Lucky Anthony, the Boodle Boodle Boodle album is rare, unless they've started re-pressing them. A few years ago I declined buying one for $100 at a second hand Cuba St. store and still regret it to this day.
Oh cheers reply matey. Amongst my vinyl ( I know : ) I have it…Echo Records …..price on it $6.99.
That song and the Dunedin sound…Flying Nun.. still awesome today.
I met up some Americans while back..they saying that Flying Nun still highly rated on American Student Radio. Quality. Was a cool thing to read Jacinda connection
Straight men, just so you know you’re not exempt. You will be expected to be sexually attracted to trans women, and because self ID means any man who says he’s a woman is a woman and thus trans, you will have to learn to be gay. Think this isn’t happening? Lesbians have been at the brunt of this now for years, it’s called the cotton ceiling.
To be *very clear, this isn’t trans people generally. This is trans activists and gender identity ideologists. Trans people obviously have concerns about whether people won’t date them because of actual transphobia, but what’s happening here is that male bodied people are telling lesbians they have to learn to like girl dick. Next up, straight men will have to learn to like girl dick or be branded transphobic. Don’t worry, there are workshops now that will teach you.
if all that seems outlandish, it is. It’s also rape culture and the identity left is endorsing it. Think it won’t affect ordinary people? It’s now at policy level in the UK, and there is a big push to say sexual attraction is based on gender identity not sex. This means there is no such thing as homosexuality (or heterosexuality), so it’s also a homophobic position. In NZ there is a push to replace sex with gender identity in other areas (eg Stats NZ), we will see if the gender identity sexuality ideology takes hold here.
If this becomes the line then they’ve lost. Depressing as it is, people don’t listen to women or LGB people. They do listen to straight men.
— Frances Weetman 🇺🇦 (@francesweetman) June 12, 2022
Challenging trans ideology is clearly having an impact. The clip below is recent, and yet the trans protagonists are carrying on as if there has been no research that emphatically questions the safety of 'affirming' therapies. There's a strong hint of the cornered cat about the presenter…and the professionals who proffer their opinions on some US states severely restricting or criminalising medicalised therapies for gender dysphoric children are almost creepy. They are coming across as a cult.
Blows my mind that some people appear to not have educated themselves about what happens with gender reassignment surgeries, what the complication rates are, the lack of research showing outcomes. I mean I get it on one level, reading about the surgeries is challenging for many I think (myself included) but reading about the complications is full on. If one believes that surgery is useful for teens, all that can be ignored I guess. I suspect there's a fair amount of superficial acceptance of trans humanism too, and that medicine is Good therefore this must be too.
Weird though, because Bee must have a research team, and it's not hard to find out the arguments against child and teen medical/surgical transition.
The other aspect though is that in the US there really are reasons to be concerned about Republicans passing anti-trans laws. Is the law the dude mentions really saying no to 'gender-affirming health care' for youth? Is that a euphemism for surgery and hormones? Or does it apply to all trans specific health care for people transitioning? Let's not forget these are the same legislators that are removing abortion rights.
Is that a euphemism for surgery and hormones? Or does it apply to all trans specific health care for people transitioning? Let's not forget these are the same legislators that are removing abortion rights.
These laws are very sensibly putting the brake on the rampant medicalisation of gender dysphoria and will protect children/youth from being experimented on by those creepy vivisectionists. Claiming that there is a 'right' to such 'treatments' is disingenuous. The trans activists are (again) coat tailing on other legitimate battles for rights…such as the availability of safe abortion services. As they are wont to do.
depends on what is being banned. If someone has had surgery they will need medical care afterwards, sometimes for a long time. Is that banned too? What if they need surgery to remedy complications? Are they still allowed to get hormone prescriptions if already on hormones? What if they just want counselling but not drugs and surgery?
None of that is explained. Both sides (Bee and Republicans) are as bad as each other. It's all rhetoric and I don't trust either of them. So sure, we can be thankful that there is a brake, but we should also be looking at what should be put in place instead.
Some conservatives will be wanting to protect children, some will be wanting to remove trans people from society.
ok I watched the first few minutes and am stopping now, because it's basically propaganda. I do think there are problems with what Republicans are doing, but the solution isn't to allow free-for-all transition. The whole 'all medical people agree' is such bullshit, and the fact that in NZ people are trying to stop a conference on gender therapy for youth because it's taking a critical look at the affirmation only model tells me that backlash can be expected against trans people. Because there is no public mandate for this, and otherwise liberal/left leaning people will support bans because that's the only way to stop things now.
Unfortunately, as the loudest voices in the Transactivists movement are the autogynephiliacs (the men who are sexually aroused by the thought of themselves as women) and they are mostly heterosexual, they are not sexually interested in straight men. A big part of their paraphilia is identification of themselves not only as women, but as lesbians. Sex with lesbians is seen as an ultimate validation of their being a woman. That is why it is lesbians who are finding their dating sites stuffed full of "transbians", and it is lesbians who are being bullied and blackmailed into accepting their "girldicks".
True. What interests me here is that McKinnon said what they said (in 2018), making it a political position I think. The idea is that people won't sleep with trans people because they think there is something wrong with being trans, but this has now morphed into the rapey, you should ignore someone's body and your own sexual orientation.
I think it's significant that this has been pushed by trans women (males), not trans men (females). AGP is almost certainly part of that, although the need for validation is across all trans people as far as I can tell (hence pronouns and giving birth and wanting to be called a father). AGP trans people have a quite specific need and way of approaching that.
I also think the patriarchal hierarchy is too: people being harrassed in this order: lesbians, gay men, heterosexual men (maybe)
As you point out, this perspective isn't based on the rights of transgender people to live without discrimination, it is proponents of Queer theory coat-tailing on a separate movement to appropriate support and credibility.
The colonisation of sexual orientation organisations with gender identity has been phenomenally successful. Now the initially welcome guest, has taken over the house and unpacking a lot of unwanted baggage.
This unfortunately seems to be initiating a pushback on gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual hard-won rights and acceptance. The baser proponents of Queer theory have been unquestioningly provided with support and platforms. When people realise what they are saying, there will be resistance not only to those ideas, but also unfortunately to the movements that gave them influence.
My disdain remains with the cascade of institutions, politicians and experts who promote all aspects of Queer theory without even the most cursory scrutiny.
There is of course a shedload of $$$$ in the promotion of gender identity. Organisations that used to be funded to promote the rights and protections of same sex attracted people are now almost entirely funded to promote "queer" theory and with it the ideology of gender identity. Plus – particularly in America – which has a "for profit" health system, there is a lot of money to be made from lifelong dependence on artificial hormones and sterilizing and mutilating (removal of healthy tissue) surgeries with very high "complications" rates.
In my recent foray into reading about porn the growing influence of hypno cissy porn has come up multiple times, so it may pay for some to approach your suggestion with caution.
There's now quite a lot I wish I didn't know, although it still seems necessary to have some knowledge on the topic.
Watched the Blair White video. Good points, well made.
TBH, though I can think of a quite a few rad FEMS who could've knocked out those points in a quarter of the time, made a cup of tea, and got down to the nitty-gritty by the halfway point.
Likely my text bias at play.
The great aspect of Blaire White is the extensive reach into a distinctly non-feminist audience that has concerns about specific aspects of gender ideology, combined with the nonchalant waving away of accusations of transphobia.
It was a fair review. Award more stars then I thought it merited.
As a gay man I've been told by activists that "same sex attraction is transphobic" and noticed left wing orgs saying "same gender attraction" and that saying you're only interested in biological makes is transphobic and reducing people to their privates, but that's what the activists are doing.
However, I don't hear trans people saying this, it's almost always thier cis hetero allies on Twitter who say this stuff for social media likes and unfortunately corporations, govt institutions see this and pander to that lot.
I've never met a trans person who thought not wanting to sleep with someone is transphobic my trans friends say "times ain't that tough , I don't need to guilt people into sex" I've only met allies who say this.
Genitals are huge part of being gay. In fact it's 99% of it to a lot of gay men lol.
I find this deeply, deeply homophobic and borderline endorsed conversion therapy.
Ive seen it in lots of discourse.
I couldn't help notice that the ACLU when the overturning people who would be most effected by the overturning of Roe v Wade didn't list women once, in fact it listed the LGBT+ first (not everything is about the LGBT)
This "if you're not attracted to x you're a bigot" is what happens when you constantly update the definitions of bigotry, to me, transphobia is when someone can't get a job, or rent a house because they are trans, it's when you want to demean someone for being trans, it's when you want to hurt someone for being trans, transphobia is not I don't want to sleep with you.
You cannot change someone's sexuality whether they are straight gay bi and to attempt to do so is evil and quite frankly anyone attempting to do so should be charged with attempting conversion therapy, which is illegal.
Unfortunately Corey, as I said above, for the autogynephiliacs, who are constantly seeking "validation" of their identity as a woman through forcing themselves into every women's activity or spaces from bathrooms to knitting groups for their sexual gratification, almost the ultimate (apart from perhaps selection for an Olympic Games women's team) is to blackmail, bamboozle or bully a lesbian into having sex with them.
I find it deeply homophobic too, and am at a loss to understand why progressives support this. Part of it is No Debate and the threat of cancellation and slap downs, but even so it's very odd.
Unfortunately, the messaging is not limited to the Twitter sphere.
Gay, lesbian and bisexual youth seeking information and support from Rainbow Youth NZ and Inside Out (the 2 main well-founded organisations) will also be told that they are same-gender attracted, not same-sex attracted.
The movement that screams about conversion therapy has in yet another linguistic twist, removed any and all sexual orientations – including heterosexual – from consideration. Despite sexual orientation being a protected characteristic in the Human Rights Act 1993.
Rainbow Youth website has zero occurrences of the word "lesbian".
Unfortunately, this damage is compounded by advice – or lack of it – regarding consent with sexual partners. While some noises are made regarding being open, contradictory advice is offered regarding your right to not be 'outed' until you feel it is something you want to do.
There's a whole conversation about the legal charge of Sex by Deception that is avoided
What does this mean for young people inexperienced and uncertain about exploring their sexual nature's? If you want to know research. You will find some young people laughing about their casual sexual partners only discovering their sex, AFTER intimacy. The resultant distress is a source of amusement, as it is viewed as exposing bigotry – an obsession with genitals.
Old school feminists, and old school gay and lesbian rights activists had more accurate names for this practice:
With respect, I really don't think you have the faintest idea who or what "straight" men will or won't go to bed with. Speaking from experience. Whether or not they're open about it is another matter.
Also I'm pretty sure that's not how patriarchy works. You are absolutely entitled to the way you feel about the topic, but framing heterosexual cis-men as being vulnerable parties in the sexual ecosystem is not the strongest argument I've ever heard.
Straight men, just so you know you’re not exempt. You will be expected to be sexually attracted to trans women, and because self ID means any man who says he’s a woman is a woman and thus trans, you will have to learn to be gay.
In fact, I'd go so far as to say that sounds a little like pandering to old school homophobic gay panic, trap stereotypes and fragile masculinity. I'm perfectly open to gender critical points of view and see the validity to them in many contexts, but there is a point when you begin to sound slightly ridiculous.
This is one of those points. That's all I'm going to say on the matter because most debate on the topic is mostly futile here.
I'm aware of the men who sleep with men and don't consider themselves gay. Also aware of the various situations where males are having sex of some kinds with other men. This isn't my point though. My point is about whether people have the right to define their own sexual orientation, and whether straight men realise that calling themselves straight (as in, they will only have sex with females) is transphobic.
I'm also not saying that het men are vulnerable parties in the sexual ecosystem, I'm talking politics. There are lots of reasons why het men take stands against women's politics, I've been surprised but not really surprised about it on gc issues, the transphobia accusations seem relevant to this. But of course het men won't be targeted in the same way that lesbians and gay men are, because patriarchy, sexism, and AGP. This was discussed upthread.
In fact, I'd go so far as to say that sounds a little like pandering to old school homophobic gay panic, trap stereotypes and fragile masculinity. I'm perfectly open to gender critical points of view and see the validity to them in many contexts, but there is a point when you begin to sound slightly ridiculous.
Scratching my head at that. The point here isn't that straight men can't like girldick. It's that people are entitled to their own sexual orientation, including straight men (but, obviously, they get let off the hook).
The left wing GC position is solidly that people can be how they are, be that straight, gay, GNC, trans, whatever. It's not homophobic to point out to straight men that being straight is now considered transphobic. It is homophobic to put political and personal pressure on gay people to have sex with people of the opposite sex. Is that ridiculous? Of course, many aspects of this debate are. If you think it's not happening, you are ill informed. Straight men aren't being targeted, yet, for the reasons already mentioned. I think you missed the pointedness if my comment.
Absurd doesn't even come close to what is happening. Read this and weep if you have any kind of compassion beyond your ideology.
Happy Pride @insideoutkoaro but please please ensure gender questioning people are not kept from important information. It's not all rainbows. https://t.co/moqRtpZk5t
But many have come up against several technical issues. Newshub on Sunday revealed several stories from people who found the process far from simple; from struggles filling out forms, to spending hours trying to grasp the rules and misunderstandings over what was required to re-enter New Zealand.
That needs looking at to see if it's common, or if Shub are exaggerating.
Two is that when the guy approached customs about the one minute early test, this was also declined. That's madness. It's also $160/test, which is a lot of money for some people.
Given that Customs themselves admit there are issues and are making changes – I don't think you can dismiss the complaints in their entirety (quote from the NHub article linked above – my emphasis)
a Customs spokesperson insists the process is "working well" for most travellers coming into New Zealand – although they admit the process has proven challenging for some, and are now making changes to ensure the system is more "user-friendly".
The assumption (prevalent amount civil servants) that everyone is technologically literate (able to upload a picture of a negative test, for example) – is widespread, and has been a demonstrated barrier to service in many areas.
And the fact that the help numbers don't connect (possibly overwhelmed, possibly only staffed during the working day – who knows) is another major issue.
After trying it three times – each of which took around 20 minutes – Rutledge tried calling the help numbers on the page but none of them would connect.
