
But you can tell by the actions of President Obama and his Democratic administration that massive fossil fuel extractions is fine by them, and by their corporate sponsors.
I challenge the 5ppm line. You have no evidence for this at all, it just fits with your self composed narrative. How many ppm is ‘ clean coal ‘ worth for instance.
Been seeing this pop up for a wee while now and just letting it go “whoosh”.
But… (roughly speaking) there’s a 1ppm yearly increase in atmospheric CO2…or is it 2?
Anyway. 36 billion tonnes of CO2 – there or thereabouts -gives us the measured annual increase in ppm.
So 5ppm is anywhere between 5 years worth of human related global carbon emissions and 2 and a half years worth.
Or anywhere between 90 billion tonnes and 180 billion tonnes.
In other words, if the claim is that US emissions would vary by 5ppm under either of the two of them, then we’re talking a huge difference. Not that it makes a difference. It’s like arguing over getting hit by a family saloon doing 90km/h and a truck doing 90km/h – the outcome’s the same.
@ marty, +1 It’s another of CV’s slogans designed to impose his version of reality and it ignores other ways of understanding the situation. Trumpish I guess.
Maybe 0.5 to 1.0ppm? Dunno. The USA is a large user of coal, but even then it only represents 12% of global coal consumption.
The US is still going to consume 19M-20M barrels of oil per day whether its Clinton or Trump.
OK if optimistically immediately Clinton halves the level of coal use in the USA, that will reduce global coal consumption by 6%. Is that worth a 1ppm difference. Dunno.
Of course I made it up, but I’m also willing to defend it.
Because I am confident that none of you have any idea how a Clinton term as President will be able to result in more than 5ppm CO2 difference compared to a Trump term as President.
Currently the entire world out put of CO2 is resulting in approx 2ppm CO2 increase per year.
I’m of course more than willing to be proven wrong, so go for it weka.
I’m not interested in the maths so much as the propaganda. Always happy to keep naming that as I see it. It’s the disingenuousness of the argument that stands out right now. Because you present it as a damnation of Clinton, rather than of the office of the Presidency in the US, and you use that to promote Trump who doesn’t believe in CC. By your own admission you know they are both ill prepared for what is coming, but you don’t present that argument. I;m much more interesting in challenging all that, and the damage it does than I am arguing over some imaginary figures.
“Environmentalists slammed Trump’s self-proclaimed energy revolution which, as he reiterated Thursday, would end the war on coal and scrap the $5 trillion Obama-Clinton Climate Action Plan and the Clean Power Plan.
“Donald Trump … takes talking points from the biggest polluters in the country to slap together his disastrous energy positions,” Sierra Club political director Khalid Pitts said.
“Trump’s dirty-fuels-first plan is pretty simple: drill enough off our coasts to threaten beaches from Maine to Florida, frack enough to spoil groundwater across the nation, and burn enough coal to cook the planet and make our kids sick. In stark contrast, Hillary Clinton is the only candidate in this race who is committed to grow the booming clean energy economy to create jobs and help tackle the climate crisis.”
Trump’s Climate Denial Would Have ‘Severe and Long-Lasting’ Consequences https://t.co/7cS7Br6Edk @CeresNews @YaleClimateComm
— EcoWatch (@EcoWatch) 1474502711.0
“Greenpeace USA spokesperson Cassady Sharp agrees. “Donald Trump proved again that he is an unfit leader with no grasp on reality,” she said.
“Trump pandered to the Marcellus Shale industry today, singing the praises of a dangerous energy extraction process that threatens the health and safety of families and communities all over this country, and promising to slash critical regulations and the EPA [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency]. This man has no business dealing with America’s energy policy, and he would be a belligerent catalyst of catastrophic climate change if he were elected president.” http://www.ecowatch.com/donald-trump-fracking-2012606194.html
dunno is about right so just a guess as I suspected and a guess used to muddy the picture and support a dubious proposition – that a climate change denier is just a teeny, weeny bit worse that a non-climate change denier (although Bill has sorted the numbers out and they are gigantic and alarming). So your 5ppm is just propaganda, spin, a twirl, so that you can pretend that supporting a climate change denier still means you have credibility as a climate change commenter – it doesn’t, and you don’t.
Why you guys keep hammering away at CV when he is so obviously correct in what he is saying is getting tedious. If you think corporate capitalist USA under either Clinton or Trump is going to address cc adequately you’re bloody deluded.
Totally agree garibaldi.
Both Clinton and Trump will be disastrous for many of the Planet’s species, including us.
Clinton may beat cc to the punch by instigating and/or provoking a thermo-nuclear war over the Ukraine, Syria or the Baltic states.
pretty dull conventional analysis there paul – do you want the world to burn? do you want megadeath consequences of disregarding climate change? do you think a climate change denier is the same as a non climate change denier?
perhaps a little like this…
“no but clinton is the devil in a dress and what about xyz, or uvw and rst – why not talk about that instead of this really hard stuff around climate change, don hasn’t even been tested in ANY political office and you guys just write him off without giving him a chance – you just pick up on what he says and does and use that against him – he has said he will do nothing wrong as potus and you should just believe him”
A new report shows New Zealand is the second most expensive place to get childcare in the world, behind only Britain.
OECD research suggests it’s twice as expensive here as it is in Australia.
Kiwis need to ask why is everything so expensive here in particular for families? The cost of building is also much higher than Australia and the US.
Broadband, electricity, food, housing… why are the basics so expensive… when wages are so low and we produce many raw materials…
Of course having the Paula Restocks of the world in charge of the commerce commission does not help with our burgeoning crony plutocrats and kleptocrat culture…
A new report shows New Zealand is the second most expensive place to get childcare in the world, behind only Britain.
Great business opportunity for you there, set up a child care center and and only charge half of what every one else does.
You’ll be so over run with business you won’t know what to do.
Giovanni Tiso on the valedictory speeches of Lange and Goff in light or Rogernomics.
Lange: “‘It was just terrible.’ He concluded. ‘That is the sort of thing that happened, and I am deeply aware of that.'”
Goff: “Me mememememememe me me meeeeeee mmmeee me me me me.”
Giovanni’s assessment of Goff:
“There is a lot of talk in pragmatic left circles about the ‘missing million’, that is to say all those non-voters – many of whom belong to the working class – to which Labour still feels naturally entitled, but that it would rather hector every three years than commit to serving. That missing million is the single clearest piece of evidence that Phil Goff’s political career has been a failure… It takes a special kind of left-wing politician to look back on the last three decades of our history and fail to acknowledge the disenfranchisement of so many.”
Do you think, now that Goff has gone and Mallard and king are on the way out, that Labour will now apologise for Rogernomics?
Not that I think they should apologise for it but others on here seem to think Labour should apologise and given that all those who were part of that era are now gone (or going) will it be easier for the apology to come?
Politics being what it is, I think that an apology is very, very unlikely. There are plenty still of the right wing in Labour such as Parker and Mumbles whom Little feels he has to appease.
Any apology would come from someone retiring or retired who has nothing left to lose and will look like exactly what they are: crocodile tears.
Really glad to see him out of the Labour caucus, and as an Aucklander am willing to take one for the team … although I don’t think he will be too bad as mayor compared to some of the alternatives on offer.
I do hope that Labour takes your advice and deselects anyone who is say as centre right as David Parker (or they simply retire). That will get rid of around 10 Labour MP’s. Then get real leftists to replace them.
Next step, go for a Corbynite platform.
Then you will know whether NZ wants that agenda.
At least the U.K. gets to run that option in May 2020
Why are you so keen to accelerate our demise with your right wing blindness Wayne. One day you just might realize that everything you stand for is a sure fire recipe for disaster, though somehow I doubt you are capable of that because of your exalted position as an overpaid ,spoilt Party hack.
Love how you put your ignorance on display to try and score points joe90.
It’s a bloody scary development, but then you would actually have to take an interest in Russian politics, and Russian culture to get what has just happened.
But for you joe90 its more important to be glib and carry on a pointless fight. Tiresome, just tiresome.
In April of 2013, Britain and France informed the United Nations that there was credible evidence that Syria used chemical weapons against rebel forces. Only two months later, in June of 2013, the United States concluded that the Syrian government did, in fact, use chemical weapons in its fight against opposition forces. President Obama immediately used this chemical attack as a pretext for invasion and authorized direct U.S. military support to the rebels, according to the White House.
Since the US has been funding these ‘moderate rebels’ more than 250,000 people have been killed, over 7,600,000 have been internally displaced, and 4,000,000 other human beings have been forced from the country entirely.
All of this death and destruction carried out by a sadistic army of rebels who’ve been funded and armed by the United States government, based on, what we are now told, was a complete fabrication.
World renowned journalist Seymour Hersh has revealed, in a series of interviews and books, that the Obama Administration falsely blamed the government of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad for the sarin gas attack that Obama was trying to use as an excuse to invade Syria.
As Eric Zuesse explained in Strategic Culture, Hersh pointed to a report from British intelligence saying that the sarin that was used didn’t come from Assad’s stockpiles. Hersh also said that a secret agreement in 2012 was reached between the Obama Administration and the leaders of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, to set up a sarin gas attack and blame it on Assad so that the US could invade and overthrow Assad.
+100 Grim…Assad and the Russians especially Putin get blamed for everything by the Western US driven mainstream media…It is Orwellian. Reverse everything they say and you are nearer the truth
…some now say the msm is dead in the water as far as credibility
Normal USA policy. Just like the Vietnam war’s Tonkin Gulf incident. Used as a justification for committing US armed forces in Vietnam, later revealed to be a fabrication. Why is anyone surprised about this? And is Bearded Git claiming that such dishonesty is justified (by other propaganda stories)?
Hersh also said that a secret agreement in 2012 was reached between the Obama Administration and the leaders of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, to set up a sarin gas attack and blame it on Assad so that the US could invade and overthrow Assad.
His claim would have a bit more credibility if the US had invaded and overthrown Assad. As for Hillary Clinton “kick-starting’ this civil war, it started in 2011 – anything the US government was up to in 2012 was about response to an existing conflict, not about starting one.
It’s getting so you can’t tell whether the smear campaign’s a left-wing or right-wing one. The linked article strikes me as having been written by left-wing nutjobs, but it could just as easily have been written by their right-wing equivalents.
well yes, exactly, you can’t tell because there is no difference, they work for the same masters, Hillary is a hawkish neocon accepting millions from corporate interests and known terrorist sponsors, http://imgur.com/a/GS8bb
yet this doesn’t matter because she has a vagina, so she gets the liberal vote, even though she shafted Sanders, Trump is a sexist “selfmade man” (yeah right) who will return America’s manhood , so he gets the red-blooded vote, and disenfranchised and disgusted with establishment vote.
Meanwhile 3rd party candidates who could be less connected and less corrupt don’t get a mention, media circus keeping the spotlight on the 2 selected options.
Both Bill Clinton and Trump have flown on Epsteins rape jet, Bill Clinton 26 times, neither Hillary or Trump are President Material, but the left here continue to post Hillary support, why?
