Disturbing ( but unsurprising) moves from the Chavista regime to ignore it’s defeat in the recent elections and attempt to hobble a branch of government for the sake of the ‘revolution’.
More often than not in the struggle for democracy its been the u.s.a helping stand in the way ………backing genocide and death squads.
“declassified documents[5] indicate that the United States “provided economic, technical and military aid to the army soon after the killings started. It continued to do so long after it was clear a ‘widespread slaughter’ was taking place in Northern Sumatra and other places, and in the expectation that US assistance would contribute to this end.
The repercussions of the u.s.a supported murderous overthrow of Indonesia’s democratic government are still going on and countries like east timor also paid a terrible price.”
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has advised clients to brace for a “cataclysmic year” and a global deflationary crisis, warning that the major stock markets could fall by a fifth and oil may reach $US16 a barrel.
The bank’s credit team said markets are flashing the same stress alerts as they did before the Lehman crisis in 2008.
“Sell everything except high quality bonds. This is about return of capital, not return on capital. In a crowded hall, exit doors are small,” it said in a client note.
Andrew Roberts, the bank’s credit chief, said both global trade and loans are contracting, a nasty cocktail for corporate balance sheets and equity earnings, and uncharted waters given that debt ratios have reached record highs.
“China has set off a major correction and it is going to snowball. Equities and credit have become very dangerous, and we have hardly even begun to retrace the ‘Goldilocks’ love-in of the last two years,” he said.
Mr Roberts expects Wall Street and European stocks to fall by 10pc to 20pc, with an even deeper slide for the FTSE-100 thanks to its high weighting of energy and commodities.’
Trade Minister Todd McClay will promote New Zealand’s case to host a proposed secretariat for the Trans-Pacific Partnership when trade ministers from 12 Asia Pacific nations are expected to gather in Auckland to sign the deal next month.
McClay confirmed to the Herald that there are some considerable “sensitivities” around the secretariat proposal. The proposal is expected to be one of the topics for discussion at a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) ministerial meeting before the formal signing of the ground-breaking regional agreement, which covers some of the world’s most robust economies and 40 per cent of global GDP…………..
Reliable sources have confirmed to the Herald that February 4 emerged as the preferred signing date after Prime Minister John Key offered New Zealand as the host while he was at the Apec leaders meeting in the Philippines.
McClay expects to be able to confirm a signing date “in the next week or so” after it is clear all 12 nations will be in a position to proceed.’
Would be excellent if we could get a secretariat based here. Clever strategy by McClay to seek to ensure implementation of the TPPA. It is were done then best it be done well. We are a small nation of just 4.5M people and if we can influence 40% of the world’s GDP we should grab the chance. Not even the most strident Leftie would surely disagree.
Romania was a small country when it signed the Tripartite Pact in Berlin in 1940.
Signing bad deals that give up your sovereignty – even if it gives of the appearance of more importance – does not equal good governance or statesmanship.
It seems more like treason.
Minor tweaks to sovereignty takes place with every trade deal. You do not lose or give up sovereignty. New Zealand needs to trade with the world. Signing a deal with 40% of the World’s GDP is a hell of a lot better than not signing it. Having a permanent secretariat based here to implement it could be the icing on the cake. Tim Groser should get a knighthood for the work he has put in to making our future even brighter.
You cannot possibly be serious. Without trading with other countries we would be be penniless. If your comment is the level of Left wing thinking no wonder it is unelectable.
Without trading with other countries we would be be penniless.
This is a fundamental misunderstanding of economics but it’s one that’s shared across the political spectrum. Many have come to believe that we need money. This belief is delusional.
We don’t need money, we need resources and we have all that we need in our borders already. Plenty of resources here to provide everything that we need – as long as we don’t squander them unsustainably. Unfortunately, our present delusional financial system has us doing exactly that. The 300m tonnes of iron sands down the West Coast of Te Ika a Māui will be gone in about 50 years because we’re so determined to have money that we’re selling off the resources we actually need to other countries.
If your comment is the level of Left wing thinking no wonder it is unelectable.
The problem is the delusional thinking that you and many others espouse.
Money is a tool that helps us distribute the resources that we have in the country but it’s not actually needed. We could use other systems for that distribution (I’m in favour of democracy).
What we can’t do without is those resources. Without those resources we have no food, no housing, no roads, etc etc.