There's quite a short time-window between when you get results pre-departure, and when you have to check into your flight, with all the documentation complete. You really need 'real time' assistance available for when the online process falls over.
Belladonna-I got a good grasp as to the requirements required for both people coming in from NZ/OZ (very few requirements) and people coming in from other countries in 6 minutes on the site below. (not "hours")
I accept that the 48 hours for a PCR test could be a bit iffy-but these days they come back in 24 hours. (I have some experience here; coming back from Darwin a year ago was quite a hassle).
But in any event the requirement now is only for a supervised RAT test which should be no problem at all.
According to the article, the biggest issue isn't the test, it's the challenges uploading the results.
Which, it's clear, Customs have acknowledged and committed to resolve.
And, yes, it's 'easy' to find the requirements online if you have a straightforward situation – but the problem arises, when it's not – and the contact systems (to get in touch with a real person) don't work.
And, really, declining a test result because it was 1 minute outside the time frame – is the sort of decision a computer makes, not a person…..
Are there any complaints about the Customs procedures that you would be prepared to characterise as not whinging?
I think I have got so pissed off with the Covid era oh-so-entitled whingers and the way the Herald and even RNZ have reported them so favourably and without balance (remembering here that the whingers form a tiny tiny percentage of the people coming to NZ) that I've got little tolerance for any whinging at this stage.
I am only slightly taking the mickey when I have said since 2020 that coming in with Covid was the Moaning Minnie Virus where people seem to be moaning because they have a greater possibility of NOT dying of Covid because of the actions of Govt.
We now know, if we did not know it before, that a great proportion of Govt bashing is actually misogyny against the PM both as proxy and personally.
My point is not so much about the whinging but the automatic response of taking it to the media.
I really am not interested in the moans of a person being taken up by the media as if it is newsworthy rather than the sham beating up of the Govt/Ministers that it really is. The issue is minor in the scheme of things. as if you were really hard-up you just would not be travelling around NZ let alone to Australia.
Nah. The truly privileged have PAs, assistants and aides, to sort all of this stuff out for them. Catch them wasting an hour of their lives trying to upload a photo to a Customs website. Not likley. They have 'people' to do all of that for them…
Let us not forget that the media are either run privately, or are 'state-owned enterprises' which means they get run by people from the bloody marketing industry, etc.. Effectively the same. National Radio now runs far more advertising of its own programmes than it used to do because they now do a tiny new news-headline-break on the half-hour at half-past, and follow it with and ad for their own programmes about which we already know, and that ad often lasts as long as the headline-news break did.
(Hint to RNZ – WE DON’T NEED THIS!!)
Our media are biased towards right-wing private enterprise dogma., and will always give big publicity to such whinging about Covid restrictions, 3 Waters, etc – whatever, whether justified or not.
Our news media are not unbiased, and we cannot trust them.
Context is everything.To understand the Ukraine invasion we need to examine the reasons for the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Then we were 2 seconds to midnight on the Doomsday clock. I was 16 ,and not surprisingly I took a close interest in events. The Western newspapers told us that Russia , with no provocation , was sending nuclear missiles to be erected in Communist Cuba ,ninety miles from the United States coast. This act was regarded as a existential threat , and the U.S threatened Russia with a nuclear attack if it did not desist. I watched with horror as the Russian ships approached Cuba with their nuclear missiles onboard . Fortunately the U.S. had a sane leader in John Kennedy, who negotiated with the Russian leader [ Khruschev] and Mutually Assured Destruction was avoided.! However, four years later I learned that that there had been provocation from the U.S. in that they had previously erected nuclear missiles in Turkey, aimed at Russia. ! There had been an agreement struck that the U.S would remove its missiles from Turkey, and Russia would turn around its ships. The U.S had lied to the world about the existence of the missiles in Turkey. Just as they have lied about the Coup De'tat they arranged in Ukraine in 2014 ,overthrowing a democratically elected government.That was the next event that has brought us back to Cuban Missile Crisis Mark 2. What would happen if Russia erected nuclear missiles in Cuba , Mexico, or Venezuela like the U.S. is doing around the borders of Russia??? I have already lived through an event that absolutely threatened to destroy all life on earth. I do not particularly want to do it all again. Russia regards itself to be under a existential threat. They have said so repeatedly. Unless they get security guarantees they will progress things to the point of a nuclear exchange. There is no John Kennedy with his finger on the nuclear trigger in the U.S. this time around!!!
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
[lprent: While probably interesting, accurate, and badly formatted about an event that happened soon after I was born. It really doesn’t address anything in the post. Essentially you appear to be (reading between the lines) arguing that if a government has nuclear weapons then it should be able to do whatever they want.
However you haven’t presented any reasoning why this should be the case. Which means that you aren’t arguing to the post. You are just waffling and appear to be unable to formulate any points worth debating in the context of the post.
OpenMike is the place for post irrelevant ranting. Please read the policy. ]
Mid-term cabinet re-shuffles are more common than not. However, it may well be that Ardern is not quite as in control of the timing, as she would like to be. She will, no doubt be well-aware of the downwards tend of the polls, and Labour do (I believe) a lot of polling of specific issues – so will be aware which Ministers are not being *perceived* as performing well.
Some interesting speculation here, over which MPs are likely to retire at the next election (so may be moving sideways to allow others to gain experience)
I'm delighted to see two of my 'favourites' (Kiri Allan and Kieran McAnulty- and ones I tipped as future leadership potential, last week) – to be touted as potentially able to move into the police role. Regardless of whether or not Williams is doing a good job, she is looking increasingly besieged in the job, and doesn't appear to be dealing well with the media.
I do hope that Ardern brings on new leadership, rather than relying on the increasingly overburdened Hipkins and Woods.
Interestingly (perhaps this is a Wellington issue – so hadn't impinged on my radar) – Paul Eagle is tipped to resign in order to take the mayoralty. He's in Rongotai – Annette King's old seat – so absolutely a safe Labour by-election. I would hope that Szabo and Ardern, are looking towards the future for the selection. Eagle hasn't exactly shone, and you want something more than a solid backbencher in such a safe seat.
Eagle is another failure,a head nodder.Fitzsimons who is not seeking council reelection is picked to be the candidate.She represented wellington south and is disliked by many labour stalwarts in Island bay,over a number of issues and especially the IB cycleway which pissed a whole community off,and grandstanding with the vanity projects that help rape the ratepayers pockets.Another lawyer.
Yes Fleur Fitzsimons is not everyone's cup of tea. She & the mayor got it wrong in my view in supporting the views of those who wanted to deny women the ability to discuss the implications for bio women of the BDM amendment bill/now act. It did not seem to matter to either that the Courts had thrown out the denial of the booking for a space. So not an outstanding person to go to Parliament based on her Council work. Yet Paul Eagle was a very good councillor who, it must be said, has not shone as an MP.
So it is odd how it turns out.
The person who has been working solidly away in Rongotai is Laurie Foon from the Green Party. She would make a good MP. Far better than the rather divisive Fleur Fitzsimons.
Certainly agree with you. Both have done very well over the term of this parliament – and ones to watch for the future.
Part of problem with die-hard Labour supporters, who defend every minister to the death – is that it becomes very difficult to discuss, meaningfully, which ministers are actually stars (combination of competence, public relations and media smarts).
– Hipkins into Police is rewarding successful delivery in COVID with stronger pure political management into Law and Order media which he excels at. Hipkins is the purest of our Pure Politicians and that's what's needed right now.
– Not choosing Nash for Police is a pretty important signal to Nash that he's peaked.
– Williams into Conservation is a useful move since there are so many deep Maori partnerships in National Parks now. Ardern doesn't always get it right and this is a better portfolio fit. Also she has a strong Disability background already.
– Fa'afoi leaving but delivering the merged RNZ-TVNZ to Jackson is a bit of a dream job for Jackson as a broadcasting specialist. What a gift: Don't fuck it up Jackson.
– Wood getting Immigration and keeping Transport and Workplace is a big Rising Star signal that he has excellent risk aerials and commands his briefs.
– Kiri Allen getting Associate Finance not Deb Russell is a bit of s signal Russell has peaked. Russell should have got Revenue long ago: Parker is no good at it.
– Radhakrishnan into Cabinet is a really important community signal of seniority that will not be lost.
– Dr Verrall taking Research Science and Innovation is not a huge step when surely all hands on deck are needed in Health for Little in the ginormous restructure.
– Great to see Mahuta get some help in Foreign Affairs so she can concentrate more delivering 3 Waters which is a core Labour legacy at this point.
– Dr Woods has big calls to make on Energy coming up, so I hope taking more Construction portfolio work doesn't see her lose a step elsewhere.
– Presumably Mallard will get the EU Ambassador role coming up.
Good on Ardern for shuffling a but more than otherwise. It was needed in the circumstances.
Hmm. I don't think it really is more extensive than 'minor'. Most of it is triggered by Faaroi leaving, and Williams being demoted; the consequent promotions into their vacant portfolios, and the subsequent shuffling of the minor roles that those people are vacating (in order to not be totally overwhelmed).
You're outlining many of the issues which have *not* been addressed, in this shuffle.
Ardern has said there will be another shuffle in (I think) January – though that's really too late to make any difference to the legislative programme.
I agree that Nash and Russell should be reading the writing on the wall. Though it can't really be news for either – they've been out of favour for some time.
Cabinet reshuffle today. Finally!!! This is the governments chance for a reset.
If Labour wants a shot at winning 2023 or atleast of having an experienced caucus in opposition it needs to give the 2017 and 2020 class of fresh blood cabinet positions.
I'd personally like to see:
I'd give
Duncan Webb Justice.
Mcnaulty Agriculture.
Nash Police. This is a must.
Kiri Allen regional development.
I'd like Michael Wood to get a promotion but he's performing very well in that portfolio.
Poto Williams Civil defence (she's an mp from Christchurch East, who better for earthquake preparedness)
Ardern foreign affairs (Kirk, Lange and for a time Clark held this portfolio as Pm and tbh Ardern shines while overseas and the more she's overseas not dealing with grumpy NZ media the better she gets in rooms no other NZ pm could dream of,she's our best rep on the world stage )
I'd also shake up education, housing, defence.
Mallard Must Go!!
Id like to see people like Jo Luxon, Marja Lubeck, Ginny Anderson, Tracy McKellen, Shan Halbert Ibrahim Omer, Jamie Strange Rachel Boyak, Steph Lewis Sarah Pallet getting positions, if not cabinet positions ministers out of cabinet or junior minister positions. A lot of these people are in extremely unsafe seats so it could be a risk but more public exposure could help. I mean c'mon, Pallet beat Brownlee in ILAM.
Get David Parker off the Am show, he's not particularly liked by labour members let alone the public. Get Kiri Allen or Grant Robertson on that show.
Keep Debra Russell, Labours version of Maureen Pugh away from Cabinet.
Its very much time for the new blood to take over, currently we have the front bench from labours time in opposition in cabinet, the same backstabbing, unpopular lot who were utterly useless in opposition are unpopular and quite useless in cabinet.
This is labours chance to reset the govt and get a whole bunch of new blood experience.
Also just quietly, for a "Labour party" , there's not many mps in their list that appeal to working class people, they all look like robots with no sense of humour I hope the next labour list is as diverse in class, professions as it is diversity in gender sexuality and ethnicity, we need more real people in politics not more lawyers and uni lecturers who demand to be called Dr.
I'd like to see Kiri Allen take the Police portfolio. I think she's absolutely got the PR skills to front with the media, and the no-bullshit approach to problem-solving, that's needed.
She's also (I get the impression) a lot more popular inside the Labour party than Nash is – so more likely to be able to 'sell' some of the changes which need to happen.
I agree that many of the MPs you list are in very unsafe seats – and I suspect that Szabo and Ardern will be weighing up who's likely to be around after 2023.
The 'robot' description is absolutely true. My local MP is one of the list above – and just about every utterance on social media (a highly important communication platform) is Labour-party-script – literally cut-and-pasted from the policy website or a media release.
Add immigration to your list. Faafoi is looking increasingly uninterested in his portfolios. It seems fairly firmly established that he actually wanted to resign in 2020 – and was persuaded to stay on. I think he’s likely to announce his retirement. And those ministerial portfolios are an ideal environment to break in some new talent.
Mallard won’t resign from being Speaker. And, I think it’s unlikely that Ardern would push him out. Best you can hope for is that he retires at the next election (which has, I think, been fairly strongly signalled). Or that a plum High-Commissioner job suddenly becomes vacant (though diplomacy isn’t exactly his strong suit)
Indeed. I got that one wrong. But got right that he's being parachuted into a diplomatic post in Europe.
Not uncommon for ex-speakers – though usually after they actually retire from politics.
If they had God in every Cabinet seat would it make a difference when the agenda in front of them says 'Three Waters,' and 'He Puapua' ? And the newspapers chucked on the table say 'shootings, gangs, poverty, housing, mental health and health system?'
Oh, and Willie Jackson uses the word 'co-governance.'
Is it about Lawyers, uni lecturers who demand to be called Dr., beer rather than wine and rock not opera?
That was most notably used in New Zealand in David Lange's description of Roger Douglas. It might not have been original but it was both funny and appropriate.
He was a Trojan horse – pretended to be Left to destroy the Labour party – an archetypal dirty trickster. The masses are not to be allowed to vote in their interests, so the Right is constantly in need of Judas goats. Your idol Hosking is one of them.
Well yes. I had noticed that about you. You exhibit that when you make remarks like "Typical of you Tories". I am certainly not a Tory. I am a Liberal in the original meaning of the word.
''If it's your own phrase, why put it in quote marks?''
I thought it might look better.
''Of course you have appropriated the name of the 1979 album by Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Rust Never Sleeps.''
No, I haven't. As far as I knew it was orginal. Obviously I may have picked the phrase up subconsciously. And I notice the word 'socialist' is missing from the name so I may still have an original use of the name.
This sometimes happens with disputes over who originally wrote a song. There are many chord progressions in music that can produce similar results.
There are many good quotes citing rust. Here's a cautionary one for Blade.
"It is not work that kills men: it is worry. Worry is rust upon the blade." Henry Ward Beecher.