I wouldn’t call it “support” for Hillary Clinton – like most of the other people here, I’d have preferred Sanders got the nomination, not that that was ever likely. It’s just mystification that supposedly left-wing people have the same visceral hatred for her that rwnjs do, and repeat the same smears.
But you’re the one framing things:
“supposedly left-wing people”
so left wing people should give her a free pass?
is that what left wing is now? blind obedience?
“same visceral hatred”
Holding Hillary up to that same scrutiny as Trump doesn’t require hate,
depicting anyone not supporting Hillary as hate filled, there’s a word for that.
“repeat the same smears”
Is Hillary clean?
The whole phasing of your reply stinks, makes me question your integrity and motives, I don’t trust you.
Yeah, the emotionally-distraught, nostril-flaring hysteria of Hillary apologists over recent weeks has been something to behold:
Clinton critics here have simply highlighted her uber-Hawkish/Neo-Con foreign policy stance (both before and especially during her stint as Sec of State) as well as the degree to which she is deeply compromised and embedded within the Corporate Status-Quo.
Tragically, this appears to have shocked some of our more naïve innocents-abroad into a wild hyperbolic frenzy, throwing verbal punches like drunken sailors and, in PMs case, accusing Clinton critics of exhibiting “visceral hatred” towards his idol.
One or two, after scratching their heads for quite some time in a highly bewildered fashion, can only explain the critique of Clinton’s abysmal record by recourse to the concept of misogyny.
Others seem to see it all as some sort of diabolical conspiracy devised between the Left and Right fringes against a deeply-wronged woman with an exemplary record, while TheExtremist (at 20) takes a more magnanimous line, helpfully pointing out that we’re probably mistaken to see her as “the anti-Christ”.
Fear of Cognitive Dissonance seems to underpin all of this outrageously over-the-top delirium.
To clarify, I’m ‘for’ #Clinton in the same way that I’m ‘for’ wiping up cat sick. The alternative is fucking unthinkable so hold your nose.
Besides, the people I know in the US who will vote Clinton because they have to, have a better anti-capitalist analysis and activism than much of what I see here (although to be fair, most of what I see here comes from CV and Chooky, so it’s not going to be hard to beat ).
The whole if you challenge pro-Trumpesque attacks on Clinton you must support Clinton is some of the laziest, dishonest debate I’ve seen on ts. Kind of weird seeing you indulge in that.
Any analysis that lumps all of Clintons critiques on ts into a single group and says they were ‘simply’ doing something is bogus. Pity SF started with that, and given that CV has been pushing an agenda pretty hard that is anything but a simple analysis of warmongering and status quo, my response to them stands. This is the dishonest bit, where people feel the need to make out x or y. We could instead have had some debate that took us somewhere useful.
CV puts up a post saying that lots of people still support Trump because they’re disenfranchised by neoliberalism and often makes out that lefties (see, another prejudicial and unhelpful lumping of people) are stupid. Well duh to the first bit, it’s not rocket science, and the second bit is just stupid (but Trumpish).
But you are right, I’ve stayed out of it for the most part in the past few month or so, because I find the way the debate is being conducted unhelpful. I’m more interested in US anti-capitalist American activists and what their take is and why their fear of Trump far outstrips their fear of Clinton*. Anti-Clinton or Pro-Trump commenters here can make out that those people are [insert simple-minded insult of choice] but that’s just more of the bullshit.
The clock is ticking, time we grew up.
*and because this apparently needs SPELLING OUT IN BIG FUCKING BOLD, that statement isn’t a statement of support for Clinton, and it doesn’t mean that Trump voters don’t have genuine concerns. FFS.
Weka, you’re in the wrong place if you’re looking for inspirational debate, IMO
There are but a small handfull of commentators that seem to be genuinely interested in posting comments that are anything other than juvenile drivel point scoring
That some of the authors engage in the same through articles is in extremely poor taste in my opinion, while being somewhat an insight to the ‘average political enthusiast’
Again you single out CV but you fail to do the same to TRP who has an obvious agenda, and not a particularly positive one if the articles are areference point
The frustration you carry is understandable, but it’s an anonymous blog site so you get all angles along with ‘professional interference’
For sure there is some very good stuff gets written on this site, and there are some thoughtful commentators, but at best the tone will remain static or continue to regress, because that is the level of the ‘average person’
We can choose what we like and don’t like, but acceptance should always be neutral either way
One or two, after scratching their heads for quite some time in a highly bewildered fashion, can only explain the critique of Clinton’s abysmal record by recourse to the concept of misogyny.
Guilty as charged. Well, the first half of the sentence anyway.
My conclusion is: the hard hatted from both sides have spoiled their arguments by grossly over-egging them. For my part, the choice boils down to a mentally unstable lout and an establishment robot with a few hawk-like propensities. I have to go with the robot because at least there is a chance that commonsense, integrity and diplomacy will eventually win the day.
How about going with the lout, taking the chance that he won’t push the button, especially when he’s got *people* around him, and does have moments of lucidity from time to time? The guy’s certainly some kind of “…path”, for sure. He’s a total fucking fruit loop. But he does like talking. My bet is that he’s less of a chance of taking out another country than Clinton is. North Korea, for example. Clinton’s stuck to establishment rules. Trump’s a complete fuck up. But I think he’s less of a risk than Clinton when it comes to unnecessary loss of lives overseas.
No, I think what’s surprised me personally is how Clinton “critics” insist on inventing and recycling easily debunked lies about Clinton, be it concerning her career as a lawyer, her career as secretary of state, or the work of the Clinton Foundation (which has a very high rating on the amount of money that goes towards actual good deeds, and from which none of the Clintons receive any funds).
If Clinton were as bad as all that, you wouldn’t need to invent stuff.
Whereas Trump’s financial and personal behaviour is well-documented and often broadcast live.
The mental gymnastics of some on this site is so twisted and confused it’s not readily apparant as being personal exposure or simply the words of those with very limited thinking capacity
+1 on the mental gymnastics – I wrote that Clintonhaters invented easily debunked lies, not that all of it was invented.
There are good criticisms of Clinton, some criticisms that frankly might be true but over here we don’t have the information to call it either way, as stuff that I outright think is cynically invented.
Solid criticisms: Drone use, especially against US citizens (which adds an extra level of illegality). Although Trump wants to expand it to include innocent relatives.
Expansion of SOCOM’s activities throughout the world.
Use of the personal server – although it’s not the treason-level error some here seem to suggest. And Trump’s idea of a targeted political prosecution is outrageous.
Economic conservatism – although hopefully Sanders put enough of a firecracker under the DNC to shift her a bit. And Trump is much more economically 19th century.
Maybe:
Whitewater – no idea on the facts, but lawyers be lawyers.
How much she knew about WJClinton’s behaviour after the fact. I don’t give a shit about the affairs, including Lewinsky, but there is at least one solid rape allegation against him.
Invented:
the idea the Clintons had any role in the deaths of any of their assistants over the last 30 years. Vince Foster comes to mind, but ISTR another corpse some conservatives were wanking over.
Quid pro quo of state department decisions in return for donations to Clinton Foundation or speaking fees for WJC. In the few instances where that *might* have been a possibility, the state department decisions were in line with previous policy and decisions from other departments. Nobody bribes someone to make the decision they were going to make anyway.
HRC “aiding and abetting” WJC in some sort of serial rapist career.
Basically anything Trump says.
If she was going up against anyone except Trump, the solid and the maybes would be seriously damaging. As it is, even the invented slurs look (at worst) equivalent to a guy who owns a beauty pageant and walks in on 15yo girls getting undressed.
…in PMs case, accusing Clinton critics of exhibiting “visceral hatred” towards his idol.
It sounds like hyperbole, but that’s what it looks like to me when we have people referring to her as Killary, or implying that she’s murdered people who know the real truth about whatever the current right-wing Clinton smear de jeur is, or generally spouting deranged gibberish like “Hillary kickstarted the Syrian war” and “approved … the murder of children.” By American standards she’s a pretty liberal candidate – if you want a candidate left-wingers can be proud of, don’t look to the Democratic Party is all I can say.
…depicting anyone not supporting Hillary as hate filled, there’s a word for that.
Most of the “support” for Hillary Clinton on this site is at the not-particularly-enthusiastic level of considering her the lesser of two evils. The only people I’m depicting as hating her are the ones who go on big rants about her, peddling right-wing talking-point smears, or accusing her of starting wars and having children murdered.
Is Hillary clean?
I’d be astonished if anyone could make it to the top in US politics and still be described as clean. What matters is whether investigations have ever uncovered anything concrete – they haven’t, and we’re talking about one of the most-investigated people on the planet. If anyone subjected you to that level of investigation for decades, how clean would you be at the end of it?
Well I guess anyone who think Hillary uses or has a black op for sarin is hardly going to be a Hillary supporter. But they sure are deluded, and probably think the CIA carried out 9/11.
The allegation is simply ridiculous crap. Even the Russians don’t believe it.
So no I don’t think Hillary is a crazed war monger, even if the rest of you do.
TheExtremist66 says, “I don’t think anyone here is a Clinton fan. That’s just bullshit you invented. Anti-Trump doesn’t equal pro-Hillary”
Wayne says, “So no I don’t think Hillary is a crazed war monger, even if the rest of you do.”
How do they fit together wayne? Mistake or deliberate because it was pretty basic to understand but I also get that sometimes comments are put in reply to the wrong person – I really hope that is the answer.
I don’t think Hillary is a crazed war monger, even if the rest of you do.
Stupid comment Wayne. I’ve been following the arguments on this site closely and the actual number of individuals describing Clinton in such terms is small – albeit their contributions have been prolific in number. The rest have tried to be fair and measured, and their contributions cannot be described as ridiculous crap even if one doesn’t agree with them.
There is no point trying rationalise it, Garibaldi
A number of commentators here are simply not up to an elementary level of logical and critical awareness that might assist them in life, let alone assessment and understanding through innate senses
‘Expecting’ reasonable dissemination from all but a small handul would be unrealistic
Weka I notice that you’re big on letting people know when they have taken your comments the wrong way and respond by ‘putting words in your mouth or interpreting your ‘thoughts’ incorrectly
That being said I would appreciate if you could explain your above response because you appear to have done that which you pull other up on when you feel that’s happened to you
So please explain my ‘ dishonesty’ and where the ‘generic slur’ is anything other than a factual observation
FYI. I’m not in ‘a fight’ that is not what I am about. The final comment is low grade projection!
Can’t you Clinton fans see how much of a warmonger she is?
Which Clinton fans are you addressing? I haven’t seen any enthusiastic Clinton supporters on the Standard.
Still, leaving that aside, how much warmongery should these hypothetical Clinton fans be recognising in her? Is it more or less than previous US presidents? Unless the answer’s “More by shitloads!”, it comes under the heading of “Meh.”
If you’re labouring under the delusion that a Democratic Party candidate for PotUS must be left-wing, please cease your labours. If they were, they wouldn’t be the candidate (for a recent example, see Bernie Sanders).
A revolution to democratise and transform the modern economy?