Using a monetary system because we have all the resources in the country to provide the food and the houses and the roads then the only money we need is NZ$. We have no need of foreign exchange.
We are wasting the limited resources we have by exporting them for foreign exchange (Really, it’s even worse than that as we’re wasting those resources to make a few people rich).
Ministry says alterations to TPP could cost New Zealand up to $55 million a year
New Zealand consumers could face higher costs than first predicted as a result of copyright changes in the Trans Pacific Partnership, newly released documents show.
The biggest costs will come from concessions on copyright. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) says the cost to consumers and businesses of extending the copyright term from 50 years to 70 years will eventually rise to around $55 million a year.
InternetNZ work programme director Andrew Cushen said the change meant increased costs for New Zealanders, and greater revenue for overseas copyright holders.
“We will pay more over time to access music and movies. We will also pay more over time for books and educational resources, making it more expensive for us to learn and to do business.”
Mr Cushen said the $55 million did not take into account the increased cost and difficulty of re-using copyright works.
These paid rwnj trolls come on this site to derail conversations and to instigate puerile arguments. They are not interested in debates. They are also very predictable and very dull.
I think the best way to deal with them is to either ignore them completely or just type a word like dull.
It seems to work. They don’t like being described as uninteresting.
Maybe they’ll go away one day.
You should be careful PR. Bans have been proposed for Zzzzzzs.
“Paul 8.1.1
30 December 2015 at 9:56 am
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
[RL: The ‘zzz’s’ are not needed. You and anyone else repeating them will earn a ban.]”
On the other hand Paul may have learned his lesson. Whereas a couple of weeks ago he seemed to thing the repetition of the final letter of the alphabet was the height of wit he now realises that it is very dull and he was only demonstrating that he was a prat.
If questioning the interest level of pr’s contributions is ‘prattish’, then I am proud to be described by you as one, alwyn.
Thanks for your pleasant contribution.
I say again that the blog can be enhanced by some banning action against the silly irritating and smart-arse comments coming daily. If people wanted to hear cloth-eared ideas they would go to radio talkback or some tabloid like the Herald.
Some commenters here find it amusing but these factoids spoil the blog’s ability to converse intelligently with people who at least appear to be left thinking and interested in discussion on political matters. These insects are just spoiling the picnic every day.
And a lot of people don’t understand the idea of being amused in a superior way by the spoilers, and don’t understand why they crop up here, or the negative effect they have on polite discourse here. I despise them, they don’t give a damn about our efforts to think towards better policies for the country. They just fill in their time by being objectionable on purpose. It’s pathetic and stupid behaviour and belongs elsewhere. We would still have disagreements and arguments without them, we wouldn’t settle into an unstirred sludge you, can bet on that.
@ BM (5.1.1) – your abusive comments towards another poster, in this case Paul, who does offer constructive debate, has invalidated any argument you might have put forward. Getting nasty and personal, automatically puts you on the losing side.
The source is actually a stuff article (see the link)
I know that Fairfax aren’t much more reliable than blogs as a source of info but I would think it is correct.
So if 6000 picture/videos of child abuse aren’t enough to get sent to prison what is?
BM is right – the Judge is out of touch – you can tell this by her refusing to view the evidential images – obviously the viewing would interrupt her do-gooding tinted glasses.
The sad thing is the images are the only way for the victims to cry out for justice.
As for the threat of suicide being a sufficient reason to not send him to jail – what a joke.
I do hope the Prosecution appeal this – damaged children are worth more than a few hours of PD.
Kind of like the old boys network. Or maybe it’s just that you can’t fire judges easily because we need an independent judiciary. Or maybe her sentencing is not out of the range of normal.
Tell me, what would a judge’s sentencing look like if they understood the value of rehabilitation as well as punishment and protecting the public?
Um all permanent judges have security of tenure, even the women judges. It is to stop governments firing them because they do not like their judgments.
And why is it that you are so upset because a Judge showed some compassion. The alternative would have been to send this poor sap to jail, making him permanently unemployable and a permanent burden on the welfare state.
And surely our justice system has to be able to display mercy from time to time.
She was cautious not to push him over the edge. It’s only Cameron Slater and those of his ilk who’d welcome the guy’s suicide. There’d also be a whole lot stuff we wouldn’t know about this case that wasn’t reported but which the judge would’ve seen.