All joking and point-scoring aside, that's a powerful statement. How much political and social action, right or wrong, stems from worry, anxiety and its attendant fear?
You seriously expect readers of this forum to believe you came up with the phrase, 'socialists are like rust, they never sleep' on your own without any help from Neil Young and Crazy Horse and the subsequent years of common, celebrated, vernacular use of that term?
You'd have to be a stupid idiot to have never heard the phrase, "Rust Never Sleeps" before, and a real shifty character to believe you in fact thought it up all on your own.
''All joking and point-scoring aside, that's a powerful statement. How much political and social action, right or wrong, stems from worry, anxiety and its attendant fear?''
More than a few, unfortunately.
I would also add that old adage: ''Hard work never killed anyone.''
Excellent. One down. Let's hope the Police Commissioner can draw a not particularly long bow and ask himself would the leadership of his frontline staff and the people of New Zealand move him on if he was in cabinet?
Chris Hipkins unfortunately is just a mechanic who fixes things for Labour. I doubt he has any passion for his new police portfolio. Time will tell.
David Parker is a strange bird. When I look into his eyes, I see a fanatic. I know he can be a vicious operator… but I've never been able to make him out. Ian Wishart dealt to him a number of years back.
Good try to find a negative reason for the reshuffle but it has been flagged for some time and was brought about by resignations of Faafoi and Mallard. The PM also announced that a larger reshuffle will take place in the new year.
If you believe it's all about departing Labour MPs then I have a 3G Sim Card you can have for free.
This from Belladonna’s post above:
”Mid-term cabinet re-shuffles are more common than not. However, it may well be that Ardern is not quite as in control of the timing as she would like to be. She will, no doubt be well-aware of the downwards trend of the polls, and Labour do (I believe) a lot of polling of specific issues – so will be aware which Ministers are not being perceived as performing well.”
"If you believe it's all about departing Labour MPs".
If he believes that I would think you could do a lot better than give him a 3G sim card. Anyone who could believe that would probably pay you a couple of hundred bucks for a 2G card.
Nah, aren't they the ones with electro-magnetic properties requiring tin foil hats and deep state implants run by the Masonic order and the Vatican? I'm writing this from my bunker deep under the Southern Alps with my Italian Alpine Special Forces group. That humming you can hear you think is tinnitus, but's it's not……
It's conjecture, Blade, yours, mine, and Belladonna's. However, I have this on my side. The headline reads, "Labour reshuffle prompted by departure of Faafoi, Mallard".
The sub-heading says "Labour’s long-awaited reshuffle has been triggered today by the departure of senior Cabinet Minister Kris Faafoi and Speaker Trevor Mallard
Today's Cabinet reshuffle has been sparked by the departures of Kris Faafoi and Trevor Mallard."
In addition, note the words 'long awaited' which rather denies your polling pressure argument.
Fair comment, Mac. It is conjecture on my part. But have you considered this:
Labour's poor internal polling can be denied as an excuse for a reshuffle because Labourhad a long-awaited reshuffle in the pipeline. That in itself could have been cunning advanced planning?
And talking of reshuffles, this one doesn't seem minor to me, it's seems quite substantial.
Remember John Tamihere's notorious interview a few years back? The front-bums interview? He said something like this about Labour's sisterhood if I remember correctly:
''While the rest of us are taking our kids to Saturday sports events, they are at the cafe scheming. That's all they do.''
''Quoting Tamihere as a credible backup to your ah, assertions, does not help………''
People sometimes become so focused on the immediate issue they fail to take in a global picture surrounding that issue. I like to sniff around the perimeter. Sometimes it's a wasted effort, more often than not you find a gem or a new perspective. For example, the Tamihere quote about the sisterhood and their scheming. Well, it seems the scheming is still going on, but it's the Maori caucus at the cafe now. And they can see the storm that's coming – the PM may have to move on Nanaia Mahuta and Kelvin Davis at the next reshuffle. Both are costing Labour votes. But any such move will be met with utu from the Maori Caucus.
Oh, I absolutely agree it's all about 'reckons' (I'm not claiming either insider knowledge, or psychic powers!)
And, it is a fairly minor re-shuffle – almost all of the movements have been as the result of Faafoi moving aside (it's not clear when he actually plans to leave parliament – but as a List MP won't trigger a bye-election), and Poto Williams being demoted (she may still be a minister, but it's not a front line portfolio).
The rest of the changes are the fallout from those two.
Mallard leaving is an interesting thing to announce as part of a cabinet re-shuffle. As Speaker, he's not part of the cabinet, and it wouldn't be usual for an announcement for a change to this role to be bundled up with shifting Ministerial portfolios. It's also unusual (I think) for there not to be a specific diplomatic job referenced (certainly both Jonathan Hunt & Lockwood Smith resigned specifically to take up the role of High Commissioner in London)
Hipkins has a criminology degree, he might actually like it. Jan Tinetti, a former school principal and teacher, takes on the operational part of the Education portfolio – handy set of knowledge to have in the wings.
If they can make a difference, Graig, I say all power to them. I don't care who the Minster of Police is or from what party. If he/she can stop innocent people getting hurt, they will have my support.
“If he/she can stop innocent people getting hurt, they will have my support”.
Totally – though you do realise that taking that sentiment at face value would also, say, be a reason for criminalising speculation in residential property which hurts sh*tloads of innocent people by turbocharging asset price inflation and rent rises?
Or are you opposed only to some types of harm – such as those you might potentially suffer rather than those you might potentially inflict?
Very good point AB. Will Blade suddenly emerge as the hero of the poor, underpaid people who try to hold down several low-paid jobs, but still struggle to pay their mercilessly high and raised rents?
''Be a reason for criminalising speculation in residential property which hurts sh*tloads of innocent people by turbocharging asset price inflation and rent rises?''
Don't throw that socialist crap at me. You save that for your buddies who have the same processing chip as you.
Or are you opposed only to some types of harm – such as those you might potentially suffer rather than those you might potentially inflict?
No, I'm opposed to people who break laws on the statute books. Not laws your ideology believes are laws or should be laws.
And I'm for victims not criminals. Something I doubt rarely crosses your mind unless there is some political gain.
More accurate to say Minister Poto Williams remains as a cabinet minister with Customs, according to the Herald. Minister Chris Hipkins picks up the Police role.
But a very significant and substantial demotion.
She wasn't shifted sideways into one of the significant ministerial roles vacated by Faafoi, but definitely down a tier into Conservation and Disability issues (not arguing they aren't important – but not first-raked ministerial portfolios)
Nobody with a grain of sense accepts the word of Muhammad Idrees Ahmad
The good-hearted but woefully ill-informed "Jenny How to Get There" recently commended, with apparent sincerity, one of the most bloody-minded and unhinged proponents of chaos and bloodshed in the Middle East. She did that in the course of a wild, fact-free attempt to traduce one of the most outstanding journalists in America.
Jenny called Idrees Ahmad a "real professor", as if being a "Lecturer in Digital Journalism" at a second-rate university bestowed credibility on that jihadist.
I invite Standard readers to look at the facts about this "real professor" and then judge for themselves, rather than accepting the word of someone who has been wrong too often.
Idrees Ahmad is a fanatical regime change troll who has viciously maligned and lied about anti-war journalists, Idrees Ahmad defended the Trump administration’s bombing of Syria’s Shayrat airbase in April. Before that, Idrees Ahmad was one of the leading cheerleaders for NATO-led regime change in Libya, which destroyed the oil-rich North African country and plunged it into chaos. A contributing editor at the Los Angeles Review of Books, Ahmad phoned AlterNet senior editor Max Blumenthal to threaten him about the planned publication of a two-part exposé of the Syrian rebel-tied White Helmets organization.
One is an internationally renowned journalist, respected all over the world, and hated and feared by the political establishment and its media mouthpieces. The other fellow rejoices in the splendid title of "Lecturer in Digital Journalism" at Stirling University, and has no academic or journalistic credentials whatsoever.
It is a shame about Kris Faafoi leaving as I always thought he had a good future, but his heart clearly wasn't in it this last year and sounds like he really wanted to leave 18 months ago according to Jacinda's announcement.
Also Minister of Justice and of Broadcasting (covering the highly contentious merger of Radio and TV).
While it may be difficult to recall successful Ministers of Immigration, Labour has had 2 lemons in a row: Ian Lees-Galloway and Kris Faafoi. It's to be hoped that Michael Wood will be a safe pair of hands.
Faafoi sat on his hands, and allowed his Immigration ministry to do zip, during the whole of 2020 and most of 2021. There was no reason not to continue to process documentation for immigrants already in NZ – and he created vast uncertainty for many people, resulting in sorely needed staff actually leaving the country, as they couldn't get residency confirmed. He seemed incapable of directing his ministry to co-ordinate effectively with border security in getting critical personnel (doctors, nurses, vets, etc.) in to NZ.
It looked like bureaucratic capture of a Minister who basically just wasn't interested.
In terms of Justice, the previous two incumbents (Andrew Little and Amy Adams) were streets ahead of Faafoi.
Broadcasting, is often a 'nothing' ministry – unless there's some scandal brewing…. But Labour went into government with a plan to merge radio and TV – so it is currently a 'hot' portfolio, needing a Minister across the detail. This one should have been a gift to Faafoi, with his background in journalism. But, once again, he wasn't able to answer (or apparently even anticipate) the questions that the keenly interested journalists had (and continue to have) about the new structure.
While he's leaving to spend more time with his kids (and that's a really good reason) – it seems inescapable that he tried politics, and found that he doesn't actually enjoy the big picture policy side of things. That's not a disaster. It's something that you learn about yourself by doing. But it's also not something to be camouflaged, by pretending that there wasn't a performance issue.
Looking at the last 25 years of immigration ministers, doing nothing is the benchmark.
Kris Faafoi has done a great deal. He's been at the front of the government's immigration reset. That is the policy shift away from open-tap, low skill, low value education back door immigration.
It's a bold, socially responsible policy which, by definition, I expect you don't understand.
And the re-set where Faafoi said he'd be "quite grumpy!" if the dept didn't manage to process visas in a timely fashion (their processing times have got worse, not better since he's been in charge). I bet that's making the bureaucrats shake in their shoes (not).
Yet to hear your explanation over why it was OK for the Dept of Immigration to do nothing for most of 2020 and 2021.
I absolutely don't have a problem with NZ being a high-skills immigration destination. Though (according to the Green spokesman), it's not exactly socially responsible.
Still waiting for your take on Faafoi as the greatest Justice minister of all time….
sadly no, the Ministry of Imm has been a disaster for years and Faafoi made absolutely no improvement…and gave the impression he wasnt interested, which he probably wasnt.
Remember the days when Jong Kee did musical chairs with his cabinet and his fans called it clever refreshment?
I always wondered why Keys would change his ministers twice a year but suspected it was because he struggled to show what he actually did as PM so simply showing he was boss was it for him.
Clearly some of the die-hard Labour supporters aren't actually interested in debate, just in an echo chamber.
I point out and discuss the Ministers I think are performing well (Woods, Wood, Allan, McAnulty) – and equally the ones which I think are not performing well.
I'm happy to debate issues (indeed, I enjoy doing so). However, debate actually requires that the other party engage with the specific issues being discussed – rather than just going silent and popping up to deflect with a 'squirrel' viewing. Under another comment.
I'm sorry that you think I'm poisonous, but that reflects more on you than on me. Time for a bit of reflection, perhaps.
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The Government has delivered on its commitment to roll out the free methamphetamine harm reduction programme Te Ara Oranga to the eastern Bay of Plenty, with services now available in Murupara. “We’re building a whole new mental health system, and that includes expanding successful programmes like Te Ara Oranga,” Health ...
Kura and schools around New Zealand can start applying for Round 4 of the Creatives in Schools programme, Minister for Education Chris Hipkins and Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Carmel Sepuloni said today. Both ministers were at Auckland’s Rosehill Intermediate to meet with the ākonga, teachers and the professional ...
It is my pleasure to be here at MEETINGS 2022. I want to start by thanking Lisa and Steve from Business Events Industry Aotearoa and everyone that has been involved in organising and hosting this event. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to welcome you all here. It is ...
Aotearoa New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon Nanaia Mahuta and Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon Penny Wong, met in Wellington today for the biannual Australia - Aotearoa New Zealand Foreign Minister Consultations. Minister Mahuta welcomed Minister Wong for her first official visit to Aotearoa New Zealand ...
The volatile global situation has been reflected in today’s quarterly GDP figures, although strong annual growth shows New Zealand is still well positioned to deal with the challenging global environment, Grant Robertson said. GDP fell 0.2 percent in the March quarter, as the global economic trends caused exports to fall ...
More than a million New Zealanders have already received their flu vaccine in time for winter, but we need lots more to get vaccinated to help relieve pressure on the health system, Health Minister Andrew Little says. “Getting to one million doses by June is a significant milestone and sits ...
It’s a pleasure to be here today in person “ka nohi ke te ka nohi, face to face as we look back on a very challenging two years when you as Principals, as leaders in education, have pivoted, and done what you needed to do, under challenging circumstances for your ...
The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is successfully creating jobs and boosting regional economic growth, an independent evaluation report confirms. Economic and Regional Development Minister Stuart Nash announced the results of the report during a visit to the Mihiroa Marae in Hastings, which recently completed renovation work funded through the PGF. ...
Travellers to New Zealand will no longer need a COVID-19 pre-departure test from 11.59pm Monday 20 June, COVID-19 Response Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. “We’ve taken a careful and staged approach to reopening our borders to ensure we aren’t overwhelmed with an influx of COVID-19 cases. Our strategy has ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta will travel to Rwanda this week to represent New Zealand at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kigali. “This is the first CHOGM meeting since 2018 and I am delighted to be representing Aotearoa New Zealand,” Nanaia Mahuta said. “Reconnecting New Zealand with the ...
We, the Ministers for trade from Costa Rica, Fiji, Iceland, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland, welcome the meeting of Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS) partners on 15 June 2022, in Geneva to discuss progress on negotiations for the ACCTS. Our meeting was chaired by Hon Damien O’Connor, New Zealand’s Minister for ...