In the Keiser Report (second half) is a catch up with Kim Dotcom. In this discussion Kim Dotcom gives an update on his copyright court case which is going well for him
… and discusses his potentially revolutionary Bitcache and Mega Upload 2
…which will utilise and promote Bitcoin and make it easier for creative people to get some remuneration directly for their work
…”In the second half, Max talks to Kim Dotcom about Bitcache, a company for which he is an evangelist. They discuss bitcoin, bittorrents and copyright cartels”.
Trump and Clinton duetting “I’ve had the time of my life” . . . . As ZH notes . . .”It may well be the best thing to come out of Tuesday’s debate . . .”
Anne “safe pair of hands do nothing” Tolleys answer to poverty is to load the poor up with more debt by offering them loans for essential items which use to be provided by MSD/WINZ, is now going to be privatised.
Maybe the cunning plan for doing this is, it will impoverish them so much that they’ll just have to abandoned their home because they’ll not be able to afford to pay the rent! Then they’ll remove them from the benefit & Stat’s, which will improve the govt. unemployment data?!
The dismantling of the Social Contract with the NZ Government is and has been underway for sometime. First they dis-empowered the Social Welfare Act by stripping pretty much every entitlement from the Act and placing rediculous conditions in place as well as restricting a persons “Right” to support from the State to bare minimums. Less than an ordinary citizens ability to provide for themselves & family members.
This government has to go this time next year or sooner!
The German prefix ‘Ur-‘ if my memory serves me correctly means ‘Original, from the beginning’. Not quasi (pretend, as if) and more the opposite of ‘neo’ (new). Are we learning the right things?
Not sure why he calls it “Ur-fascism”. There’s a certain rhyming quality with “et-ER-nal”, of course, but my guess is that he is also referencing it with the ancient (extremely, one of the earliest known) city of Ur. That could just be me over-analysing it, of course, but it sort of emphasises the eternal nature of fascism.
Ur (root), a common root word in the Basque language. Ur (rune) (ᚢ), a letter of the runic alphabets. Ur-, a German prefix meaning “original or primitive”
I really recommend it. It’s systematic in identifying the distinguishing features of a practised ideology (Eco was a semiotician) and helps get past all that “You’re Godwinning!” “Nah, you are!” nonsense.
Authoritarianism of any strip is the enemy of the people. I remember an old lecturer doing a list of what is a fascist, and ironically enough the one person who fitted that list was Ronald Reagan. I find the comparison between Trump and Reagan to quite illuminating. I see I’m not alone thinking Trump is rally the true hair (pun intended) of R.Reagan.
Indigenous Peoples Day (or “Columbus Day” if you prefer to idolise genocidal slavers) in the USA:
Reno police are investigating reports of a pickup truck plowing into a group of Native American rights demonstrators after dramatic video emerged showing the vehicle’s occupants arguing with activists, revving the engine and then speeding into the crowd… A 59-year-old woman has been hospitalized with injuries that are not life-threatening, and three others were hurt…
“They drove by once as we were walking toward the arch, yelling obscenities,” said Taylor Wayman, 27, who said he was not an official member of the sponsoring groups but decided to attend the rally.
“I heard the driver ask one of the protesters, ‘Do you want me to kill your homies?’ and that really set everybody off,”…
In the course of the demonstrations against the Dakota Access Pipeline — which law enforcement termed a “riot” — 27 people, including “Divergent” actress Shailene Woodley, were arrested…
Authorities were notified about 7:15 a.m. that two protesters had attached themselves to construction equipment about 2 miles southwest of St. Anthony, Keller said. Protesters said they took off from the camps to demonstrate after a prayer at 6:30 a.m. They filed out of the demonstration site with the teepee around noon.
Highway 6 near St. Anthony, south of Mandan, was closed temporarily in response to the situation… With the closure of Highway 6 and possible closure of 1806, Cannon Ball Elementary School and Solen High School along with schools in Fort Yates and Standing Rock sent students and teachers home over the noon hour. Little Heart School in St. Anthony was on lockdown.
I support the protesters but…
it was the agitators among the protesters that escalated and began the threatening language, banging on the vehicle and threatening to drag the driver out and “fuck him up”
so media being dicks and reporting one side once again, the drive was a dick but the protesters turned it into a situation.
longer video close up of the exchange, idiots on both side, hate crime my ass, Self indulgent arrogant wankers who place their rights above others, I’m talking about both parties. https://twitter.com/i/web/status/785798504534814722
Grim – you; “support the protesters but” then immediately blame them proking for the vehicular assault? Your proof for this is a link to a twitter account that posts a truncated portion of video alongside the comment (by someone who thinks Mel Gibson’s image lends his ramblings the precise air of class he deserves):
“ill tear you out of your car you little fuck”
Based shitlord then proceeds to run over Columbus Day protestors. 😂👏
#ColumbusDay
However, I can access online video too, and this 4:31s video puts the lie to your Very Australian Mate’s words. You can clearly see the white ute drive by at 0:14s “yelling obscenities,” exactly as Taylor Wayman said. They do not reappear again until the 2:50s mark – that is demonstrable premediatation.
Now I can’t hear them over the revving of the motor, but I’ll take Wayman’s word for it that the driver did say; “Do you want me to kill your homies?” I think we can all see why that “really set everybody off,”. Homicidal jerks around toddlers do tend to provoke a violent response in those being threatened.
Did the “protester” that leaned into the truck threaten the driver? yes or not?
was the “protester” in question a part of the actual protest?
Read what I wrote and don’t be so quick to defend the innocents, your white knight mentality is interfering with reason, and as I said
“Self indulgent arrogant wankers who place their rights above others, I’m talking about both parties.”
Both parties, I wasn’t attacking one side but both for their shared stupidity.
Did you watch the video I linked? if you did you would have clearly heard the driver being threatened, in your video did the protesters bang on the truck in a violent manner? you are being dishonest.
Here is a simple question, if you can’t answer it don’t reply
q: did the truck come to a full stop and after it stopped did the protesters threaten the occupants lives?
(hint re-watch the video I linked with the sound turned on then you will hear:
when one protest is shouting “do you want to fight me” and the other protester shouts “I’ll fuck you up” repeatedly, guy in the brown jacket then another shouts “I’ll tear you outa that car you little fuck” ) about the same time someone on a megaphone is telling the others to hold their ground.
Now if you re read what I wrote, I am anti pipeline, but question wether the agitator or “agent provocateur” was a member of the actual protest, was it so important to block one lonely truck? no, the only impact stopping one truck with 2 young idiots would have is if you turn it into an incident, are your fine with that tactic, endangering lifes because the end justifies the means, it stinks of manipulation, which is dishonest, but your ok with that are you?
I watched the 59s clip on the Very Australian Man’s twitter account. I am not impressed by your argument. This was premeditated vehicular assault as you’ll see if you bother to watch the 3:41s video I to which I linked.
Those around the white ute were indeed acting aggressively – but I would argue that was in response to a threat on their own and children’s lives. Wayman seems credible when he says; “I heard the driver ask one of the protesters, ‘Do you want me to kill your homies?’ and that really set everybody off,”…
Who intentionally drove a tonne-plus vehicle into a crowd that included children?
Who ended up in hospital?
so what makes Wayman sound credible? he is not a member of the protest organization, an unaccountable individual with no history, or references.
At what time did the driver threaten to kill?
‘Do you want me to kill your homies?
that sounds like a reply to something already said, think about it. use some logic.
The only “witness saying that the driver threatened the protesters and this set off everyone… hmm if it set off everyone surely other protesters, and not just some random guy that turned up on the day who is not really part of the group… anybody from the actual organisation hear it, they must have if it really set them off and “justified” their behavour?
but no, we have 2 videos released showing opposing views, both must have come from the protesters, and supposed protesters, why release the conflicting videos? Tell me… what traction in social media would this protest on a deserted street have had if this incident wasn’t created? zero would you have posted a clip of a failed protest that had zero impact? no
Could you help me here is “I will fuck you up” escalating or deescalating language?
You can clearly see the white ute drive by at 0:14s “yelling obscenities,” exactly as Taylor Wayman said. They do not reappear again until the 2:50s mark – that is demonstrable premediatation.
The two videos do not show; “opposing views”, they were taken from different cameras and show different angles of the same events. Sure; “I will fuck you up”, is; “escalating language”. However, the protestors did not; ” block one lonely truck”, the driver of this vehicle actively sought out this confrontation.
I take it this is the question that you think I did not answer (or at least not in a way you could comprehend); “did the truck come to a full stop and after it stopped did the protesters threaten the occupants lives? “. I do not believe that it is accurate to say that the vehicle came; “to a full stop”. But if you want to test that then; next time you drive up alongside a police car at an intersection, rev your motor repeatedly and lurch forward several times into the pedestrian crossing and see what their opinion is of your driving (warning – do not actually do this!).
The remainder of your question is already answered this morning by my linking to the 3:41s video, and the statement: “Those around the white ute were indeed acting aggressively – but I would argue that was in response to a threat on their own and children’s lives”.
But while we’re on the topic of not answering question, let me repeat mine:
Who intentionally drove a tonne-plus vehicle into a crowd that included children?
Who ended up in hospital?
Here’s a hint:
Renown Regional Medical Center listed the 59-year-old woman sent to the hospital after the incident as “serious” Tuesday afternoon.
According to Renown’s website, serious is described as, “Vital signs may be unstable or outside normal limits. The patient is acutely ill or injured and may have major complications.”
Kitty Colbert was posting Monday night on Facebook that she is in “good spirits.”
Reno Police Chief Jason Soto said at a Tuesday press conference that five people – the driver, his passenger and three people from the scene were evaluated by medics. Colbert was sent to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries to her lower extremities…
“I assure you all that I am in good spirits and although sore and definitely broken, I will bounce back! It will take more than attempted vehicular homicide to keep me down! My grandchildren are fine. I hate that they had to see that, but at the same time, glad they were witness to how ugly this world can be…and that this fight is important.”
They did stop one lonely truck, any other vehicles on the road? no
what is the likely payoff from stopping a couple of idiots out for an evening drive? could be meth-heads or drunk, they have already indicated they are dicks
The smart thing to do would have been to deescalate the situation and give them some literature and allow them to pass, could have won over new supporters, did they act smart? no,
you may notice the people escalating the situation were safely beside the truck, not the real protesters.
Would I have placed loved ones in harms way? especially when there is no gain,
what were they thinking?
A sailboat may have right of way over an oil tanker, doesn’t make it smart to wear your righteousness as a shield and expect the tanker to stop for you.
You are so damned intent on defending and being the hero you fail to understand what I wrote, and have repeatedly tried to paint me as a villain to justify your attempts at being the true hero, grow up.
So no answer to my questions then? Another one is, what do you consider a; “real protester”, to be?
According to Soto, the protesters did not obtain a permit from the city of Reno. Permits are required when shutting down streets in order to pay for extra police…
Online videos shared on social media show the group demonstrating on a crosswalk under the Reno Arch for several minutes. The group assembled under the arch to take a photo, according to protester Quanah Brightman, who is also the executive director of United Native Americans Inc. in San Francisco. Brightman said he came to participate with the protest but is now working on the aftermath.