He was charged with possession of objectionable material not sexual offences against children. I agree there are victims of this sort of offending but for a first time offender at his age and with his mental condition I think the decision was not out of what the Judge could do.
What good would sending him to jail do, for him or for society?
Micky, do offenders in that situation have ongoing supervision to make sure they’re likely to reoffend, or are they basically left to it once the sentence is served?
There are standard conditions that are imposed for a period f 12 months and the Judge also has the power to impose further conditions. It is not clear from the report what happened here.
It is not an unusual sentence for this offence although this guy had quite a few images. For instance this guy received home detention for a second offense.
And what do you propose? Execution by firing squad?
I have had some professional dealings with people facing these charges. They are sad and often have awful backgrounds. They can be treated. Some compassion, such as that shown by Judge Cunningham, helps.
“And what do you propose? Execution by firing squad?”
Shit…why does it have to be one extreme or another?
I have had professional dealings with the victims of child sexual assault…some, no, all of those people have had their youth destroyed to some extent by those sad bastards you are advocating for.
Great….they have a ‘friend’….but show a modicum of respect and compassion for their victims.
“He was charged with possession of objectionable material not sexual offences against children.”
from 5.2.1.2.1.2
Spare me the ‘child pornography is a victimless crime’ line….do you know how much credibility the legal profession lost when the Law Society did not eject their child porn perving member?
Let’s spell it out….for every image of a child being sexually assaulted there is a child victim involved.
Without a customer there wouldn’t be a product.
This….thing….didn’t just have a ‘whoops I’ve accidentally stumbled upon a child porn site ‘ moment…he had over 6060 images of extreme assaults on children.
IMHO he should have done time in jail(getting ‘treated’) ….the tea and sympathy from the judge, on top of the leniency, was a gross insult to his victims.
“And what do you propose? Execution by firing squad?”
Shit…why does it have to be one extreme or another?
Fair call. I was responding to your comment that I was “enabling the enablers of perverts”. I was merely suggesting that home detention is not an unsuitable punishment for those who collect pornography.
I am not advocating for them. I am suggesting that sending them to jail may be counterproductive.
“He was charged with possession of objectionable material not sexual offences against children.”
…
Let’s spell it out….for every image of a child being sexually assaulted there is a child victim involved.
Agreed. That is why I made the comment that “I agree there are victims of this sort of offending but for a first time offender at his age and with his mental condition I think the decision was not out of what the Judge could do.”
Nothing can repair the damage caused by sexual abuse. But a preventative approach rather than a retributive approach may result in a different sentence. And there is no such thing as adequate treatment in jail.
how do you get rid of judges that are completely out of touch with reality?
But who says she is? Occasional displays of compassion by our justice system should not be frowned on. Otherwise we may as well design a computer system to handle it and leave it to the machines.
I’d have thought that crimes of a sexual nature especially against children might have judges erring on the side of caution as opposed to granting home detention or discharge without conviction
“Remorse demonstrated only after you’ve been caught red-handed ought to count for shit at sentencing.”
For people who are using child rape porn I’d prefer that for first offences the focus is on rehabilitation and supervision. The thing most likely to turn that man into an active rapist is a term in prison.
I do think his home detention and fining were light, but I don’t know if that’s because of sentencing guidelines and rules, or leniancy by the judge.
That doesn’t make sense though. To understand if any of her sentences are lenient, you’d have to compare them to similar offending sentences of other judges, not her own sentences.
That depends very much on your point of view: most right wingers are deranged and utterly incompetent when it comes to effective (ie: actually reducing crime) penal policy.
AFAIK …. organisations like samaritans and others have ‘shifts’ and it’s voluntary (you know – philanthropy – the way the Natzis think compassion and aid for fellow humankind should work). IT’s a win win situation – it allows the philanthropist to feel good about themselves if and when they have the means, there’s no guilt feelings involved, they can cling to any Christian religious beliefs they may have, they can feign concern and their friends can see them being nice blokes, and they don’t have to inconvenience themselves in any way whatsoever. Most times – even their kuds can claim their tragic aging old parents are decent ‘stock’ and are their bestest ever best freinds.
They really are ‘decent’ lore-biding folk!
For people who are using child rape porn I’d prefer that for first offences the focus is on rehabilitation and supervision.