Internal Affairs Minister Jan Tinetti has today announced Caroline Flora as the new Chief Censor of Film and Literature, for a three-year term from 20 July. Ms Flora is a senior public servant who has recently held the role of Associate Deputy‑Director General System Strategy and Performance at the Ministry ...
Eleven projects are being funded as part of the Government’s efforts to prevent elder abuse, Minister for Seniors Dr Ayesha Verrall announced as part of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. “Sadly one in 10 older people experience elder abuse in New Zealand, that is simply unacceptable,” Ayesha Verrall said. “Our ...
More New Zealand homes, businesses and communities will soon benefit from fast and reliable connectivity, regardless of where they live, study and work,” Minister for the Digital Economy and Communications, David Clark said today. “The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us time and again how critical a reliable connection is for ...
Disarmament and Arms Control Minister Phil Twyford will lead Aotearoa New Zealand’s delegation to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) First Meeting of States Parties in Austria later this month, following a visit to the Netherlands. The Nuclear Ban Treaty is the first global treaty to make nuclear ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta will this week welcome Australian Foreign Minister, Senator the Hon. Penny Wong on her first official visit to Aotearoa New Zealand as Foreign Minister. “I am delighted to be able to welcome Senator Wong to Wellington for our first in-person bilateral foreign policy consultations, scheduled for ...
State schools have made thousands of site, infrastructure and classroom improvements, as well as upgrades to school sports facilities and playgrounds over the past two and a half years through a major government work programme, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said today. The School Investment Package announced in December 2019 gave ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had a warm and productive meeting with Samoa Prime Minister Fiamē Naomi Mata’afa in Wellington, today. The Prime Ministers reflected on the close and enduring relationship the two countries have shared in the 60 years since the signing of the Treaty of Friendship, and since Samoa ...
“Food price data shows New Zealanders pay too much for the basics and today’s figures provide more evidence of why we need to change the supermarket industry, and fast," Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister David Clark says. Stats NZ figures show food prices were 6.8% higher in May 2022 compared ...
An independent body to strengthen and protect the integrity of the sport and recreation system is to be established. “There have been a number of reports over the years into various sports where the athletes, from elite level to grassroots, have been let down by the system in one way ...
Parents of babies needing special care can now stay overnight at Waitakere Hospital, thanks to a new Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU), Health Minister Andrew Little said today. The new SCBU, which can care for 18 babies at a time and includes dedicated facilities for parents, was opened today by ...
The Trade Ministers of the European Union, Ecuador, Kenya and New Zealand have agreed to work jointly to forge an inclusive Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate. This reflects their shared commitment to bringing the fight against climate change to the forefront of trade policy. The Ministers want to enhance ...
The Government is interested in exploring with public sector unions a pay adjustment proposal, the Minister for the Public Service Chris Hipkins said today. This follows the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions writing to the Government proposing to enter into a process for a pay adjustment across the public ...
Kris Faafoi resigns from Parliament. Kiri Allan promoted to Justice Minister, Michael Wood picks up Immigration Speaker Trevor Mallard to end 35 year parliamentary career in mid-August as he prepares to take up a diplomatic post in Europe. Adrian Rurawhe to be nominated as Speaker Priyanca Radhakrishnan moves into ...
Kris Faafoi has today announced that he will be leaving Politics in the coming weeks. Kris Faafoi has thanked the Prime Minister for the privilege of serving as a Minister in her government. “It’s been an honour to serve New Zealander’s as a Minister and as a Member of Parliament, ...
Paid Parental leave entitlements will increase on 1 July, resulting in up to $40 extra a week for new parents, or up to an additional $1040 for those taking the full 26 weeks of parental leave, Workplace Relations and Safety Michael Wood has announced today. “We know things are tough ...
Rangatahi experiencing homelessness are being supported by the Government to find safe, warm, and affordable places to live, the Associate Minister of Housing (Homelessness) Marama Davidson announced today. “This Government is investing $40 million to support rangatahi and young people to find a safe, stable place to live, put down ...
Michael Wood has announced he will travel today to the International Electric Vehicle Symposium and Exhibition (EVS), hosted by the European Association for Electromobility in Oslo, Norway. “EVS is the leading international gathering to address all the electromobility issues. The conference brings together government Ministers, policymakers, representatives from industry, relevant ...
Defence Minister Peeni Henare joined a panel of Defence Ministers to discuss climate security at the 19th Annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore today. He addressed the 2022 summit at a special session on “Climate Security and Green Defence”. The Minister was joined on the stage by his counterpart from Maldives and ...
In a first in advancing the interests of women in trade, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and New Zealand have published a review on trade and gender in New Zealand, Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O’Connor announced. The ‘Trade and Gender Review of New Zealand’ sheds light ...
The Government has welcomed the outcome of the International Labour Organisation’s consideration of New Zealand’s Fair Pay Agreements (FPA) system, following a complaint made to it by BusinessNZ. “Despite efforts by opponents to misrepresent the purpose of FPAs, the ILO's Committee on the Application of Standards has not found that ...
Ambassadors, representatives of your many countries it pleases me to convey a special greeting to you all on this sacred land of Waikato Tainui. Fa’afetai fa’apitoa ia te outou uma I le lau’ele’ele paiao Waikato Tainui Nga mihi nui ki koutou Nga Rangatira o te Ao i tēnei whenua ...
Ambassadors, representatives of your many countries it pleases me to convey a special greeting to you all on this sacred land of Waikato Tainui. Fa’afetai fa’apitoa ia te outou uma I le lau’ele’ele paiao Waikato Tainui Nga mihi nui ki koutou Nga Rangatira o te Ao i tēnei whenua o ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese today held their first successful bilateral meeting in Sydney this morning. The Prime Minister was the first head of government to meet with Prime Minister Albanese in Australia since the he took office. “I was really delighted to meet Prime ...
Trade Minister Damien O’Connor travels to Europe today for the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Twelfth Ministerial Conference (MC12). While at the WTO he will meet with ministerial counterparts from other countries to discuss bilateral and regional trade and economic issues, and progress New Zealand’s ongoing EU-NZ FTA negotiations. He will also ...
The Government’s lifesaving bowel-screening programme is now available across the whole country, Health Minister Andrew Little said today. The programme has been successfully rolled out across the country over five years. In that time, cancers have been detected in 1400 people as a result of screening. Thirty-five per cent of ...
Tēnā tātou katoa Kei ngā pou o te whare hauora ki Aotearoa, kei te mihi. Tēnā koutou i tā koutou pōwhiri mai i ahau. E mihi ana ki ngā taura tangata e hono ana i a tātou katoa, ko te kaupapa o te rā tērā. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, ...
The new O Mahurangi Penlink transport connection in north Auckland has passed another milestone following the signing of the construction alliance agreement today, Transport Minister Michael Wood announced today. As part of the Government’s $8.7 billion New Zealand Upgrade Programme, O Mahurangi Penlink will provide growing communities in Silverdale, Whangaparāoa ...
Tena kotou katoa, It’s a pleasure to be here with you today. Thank you for inviting myself and my esteemed colleague Minister Sio. I do want to firstly extend the apologies of the Minister of Education Hon Chris Hipkins We have lots to catch up on! The past two and ...
Women will play a significant role in how New Zealanders farm for the future, and new Government funding will help them pave the way, Associate Agriculture Minister Meka Whaitiri said. “We’ve committed $473,261 over two years through the Ministry for Primary Industries’ (MPI’s) Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund to ...
Today was a dark day for global press freedom. The UK Home secretary Priti Patel has signed the extradition to send Australian journalist Julian Assange to the US, the same country who reportedly plotted to assassinate him , and has charged him ...
Point of Order looks forward to hearing from Dr Gaurav Sharma, MP for Hamilton West. Our interest in him and his sensibilities was whetted by a recent Parliamentary debate in which he indicated he had been upset by something National’s Simon O’Connor had said on the subject of academic freedom. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne AAP/Darren England Buttons have now been pressed to electronically distribute preferences for the May 21 federal election in the Senate for South Australia, Tasmania and Queensland. I ...
Pacific Media Watch newsdesk The UK government’s decision to uphold the application by the US Department of Justice to extradite Australian publisher Julian Assange imperils journalists everywhere, says the union for Australia’s journalists. The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance calls on the Australian government to take urgent steps to lobby ...
By Gorethy Kenneth in Port Moresby Australia has gifted Papua New Guinea with 3000 ballistic vests and 3000 helmets which arrived at Jackson’s International Airport in Port Moresby today. They were flown in on a Royal Australian Airforce C17 Globemaster inbound from the United States. The ballistic vests and helmets ...
Kizzy Kalsakau and Anita Roberts in Port Vila Vanuatu’s opposition leader Ralph Regenvanu said Members of Parliament from the Opposition bloc would boycott the special Parliament sitting again today. “We think there are a number of amendments that are very bad for the country, and very dangerous for the Parliament ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Breadon, Program Director, Health and Aged Care, Grattan Institute Shutterstock At the urging of the premiers, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Friday agreed to extend current public hospital funding until the end of the year. The federal government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liam Phelan, Senior Lecturer, School of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Newcastle Shutterstock The clock is now ticking on New South Wales’ largest coal mine. BHP has announced it will close its Mount Arthur mine in the Hunter Valley ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katja Ignatieva, Associate Professor, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock News about the energy crisis engulfing Australia’s east coast seems inescapable. Terms such as “grid”, the “National Electricity Market” and “transmission” are being tossed around alongside the frightening prospect of soaring power bills ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wendy Boyd, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education, Southern Cross University Shutterstock Celebrations greeted Thursday’s co-ordinated announcement by the NSW and Victorian governments that they will invest $6 billion and $9 billion, respectively, to provide 30 hours a week of play-based ...
Child Poverty Action Group commends the Select Committee’s recommendation to keep the crucial role of the Children’s Commissioner but is concerned that the process got this far. The independence of the Commissioner is critical if that role is to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra University of Canberra Professorial Fellow Michelle Grattan and Director of the Institute for Governance & Policy Analysis Dr Lain Dare discuss the week in politics. This week the pair discuss Australia’s escalating energy crisis – ...
This article was published today on Kal du Fresne’s blog (HERE). Newly promoted minister Kiritapu Allan has said what a lot of people think but feel unable to say. She lashed out in a tweet against “tokenistic” use of te reo by employees of DOC “as an attempt to show ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nick Bisley, Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences and Professor of International Relations at La Trobe University, La Trobe University In its first month in power, foreign policy and national security have played a major part of the new government’s activities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Woods, Professor of Health Economics, University of Technology Sydney Getty The government costs of providing subsidised aged care for around 1.5 million seniors are set to blow out, while earnings for providers are dropping. Aged care delivers many ...
“Activists are targeting our children with harmful ideologies. They’re indoctrinating kids with anti-biology teaching on gender and are now attacking religious schools like Bethlehem College for their beliefs. This has to stop,“ says Helen Houghton, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Businesspeople gathered in Christchurch for a national trade show called MEETINGS were treated to a cheering-up speech from Stuart Nash, Minister of Economic and Regional Development and of Tourism. MEETINGS is described as the only national tradeshow in New Zealand for the business events ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra As the energy crisis continues to grip Australia’s east coast with consumers told to limit their consumption and warnings of blackouts Tony Wood, director of the energy program at the Grattan Institute, speaks with Michelle ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sam Baron, Associate professor, Australian Catholic University Disney/PixarSpoiler alert: this article explains a key plot point, but we don’t give away anything you won’t see in trailers. Thanks to reader Florence, 7, for her questions. At the beginning ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nick Fuller, Charles Perkins Centre Research Program Leader, University of Sydney Shutterstock Australia’s regulator has banned FatBlaster Max, an over-the-counter pill that claimed (with no evidence) to be able to help you lose weight. FatBlaster Max can no longer be ...
The latest iteration of the National Policy Statement on Indigenous Biodiversity (NPSIB) is a massive land grab on a scale not seen in New Zealand for 140 years, Groundswell NZ spokesman Jamie McFadden says. “This policy, as drafted, turns biodiversity ...
Extensive work in the criminal justice space by many has revealed that the systems - as they currently operate - cause harm. That’s why a group of independent organisations have created Aotearoa Justice Watch, a new platform for people with lived experience ...
Aotearoa New Zealand has a long way to go in enhancing its laws to protect child privacy rights in the age of sharenting, says privacy law expert Nikki Chamberlain. As parents and caregivers pepper social media with photos of their children's milestones ...
U niversity of Auckland Professor Ananish Chaudhuri on Covid-19 policy decisions, their implications, lockdowns and cognitive biases in pandemic decision-making. Professor Ananish Chaudhuri says that a single-minded focus on the pandemic may have prevented ...