Videos then show a driver in a white Nissan pickup approach the protesters on the crosswalk and rev the engine three times. Some participants fled the crosswalk, while a small group of protesters surrounded the truck. The incident sparked an exchange in heated words between the driver and the protesters. The driver than plowed through the group, injuring Colbert and hitting others, including Tara Tran…
The protest was organized by the American Indian Movement of Northern Nevada, according the event’s Facebook page. AIMNN organizers could not be reached for comment…
“He had the choice to go around either direction on the street, and he deliberately plowed right through us, and I got run over,” Colbert said in the video. “I got run over, and now I have several pelvic fractures, a sacral fracture and one in my hips as well, a small fracture.”
In the video, Brightman asks Colbert, “What do you want the Reno Police Department to do about what happened?”
She responds: “I want them to arrest this guy. I mean, I know the guy in the passenger seat didn’t press the gas pedal, but the guy that was driving needs to be arrested. I feel that this was attempted vehicular homicide.”
“He could’ve killed me, and he didn’t care,” she continued. “He didn’t care that there were babies out there. He didn’t care that there were youth, and children and elders. He just didn’t care.”…
A protest against the decision to not make an arrest started Tuesday evening at the Reno Police Station. A Facebook group called “Stand for Injustice” organized it.
Police were still investigating the video evidence captured Monday evening.
Brightman, reverend Norris Dupree, Bishop Luther DuPree Jr. and NAACP President Patricia Gallimore lead conversation, prayer and another march to Reno City Hall.
“Any time anyone tells you we were in the way, you know it’s not true,” said Tara Tran, in tears. “They were there to attack us and this was a hate crime.”
Tran said the white Nissan also hit her.
The demonstrators asked for the police to arrest the drivers, saying that at the least the incident was a hit and run.
You are very quick to judgement on my motivations for posting, but I would remind you that you are responding to my comment and not the other way around. I have made no claims to me being a hero, nor you a villain (though I might make that claim about the Very Australian Man twitter account to which you linked).
Anyway, this thread has been giving me the venue to keep updating the situation for those interested without obtruding on today’s OM. I’m willing to keep it going as long as you are.
what do you consider a; “real protester”, to be?
A:
A member of the organization holding the protest,
How do we know Taylor Wayman is not an agent provocateur planted there to make the protesters look bad? or have another agenda?
Yes the truck guys did shout out obscenities, that is clearly heard in one of the videos, what is not heard is the threat to kill homies, or any mention of when exactly it was said, I find this strange as the incident was captured from at least to angles with good audio, when it suited.
So somehow the escalating language is not audible even though it set everybody off?
And the only witness mentioning the threat is not accountable and his actions don’t reflect directly on the organization, as he was a guy that just decided to turn up.
Contrariwise:
How do we know Taylor Wayman is not an alien shapeshifter planted there to mindcontrol the encounter? or have another agenda?
The answer to both questions is that; we consider the evidence. You have your opinion that these were not “real protesters”, and that they were somehow asking for it. I do not agree.
Let’s take your example of; “A sailboat may have right of way over an oil tanker, doesn’t make it smart to wear your righteousness as a shield and expect the tanker to stop for you”. If a protestor were to be picketing an oil operation and were run down in violation of the law, would you expect the relevant authorities to charge the captain of the oil tanker for that crime?
I don’t know how many protests you’ve attended. But in my experience; the most successful are those which inspire people who were not previously affiliated with the organisation to join in. We didn’t always get permission to protest either. It is the act of protesting that makes one a protester, not the documentation one possesses.
While we’re on the topic, I’d just like to point out that I think that the need to pay for permits to protest is a form of suppression of expression. I don’t much like the idea of free-speech zones and kettling either.
the protesters did not obtain a permit from the city of Reno. Permits are required when shutting down streets in order to pay for extra police. He would not speak to whether charges were made against the driver or passenger.
“There is certainly a law in place for protesters,” Soto said at Tuesday’s news conference. “If you want to protest on the sidewalk, there’s no law against that, so you can protest on the sidewalk all day long. Once you congregate in the street, there is a law for unlawful assembly.”
In this case it might have been appropriate for police to warn protestors off the road, and arrest those who didn’t comply (and face having the images of that put online – which might have been the intention). It is not appropriate for vigilante hoons to blatantly disregard the law and drive straight into the protestors having themselves deliberately chosen to provoke the confrontation.
It’s not like this is the only group ever to block the archway during a protest. Their error seems to be that there wasn’t enough of them – so thugs thought they could be intimidated with impunity. Look at this Black Lives Matter protest from July for contrast:
Background to this is that the court declined the Standing Rock injunction on the pipeline and released it on the eve of Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
Good news is that the federal authorities soon afterwards reiterated that they continue to oppose the pipeline passing under the lake. Very interesting approach in their statement,
One day after the U.S Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. ruled against the injunction filed by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to halt the Dakota Access pipeline, three federal agencies once again called upon “the pipeline company voluntarily pause all construction activity within 20 miles east or west of Lake Oahe.”
1806The Department of Justice, the Department of the Army and the Department of the Interior on Monday issued the following statement regarding the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision in Standing Rock Sioux Tribe v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers:
“We appreciate the D.C. Circuit’s opinion.
“We continue to respect the right to peaceful protest and expect people to obey the law.
“The Army continues to review issues raised by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and other Tribal nations and their members and hopes to conclude its ongoing review soon. In the interim, the Army will not authorize constructing the Dakota Access Pipeline on Corps land bordering or under Lake Oahe. We repeat our request that the pipeline company voluntarily pause all construction activity within 20 miles east or west of Lake Oahe.
“We also look forward to a serious discussion during a series of consultations, starting with a listening session in Phoenix on Tuesday, on whether there should be nationwide reform on the Tribal consultation process for these types of infrastructure projects.”
Look, I don’t like her either. In fact, I can’t stand the woman and would have loved to see Bernie leading the way but conspiracy and invective isn’t going to change the fact she will more than likely become president and probably isn’t the anti-christ.
On the other hand, it will be fun watching the Repugs swallowing the lesson that continually smearing someone for 25 years results in that person being elected president.
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TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
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It’s starting to snowball
Palmerston North to probe building designs following Masterton flaws
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/85155983/palmerston-north-to-review-building-designs
Horowhenua mayor refuses to enter council building, claiming it’s unsafe
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/85203132/horowhenua-mayor-refuses-to-enter-council-building-claiming-it-unsafe
Chinese immigrants ask New Zealand to help stop organ harvesting in their homeland
http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/85152470/Chinese-immigrants-ask-New-Zealand-to-help-stop-organ-harvesting-in-their-homeland
Distractions alive and well in jonolist land.
tc
Distractions alive and well in jonolist land.
More detail please. Explain.
It’s far from trivia.
Given Paul usually starts the day with providing “dire news”, from the MSM that he dislikes (paradox), I thought I would start the day with something more interesting;
http://radaronline.com/photos/kylie-jenner-blac-chya-feud-instagram-rob-kardashian-tyga-blonde-makeup-photos/
Buckle yourself in, all out war between Kylie Jenner and Blac Chyna, without a cruise missile in sight…..
interesting
interesting
ˈɪnt(ə)rɪstɪŋ/Submit
adjective
arousing curiosity or interest; holding or catching the attention.
“an interesting debate”
synonyms: absorbing, engrossing, fascinating, riveting, gripping, compelling, compulsive, spellbinding, captivating, engaging, enthralling, entrancing, beguiling; More
yeah, right Tui.
A good illustration of what RWNJs, and teenagers, find important in life.
+1
Bread and circuses.
Here ya go, Paul … some Brazilian psychedelia from Os Mutantes:
Posting about the kardashians seems pretty dicky to me … go waste you’re own time
Or was it just an excuse for a tory dick pic to spurt out an unpleasant comment about Paul ….
If you would like to talk about something relevant to New Zealand ….
I’m interested to know if you think Key was being cheeky and having a private laugh when he was reported as extolling New Zealanders to be more charitable and generous like u.s.a citizens??? …..
he was saying things like ………” develop an American-style culture of giving.” ……”like to see New Zealanders become more like Americans, who give twice as much”
And he did this after their charity and bailout to him for $5 million?, $10 million?, $15 million ? ( we are not sure of the exact amount yet ) went through …. January 2009 it was all finalized
“Merrill Lynch was sold to Bank of America for 0.8595 shares of Bank of America common stock for each Merrill Lynch common share”
“lousy deal for Bank of America and its shareholders. On January16, the bank’s stock closed around $7 per share, as investors worried about both the size of the losses and the need for another government bailout. It reached its nadir of $3.14 per share six weeks later, a collapse of 90 percent since before Lewis decided to do the Merrill deal”
“The government would invest another $20 billion into Bank of America—bringing the total TARP funds at the bank to $45 billion—and would also “provide protection against further losses” on $118 billion in toxic assets, primarily taken from the Merrill Lynch balance sheet.”
Heres some advice for you because you seem a bit cranky as of late:
Putting up a picture of that smug ideology, should come with a lengthy ban. 🙂
An outright ban would be more appropriate! Only to be readmitted with an online heartfelt rendition of “The Red Flag” published on You Tube.
+ 1 yep auto ban for that shit is my vote
Q. Where do brownlees sit at Chinese defence meetings?
A. Anywhere they want.
(But most likely close behind where USers are.)
Q. Where do brownlees sit at Chinese defence meetings?
A. Anywhere they want.
(Mostly close behind where the USers sit.)
“Getting to grips with Trump” – a great critical interview. My only reservation is that it empowers Clinton – but that is what you get in a simplistic two party system.
https://www.ineteconomics.org/ideas-papers/interviews-talks/getting-to-grips-with-the-trump-phenomenon
https://youtu.be/Zy7wGrRSB24
Hmm, plausible…. but then we already know Trump is racist from the days when he put (c) on the applications of blacks seeking housing.
Hi joe, just wanted to say that your ongoing comments on Trump re misogyny and racism are very much appreciated.
Like weka says 🙂
Tuesday, the national women’s advocacy organization UltraViolet Action took out a full-page ad in the Post featuring the voices of more than 3,000 survivors of sexual assault calling on Republican leaders, candidates, and elected officials to denounce Trump’s misogyny. http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/10/11/trump-now-unshackled-what-next-gops-institutional-misogyny
This seems as apposite a place as any to reference this post I read earlier (because it is good to be precise about things):
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/10/11/1580874/-Its-called-sexual-battery
Rachel Stewart:
No predator more dangerous than the human male
[…]
For me, all of this day in and day out misogyny, leads me to a place of righteous anger. I mean, you’re reading a columnist right now who has had numerous rape and death threats merely for expressing an opinion. I totally comprehend the degree of hatred some men have for women. I get it.