Sure. But what does “supervision” mean? It doesn’t mean this prick never gets to use a password to ensure his privacy on a network-connected computer ever again, which is really the only supervision that would address his particular problem. Also, he gets name suppression, which is very much up to the judge. I wouldn’t want this guy anywhere computers I was responsible for, but the judge has decided I don’t need to know. Rehabilitation for him should involve learning to do something that doesn’t involve computers – there’s plenty of work out there for cleaners and other forms of unskilled labour.
In an unreal world he would be banned from owning and using electronic devices for the rest of his life, probably in a real world if he was a citizen of Saudi Arabia he would have his hands cut off to absolutely make sure he didn’t. I wonder what the Judge would have brought down if he had been just poor, uneducated and not employed – jail time and hell in the showers. I hope his wife and kids leave him for the kids sake and well being. What a tosser.
That’s the crux of it for me too Kate. Loss of status is being considered a punishment by judges now and one has to ask how that can be considered justice.
A poor person has little status so they can go to jail whereas a rich or important person has some perceived stature so they get a slap on the wrist because sending them to jail will demean them in the public’s eye. Lovely.
Absolutely DH – its a closed off world where they have a law for themselves and they make sure they look after each other. Child sex offending and child porn is repugnant and there should be serious consequences for such offenders. Its odd how it seems to me to be a “sport cum pastime” for the wealthy and well educated with their secret clubs and places where they go for their kicks – so many people in power seem to get caught at it. Its sickening and so many of them have children of their own, beggars belief really how sick some people can be. I have absolutely no sympathy for them and believe they are unable to be rehabilitated and we shouldn’t be wasting good money on them. The judge should be reprimanded and told to re look at her findings.
• 30 per cent – of all internet bandwidth is used for pornography. (Source: Huffington Post)
• 70 per cent – of men and 30 per cent of women watch porn. The average time spent on a porn site is 12 minutes. (Huffington Post)
• 450 million – Unique visitors to porn sites each month. When combined, Netflix, Amazon and Twitter get 316 million visitors. (Huffington Post)
• 90 per cent – of all content included verbal or physical abuse against women in one study of 50 popular pornographic websites and DVDs. (Violence Against Women)”
This is an ‘old’ story, but one that does deserve more air.
Fifty year old ‘professional’ is caught perving at 6000 images of child pornography so hideous that the Judge can’t bear to view them and gets sentenced to stay home.
And…gets name suppression.
In an ideal world he’d be rendered incapable of further offending….ever.
His ‘mental illness’…what a crock.
But, the Judge…bless her for her many acts of mercy…has let him of, and protected his identity, and suppressed his ‘profession’.
Is he a lawyer? Can’t trust any of them if male and fifty years old.
Is he a doctor? A judge? An IT consultant? An engineer?
So many fifty year old male professionals we can no longer trust…is it him that gets off on watching children being sexually abused?
See, guys, this is what happens when sexual predators are protected…we can’t trust any man.
Farrar is more of a creep than Slater…….being the good cop in the bad cop/good cop routine that he and Slater played for John Key makes him the more dishonest one.
I also suspect he did the polling and advised John Key he did not have to apologize to Tania Billington as the numbers were not hurting him…….
Farrar is a grubby little fuck …………………. you should spend more time at his blog BM
I don’t see your point. The Herald led with the same article as the ODT in example 1, both major ‘papers seem to be syndicating off each other a lot these days.
I’d think correcting a wrong report to be ethical media behaviour. Where the Herald in particular get a bit ratlike is they sometimes print the false claim on the front page with a big print headline & many column centimetres and hide the subsequent retraction or alternate view deep in the paper using small print and only a few words.
They suck because instead of trying to get both sides of the story they just went with the most sensationalist headline they could get without even the pretence of balance
Not sure I can follow that PR. Both incidents appear to have had timing issues where more information was revealed later and I don’t think you can blame the media for printing what was topical, and appeared truthful, at the time.
That’s the thing though isn’t the fourth estate supposed to find out whether its truthful or not? It just appears to be lazy in that someone runs to the media and the media print the story without doing their jobs and the media wonder why people are turning away
What do you expect from them? If they thoroughly investigated every act that was reported to them they’d have nothing to print.
Filling a newspaper every day can’t be an easy task. Sure they put some drivel in it and yes they can be a bit hasty at times but so long as they maintain a genuine balance with the storyline I don’t see it being a problem.