A new nationwide poll has found significant opposition to gender ideology being taught to primary school students, and majority support for parents being informed of their own children exhibiting gender dysphoria at school. There is also more support ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nic Rawlence, Senior Lecturer in Ancient DNA, University of Otago Trilobites similar to those above have been found in 505 million-year-old rocks in New Zealand.Shutterstock It’s not often New Zealanders admit Australia is onto a good thing. Our long-running trans-Tasman rivalry ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rodney Tiffen, Emeritus Professor, Department of Government and International Relations, University of Sydney Under siege: Richard Nixon in his White House office in 1974Nixon Library via Wikimedia One of the more curious legacies of the Watergate scandal is so obvious that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Simon Quilty, Senior Staff Specialist, Alice Springs Hospital. Purple House Medical Advisor. Honorary ANU., Australian National University Author provided In remote Indigenous communities that are already very hot and socioeconomically disadvantaged, climate change is driving inequities even further. Our new research, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thomas Mortlock, Senior Analyst at Aon Reinsurance Solutions and Adjunct Fellow, Macquarie University Durban, South AfricaGetty The world’s coastlines are at the forefront of climate change. That’s because they’re constantly changing, and respond quickly to changes in climate. They’re particularly important ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Louis Lignereux, TBA, University of Adelaide WWF Australia The Black Summer bushfires of 2019-20 pushed a host of threatened species closer to extinction, including the critically endangered Kangaroo Island dunnart. And as our research released today shows, feral cats posed ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nimish Biloria, Associate Professor of Architecture, University of Technology Sydney Monica Silvestre/Pexels, Author provided If you’re anything like me, you’re increasingly working from home, one that was built before energy efficiency measures were introduced in Australia. With temperatures along ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jess Harris, Associate Professor in Education, University of Newcastle Every student in every school in Australia has experienced unprecedented disruptions to their schooling over the past three years. On top of the disruptions and stress of COVID-19 lockdowns, isolation from their schools, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Martin Edwards, Associate Professor in Management and Business, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The past year has been awash with suggestions countries such as Australia are experiencing a “great resignation” as workers previously loyal to their employers quit their jobs ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra On Thursday Anthony Albanese and Energy Minister Chris Bowen formally updated Australia’s international commitment for its proposed climate change action. It’s now a 43% reduction in emissions by 2030, in line with the policy Labor ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jeff Borland, Professor of Economics, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock The rate of unemployment remained steady at 3.9% between April and May. That Australia has now managed to keep a rate of unemployment below 4% for three consecutive months is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tina Soliman Hunter, Professor of Energy and Natural Resources Law, Macquarie University Shutterstock You can thank Margaret Thatcher for the gas supply crunch Australia’s east coast has been plunged into. As UK prime minister, Thatcher led the charge to kick ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mohiuddin Ahmed, Lecturer of Computing & Security, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock After 27 years, Microsoft has finally bid farewell to the web browser Internet Explorer, and will redirect Explorer users to the latest version of its Edge browser. As ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Roger Dargaville, Senior lecturer & Deputy Director Monash Energy Institute, Monash University If you aren’t a long term energy policy news junkie, you’d be forgiven for thinking today’s crisis arrived fairly suddenly. Indeed, Liberal leader Peter Dutton is framing it as a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danny C Price, Senior research fellow, Curtin University “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” – Carl Sagan (Cosmos, 1980) This phrase is the standard that astronomers will be applying to a curious signal captured with China’s “Sky Eye” telescope that might ...
From Monday night, people travelling into New Zealand will no longer be required to test before leaving. The Covid-19 Response Minister has confirmed the measure will be ditched earlier than planned because cases have continued to decline despite ...
Today’s GDP figures make tax relief even more pressing as the economy shrinks and householders do it tough, says New Zealand’s largest centre-right pressure group, the Taxpayers’ Union . Union Executive Director, Jordan Williams, said: ...
Wong says Australia's new government came with a range of different priorities, including a "very different view on climate change to our predecessors". ...
For three years the New Zealand Federation of Freshwater Anglers has deliberately focused on the Canterbury region which was identified as New Zealand’s “front line” for public rivers degraded and or lost to irrigation. Dr Peter Trolove said ...
Buzz from the Beehive Rwanda is back in the headlines, not only for the role it is playing in the British Government’s highly controversial plans for ridding their country of asylum seekers (the first deportation flight was cancelled after a last-minute intervention by the European Court of Human Rights, which ...
A View from Afar – In this podcast, political scientist Paul Buchanan and Selwyn Manning examine political events taking shape in South America. In particular, Buchanan and Manning detail how there is a presidential run-off election in Colombia this Saturday and examine the outcomes of recent elections in Chile, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brady Robards, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Monash University Shutterstock What you say and do on social media can affect your employment; it can prevent you from getting hired, stall career progression and may even get you fired. Is this fair ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Melissa Castan, Associate Professor, Law Faculty, Monash University Last week the Victorian government demonstrated its commitment to build an equal relationship with First Peoples. A new bill has been tabled in the Victorian parliament to advance the Victorian treaty processes. In 2018, ...
Your letter raises concerns in two areas. The first relates to the process of ordering RATs by the Government and, in particular, you refer to reported claims that the Government commandeered orders of RATs by the private sector. The questions you have ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Bartos, Professor of Economics, University of Canberra The election of a record number of independents to the House of Representatives will undoubtedly increase pressure on parliament to change how it operates. Already the newly elected independent member for Goldstein, Zoe Daniel, ...
By Kolopu Waima in Mendi, Papua New Guinea She is brave — no other word can describe this Papua New Guinean woman. Ruth Undi Siwinu isn’t only challenging the norms and a huge field of male candidates in Southern Highlands, but knows the task ahead and she is prepared to ...
RNZ Pacific Switzerland will not allow visa-free entry for Vanuatu citizens whose passports were issued on or after May 25, 2015. The ban will stay in place until February 3, 2023. This follows a decision in March by the European Union’s Council to partially call off the visa waiver agreement ...
RNZ Pacific Samoa and China do not have any plans for military ties, Samoa Prime Minister Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa says. Fiamē — who is on a three-day trip to Aotearoa — is making her first official bilateral trip abroad since becoming leader last year. Her visit marks 60 years of ...
By Arieta Vakasukawaqa in Suva Former FijiFirst party member and parliamentarian Alifereti Nabulivou claims many Fijians across the country have only one thing in mind: “They no longer want the FijiFirst party in power.” A staunch supporter of the Unity Fiji party since 2018, Nabulivou highlighted this during a recent ...
An earlier post on Point of Order about farming and climate change attracted some interesting comments. The post itself contended that in view of the world facing a global food shortage the government should be doing everything in its power to lift food production — and not imposing taxes on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pamela McCalman, PhD Candidate and Midwife, La Trobe University shutterstock While Australia is one of the safest places in the world to give birth, First Nations women are three times more likely to die in childbirth than other Australian women ...
InsideOUT Kōaro are proud to celebrate Schools’ Pride Week - a nationwide rainbow pride campaign in schools, running June 13-17 2022 . Schools’ Pride Week is a celebratory week of events and activities to help foster a sense of belonging for rainbow young ...
The NZ CTU welcomes the indication from Minister Michael Wood that he will progress the recommendations from the Tripartite Working Group for Better Protections for Contractors. The recommendations include ensuring there is greater legal clarification ...
The experimental weekly series provides an early indicator of employment and labour market changes in a more timely manner than the monthly employment indicators series. Key facts The 6-day series includes jobs with a pay period equal to or less than ...
GDP fell 0.2 percent in the March 2022 quarter, following a rise of 3.0 percent in the December 2021 quarter, Stats NZ said today. Primary industries drove the decrease in GDP, down 1.2 percent in the quarter. Goods producing industries also experienced ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Murray Goot, Emeritus Professor of Politics and International Relations, Macquarie University Addressing the first meeting of Labor’s new caucus, Anthony Albanese held out the prospect of “back-to-back premierships”. But a second-term in government isn’t a given, he implied – it is something ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra McEwan, Lecturer: Law, CQUniversity Australia Tonia Kraakman/Unsplash, CC BY An e-petition against greyhound racing to the Tasmanian parliament reached a record number of signatures last week, with 13,519 people demanding the state government end public funding of the industry. The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Mitchell, Associate Professor Health and Societal Outcomes, Macquarie University ShutterstockNAPLAN scores can tell us about a child’s learning, but can they also help us to support learners who have had a serious injury or a long-term chronic illness like ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Lycett, NHMRC Early Career Fellow, Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, Deakin University Since 2001 our research group has asked 2,000 Australians every year how they’re doing. Are they satisfied with their standard of living, their relationships, purpose in life, ...
A Cold Winters Morn….but this is great. (And maybe haters gonna hate. Fuck them : )
Lucky Anthony, the Boodle Boodle Boodle album is rare, unless they've started re-pressing them. A few years ago I declined buying one for $100 at a second hand Cuba St. store and still regret it to this day.
Oh cheers reply matey. Amongst my vinyl ( I know : ) I have it…Echo Records …..price on it $6.99.
That song and the Dunedin sound…Flying Nun.. still awesome today.
I met up some Americans while back..they saying that Flying Nun still highly rated on American Student Radio. Quality. Was a cool thing to read Jacinda connection
Reissue. I still got my original copy plus the 2nd ep, great records.
Straight men, just so you know you’re not exempt. You will be expected to be sexually attracted to trans women, and because self ID means any man who says he’s a woman is a woman and thus trans, you will have to learn to be gay. Think this isn’t happening? Lesbians have been at the brunt of this now for years, it’s called the cotton ceiling.
To be *very clear, this isn’t trans people generally. This is trans activists and gender identity ideologists. Trans people obviously have concerns about whether people won’t date them because of actual transphobia, but what’s happening here is that male bodied people are telling lesbians they have to learn to like girl dick. Next up, straight men will have to learn to like girl dick or be branded transphobic. Don’t worry, there are workshops now that will teach you.
if all that seems outlandish, it is. It’s also rape culture and the identity left is endorsing it. Think it won’t affect ordinary people? It’s now at policy level in the UK, and there is a big push to say sexual attraction is based on gender identity not sex. This means there is no such thing as homosexuality (or heterosexuality), so it’s also a homophobic position. In NZ there is a push to replace sex with gender identity in other areas (eg Stats NZ), we will see if the gender identity sexuality ideology takes hold here.
Challenging trans ideology is clearly having an impact. The clip below is recent, and yet the trans protagonists are carrying on as if there has been no research that emphatically questions the safety of 'affirming' therapies. There's a strong hint of the cornered cat about the presenter…and the professionals who proffer their opinions on some US states severely restricting or criminalising medicalised therapies for gender dysphoric children are almost creepy. They are coming across as a cult.
We are heading into crucial times on this issue…
Blows my mind that some people appear to not have educated themselves about what happens with gender reassignment surgeries, what the complication rates are, the lack of research showing outcomes. I mean I get it on one level, reading about the surgeries is challenging for many I think (myself included) but reading about the complications is full on. If one believes that surgery is useful for teens, all that can be ignored I guess. I suspect there's a fair amount of superficial acceptance of trans humanism too, and that medicine is Good therefore this must be too.
Weird though, because Bee must have a research team, and it's not hard to find out the arguments against child and teen medical/surgical transition.
The other aspect though is that in the US there really are reasons to be concerned about Republicans passing anti-trans laws. Is the law the dude mentions really saying no to 'gender-affirming health care' for youth? Is that a euphemism for surgery and hormones? Or does it apply to all trans specific health care for people transitioning? Let's not forget these are the same legislators that are removing abortion rights.
Is that a euphemism for surgery and hormones? Or does it apply to all trans specific health care for people transitioning? Let's not forget these are the same legislators that are removing abortion rights.
These laws are very sensibly putting the brake on the rampant medicalisation of gender dysphoria and will protect children/youth from being experimented on by those creepy vivisectionists. Claiming that there is a 'right' to such 'treatments' is disingenuous. The trans activists are (again) coat tailing on other legitimate battles for rights…such as the availability of safe abortion services. As they are wont to do.
depends on what is being banned. If someone has had surgery they will need medical care afterwards, sometimes for a long time. Is that banned too? What if they need surgery to remedy complications? Are they still allowed to get hormone prescriptions if already on hormones? What if they just want counselling but not drugs and surgery?
None of that is explained. Both sides (Bee and Republicans) are as bad as each other. It's all rhetoric and I don't trust either of them. So sure, we can be thankful that there is a brake, but we should also be looking at what should be put in place instead.
Some conservatives will be wanting to protect children, some will be wanting to remove trans people from society.
ok I watched the first few minutes and am stopping now, because it's basically propaganda. I do think there are problems with what Republicans are doing, but the solution isn't to allow free-for-all transition. The whole 'all medical people agree' is such bullshit, and the fact that in NZ people are trying to stop a conference on gender therapy for youth because it's taking a critical look at the affirmation only model tells me that backlash can be expected against trans people. Because there is no public mandate for this, and otherwise liberal/left leaning people will support bans because that's the only way to stop things now.
Unfortunately, as the loudest voices in the Transactivists movement are the autogynephiliacs (the men who are sexually aroused by the thought of themselves as women) and they are mostly heterosexual, they are not sexually interested in straight men. A big part of their paraphilia is identification of themselves not only as women, but as lesbians. Sex with lesbians is seen as an ultimate validation of their being a woman. That is why it is lesbians who are finding their dating sites stuffed full of "transbians", and it is lesbians who are being bullied and blackmailed into accepting their "girldicks".
True. What interests me here is that McKinnon said what they said (in 2018), making it a political position I think. The idea is that people won't sleep with trans people because they think there is something wrong with being trans, but this has now morphed into the rapey, you should ignore someone's body and your own sexual orientation.
I think it's significant that this has been pushed by trans women (males), not trans men (females). AGP is almost certainly part of that, although the need for validation is across all trans people as far as I can tell (hence pronouns and giving birth and wanting to be called a father). AGP trans people have a quite specific need and way of approaching that.
I also think the patriarchal hierarchy is too: people being harrassed in this order: lesbians, gay men, heterosexual men (maybe)
As you point out, this perspective isn't based on the rights of transgender people to live without discrimination, it is proponents of Queer theory coat-tailing on a separate movement to appropriate support and credibility.
The colonisation of sexual orientation organisations with gender identity has been phenomenally successful. Now the initially welcome guest, has taken over the house and unpacking a lot of unwanted baggage.
This unfortunately seems to be initiating a pushback on gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual hard-won rights and acceptance. The baser proponents of Queer theory have been unquestioningly provided with support and platforms. When people realise what they are saying, there will be resistance not only to those ideas, but also unfortunately to the movements that gave them influence.
My disdain remains with the cascade of institutions, politicians and experts who promote all aspects of Queer theory without even the most cursory scrutiny.
There is of course a shedload of $$$$ in the promotion of gender identity. Organisations that used to be funded to promote the rights and protections of same sex attracted people are now almost entirely funded to promote "queer" theory and with it the ideology of gender identity. Plus – particularly in America – which has a "for profit" health system, there is a lot of money to be made from lifelong dependence on artificial hormones and sterilizing and mutilating (removal of healthy tissue) surgeries with very high "complications" rates.
https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/us-sex-reassignment-surgery-market
Agree with all your comments Weka, Molly and Visubversa.
Perhaps a survery of the straight men on this site to see if they would be happy to sleep with transbians with their girl dicks?
You can always go onto youporn or similar sites to see how popular it really is
So I’ve been told
In my recent foray into reading about porn the growing influence of hypno cissy porn has come up multiple times, so it may pay for some to approach your suggestion with caution.