Watching Trump, for example, stalking Hillary Clinton around the stage and standing close behind her in the second debate made me want an American bald eagle to grab his pudgy orange face. We know they don’t like him either.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11726591
Yep. Similarly, Trump’s behaviour on stage at the 2nd debate was difficult for some of us to watch as it was threatening, intimidating and stalking – right there in an officially condoned setting. WHY did neither of the mods call a halt to it? It was disgusting.
If Donald Trump had meant to reassure voters, as he said, that “no one respects women more than I do,” the ways in which his behavior mirrored that of a stalker and a rapist sent a signal to women that they received, even if many of the post-debate analyses chose to ignore it. While pundits commented on Trump’s declaration that, if he is elected, he will appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Clinton, and then, less than a minute later, told her if he were president, “you would be in jail,” — which they rightly called out for its similarity to Putin’s policy toward his political “enemies” in autocratic Russia — they failed to note just how physically threatening Trump was in his demeanor toward Clinton herself.
But women noticed. In a culture in which 1 in 5 women will REPORT being raped in their lifetime, women are aware that they live in rape culture, which “is a complex of beliefs that encourages male sexual aggression and supports violence against women. It is a society where violence is seen as sexy and sexuality as violent. In a rape culture, women perceive a continuum of threatened violence that ranges from sexual remarks to sexual touching to rape itself. A rape culture condones physical and emotional terrorism against women as the norm.” (from Transforming a Rape Culture.) [emph added] http://www.rawstory.com/2016/10/trump-stalked-clinton-onstage-at-the-debate-and-women-recognized-him-as-a-threat/
Thanks for that. I didn’t watch the debate, but that doesn’t surprise me at all.
“WHY did neither of the mods call a halt to it?”
Maybe they thought it was a Trump behaviour pattern that needed maximum public exposure?
Ta.
Re misogyny – pity it took forty something years and the revelations of a loved one, have dig around in the archives, I would but reading it again would jigger my day, before the scales were shed.
Thanks joe, I didn’t know that, all power to you and yours.
Why do you appreciate the comments?
Why do you ask?
Clinton supports Fracking …if Clinton gets to be President a revised TPP will be negotiated imo and New Zealand will be Fracked ( f..ked)
https://www.rt.com/usa/362358-wikileaks-third-podesta-emails/
…”
The October 2015 email from Tony Carkk contains a list of the Clinton campaign’s “hits” on Sanders. A conversation between the campaign and the pollsters in February 2016, after Sanders won New Hampshire discusses “new possible negatives” to test in the poll, “since most of our attacks haven’t been working.” One of the ideas is to condemn Sanders for “socialism” and say he wants to “gut America’s national security.”
In February 2016, after the Sanders campaign broadcast a TV ad against fracking, the Clinton camp drafted a response painting his proposal as“extreme, unfeasible and ignores the contribution natural gas has made to our economy and our efforts to reduce carbon pollution.”
Also included is an email chain from February 15, 2016 titled ‘Pushback on immigration,’ which shows a request for Ken Salazar, who was the US secretary of the interior from 2009 to 2013, to write an op-ed to smear Bernie Sanders'”professed support for immigration.”
‘Pro-fracking insider appointed by Clinton to head presidential transition team”
https://www.rt.com/usa/356278-clinton-transition-team-fracking-tpp/
(imo while Clinton now opposes the TPP for other reasons, if she is elected it will be back on the table ..and fracking will be up there
…”She once said TPP “sets the gold standard of trade agreements.”
http://www.businessinsider.com.au/hillary-clinton-policy-on-tpp-trade-deal-2016-10?r=US&IR=T
http://www.ontheissues.org/2016/Hillary_Clinton_Free_Trade.htm
We already have fracking in NZ.
Have a look at the Clinton and Trump positions on climate change. Currently, Al Gore is supporting Hillary Clinton in Florida.
https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/climate/
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jul/12/donald-trump-climate-change-science-sierra-club
Back to the real world, there’s not 5ppm difference between Trump and Clinton.
Clinton admittedly, says the nicer, more soothing words about acting on climate change.
But you can tell by the actions of President Obama and his Democratic administration that massive fossil fuel extractions is fine by them, and by their corporate sponsors.
I challenge the 5ppm line. You have no evidence for this at all, it just fits with your self composed narrative. How many ppm is ‘ clean coal ‘ worth for instance.
Been seeing this pop up for a wee while now and just letting it go “whoosh”.
But… (roughly speaking) there’s a 1ppm yearly increase in atmospheric CO2…or is it 2?
Anyway. 36 billion tonnes of CO2 – there or thereabouts -gives us the measured annual increase in ppm.
So 5ppm is anywhere between 5 years worth of human related global carbon emissions and 2 and a half years worth.
Or anywhere between 90 billion tonnes and 180 billion tonnes.
In other words, if the claim is that US emissions would vary by 5ppm under either of the two of them, then we’re talking a huge difference. Not that it makes a difference. It’s like arguing over getting hit by a family saloon doing 90km/h and a truck doing 90km/h – the outcome’s the same.
@ marty, +1 It’s another of CV’s slogans designed to impose his version of reality and it ignores other ways of understanding the situation. Trumpish I guess.
Maybe 0.5 to 1.0ppm? Dunno. The USA is a large user of coal, but even then it only represents 12% of global coal consumption.
The US is still going to consume 19M-20M barrels of oil per day whether its Clinton or Trump.
OK if optimistically immediately Clinton halves the level of coal use in the USA, that will reduce global coal consumption by 6%. Is that worth a 1ppm difference. Dunno.
I’d say its less.
I take that to mean you made the 5ppm thing up.
Of course I made it up, but I’m also willing to defend it.
Because I am confident that none of you have any idea how a Clinton term as President will be able to result in more than 5ppm CO2 difference compared to a Trump term as President.
Currently the entire world out put of CO2 is resulting in approx 2ppm CO2 increase per year.
I’m of course more than willing to be proven wrong, so go for it weka.
I’m not interested in the maths so much as the propaganda. Always happy to keep naming that as I see it. It’s the disingenuousness of the argument that stands out right now. Because you present it as a damnation of Clinton, rather than of the office of the Presidency in the US, and you use that to promote Trump who doesn’t believe in CC. By your own admission you know they are both ill prepared for what is coming, but you don’t present that argument. I;m much more interesting in challenging all that, and the damage it does than I am arguing over some imaginary figures.
I’ll take that as a tacit admission that my “not even 5ppm difference between Trump and Clinton” may be spot on.
au contraire, my 5ppm statement says exactly that.
“Environmentalists slammed Trump’s self-proclaimed energy revolution which, as he reiterated Thursday, would end the war on coal and scrap the $5 trillion Obama-Clinton Climate Action Plan and the Clean Power Plan.
“Donald Trump … takes talking points from the biggest polluters in the country to slap together his disastrous energy positions,” Sierra Club political director Khalid Pitts said.
“Trump’s dirty-fuels-first plan is pretty simple: drill enough off our coasts to threaten beaches from Maine to Florida, frack enough to spoil groundwater across the nation, and burn enough coal to cook the planet and make our kids sick. In stark contrast, Hillary Clinton is the only candidate in this race who is committed to grow the booming clean energy economy to create jobs and help tackle the climate crisis.”
Trump’s Climate Denial Would Have ‘Severe and Long-Lasting’ Consequences https://t.co/7cS7Br6Edk @CeresNews @YaleClimateComm
— EcoWatch (@EcoWatch) 1474502711.0
“Greenpeace USA spokesperson Cassady Sharp agrees. “Donald Trump proved again that he is an unfit leader with no grasp on reality,” she said.
“Trump pandered to the Marcellus Shale industry today, singing the praises of a dangerous energy extraction process that threatens the health and safety of families and communities all over this country, and promising to slash critical regulations and the EPA [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency]. This man has no business dealing with America’s energy policy, and he would be a belligerent catalyst of catastrophic climate change if he were elected president.”
http://www.ecowatch.com/donald-trump-fracking-2012606194.html
I’ll take that as a tacit admission that my “not even 5ppm difference between Trump and Clinton” may be spot on.
Which would be you lying about my views. Again. Please stop.
I just told you how I decided to perceive your comments, weka.
And guess what – you don’t get to determine how I perceive your comments.
dunno is about right so just a guess as I suspected and a guess used to muddy the picture and support a dubious proposition – that a climate change denier is just a teeny, weeny bit worse that a non-climate change denier (although Bill has sorted the numbers out and they are gigantic and alarming). So your 5ppm is just propaganda, spin, a twirl, so that you can pretend that supporting a climate change denier still means you have credibility as a climate change commenter – it doesn’t, and you don’t.
Why you guys keep hammering away at CV when he is so obviously correct in what he is saying is getting tedious. If you think corporate capitalist USA under either Clinton or Trump is going to address cc adequately you’re bloody deluded.
Totally agree garibaldi.
Both Clinton and Trump will be disastrous for many of the Planet’s species, including us.
Clinton may beat cc to the punch by instigating and/or provoking a thermo-nuclear war over the Ukraine, Syria or the Baltic states.
pretty dull conventional analysis there paul – do you want the world to burn? do you want megadeath consequences of disregarding climate change? do you think a climate change denier is the same as a non climate change denier?
perhaps a little like this…
“no but clinton is the devil in a dress and what about xyz, or uvw and rst – why not talk about that instead of this really hard stuff around climate change, don hasn’t even been tested in ANY political office and you guys just write him off without giving him a chance – you just pick up on what he says and does and use that against him – he has said he will do nothing wrong as potus and you should just believe him”
he’s not correct and in the 5ppm line he admitted he made it up – why don’t you take your tedium for a walk instead of moaning.
A new report shows New Zealand is the second most expensive place to get childcare in the world, behind only Britain.
OECD research suggests it’s twice as expensive here as it is in Australia.
Kiwis need to ask why is everything so expensive here in particular for families? The cost of building is also much higher than Australia and the US.
Broadband, electricity, food, housing… why are the basics so expensive… when wages are so low and we produce many raw materials…
Of course having the Paula Restocks of the world in charge of the commerce commission does not help with our burgeoning crony plutocrats and kleptocrat culture…
A new report shows New Zealand is the second most expensive place to get childcare in the world, behind only Britain.
Great business opportunity for you there, set up a child care center and and only charge half of what every one else does.
You’ll be so over run with business you won’t know what to do.
How is someone starting out in business able to afford the premises to offer cheaper childcare?
So all the cost is in the premises?
For all of you who like old school hip-hop. Or for those who just like really good music here is ‘Common and Friends’.
Yes that Common, http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/rapper-commons-white-house-visit-called-controversial-critics/story?id=13572464
Just look were he playing this time…
“Letter To The Free” just a stand out track, makes me wanna watch the documentary now.
Giovanni Tiso on the valedictory speeches of Lange and Goff in light or Rogernomics.
Lange: “‘It was just terrible.’ He concluded. ‘That is the sort of thing that happened, and I am deeply aware of that.'”
Goff: “Me mememememememe me me meeeeeee mmmeee me me me me.”