I thought they did ok on the Te Reo one. The media have adopted a practice of milking a story for as long as they can keep people interested and they killed that one with the follow up. With the first article the way they worded it they looked to be priming the rednecks for more gossip & innuendo and instead the story just died.
Yeah, I like it coz it’s neither a praise of journlaism nor a condemnation of it. It just calss it what it is, an important part of the eventual discussion that becomes ‘what we accept as historical truth’.
It’s job is to get stuff fast, and as accurate as fast allows. It’s going to get stuff wrong, and will need to revise itself and update itself and generally keep on journalisming. No one has yet come up with a better model that actually works.
I think the problem is you simply can’t but what makes it worse is the news media (imho) are trying to go head to head with blogs
The news media can’t compete with speed but they can compete with quality, instead of going down market and going after the lowest common dominator it’d be nice to see a newspaper go the other way and compete on quality of reporting instead
I wish that the newspapers would just try and get the simplest things right.
The DomPost this morning had a story that Singapore Airlines were going to start a service from Wellington to Canberra using an Airbus A330. They put a picture on the front page which they labelled as being an A330.
The only problem is that the A330 is a twin engine single deck aircraft. The photo was of a four engine double decker A380. Can’t they get even the simplest things right? Do they even care?
Heh – what’s the old quote from tradies: you can have any combination you want of fast, cheap and good that you want, but you can only have two out of three. Well, in modern media fast is cheap, but good is extremely expensive – good investigators, good editors, good sub editors, lose one and the others become precarious.
In most cases the call for both sides results in false balance; giving more equal weight to opposing views than actual evidence supports.
The reporting around climate change being primarily caused by human activity is an obvious example of the failure of “both sides” reporting.
And then there is the similar argument to moderation where the middle ground between two opposing views is viewed as the correct one, and discounts views at either extreme end simply because they are at the edges.
The reporting around the effects of climate change is a good example.
With the Te Reo story, it looks like the Herald ran with a breaking story without investigating the actual facts of the matter, and tacked on a headline that can best be described as race-baiting.
Or, to put it another way, they couldn’t be arsed actually doing their job and decided to poison the public discussion around Te Reo instead.
The interesting thing to me is that the ODT clearly attributes both the story and the photo to the Herald, but the Herald only attributes the photo, not the identical story, or any other indication it’s syndicated content.
No. In this subthread I’m talking about behaviour on ts. Shall we turn this one into a long boring trollfest too? You are better than this usually, so feel free to not take my original comment personally.
If any body can pick the top of a market or the bottom they would be infinitely rich Take these announcement with a grain of salt, similar advice to buy . if RBS believed as thier predictions are 100pc kosher and so do you Paul I suggest you short the total market with every thing you got, you can’t loose
Looks like you want to fight RWNJ and/or trolls rather than discuss politics. I think there are better ways to do that if you want it to also be a public service.
Ah well, the more considered approach is fine to a point but every now and then it’s better to be more direct. Not sure some people understand any other way.
I note you have said yourself below that the month old story about the judge and the professional was a set up. What’s wrong with calling that out early?
I don’t have a problem with calling out bullshit. It was more just that I came onto OM this morning and it was full of bickering. Naming bullshit is one thing, arguing about it endlessly is another. I know how easy it is to get sucked into that, do it myself, but it was just a bit much and I thought it might be good to name it and see if it changed 🙂
Oil price plummeting. Why has all the alarmist Peak Oil crap gone silent? What will be the next alarmist warning Ah yes TPPA, the end of civilisation. Welfare reform-?
The Saudis are playing games so that American fracking and off-shore drilling becomes to expensive to continue and that the Russian war chest gets depleted.
The Americans used to rely on the Saudis for oil and the Saudis don’t like it that they don’t need to anymore. It hard to make them fight your enemies when you can’t blackmail them over their oil needs.
Actually I’m not sure America actually purchased oil directly from SA. I think the US purchased oil from Canada and Mexico, and no now longer need to do it. So Canada and Mexico are selling their oil to countries that would have bought from SA.
They do still import oil from the Kingdom.
It peaked at about 50 million bbl/month in 2003 and is now down to about 30 million. http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=MTTIMUSSA1&f=M
You are quite right about it being basically fungible. There is a difference in properties but that can be got around if you don’t want the cheapest price. New Zealand of course both imports AND exports crude. Our production isn’t very good for producing the mix of products we want.