There's now quite a lot I wish I didn't know, although it still seems necessary to have some knowledge on the topic.
"Reading about"
Cautions no fun, best to jump in the deep end!
I find porn really difficult to watch, even for 'research purposes'.
Have the same aversion to excessively gory or violent scenes on the screen. But am able to read in prose what I can't handle on screen.
That distance buffer allows me to rake in the info with less of an emotional reaction.
Interesting.
I find reading about it is more disturbing than watching it, at least thats the way fiction is for me.
Though I have to admit when it comes to porn I prefer the over top, funny stuff
The bad acting, worse dialogue, stick on moustaches, that kind of thing
On a more serious note I watched What Is A Woman the other day.
It won't tell you anything you don't already know (and I don't want to give away spoilers)
But here is Blaire Whites reaction and review of the documentary
Great review of What is a Women.
Surprized that Blaire didn’t talk about the gender lecturer who came across as (sorry to use a derogatory term), a crackpot.
I loved the bit about chickens having an assigned gender,
I don't know what it was but she was really making me angry, maybe the condescending way she was talking (even more than the other crackpots)
Her whole demeanour changed when Lupron was mentioned , she didn't like that at all
Watched the Blair White video. Good points, well made.
TBH, though I can think of a quite a few rad FEMS who could've knocked out those points in a quarter of the time, made a cup of tea, and got down to the nitty-gritty by the halfway point.
Likely my text bias at play.
The great aspect of Blaire White is the extensive reach into a distinctly non-feminist audience that has concerns about specific aspects of gender ideology, combined with the nonchalant waving away of accusations of transphobia.
It was a fair review. Award more stars then I thought it merited.
the bit where she acknowledges that Santa isn't real, "but to that child they are".
It's hyper individualism. Which I guess is another explanation for the cotton ceiling stuff – all that matters is what the individual feels/wants.
These
RomansAmericans are crazy.Thanks, will watch.
In return a link to the free-to-view Dysphoric by Vaishnavi Sundar.
You might find Part 1 a bit slow going, but the pace picks up and keeps improving
I'll give it a watch
Urgh. Blair White is a bit too hard right MAGA for my tastes.
On the money as usual. I bet most parents have no idea that their children are being taught this stuff at school.
https://theministryhasfallen.substack.com/p/the-terrible-coyness-of-trans-ideology
As a gay man I've been told by activists that "same sex attraction is transphobic" and noticed left wing orgs saying "same gender attraction" and that saying you're only interested in biological makes is transphobic and reducing people to their privates, but that's what the activists are doing.
However, I don't hear trans people saying this, it's almost always thier cis hetero allies on Twitter who say this stuff for social media likes and unfortunately corporations, govt institutions see this and pander to that lot.
I've never met a trans person who thought not wanting to sleep with someone is transphobic my trans friends say "times ain't that tough , I don't need to guilt people into sex" I've only met allies who say this.
Genitals are huge part of being gay. In fact it's 99% of it to a lot of gay men lol.
I find this deeply, deeply homophobic and borderline endorsed conversion therapy.
Ive seen it in lots of discourse.
I couldn't help notice that the ACLU when the overturning people who would be most effected by the overturning of Roe v Wade didn't list women once, in fact it listed the LGBT+ first (not everything is about the LGBT)
This "if you're not attracted to x you're a bigot" is what happens when you constantly update the definitions of bigotry, to me, transphobia is when someone can't get a job, or rent a house because they are trans, it's when you want to demean someone for being trans, it's when you want to hurt someone for being trans, transphobia is not I don't want to sleep with you.
You cannot change someone's sexuality whether they are straight gay bi and to attempt to do so is evil and quite frankly anyone attempting to do so should be charged with attempting conversion therapy, which is illegal.
Unfortunately Corey, as I said above, for the autogynephiliacs, who are constantly seeking "validation" of their identity as a woman through forcing themselves into every women's activity or spaces from bathrooms to knitting groups for their sexual gratification, almost the ultimate (apart from perhaps selection for an Olympic Games women's team) is to blackmail, bamboozle or bully a lesbian into having sex with them.
I find it deeply homophobic too, and am at a loss to understand why progressives support this. Part of it is No Debate and the threat of cancellation and slap downs, but even so it's very odd.
Unfortunately, the messaging is not limited to the Twitter sphere.
Gay, lesbian and bisexual youth seeking information and support from Rainbow Youth NZ and Inside Out (the 2 main well-founded organisations) will also be told that they are same-gender attracted, not same-sex attracted.
The movement that screams about conversion therapy has in yet another linguistic twist, removed any and all sexual orientations – including heterosexual – from consideration. Despite sexual orientation being a protected characteristic in the Human Rights Act 1993.
Rainbow Youth website has zero occurrences of the word "lesbian".
Unfortunately, this damage is compounded by advice – or lack of it – regarding consent with sexual partners. While some noises are made regarding being open, contradictory advice is offered regarding your right to not be 'outed' until you feel it is something you want to do.
There's a whole conversation about the legal charge of Sex by Deception that is avoided
What does this mean for young people inexperienced and uncertain about exploring their sexual nature's? If you want to know research. You will find some young people laughing about their casual sexual partners only discovering their sex, AFTER intimacy. The resultant distress is a source of amusement, as it is viewed as exposing bigotry – an obsession with genitals.
Old school feminists, and old school gay and lesbian rights activists had more accurate names for this practice:
Corrective sex or corrective rape.
With respect, I really don't think you have the faintest idea who or what "straight" men will or won't go to bed with. Speaking from experience. Whether or not they're open about it is another matter.
Also I'm pretty sure that's not how patriarchy works. You are absolutely entitled to the way you feel about the topic, but framing heterosexual cis-men as being vulnerable parties in the sexual ecosystem is not the strongest argument I've ever heard.
In fact, I'd go so far as to say that sounds a little like pandering to old school homophobic gay panic, trap stereotypes and fragile masculinity. I'm perfectly open to gender critical points of view and see the validity to them in many contexts, but there is a point when you begin to sound slightly ridiculous.
This is one of those points. That's all I'm going to say on the matter because most debate on the topic is mostly futile here.
I'm aware of the men who sleep with men and don't consider themselves gay. Also aware of the various situations where males are having sex of some kinds with other men. This isn't my point though. My point is about whether people have the right to define their own sexual orientation, and whether straight men realise that calling themselves straight (as in, they will only have sex with females) is transphobic.
I'm also not saying that het men are vulnerable parties in the sexual ecosystem, I'm talking politics. There are lots of reasons why het men take stands against women's politics, I've been surprised but not really surprised about it on gc issues, the transphobia accusations seem relevant to this. But of course het men won't be targeted in the same way that lesbians and gay men are, because patriarchy, sexism, and AGP. This was discussed upthread.
Scratching my head at that. The point here isn't that straight men can't like girldick. It's that people are entitled to their own sexual orientation, including straight men (but, obviously, they get let off the hook).
The left wing GC position is solidly that people can be how they are, be that straight, gay, GNC, trans, whatever. It's not homophobic to point out to straight men that being straight is now considered transphobic. It is homophobic to put political and personal pressure on gay people to have sex with people of the opposite sex. Is that ridiculous? Of course, many aspects of this debate are. If you think it's not happening, you are ill informed. Straight men aren't being targeted, yet, for the reasons already mentioned. I think you missed the pointedness if my comment.
"I'm aware of the men who sleep with men and don't consider themselves gay."
Let Ice T explain how it works
:
Oh piss off. This is getting absurd. Really if my thinking was aligning to the likes of Matt Walsh I'd really be questioning that thinking.
By that logic you're aligned with MRAs
Absurd doesn't even come close to what is happening. Read this and weep if you have any kind of compassion beyond your ideology.
'Moaners gotta moan'.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/travel/2022/06/covid-19-kiwi-traveller-says-he-was-denied-entry-from-australia-because-pre-departure-test-was-a-minute-early.html
I must admit that going to the media about something that was, in the end, my fault would not be the first thing I would have thought of.
Let us hope that his business in Australia did not include drawing up the engineering specs for a multistory building when accuracy is also important.
It looks like the Moaning Minnie virus that accompanied Covid also has a long tail and staying power.
How is it his fault?
There are two stories here. One is this,
That needs looking at to see if it's common, or if Shub are exaggerating.
Two is that when the guy approached customs about the one minute early test, this was also declined. That's madness. It's also $160/test, which is a lot of money for some people.
"Spending hours trying to grasp the rules…"…..yeah right.
Given that Customs themselves admit there are issues and are making changes – I don't think you can dismiss the complaints in their entirety (quote from the NHub article linked above – my emphasis)
The assumption (prevalent amount civil servants) that everyone is technologically literate (able to upload a picture of a negative test, for example) – is widespread, and has been a demonstrated barrier to service in many areas.
And the fact that the help numbers don't connect (possibly overwhelmed, possibly only staffed during the working day – who knows) is another major issue.
There's quite a short time-window between when you get results pre-departure, and when you have to check into your flight, with all the documentation complete. You really need 'real time' assistance available for when the online process falls over.
Belladonna-I got a good grasp as to the requirements required for both people coming in from NZ/OZ (very few requirements) and people coming in from other countries in 6 minutes on the site below. (not "hours")
https://www.customs.govt.nz/covid-19/personal/travelling-to-nz/#:~:text=Most%20travellers%20must%20have%20a,you%20arrive%20in%20New%20Zealand.
I accept that the 48 hours for a PCR test could be a bit iffy-but these days they come back in 24 hours. (I have some experience here; coming back from Darwin a year ago was quite a hassle).
But in any event the requirement now is only for a supervised RAT test which should be no problem at all.
The privileged whingers are still whinging.
According to the article, the biggest issue isn't the test, it's the challenges uploading the results.
Which, it's clear, Customs have acknowledged and committed to resolve.
And, yes, it's 'easy' to find the requirements online if you have a straightforward situation – but the problem arises, when it's not – and the contact systems (to get in touch with a real person) don't work.
And, really, declining a test result because it was 1 minute outside the time frame – is the sort of decision a computer makes, not a person…..
Are there any complaints about the Customs procedures that you would be prepared to characterise as not whinging?
I think I have got so pissed off with the Covid era oh-so-entitled whingers and the way the Herald and even RNZ have reported them so favourably and without balance (remembering here that the whingers form a tiny tiny percentage of the people coming to NZ) that I've got little tolerance for any whinging at this stage.
That's quite a whinge BG
Let me join you in this BG.
I am only slightly taking the mickey when I have said since 2020 that coming in with Covid was the Moaning Minnie Virus where people seem to be moaning because they have a greater possibility of NOT dying of Covid because of the actions of Govt.
We now know, if we did not know it before, that a great proportion of Govt bashing is actually misogyny against the PM both as proxy and personally.
Excellent
My point is not so much about the whinging but the automatic response of taking it to the media.
I really am not interested in the moans of a person being taken up by the media as if it is newsworthy rather than the sham beating up of the Govt/Ministers that it really is. The issue is minor in the scheme of things. as if you were really hard-up you just would not be travelling around NZ let alone to Australia.
As BG says
Nah. The truly privileged have PAs, assistants and aides, to sort all of this stuff out for them. Catch them wasting an hour of their lives trying to upload a photo to a Customs website. Not likley. They have 'people' to do all of that for them…
Let us not forget that the media are either run privately, or are 'state-owned enterprises' which means they get run by people from the bloody marketing industry, etc.. Effectively the same. National Radio now runs far more advertising of its own programmes than it used to do because they now do a tiny new news-headline-break on the half-hour at half-past, and follow it with and ad for their own programmes about which we already know, and that ad often lasts as long as the headline-news break did.
(Hint to RNZ – WE DON’T NEED THIS!!)
Our media are biased towards right-wing private enterprise dogma., and will always give big publicity to such whinging about Covid restrictions, 3 Waters, etc – whatever, whether justified or not.
Our news media are not unbiased, and we cannot trust them.
Which makes it somewhat ironic when the right complain that the media are bought and paid for through the PI Journalism Fund.
Where should we get our news? From Facebook?
In Vino…I too hate the new RNZ half hour newsbreak with very irritating programme ad attached. Wonder who thought that crap idea up.
Am curious why you are sceptical. WINZ is the same, IRD not quite as bad, but still not always easy. Why would customs be any different?
Context is everything.To understand the Ukraine invasion we need to examine the reasons for the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Then we were 2 seconds to midnight on the Doomsday clock. I was 16 ,and not surprisingly I took a close interest in events. The Western newspapers told us that Russia , with no provocation , was sending nuclear missiles to be erected in Communist Cuba ,ninety miles from the United States coast. This act was regarded as a existential threat , and the U.S threatened Russia with a nuclear attack if it did not desist. I watched with horror as the Russian ships approached Cuba with their nuclear missiles onboard . Fortunately the U.S. had a sane leader in John Kennedy, who negotiated with the Russian leader [ Khruschev] and Mutually Assured Destruction was avoided.! However, four years later I learned that that there had been provocation from the U.S. in that they had previously erected nuclear missiles in Turkey, aimed at Russia. ! There had been an agreement struck that the U.S would remove its missiles from Turkey, and Russia would turn around its ships. The U.S had lied to the world about the existence of the missiles in Turkey. Just as they have lied about the Coup De'tat they arranged in Ukraine in 2014 ,overthrowing a democratically elected government.That was the next event that has brought us back to Cuban Missile Crisis Mark 2. What would happen if Russia erected nuclear missiles in Cuba , Mexico, or Venezuela like the U.S. is doing around the borders of Russia??? I have already lived through an event that absolutely threatened to destroy all life on earth. I do not particularly want to do it all again. Russia regards itself to be under a existential threat. They have said so repeatedly. Unless they get security guarantees they will progress things to the point of a nuclear exchange. There is no John Kennedy with his finger on the nuclear trigger in the U.S. this time around!!!
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
[lprent: While probably interesting, accurate, and badly formatted about an event that happened soon after I was born. It really doesn’t address anything in the post. Essentially you appear to be (reading between the lines) arguing that if a government has nuclear weapons then it should be able to do whatever they want.