Giovanni’s assessment of Goff:
“There is a lot of talk in pragmatic left circles about the ‘missing million’, that is to say all those non-voters – many of whom belong to the working class – to which Labour still feels naturally entitled, but that it would rather hector every three years than commit to serving. That missing million is the single clearest piece of evidence that Phil Goff’s political career has been a failure… It takes a special kind of left-wing politician to look back on the last three decades of our history and fail to acknowledge the disenfranchisement of so many.”
http://bat-bean-beam.blogspot.co.nz/2016/10/fail-proof.html
As for me, to Goff: Don’t let the door catch your arse on the way out. Labour’s better with you gone. Sorry, Auckland.
Do you think, now that Goff has gone and Mallard and king are on the way out, that Labour will now apologise for Rogernomics?
Not that I think they should apologise for it but others on here seem to think Labour should apologise and given that all those who were part of that era are now gone (or going) will it be easier for the apology to come?
Politics being what it is, I think that an apology is very, very unlikely. There are plenty still of the right wing in Labour such as Parker and Mumbles whom Little feels he has to appease.
Any apology would come from someone retiring or retired who has nothing left to lose and will look like exactly what they are: crocodile tears.
You’ve got two shows of that: no show, and shit show.
thanks for that!
Really glad to see him out of the Labour caucus, and as an Aucklander am willing to take one for the team … although I don’t think he will be too bad as mayor compared to some of the alternatives on offer.
I do hope that Labour takes your advice and deselects anyone who is say as centre right as David Parker (or they simply retire). That will get rid of around 10 Labour MP’s. Then get real leftists to replace them.
Next step, go for a Corbynite platform.
Then you will know whether NZ wants that agenda.
At least the U.K. gets to run that option in May 2020
Why are you so keen to accelerate our demise with your right wing blindness Wayne. One day you just might realize that everything you stand for is a sure fire recipe for disaster, though somehow I doubt you are capable of that because of your exalted position as an overpaid ,spoilt Party hack.
Russian Govt officials told to immediately bring back children studying abroad
Regardless of whether or not this interrupts their years programme of study. Well this is a confidence inspiring development.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-10-11/russian-government-officials-told-immediately-bring-back-children-studying-abroad
I guess they’re planning to use those Iskander-M systems relocated to bring swathes of Western Europe into range.
Love how you put your ignorance on display to try and score points joe90.
It’s a bloody scary development, but then you would actually have to take an interest in Russian politics, and Russian culture to get what has just happened.
But for you joe90 its more important to be glib and carry on a pointless fight. Tiresome, just tiresome.
New policy from Clinton to help the poorest families. Paul Krugman on twitter “This is big…”
http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/10/11/13237160/hillary-clinton-child-tax-credit
And here’s Trump’s ideas on the same topic.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2016/10/11/donald_trump_would_raise_taxes_on_single_parents.html
Hillary kickstarted the Syrian war, approved WMD, regime change and murder of children,
http://www.dcclothesline.com/2016/05/03/pulitzer-prize-winning-journalist-hillary-approved-sending-sarin-gas-to-rebels-to-frame-assad-start-syrian-war/
In April of 2013, Britain and France informed the United Nations that there was credible evidence that Syria used chemical weapons against rebel forces. Only two months later, in June of 2013, the United States concluded that the Syrian government did, in fact, use chemical weapons in its fight against opposition forces. President Obama immediately used this chemical attack as a pretext for invasion and authorized direct U.S. military support to the rebels, according to the White House.
Since the US has been funding these ‘moderate rebels’ more than 250,000 people have been killed, over 7,600,000 have been internally displaced, and 4,000,000 other human beings have been forced from the country entirely.
All of this death and destruction carried out by a sadistic army of rebels who’ve been funded and armed by the United States government, based on, what we are now told, was a complete fabrication.
World renowned journalist Seymour Hersh has revealed, in a series of interviews and books, that the Obama Administration falsely blamed the government of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad for the sarin gas attack that Obama was trying to use as an excuse to invade Syria.
As Eric Zuesse explained in Strategic Culture, Hersh pointed to a report from British intelligence saying that the sarin that was used didn’t come from Assad’s stockpiles. Hersh also said that a secret agreement in 2012 was reached between the Obama Administration and the leaders of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, to set up a sarin gas attack and blame it on Assad so that the US could invade and overthrow Assad.
+100 Grim…Assad and the Russians especially Putin get blamed for everything by the Western US driven mainstream media…It is Orwellian. Reverse everything they say and you are nearer the truth
…some now say the msm is dead in the water as far as credibility
Assad started the war by attacking civilian demonstrators….he uses gas and barrel bombs. If you want him as a friend Chooky he’s all yours.
Assad started the war?!….I don’t think so…you are spouting another msm myth !!!!!
https://www.rt.com/shows/crosstalk/362204-syria-russia-us-relations/
Normal USA policy. Just like the Vietnam war’s Tonkin Gulf incident. Used as a justification for committing US armed forces in Vietnam, later revealed to be a fabrication. Why is anyone surprised about this? And is Bearded Git claiming that such dishonesty is justified (by other propaganda stories)?
And you’re spouting Russian bullshit propaganda!
Everybody wins!
(And it did begin with the Arab Spring as a civil war without active involvement by the US or Russia as per: http://www.iamsyria.org/conflict-background.html)
Hersh also said that a secret agreement in 2012 was reached between the Obama Administration and the leaders of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, to set up a sarin gas attack and blame it on Assad so that the US could invade and overthrow Assad.
His claim would have a bit more credibility if the US had invaded and overthrown Assad. As for Hillary Clinton “kick-starting’ this civil war, it started in 2011 – anything the US government was up to in 2012 was about response to an existing conflict, not about starting one.
It’s getting so you can’t tell whether the smear campaign’s a left-wing or right-wing one. The linked article strikes me as having been written by left-wing nutjobs, but it could just as easily have been written by their right-wing equivalents.
well yes, exactly, you can’t tell because there is no difference, they work for the same masters, Hillary is a hawkish neocon accepting millions from corporate interests and known terrorist sponsors, http://imgur.com/a/GS8bb
yet this doesn’t matter because she has a vagina, so she gets the liberal vote, even though she shafted Sanders, Trump is a sexist “selfmade man” (yeah right) who will return America’s manhood , so he gets the red-blooded vote, and disenfranchised and disgusted with establishment vote.
Meanwhile 3rd party candidates who could be less connected and less corrupt don’t get a mention, media circus keeping the spotlight on the 2 selected options.
Both Bill Clinton and Trump have flown on Epsteins rape jet, Bill Clinton 26 times, neither Hillary or Trump are President Material, but the left here continue to post Hillary support, why?
I wouldn’t call it “support” for Hillary Clinton – like most of the other people here, I’d have preferred Sanders got the nomination, not that that was ever likely. It’s just mystification that supposedly left-wing people have the same visceral hatred for her that rwnjs do, and repeat the same smears.
But you’re the one framing things:
“supposedly left-wing people”
so left wing people should give her a free pass?
is that what left wing is now? blind obedience?
“same visceral hatred”
Holding Hillary up to that same scrutiny as Trump doesn’t require hate,
depicting anyone not supporting Hillary as hate filled, there’s a word for that.
“repeat the same smears”
Is Hillary clean?
The whole phasing of your reply stinks, makes me question your integrity and motives, I don’t trust you.
+1 Grim
Yeah, the emotionally-distraught, nostril-flaring hysteria of Hillary apologists over recent weeks has been something to behold:
Clinton critics here have simply highlighted her uber-Hawkish/Neo-Con foreign policy stance (both before and especially during her stint as Sec of State) as well as the degree to which she is deeply compromised and embedded within the Corporate Status-Quo.
Tragically, this appears to have shocked some of our more naïve innocents-abroad into a wild hyperbolic frenzy, throwing verbal punches like drunken sailors and, in PMs case, accusing Clinton critics of exhibiting “visceral hatred” towards his idol.
One or two, after scratching their heads for quite some time in a highly bewildered fashion, can only explain the critique of Clinton’s abysmal record by recourse to the concept of misogyny.
Others seem to see it all as some sort of diabolical conspiracy devised between the Left and Right fringes against a deeply-wronged woman with an exemplary record, while TheExtremist (at 20) takes a more magnanimous line, helpfully pointing out that we’re probably mistaken to see her as “the anti-Christ”.
Fear of Cognitive Dissonance seems to underpin all of this outrageously over-the-top delirium.
Awwwww, that was my one and only troll-like comment for the day and I haven’t even managed to get a bite yet. You’re no fun, you lot.
lol typing takes time
Best apology I’ve seen is this,
Besides, the people I know in the US who will vote Clinton because they have to, have a better anti-capitalist analysis and activism than much of what I see here (although to be fair, most of what I see here comes from CV and Chooky, so it’s not going to be hard to beat ).
The whole if you challenge pro-Trumpesque attacks on Clinton you must support Clinton is some of the laziest, dishonest debate I’ve seen on ts. Kind of weird seeing you indulge in that.
Swordfish is accurate with that assessment
It’s not indulging, it was pointing out the attitudes and events surrounding the on-going electoral discussions on this site
You managed only to point to CV and Chooky, when there are many others who have been at eachothers necks over this
Agendas….They’re all valid but they’re seldom honest!
Any analysis that lumps all of Clintons critiques on ts into a single group and says they were ‘simply’ doing something is bogus. Pity SF started with that, and given that CV has been pushing an agenda pretty hard that is anything but a simple analysis of warmongering and status quo, my response to them stands. This is the dishonest bit, where people feel the need to make out x or y. We could instead have had some debate that took us somewhere useful.
CV puts up a post saying that lots of people still support Trump because they’re disenfranchised by neoliberalism and often makes out that lefties (see, another prejudicial and unhelpful lumping of people) are stupid. Well duh to the first bit, it’s not rocket science, and the second bit is just stupid (but Trumpish).
But you are right, I’ve stayed out of it for the most part in the past few month or so, because I find the way the debate is being conducted unhelpful. I’m more interested in US anti-capitalist American activists and what their take is and why their fear of Trump far outstrips their fear of Clinton*. Anti-Clinton or Pro-Trump commenters here can make out that those people are [insert simple-minded insult of choice] but that’s just more of the bullshit.
The clock is ticking, time we grew up.
*and because this apparently needs SPELLING OUT IN BIG FUCKING BOLD, that statement isn’t a statement of support for Clinton, and it doesn’t mean that Trump voters don’t have genuine concerns. FFS.
Weka, you’re in the wrong place if you’re looking for inspirational debate, IMO
There are but a small handfull of commentators that seem to be genuinely interested in posting comments that are anything other than juvenile drivel point scoring
That some of the authors engage in the same through articles is in extremely poor taste in my opinion, while being somewhat an insight to the ‘average political enthusiast’
Again you single out CV but you fail to do the same to TRP who has an obvious agenda, and not a particularly positive one if the articles are areference point
The frustration you carry is understandable, but it’s an anonymous blog site so you get all angles along with ‘professional interference’
For sure there is some very good stuff gets written on this site, and there are some thoughtful commentators, but at best the tone will remain static or continue to regress, because that is the level of the ‘average person’
We can choose what we like and don’t like, but acceptance should always be neutral either way
+1 weka.