However you haven’t presented any reasoning why this should be the case. Which means that you aren’t arguing to the post. You are just waffling and appear to be unable to formulate any points worth debating in the context of the post.
OpenMike is the place for post irrelevant ranting. Please read the policy. ]
Stuff is reporting that Ardern will announce a 'minor' Cabinet reshuffle at 3pm.
What's the bet it's about Poto Williams and Nanaia Mahuta.
Ideally a few more support-posts around them like Ardern did for Housing.
Its one already announced as a mid year reshuffle,so not a responsive act to opposition noise.
Agree it's already announced/expected.
Mid-term cabinet re-shuffles are more common than not. However, it may well be that Ardern is not quite as in control of the timing, as she would like to be. She will, no doubt be well-aware of the downwards tend of the polls, and Labour do (I believe) a lot of polling of specific issues – so will be aware which Ministers are not being *perceived* as performing well.
Some interesting speculation here, over which MPs are likely to retire at the next election (so may be moving sideways to allow others to gain experience)
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/labour-reshuffle-as-pressure-goes-on-police-minister
I'm delighted to see two of my 'favourites' (Kiri Allan and Kieran McAnulty- and ones I tipped as future leadership potential, last week) – to be touted as potentially able to move into the police role. Regardless of whether or not Williams is doing a good job, she is looking increasingly besieged in the job, and doesn't appear to be dealing well with the media.
I do hope that Ardern brings on new leadership, rather than relying on the increasingly overburdened Hipkins and Woods.
Interestingly (perhaps this is a Wellington issue – so hadn't impinged on my radar) – Paul Eagle is tipped to resign in order to take the mayoralty. He's in Rongotai – Annette King's old seat – so absolutely a safe Labour by-election. I would hope that Szabo and Ardern, are looking towards the future for the selection. Eagle hasn't exactly shone, and you want something more than a solid backbencher in such a safe seat.
Eagle is another failure,a head nodder.Fitzsimons who is not seeking council reelection is picked to be the candidate.She represented wellington south and is disliked by many labour stalwarts in Island bay,over a number of issues and especially the IB cycleway which pissed a whole community off,and grandstanding with the vanity projects that help rape the ratepayers pockets.Another lawyer.
Yes Fleur Fitzsimons is not everyone's cup of tea. She & the mayor got it wrong in my view in supporting the views of those who wanted to deny women the ability to discuss the implications for bio women of the BDM amendment bill/now act. It did not seem to matter to either that the Courts had thrown out the denial of the booking for a space. So not an outstanding person to go to Parliament based on her Council work. Yet Paul Eagle was a very good councillor who, it must be said, has not shone as an MP.
So it is odd how it turns out.
The person who has been working solidly away in Rongotai is Laurie Foon from the Green Party. She would make a good MP. Far better than the rather divisive Fleur Fitzsimons.
Glad to see people are coming around to my (nearly) 2 year old view of Kiri and Kieran.
Certainly agree with you. Both have done very well over the term of this parliament – and ones to watch for the future.
Part of problem with die-hard Labour supporters, who defend every minister to the death – is that it becomes very difficult to discuss, meaningfully, which ministers are actually stars (combination of competence, public relations and media smarts).
That was more extensive than 'minor'.
On the ups and downs of it:
– Hipkins into Police is rewarding successful delivery in COVID with stronger pure political management into Law and Order media which he excels at. Hipkins is the purest of our Pure Politicians and that's what's needed right now.
– Not choosing Nash for Police is a pretty important signal to Nash that he's peaked.
– Williams into Conservation is a useful move since there are so many deep Maori partnerships in National Parks now. Ardern doesn't always get it right and this is a better portfolio fit. Also she has a strong Disability background already.
– Fa'afoi leaving but delivering the merged RNZ-TVNZ to Jackson is a bit of a dream job for Jackson as a broadcasting specialist. What a gift: Don't fuck it up Jackson.
– Wood getting Immigration and keeping Transport and Workplace is a big Rising Star signal that he has excellent risk aerials and commands his briefs.
– Kiri Allen getting Associate Finance not Deb Russell is a bit of s signal Russell has peaked. Russell should have got Revenue long ago: Parker is no good at it.
– Radhakrishnan into Cabinet is a really important community signal of seniority that will not be lost.
– Dr Verrall taking Research Science and Innovation is not a huge step when surely all hands on deck are needed in Health for Little in the ginormous restructure.
– Great to see Mahuta get some help in Foreign Affairs so she can concentrate more delivering 3 Waters which is a core Labour legacy at this point.
– Dr Woods has big calls to make on Energy coming up, so I hope taking more Construction portfolio work doesn't see her lose a step elsewhere.
– Presumably Mallard will get the EU Ambassador role coming up.
Good on Ardern for shuffling a but more than otherwise. It was needed in the circumstances.
"Presumably Mallard will get the EU Ambassador role coming up".
I think he would be rather better as our Ambassador in Belarus.
Hmm. I don't think it really is more extensive than 'minor'. Most of it is triggered by Faaroi leaving, and Williams being demoted; the consequent promotions into their vacant portfolios, and the subsequent shuffling of the minor roles that those people are vacating (in order to not be totally overwhelmed).
You're outlining many of the issues which have *not* been addressed, in this shuffle.
Ardern has said there will be another shuffle in (I think) January – though that's really too late to make any difference to the legislative programme.
I agree that Nash and Russell should be reading the writing on the wall. Though it can't really be news for either – they've been out of favour for some time.
I must have missed this. Has someone been appointed into an associate Foreign Affairs role?
Its been triggered by Kris Faafoi who is stepping down and out of politics. We'll know in a few minutes.
"What's the bet it's about Poto Williams and Nanaia Mahuta."
Nanaia? Did I miss something?
Cabinet reshuffle today. Finally!!! This is the governments chance for a reset.
If Labour wants a shot at winning 2023 or atleast of having an experienced caucus in opposition it needs to give the 2017 and 2020 class of fresh blood cabinet positions.
I'd personally like to see:
I'd give
Duncan Webb Justice.
Mcnaulty Agriculture.
Nash Police. This is a must.
Kiri Allen regional development.
I'd like Michael Wood to get a promotion but he's performing very well in that portfolio.
Poto Williams Civil defence (she's an mp from Christchurch East, who better for earthquake preparedness)
Ardern foreign affairs (Kirk, Lange and for a time Clark held this portfolio as Pm and tbh Ardern shines while overseas and the more she's overseas not dealing with grumpy NZ media the better she gets in rooms no other NZ pm could dream of,she's our best rep on the world stage )
I'd also shake up education, housing, defence.
Mallard Must Go!!
Id like to see people like Jo Luxon, Marja Lubeck, Ginny Anderson, Tracy McKellen, Shan Halbert Ibrahim Omer, Jamie Strange Rachel Boyak, Steph Lewis Sarah Pallet getting positions, if not cabinet positions ministers out of cabinet or junior minister positions. A lot of these people are in extremely unsafe seats so it could be a risk but more public exposure could help. I mean c'mon, Pallet beat Brownlee in ILAM.
Get David Parker off the Am show, he's not particularly liked by labour members let alone the public. Get Kiri Allen or Grant Robertson on that show.
Keep Debra Russell, Labours version of Maureen Pugh away from Cabinet.
Its very much time for the new blood to take over, currently we have the front bench from labours time in opposition in cabinet, the same backstabbing, unpopular lot who were utterly useless in opposition are unpopular and quite useless in cabinet.
This is labours chance to reset the govt and get a whole bunch of new blood experience.
Also just quietly, for a "Labour party" , there's not many mps in their list that appeal to working class people, they all look like robots with no sense of humour I hope the next labour list is as diverse in class, professions as it is diversity in gender sexuality and ethnicity, we need more real people in politics not more lawyers and uni lecturers who demand to be called Dr.
Beer not wine.
Rock not opera.
I'd like to see Kiri Allen take the Police portfolio. I think she's absolutely got the PR skills to front with the media, and the no-bullshit approach to problem-solving, that's needed.
She's also (I get the impression) a lot more popular inside the Labour party than Nash is – so more likely to be able to 'sell' some of the changes which need to happen.
I agree that many of the MPs you list are in very unsafe seats – and I suspect that Szabo and Ardern will be weighing up who's likely to be around after 2023.
The 'robot' description is absolutely true. My local MP is one of the list above – and just about every utterance on social media (a highly important communication platform) is Labour-party-script – literally cut-and-pasted from the policy website or a media release.
Add immigration to your list. Faafoi is looking increasingly uninterested in his portfolios. It seems fairly firmly established that he actually wanted to resign in 2020 – and was persuaded to stay on. I think he’s likely to announce his retirement. And those ministerial portfolios are an ideal environment to break in some new talent.
Mallard won’t resign from being Speaker. And, I think it’s unlikely that Ardern would push him out. Best you can hope for is that he retires at the next election (which has, I think, been fairly strongly signalled). Or that a plum High-Commissioner job suddenly becomes vacant (though diplomacy isn’t exactly his strong suit)
Turns out Mallard will be retiring as Speaker.
Indeed. I got that one wrong. But got right that he's being parachuted into a diplomatic post in Europe.
Not uncommon for ex-speakers – though usually after they actually retire from politics.
I imagine there is a number of career diplomats who wonder why they bothered.
If they had God in every Cabinet seat would it make a difference when the agenda in front of them says 'Three Waters,' and 'He Puapua' ? And the newspapers chucked on the table say 'shootings, gangs, poverty, housing, mental health and health system?'
Oh, and Willie Jackson uses the word 'co-governance.'
Is it about Lawyers, uni lecturers who demand to be called Dr., beer rather than wine and rock not opera?
Kelvin Davis has to go, the guy is completely useless as Corrections Minister.
Can't be done, PR. Look at the new reshuffle. Kevin has special status.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300612069/postcabinet-live-jacinda-ardern-announces-that-trevor-mallard-kris-faafoi-are-leaving-parliament
Well shit…
Always remember: '' Socialists are like rust, they never sleep.''
Where is this quote from, Blade?
That was most notably used in New Zealand in David Lange's description of Roger Douglas. It might not have been original but it was both funny and appropriate.
"He's like rust, he never sleeps".
I'm confused. Roger Douglas was in no way a socialist.
Typical of you Tories. Muddled thinking and poor recall.
He was a reformed socialist. He saw the light. And that light wasn't coming from a miners helmet…but rather from the blue light district of economics.
He was a Trojan horse – pretended to be Left to destroy the Labour party – an archetypal dirty trickster. The masses are not to be allowed to vote in their interests, so the Right is constantly in need of Judas goats. Your idol Hosking is one of them.
Muttonbird says "I'm confused".
Well yes. I had noticed that about you. You exhibit that when you make remarks like "Typical of you Tories". I am certainly not a Tory. I am a Liberal in the original meaning of the word.
I made it up myself as far as I know.
Robbo Hood is another original.
Someone told me I was the first to use the moniker 'Cindy.'' I don't if that's true, but I was definitely using it well before this dated link.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/122658284/shes-not-a-doll-so-dont-call-the-prime-minister-cindy
If it's your own phrase, why put it in quote marks?
Of course you have appropriated the name of the 1979 album by Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Rust Never Sleeps.
I don't know whether you have done this intentionally or because you are simply not very bright, but it is dishonest either way.
"Dimbo" – I said it first!
"Dimbo''
From the primordial swamp of limited creativity.
Robbo Hood – true genius.
"From the primordial swamp of limited creativity."
Ha ha ha ha!
Isn't the primordial swamp the epitome of creativity – the soup from which we all emerged, the very crucible of creativity?
Not feeling ya, Blade.
''If it's your own phrase, why put it in quote marks?''
I thought it might look better.
''Of course you have appropriated the name of the 1979 album by Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Rust Never Sleeps.''
No, I haven't. As far as I knew it was orginal. Obviously I may have picked the phrase up subconsciously. And I notice the word 'socialist' is missing from the name so I may still have an original use of the name.
This sometimes happens with disputes over who originally wrote a song. There are many chord progressions in music that can produce similar results.
There are many good quotes citing rust. Here's a cautionary one for Blade.
"It is not work that kills men: it is worry. Worry is rust upon the blade." Henry Ward Beecher.
All joking and point-scoring aside, that's a powerful statement. How much political and social action, right or wrong, stems from worry, anxiety and its attendant fear?
You seriously expect readers of this forum to believe you came up with the phrase, 'socialists are like rust, they never sleep' on your own without any help from Neil Young and Crazy Horse and the subsequent years of common, celebrated, vernacular use of that term?
You'd have to be a stupid idiot to have never heard the phrase, "Rust Never Sleeps" before, and a real shifty character to believe you in fact thought it up all on your own.
But butter, Muttonbird, wouldn't … you know.. that phrase that, probably, most likely, Blade coined.
Melt.
In there.
''All joking and point-scoring aside, that's a powerful statement. How much political and social action, right or wrong, stems from worry, anxiety and its attendant fear?''
More than a few, unfortunately.
I would also add that old adage: ''Hard work never killed anyone.''
Bullshit, it kills millions globally each year.
Looks as though Neil Young and Crazy Horse also appropriated the phrase — from the slogan of a US anti-rust paint brand – Rust-Oleum
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust-Oleum
There aint nothing new under the Sun….
Lol… you are as potent as you name, Belladonna.
One Muttonbird in the pot. Hard to cook and smelly. But the feast is delicious.
Poto is gone!!!!!
Excellent. One down. Let's hope the Police Commissioner can draw a not particularly long bow and ask himself would the leadership of his frontline staff and the people of New Zealand move him on if he was in cabinet?
Chris Hipkins unfortunately is just a mechanic who fixes things for Labour. I doubt he has any passion for his new police portfolio. Time will tell.
David Parker is a strange bird. When I look into his eyes, I see a fanatic. I know he can be a vicious operator… but I've never been able to make him out. Ian Wishart dealt to him a number of years back.
Man, Labour's internal polling must be dynamite.
"internal polling must be dynamite."
Good try to find a negative reason for the reshuffle but it has been flagged for some time and was brought about by resignations of Faafoi and Mallard. The PM also announced that a larger reshuffle will take place in the new year.
If you believe it's all about departing Labour MPs then I have a 3G Sim Card you can have for free.
This from Belladonna’s post above:
”Mid-term cabinet re-shuffles are more common than not. However, it may well be that Ardern is not quite as in control of the timing as she would like to be. She will, no doubt be well-aware of the downwards trend of the polls, and Labour do (I believe) a lot of polling of specific issues – so will be aware which Ministers are not being perceived as performing well.”
"If you believe it's all about departing Labour MPs".
If he believes that I would think you could do a lot better than give him a 3G sim card. Anyone who could believe that would probably pay you a couple of hundred bucks for a 2G card.
Nah, aren't they the ones with electro-magnetic properties requiring tin foil hats and deep state implants run by the Masonic order and the Vatican? I'm writing this from my bunker deep under the Southern Alps with my Italian Alpine Special Forces group. That humming you can hear you think is tinnitus, but's it's not……
I always wondered why I never graduated from driving a Datsun.
It's conjecture, Blade, yours, mine, and Belladonna's. However, I have this on my side. The headline reads, "Labour reshuffle prompted by departure of Faafoi, Mallard".
The sub-heading says "Labour’s long-awaited reshuffle has been triggered today by the departure of senior Cabinet Minister Kris Faafoi and Speaker Trevor Mallard
Today's Cabinet reshuffle has been sparked by the departures of Kris Faafoi and Trevor Mallard."
In addition, note the words 'long awaited' which rather denies your polling pressure argument.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/labour-reshuffle-as-pressure-goes-on-police-minister
Fair comment, Mac. It is conjecture on my part. But have you considered this:
Labour's poor internal polling can be denied as an excuse for a reshuffle because Labour had a long-awaited reshuffle in the pipeline. That in itself could have been cunning advanced planning?
And talking of reshuffles, this one doesn't seem minor to me, it's seems quite substantial.
Remember John Tamihere's notorious interview a few years back? The front-bums interview? He said something like this about Labour's sisterhood if I remember correctly:
''While the rest of us are taking our kids to Saturday sports events, they are at the cafe scheming. That's all they do.''
No, I've not considered them, and having read them am not doing so in the future.
There's conjecture, there's 'reckons' and then there's plain tomfoolery.
Quoting Tamihere as a credible backup to your ah, assertions, does not help………
''Quoting Tamihere as a credible backup to your ah, assertions, does not help………''
People sometimes become so focused on the immediate issue they fail to take in a global picture surrounding that issue. I like to sniff around the perimeter. Sometimes it's a wasted effort, more often than not you find a gem or a new perspective. For example, the Tamihere quote about the sisterhood and their scheming. Well, it seems the scheming is still going on, but it's the Maori caucus at the cafe now. And they can see the storm that's coming – the PM may have to move on Nanaia Mahuta and Kelvin Davis at the next reshuffle. Both are costing Labour votes. But any such move will be met with utu from the Maori Caucus.
Interesting times ahead, eh, Mac1?!
"I like to sniff around the perimeter. Sometimes it's a wasted effort, more often than not you find a gem …"
People fossick for gems, sniff for …rotten stuff.
Just sayin'
You still here, Robert. Go spread some salt.
I take your advice, Blade, with a grain.
That old curse, Blade! Plenty of opportunity to say, "Back in my day" and "I told you it wouldn't work".
I told my brother today that was going on my headstone…….
As for your punditry on the Māori caucus, he whakatauki mou. "Mā te wahine, mā te whenua, ka ngaro te tangata."
Oh, I absolutely agree it's all about 'reckons' (I'm not claiming either insider knowledge, or psychic powers!)
And, it is a fairly minor re-shuffle – almost all of the movements have been as the result of Faafoi moving aside (it's not clear when he actually plans to leave parliament – but as a List MP won't trigger a bye-election), and Poto Williams being demoted (she may still be a minister, but it's not a front line portfolio).
The rest of the changes are the fallout from those two.
Mallard leaving is an interesting thing to announce as part of a cabinet re-shuffle. As Speaker, he's not part of the cabinet, and it wouldn't be usual for an announcement for a change to this role to be bundled up with shifting Ministerial portfolios. It's also unusual (I think) for there not to be a specific diplomatic job referenced (certainly both Jonathan Hunt & Lockwood Smith resigned specifically to take up the role of High Commissioner in London)
Hipkins has a criminology degree, he might actually like it. Jan Tinetti, a former school principal and teacher, takes on the operational part of the Education portfolio – handy set of knowledge to have in the wings.
If they can make a difference, Graig, I say all power to them. I don't care who the Minster of Police is or from what party. If he/she can stop innocent people getting hurt, they will have my support.
“If he/she can stop innocent people getting hurt, they will have my support”.
Totally – though you do realise that taking that sentiment at face value would also, say, be a reason for criminalising speculation in residential property which hurts sh*tloads of innocent people by turbocharging asset price inflation and rent rises?
Or are you opposed only to some types of harm – such as those you might potentially suffer rather than those you might potentially inflict?
Very good point AB. Will Blade suddenly emerge as the hero of the poor, underpaid people who try to hold down several low-paid jobs, but still struggle to pay their mercilessly high and raised rents?
I somehow doubt it,
You mean like this guy who at one stage I believe held 7 jobs…and has donated money to Labour.
Listen to the reporter. You whine like her:
Irrelevant, immaterial and incompetent. Not very sharp either.
''Be a reason for criminalising speculation in residential property which hurts sh*tloads of innocent people by turbocharging asset price inflation and rent rises?''
Don't throw that socialist crap at me. You save that for your buddies who have the same processing chip as you.
Or are you opposed only to some types of harm – such as those you might potentially suffer rather than those you might potentially inflict?
No, I'm opposed to people who break laws on the statute books. Not laws your ideology believes are laws or should be laws.
And I'm for victims not criminals. Something I doubt rarely crosses your mind unless there is some political gain.
One down, one to go.
More accurate to say Minister Poto Williams remains as a cabinet minister with Customs, according to the Herald. Minister Chris Hipkins picks up the Police role.
Do you work for the Labour spin team?
No, it's not accurate to say she has gone. She is still a cabinet minister.
I should have been more specific for you……..she is gone as police minister.
I don't think Mac1 is totally surprised by your superfluous comment, Jimmy. He obviously knew it already.
But a very significant and substantial demotion.
She wasn't shifted sideways into one of the significant ministerial roles vacated by Faafoi, but definitely down a tier into Conservation and Disability issues (not arguing they aren't important – but not first-raked ministerial portfolios)
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/poto-williams-loses-police-portfolio-mallard-faafoi-depart
That the Disability portfolio is the nearest alternative to being sacked speaks volumes. Imagine the hearing she will get in Cabinet on our behalf?
Nobody with a grain of sense accepts the word of Muhammad Idrees Ahmad
The good-hearted but woefully ill-informed "Jenny How to Get There" recently commended, with apparent sincerity, one of the most bloody-minded and unhinged proponents of chaos and bloodshed in the Middle East. She did that in the course of a wild, fact-free attempt to traduce one of the most outstanding journalists in America.
Jenny called Idrees Ahmad a "real professor", as if being a "Lecturer in Digital Journalism" at a second-rate university bestowed credibility on that jihadist.
I invite Standard readers to look at the facts about this "real professor" and then judge for themselves, rather than accepting the word of someone who has been wrong too often.
hard to see from that comment why we should believe one over the other.
One is an internationally renowned journalist, respected all over the world, and hated and feared by the political establishment and its media mouthpieces. The other fellow rejoices in the splendid title of "Lecturer in Digital Journalism" at Stirling University, and has no academic or journalistic credentials whatsoever.
The difference is stark.
Where's Chris T? They made a confident prediction here recently…
5 June 2022 at 6:18 pm
link?
I did try 🙂
Robert, imho your comment that provoked Chris T's bullish bet was priceless.
Took me a few seconds to correctly assign Chris T's two proposed labels ("slow" and "amazingly brilliant") to he and thee – CT might need more time.
More time, more rope.
Thanks for your generous parsing.
he's on a ban. Back on Thurs I think.
I'm a patient sort of guy. His mea culpa will be all the sweeter for the passage of time 🙂
"They" made a confident prediction? How many Chris Ts are there?
It is a shame about Kris Faafoi leaving as I always thought he had a good future, but his heart clearly wasn't in it this last year and sounds like he really wanted to leave 18 months ago according to Jacinda's announcement.
For some strange reason Kris Faafoi was once a favourite of the rabid right. It was when he was doing small stuff like car recalls.
When Faafoi became minister of immigration they changed their tune, didn't they? No more cheap, brown, foreign labour for the rich pricks to exploit.
Does anyone, really, think that Faafoi has been an outstanding success in any of his ministerial roles?
Name an 'outstandingly successful' immigration minister.
Name a minister of immigration of note.
Name any immigration minister at all.
Without looking it up.
Also Minister of Justice and of Broadcasting (covering the highly contentious merger of Radio and TV).
While it may be difficult to recall successful Ministers of Immigration, Labour has had 2 lemons in a row: Ian Lees-Galloway and Kris Faafoi. It's to be hoped that Michael Wood will be a safe pair of hands.
Faafoi sat on his hands, and allowed his Immigration ministry to do zip, during the whole of 2020 and most of 2021. There was no reason not to continue to process documentation for immigrants already in NZ – and he created vast uncertainty for many people, resulting in sorely needed staff actually leaving the country, as they couldn't get residency confirmed. He seemed incapable of directing his ministry to co-ordinate effectively with border security in getting critical personnel (doctors, nurses, vets, etc.) in to NZ.
It looked like bureaucratic capture of a Minister who basically just wasn't interested.
In terms of Justice, the previous two incumbents (Andrew Little and Amy Adams) were streets ahead of Faafoi.
Broadcasting, is often a 'nothing' ministry – unless there's some scandal brewing…. But Labour went into government with a plan to merge radio and TV – so it is currently a 'hot' portfolio, needing a Minister across the detail. This one should have been a gift to Faafoi, with his background in journalism. But, once again, he wasn't able to answer (or apparently even anticipate) the questions that the keenly interested journalists had (and continue to have) about the new structure.
While he's leaving to spend more time with his kids (and that's a really good reason) – it seems inescapable that he tried politics, and found that he doesn't actually enjoy the big picture policy side of things. That's not a disaster. It's something that you learn about yourself by doing. But it's also not something to be camouflaged, by pretending that there wasn't a performance issue.
I had a look for you. In reverse order:
Ian Lees-Galoway – Shagged his assistant on tour, got fired, career over.
Michael Woodlouse – He of the phantom homeless person while he wasn’t bullying and harassing Claire Curran for fun.
Nothing Guy – The only thing he brought into NZ successfully was Microplasma Boris. It really took off.
Jonathan Coleman – Dr Death himself.
Clayton Cosgrove – Meh.
David Cunliffe – So reviled in the NZ political landscape he was forced to resign after apologising for being a man.
Paul Swain – Who?
Lianne Dalziel – Retired to mayoralty…
Wyatt Creech – Acting minister for 16 days!
Tuariki Delamere – Dismissed after an NZ First coup attempt.
I'd say Faafoi is the best of the lot, with the possible exception of Clayton Cosgrove.
Not if you look at his total lack of performance over 2020-21.
Unless you think that doing nothing is the ministerial bench mark for any Minister of Immigration.
Try doing that analysis with his Justice portfolio.
Looking at the last 25 years of immigration ministers, doing nothing is the benchmark.
Kris Faafoi has done a great deal. He's been at the front of the government's immigration reset. That is the policy shift away from open-tap, low skill, low value education back door immigration.
It's a bold, socially responsible policy which, by definition, I expect you don't understand.
Is that the one where Doctors are on the priority skills shortage list, but Nurses aren't?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/128611289/midwives-and-nurses-flabbergasted-over-sexist-immigration-changes
And the re-set where Faafoi said he'd be "quite grumpy!" if the dept didn't manage to process visas in a timely fashion (their processing times have got worse, not better since he's been in charge). I bet that's making the bureaucrats shake in their shoes (not).
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/shows/2022/05/kris-faafoi-grilled-over-new-immigration-settings-says-he-ll-get-grumpy-if-visas-aren-t-processed-promptly.html
Yet to hear your explanation over why it was OK for the Dept of Immigration to do nothing for most of 2020 and 2021.
I absolutely don't have a problem with NZ being a high-skills immigration destination. Though (according to the Green spokesman), it's not exactly socially responsible.
Still waiting for your take on Faafoi as the greatest Justice minister of all time….
"Nothing Guy" – too good!
sadly no, the Ministry of Imm has been a disaster for years and Faafoi made absolutely no improvement…and gave the impression he wasnt interested, which he probably wasnt.
Ooof, you can't say that Pat.
According to @Muttonbird all Labour ministers are the pinnacle of perfection. No criticism allowed, or possible /sarc/
Meh…that is to be expected from certain quarters…the whole reshuffle has an air of desperation about it.
Remember the days when Jong Kee did musical chairs with his cabinet and his fans called it clever refreshment?
I always wondered why Keys would change his ministers twice a year but suspected it was because he struggled to show what he actually did as PM so simply showing he was boss was it for him.
Still waiting for your take on Faafoi as the greatest Justice minister of all time. Popcorn at the ready.
I'm sure you'll be able to add a few links to like-minded commentators supporting your views.
Yes, that is sarcasm. Thought you might need me to spell it out for you.
Belladonna,you are poisonous,you point out too me,who here has stated all Labour ministers are/has been the best ?
Try looking at @Muttonbird's comments.
Clearly some of the die-hard Labour supporters aren't actually interested in debate, just in an echo chamber.
I point out and discuss the Ministers I think are performing well (Woods, Wood, Allan, McAnulty) – and equally the ones which I think are not performing well.
I'm happy to debate issues (indeed, I enjoy doing so). However, debate actually requires that the other party engage with the specific issues being discussed – rather than just going silent and popping up to deflect with a 'squirrel' viewing. Under another comment.
I'm sorry that you think I'm poisonous, but that reflects more on you than on me. Time for a bit of reflection, perhaps.
John Key left politics (proper) in 2016.
+1 Muttonbird
What are you on about, Robert?
Nanaia.