“The whole if you challenge pro-Trumpesque attacks on Clinton you must support Clinton is some of the laziest, dishonest debate I’ve seen on ts. “
A big call, but well said.
And a lovely troll it was too swordfish 🙂
One or two, after scratching their heads for quite some time in a highly bewildered fashion, can only explain the critique of Clinton’s abysmal record by recourse to the concept of misogyny.
Guilty as charged. Well, the first half of the sentence anyway.
My conclusion is: the hard hatted from both sides have spoiled their arguments by grossly over-egging them. For my part, the choice boils down to a mentally unstable lout and an establishment robot with a few hawk-like propensities. I have to go with the robot because at least there is a chance that commonsense, integrity and diplomacy will eventually win the day.
How about going with the lout, taking the chance that he won’t push the button, especially when he’s got *people* around him, and does have moments of lucidity from time to time? The guy’s certainly some kind of “…path”, for sure. He’s a total fucking fruit loop. But he does like talking. My bet is that he’s less of a chance of taking out another country than Clinton is. North Korea, for example. Clinton’s stuck to establishment rules. Trump’s a complete fuck up. But I think he’s less of a risk than Clinton when it comes to unnecessary loss of lives overseas.
No, I think what’s surprised me personally is how Clinton “critics” insist on inventing and recycling easily debunked lies about Clinton, be it concerning her career as a lawyer, her career as secretary of state, or the work of the Clinton Foundation (which has a very high rating on the amount of money that goes towards actual good deeds, and from which none of the Clintons receive any funds).
If Clinton were as bad as all that, you wouldn’t need to invent stuff.
Whereas Trump’s financial and personal behaviour is well-documented and often broadcast live.
Yeah it’s all ‘invented and debunked’
The mental gymnastics of some on this site is so twisted and confused it’s not readily apparant as being personal exposure or simply the words of those with very limited thinking capacity
Potentially one and the same
+1 on the mental gymnastics – I wrote that Clintonhaters invented easily debunked lies, not that all of it was invented.
There are good criticisms of Clinton, some criticisms that frankly might be true but over here we don’t have the information to call it either way, as stuff that I outright think is cynically invented.
Solid criticisms: Drone use, especially against US citizens (which adds an extra level of illegality). Although Trump wants to expand it to include innocent relatives.
Expansion of SOCOM’s activities throughout the world.
Use of the personal server – although it’s not the treason-level error some here seem to suggest. And Trump’s idea of a targeted political prosecution is outrageous.
Economic conservatism – although hopefully Sanders put enough of a firecracker under the DNC to shift her a bit. And Trump is much more economically 19th century.
Maybe:
Whitewater – no idea on the facts, but lawyers be lawyers.
How much she knew about WJClinton’s behaviour after the fact. I don’t give a shit about the affairs, including Lewinsky, but there is at least one solid rape allegation against him.
Invented:
the idea the Clintons had any role in the deaths of any of their assistants over the last 30 years. Vince Foster comes to mind, but ISTR another corpse some conservatives were wanking over.
Quid pro quo of state department decisions in return for donations to Clinton Foundation or speaking fees for WJC. In the few instances where that *might* have been a possibility, the state department decisions were in line with previous policy and decisions from other departments. Nobody bribes someone to make the decision they were going to make anyway.
HRC “aiding and abetting” WJC in some sort of serial rapist career.
Basically anything Trump says.
If she was going up against anyone except Trump, the solid and the maybes would be seriously damaging. As it is, even the invented slurs look (at worst) equivalent to a guy who owns a beauty pageant and walks in on 15yo girls getting undressed.
…in PMs case, accusing Clinton critics of exhibiting “visceral hatred” towards his idol.
It sounds like hyperbole, but that’s what it looks like to me when we have people referring to her as Killary, or implying that she’s murdered people who know the real truth about whatever the current right-wing Clinton smear de jeur is, or generally spouting deranged gibberish like “Hillary kickstarted the Syrian war” and “approved … the murder of children.” By American standards she’s a pretty liberal candidate – if you want a candidate left-wingers can be proud of, don’t look to the Democratic Party is all I can say.
Also, what McFlock said.
+100 swordfish…a very sensible comment
…depicting anyone not supporting Hillary as hate filled, there’s a word for that.
Most of the “support” for Hillary Clinton on this site is at the not-particularly-enthusiastic level of considering her the lesser of two evils. The only people I’m depicting as hating her are the ones who go on big rants about her, peddling right-wing talking-point smears, or accusing her of starting wars and having children murdered.
Is Hillary clean?
I’d be astonished if anyone could make it to the top in US politics and still be described as clean. What matters is whether investigations have ever uncovered anything concrete – they haven’t, and we’re talking about one of the most-investigated people on the planet. If anyone subjected you to that level of investigation for decades, how clean would you be at the end of it?
Can’t you Clinton fans see how much of a warmonger she is? It beggars belief that you can’t see past all her bullshit.
I don’t think anyone here is a Clinton fan. That’s just bullshit you invented. Anti-Trump doesn’t equal pro-Hillary
Well I guess anyone who think Hillary uses or has a black op for sarin is hardly going to be a Hillary supporter. But they sure are deluded, and probably think the CIA carried out 9/11.
The allegation is simply ridiculous crap. Even the Russians don’t believe it.
So no I don’t think Hillary is a crazed war monger, even if the rest of you do.
TheExtremist66 says, “I don’t think anyone here is a Clinton fan. That’s just bullshit you invented. Anti-Trump doesn’t equal pro-Hillary”
Wayne says, “So no I don’t think Hillary is a crazed war monger, even if the rest of you do.”
How do they fit together wayne? Mistake or deliberate because it was pretty basic to understand but I also get that sometimes comments are put in reply to the wrong person – I really hope that is the answer.
I don’t think Hillary is a crazed war monger, even if the rest of you do.
Stupid comment Wayne. I’ve been following the arguments on this site closely and the actual number of individuals describing Clinton in such terms is small – albeit their contributions have been prolific in number. The rest have tried to be fair and measured, and their contributions cannot be described as ridiculous crap even if one doesn’t agree with them.
There is no point trying rationalise it, Garibaldi
A number of commentators here are simply not up to an elementary level of logical and critical awareness that might assist them in life, let alone assessment and understanding through innate senses
‘Expecting’ reasonable dissemination from all but a small handul would be unrealistic
See, you’re doing dishonest too. The only way to characterise PM as a Clinton fan is to lie about him. Fuck that for political discourse.
“A number of commentators”
Generic slurs too. People need to man and woman up and take the fight to who they’re actually talking about
Weka I notice that you’re big on letting people know when they have taken your comments the wrong way and respond by ‘putting words in your mouth or interpreting your ‘thoughts’ incorrectly
That being said I would appreciate if you could explain your above response because you appear to have done that which you pull other up on when you feel that’s happened to you
So please explain my ‘ dishonesty’ and where the ‘generic slur’ is anything other than a factual observation
FYI. I’m not in ‘a fight’ that is not what I am about. The final comment is low grade projection!
+100 One Two and Garibaldi
+ 32.5% x -1.32 Chooky
Can’t you Clinton fans see how much of a warmonger she is?
Which Clinton fans are you addressing? I haven’t seen any enthusiastic Clinton supporters on the Standard.
Still, leaving that aside, how much warmongery should these hypothetical Clinton fans be recognising in her? Is it more or less than previous US presidents? Unless the answer’s “More by shitloads!”, it comes under the heading of “Meh.”
If you’re labouring under the delusion that a Democratic Party candidate for PotUS must be left-wing, please cease your labours. If they were, they wouldn’t be the candidate (for a recent example, see Bernie Sanders).
A revolution to democratise and transform the modern economy?
In the Keiser Report (second half) is a catch up with Kim Dotcom. In this discussion Kim Dotcom gives an update on his copyright court case which is going well for him
… and discusses his potentially revolutionary Bitcache and Mega Upload 2
…which will utilise and promote Bitcoin and make it easier for creative people to get some remuneration directly for their work
Episode 978
https://www.rt.com/shows/keiser-report/362334-uk-economy-bitcache-banks/
…”In the second half, Max talks to Kim Dotcom about Bitcache, a company for which he is an evangelist. They discuss bitcoin, bittorrents and copyright cartels”.
Y’all gotta see this:
Trump and Clinton duetting “I’ve had the time of my life” . . . . As ZH notes . . .”It may well be the best thing to come out of Tuesday’s debate . . .”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB2zoidUeLU&feature=youtu.be
Absolutely hillarious. Especially if you watched the actual “debate”.
(But the site may be overloaded at the moment . . . .)
lol…yes well worth watching!
I had that damn tune squirming around in my mind all day after watching that the other day (though it was indeed worth it). Be warned!
“(But the site may be overloaded at the moment . . . .)”
Im pretty sure Youtube has enough bandwidth that you dont need to worry.
Anne “safe pair of hands do nothing” Tolleys answer to poverty is to load the poor up with more debt by offering them loans for essential items which use to be provided by MSD/WINZ, is now going to be privatised.
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/42-million-community-finance-boost-benefit-more-low-income-earners
Maybe the cunning plan for doing this is, it will impoverish them so much that they’ll just have to abandoned their home because they’ll not be able to afford to pay the rent! Then they’ll remove them from the benefit & Stat’s, which will improve the govt. unemployment data?!
The dismantling of the Social Contract with the NZ Government is and has been underway for sometime. First they dis-empowered the Social Welfare Act by stripping pretty much every entitlement from the Act and placing rediculous conditions in place as well as restricting a persons “Right” to support from the State to bare minimums. Less than an ordinary citizens ability to provide for themselves & family members.
This government has to go this time next year or sooner!
Interesting/worrying article that claims Trump is a fascist. No, really, literally a fascist. Goes through a 14 point checklist.
Also throws passing knocks to Clinton and the current US situation, but focusses on Trump.
Good read thanks. Where does the ‘Ur’ come from? (I haven’t read the Eco article)
I think it’s probably the German word, which is added to existing words to help differentiate the old meaning from the new. Kind of like quasi or neo.
ooo that’s my learning for the day 🙂
Every day’s a learning day at The Standard 😉
The German prefix ‘Ur-‘ if my memory serves me correctly means ‘Original, from the beginning’. Not quasi (pretend, as if) and more the opposite of ‘neo’ (new). Are we learning the right things?
Found the original Eco article.
Hurts my brain 🙂
Not sure why he calls it “Ur-fascism”. There’s a certain rhyming quality with “et-ER-nal”, of course, but my guess is that he is also referencing it with the ancient (extremely, one of the earliest known) city of Ur. That could just be me over-analysing it, of course, but it sort of emphasises the eternal nature of fascism.
Ur – is more to denote old or even ancient.
the City of UR has nothing to do with that.
Ur (root), a common root word in the Basque language. Ur (rune) (ᚢ), a letter of the runic alphabets. Ur-, a German prefix meaning “original or primitive”
Eco here:
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/1995/06/22/ur-fascism/
I really recommend it. It’s systematic in identifying the distinguishing features of a practised ideology (Eco was a semiotician) and helps get past all that “You’re Godwinning!” “Nah, you are!” nonsense.
Oh, snap, McF
And just like that….
https://twitter.com/mkarolian/status/785961405543436288
Authoritarianism of any strip is the enemy of the people. I remember an old lecturer doing a list of what is a fascist, and ironically enough the one person who fitted that list was Ronald Reagan. I find the comparison between Trump and Reagan to quite illuminating. I see I’m not alone thinking Trump is rally the true hair (pun intended) of R.Reagan.
http://www.politicususa.com/2015/12/28/reagan-started-gops-fascism-destroying-america.html
Indigenous Peoples Day (or “Columbus Day” if you prefer to idolise genocidal slavers) in the USA:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/11/native-american-rights-protesters-hit-by-truck-nevada
http://bismarcktribune.com/news/state-and-regional/arrests-made-at-st-anthony-protest-sites/article_ba8d2aab-cf9c-5fa1-a268-46661bb51966.html
I support the protesters but…
it was the agitators among the protesters that escalated and began the threatening language, banging on the vehicle and threatening to drag the driver out and “fuck him up”
so media being dicks and reporting one side once again, the drive was a dick but the protesters turned it into a situation.
longer video close up of the exchange, idiots on both side, hate crime my ass, Self indulgent arrogant wankers who place their rights above others, I’m talking about both parties.
https://twitter.com/i/web/status/785798504534814722
Grim – you; “support the protesters but” then immediately blame them proking for the vehicular assault? Your proof for this is a link to a twitter account that posts a truncated portion of video alongside the comment (by someone who thinks Mel Gibson’s image lends his ramblings the precise air of class he deserves):
However, I can access online video too, and this 4:31s video puts the lie to your Very Australian Mate’s words. You can clearly see the white ute drive by at 0:14s “yelling obscenities,” exactly as Taylor Wayman said. They do not reappear again until the 2:50s mark – that is demonstrable premediatation.
https://www.facebook.com/100010016970938/videos/349103885433508/
Now I can’t hear them over the revving of the motor, but I’ll take Wayman’s word for it that the driver did say; “Do you want me to kill your homies?” I think we can all see why that “really set everybody off,”. Homicidal jerks around toddlers do tend to provoke a violent response in those being threatened.
Did the “protester” that leaned into the truck threaten the driver? yes or not?
was the “protester” in question a part of the actual protest?
Read what I wrote and don’t be so quick to defend the innocents, your white knight mentality is interfering with reason, and as I said
“Self indulgent arrogant wankers who place their rights above others, I’m talking about both parties.”
Both parties, I wasn’t attacking one side but both for their shared stupidity.
Did you watch the video I linked? if you did you would have clearly heard the driver being threatened, in your video did the protesters bang on the truck in a violent manner? you are being dishonest.
Here is a simple question, if you can’t answer it don’t reply
q: did the truck come to a full stop and after it stopped did the protesters threaten the occupants lives?
(hint re-watch the video I linked with the sound turned on then you will hear:
when one protest is shouting “do you want to fight me” and the other protester shouts “I’ll fuck you up” repeatedly, guy in the brown jacket then another shouts “I’ll tear you outa that car you little fuck” ) about the same time someone on a megaphone is telling the others to hold their ground.
Now if you re read what I wrote, I am anti pipeline, but question wether the agitator or “agent provocateur” was a member of the actual protest, was it so important to block one lonely truck? no, the only impact stopping one truck with 2 young idiots would have is if you turn it into an incident, are your fine with that tactic, endangering lifes because the end justifies the means, it stinks of manipulation, which is dishonest, but your ok with that are you?
I watched the 59s clip on the Very Australian Man’s twitter account. I am not impressed by your argument. This was premeditated vehicular assault as you’ll see if you bother to watch the 3:41s video I to which I linked.
Those around the white ute were indeed acting aggressively – but I would argue that was in response to a threat on their own and children’s lives. Wayman seems credible when he says; “I heard the driver ask one of the protesters, ‘Do you want me to kill your homies?’ and that really set everybody off,”…
Who intentionally drove a tonne-plus vehicle into a crowd that included children?
Who ended up in hospital?
Didn’t answer the question did you?
so what makes Wayman sound credible? he is not a member of the protest organization, an unaccountable individual with no history, or references.
At what time did the driver threaten to kill?
‘Do you want me to kill your homies?
that sounds like a reply to something already said, think about it. use some logic.
The only “witness saying that the driver threatened the protesters and this set off everyone… hmm if it set off everyone surely other protesters, and not just some random guy that turned up on the day who is not really part of the group… anybody from the actual organisation hear it, they must have if it really set them off and “justified” their behavour?
but no, we have 2 videos released showing opposing views, both must have come from the protesters, and supposed protesters, why release the conflicting videos? Tell me… what traction in social media would this protest on a deserted street have had if this incident wasn’t created? zero would you have posted a clip of a failed protest that had zero impact? no
Could you help me here is “I will fuck you up” escalating or deescalating language?
To repeat myself from yesterday:
The two videos do not show; “opposing views”, they were taken from different cameras and show different angles of the same events. Sure; “I will fuck you up”, is; “escalating language”. However, the protestors did not; ” block one lonely truck”, the driver of this vehicle actively sought out this confrontation.
I take it this is the question that you think I did not answer (or at least not in a way you could comprehend); “did the truck come to a full stop and after it stopped did the protesters threaten the occupants lives? “. I do not believe that it is accurate to say that the vehicle came; “to a full stop”. But if you want to test that then; next time you drive up alongside a police car at an intersection, rev your motor repeatedly and lurch forward several times into the pedestrian crossing and see what their opinion is of your driving (warning – do not actually do this!).
The remainder of your question is already answered this morning by my linking to the 3:41s video, and the statement: “Those around the white ute were indeed acting aggressively – but I would argue that was in response to a threat on their own and children’s lives”.
But while we’re on the topic of not answering question, let me repeat mine:
Who intentionally drove a tonne-plus vehicle into a crowd that included children?
Who ended up in hospital?
Here’s a hint:
http://www.rgj.com/story/news/crime/2016/10/10/driver-plows-through-reno-protesters-under-arch/91883894/
They did stop one lonely truck, any other vehicles on the road? no
what is the likely payoff from stopping a couple of idiots out for an evening drive? could be meth-heads or drunk, they have already indicated they are dicks
The smart thing to do would have been to deescalate the situation and give them some literature and allow them to pass, could have won over new supporters, did they act smart? no,
you may notice the people escalating the situation were safely beside the truck, not the real protesters.
Would I have placed loved ones in harms way? especially when there is no gain,
what were they thinking?
A sailboat may have right of way over an oil tanker, doesn’t make it smart to wear your righteousness as a shield and expect the tanker to stop for you.
You are so damned intent on defending and being the hero you fail to understand what I wrote, and have repeatedly tried to paint me as a villain to justify your attempts at being the true hero, grow up.
So no answer to my questions then? Another one is, what do you consider a; “real protester”, to be?
http://www.rgj.com/story/news/crime/2016/10/11/update-reno-arch-incident/91903256/
You are very quick to judgement on my motivations for posting, but I would remind you that you are responding to my comment and not the other way around. I have made no claims to me being a hero, nor you a villain (though I might make that claim about the Very Australian Man twitter account to which you linked).
Anyway, this thread has been giving me the venue to keep updating the situation for those interested without obtruding on today’s OM. I’m willing to keep it going as long as you are.
what do you consider a; “real protester”, to be?
A:
A member of the organization holding the protest,
How do we know Taylor Wayman is not an agent provocateur planted there to make the protesters look bad? or have another agenda?
Yes the truck guys did shout out obscenities, that is clearly heard in one of the videos, what is not heard is the threat to kill homies, or any mention of when exactly it was said, I find this strange as the incident was captured from at least to angles with good audio, when it suited.
So somehow the escalating language is not audible even though it set everybody off?
And the only witness mentioning the threat is not accountable and his actions don’t reflect directly on the organization, as he was a guy that just decided to turn up.
Contrariwise:
How do we know Taylor Wayman is not an alien shapeshifter planted there to mindcontrol the encounter? or have another agenda?
The answer to both questions is that; we consider the evidence. You have your opinion that these were not “real protesters”, and that they were somehow asking for it. I do not agree.
Let’s take your example of; “A sailboat may have right of way over an oil tanker, doesn’t make it smart to wear your righteousness as a shield and expect the tanker to stop for you”. If a protestor were to be picketing an oil operation and were run down in violation of the law, would you expect the relevant authorities to charge the captain of the oil tanker for that crime?
I don’t know how many protests you’ve attended. But in my experience; the most successful are those which inspire people who were not previously affiliated with the organisation to join in. We didn’t always get permission to protest either. It is the act of protesting that makes one a protester, not the documentation one possesses.
While we’re on the topic, I’d just like to point out that I think that the need to pay for permits to protest is a form of suppression of expression. I don’t much like the idea of free-speech zones and kettling either.
http://www.rgj.com/story/news/crime/2016/10/11/update-reno-arch-incident/91903256/
In this case it might have been appropriate for police to warn protestors off the road, and arrest those who didn’t comply (and face having the images of that put online – which might have been the intention). It is not appropriate for vigilante hoons to blatantly disregard the law and drive straight into the protestors having themselves deliberately chosen to provoke the confrontation.
It’s not like this is the only group ever to block the archway during a protest. Their error seems to be that there wasn’t enough of them – so thugs thought they could be intimidated with impunity. Look at this Black Lives Matter protest from July for contrast:
http://www.rgj.com/story/news/2016/07/15/black-lives-matter-marchers-gather-unr/87158418/
good on Woodley. She apparently shouted out to the MSM when she was being arrested. Maybe they’ll take notice of a Hollywood star.
Here’s the vid, long, 4million views so far. “the riot police are arriving”
https://www.facebook.com/ShaileneWoodley/videos/624178791076838/
Background to this is that the court declined the Standing Rock injunction on the pipeline and released it on the eve of Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
Good news is that the federal authorities soon afterwards reiterated that they continue to oppose the pipeline passing under the lake. Very interesting approach in their statement,
http://nativenewsonline.net/currents/after-court-decision-feds-still-want-pause-in-dapl-construction/
And another Clinton scandal falls away in the sunlight:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/scandal-wikileaks-reveals-hillary-clinton-to-be–reasonable/2016/10/10/bbad509c-8f19-11e6-9c52-0b10449e33c4_story.html?postshare=2481476188001767&tid=ss_fb&utm_term=.6a67d7ed8dcb
Look, I don’t like her either. In fact, I can’t stand the woman and would have loved to see Bernie leading the way but conspiracy and invective isn’t going to change the fact she will more than likely become president and probably isn’t the anti-christ.
On the other hand, it will be fun watching the Repugs swallowing the lesson that continually smearing someone for 25 years results in that person being elected president.
“Repugs”. Great name
credit to RedLogix (I think)
A mayor for the people?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/wanganui-chronicle/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503426&objectid=11726197
Good luck to him, hope he manages what he sets out to do, will be watching him with interest.