Minto said the information came from an anonymous source but it seemed credible as it matched with Pinnacle’s stated intentions.
Minto said: “Whether or not [Bennett] met with them, it’s clear Dr Cheng’s Pinnacle group want to buy state houses. They’ve been quite explicit about that.”
Sounds the same as the old question of have you stopped beating your wife…
Oh, I think a couple of laws about the MSM sticking to the truth should bring about a few changes. The reporting of the Donghua Liu (sp?) affair should have brought about significant consequences to the publishing houses. Maybe if they’d been looking at a fine of a few million dollars they would have investigated it properly before jumping on National’s Dirty Politics bandwagon.
The Labour Party did have the opportunity to sue the Herald and it’s reporters for defamation. And Donghua Liu for libel*.
But they didn’t.
So if the Labour Party shows no interest in defending itself, why would anyone assume they would stand up for New Zealanders?
* I’m assuming Liu’s statement false statement was quoted instead of paraphrased – I can’t remember, and don’t want to wade through all that muck again.
Interesting, you’re actually complaining about the dictatorial political system we have.
And that’s why we need a democracy rather than an elected dictatorship where policy is decided by the people and not a small clique of dictators as we have now.
The Greens have been steadily creeping their vote up. Recently NZF has as well.
I’d expect that after National get handed their arse because they haven’t managed to build any coalition partners, and they booted off the treasury benches in 2017, that they will have other parties form – probably along the obvious internal fracture lines.
Some of those parties may grow. But in the end, a party needs to get above 5% vote to get into parliament (electorate seats are hard to keep for a small party – they kill party vote), and above about 15% of MPs to be viewed as a major party.
To do that, they have to get a dedicated party membership and activists, both as a source of candidates and to provide the room to groom viable candidates who don’t bug out. Think of Pam Corkery and a number of other celeb candidates over the years.
Yes, but CC is just a weirdo. Everything was going very well for them until his weirdness overshadowed everything.
Their policy positions were popular. Probably the only thing that stopped them getting more votes was scepticism that they would get enough votes to be elected – catch 22.
If the threshold had been 4% they would have easily gotten in, and probably polled 5%+ anyway.
Of course with Colin’s meltdown, we could have been looking at an early election.
After observing politics for a few decades, I’ve come to the general conclusion that most of the people interested in politics are interested in being critics rather than doing the political leg work. That definitely includes me. I prefer to find a decent seasoned candidate and to support them.
Granny front page today about a tree that cant be cutdown. Another barely hidden whine about supercity rules that developers probably want ‘fixed’…..and they wonder why circulation is declining.
In this case though, it’s a tree that needs to be removed.
So, it’s the opposite of the Kauri up in Titirangi.
Pretty sure the two stories will be conflated in the next couple of days by someone who has both a large public platform and a penchant for magical thinking.
I expect I’ll have to wait (and hope) that Prof. Geddis or G. Edgeler is curious enough to identify and blog on the legislative conflict that the environment court was unable to resolve.
117 comments already and half it seems from RWs. How can anyone concentrate on thinking about anything important when these time and space-wasters block the thread, intelligent discussion gets deflected just when it is required more than ever before.
The RWNJs are mounting a very good attack on TS every day, it’s almost like a denial of service because it is hard to get through to the valuable thoughts and musing coming from real people with integrity. Patience is a virtue goes the saying, but too much turns you into a doormat for others to wipe their feet on.
edited
Agreed as they rely on the egalitarian nature of TS.
Try similar on blubberboy or princessparty blogs and the barrier comes down so the rwnj comments can flow freely for all the others to feed off and feel justified.
It looks like PR, fisiani and BM. All of those people are quite capable of debating properly, although PR often needs knocking into shape and is the most trollish of the three IME. BM likes to drop in somewhat inflammatory comments, but he will engage intelligently if you respond to him intelligently. Bickering with them will almost certainly get met in kind.
I don’t mind their presence so much as the fact that so much of the discussion is personal and squabbling. But that could just as easily be lefties (and in this case it was too) 😉
But yeah, if this were happening under a post rather than OM it would be seriously disruptive. Probably first week back at work dynamics too.
Go hard on this issue, forget about people with Chinese sounding names or crims on Easter Island, this is what will get Labour a much needed bump in the polls, this is what middle NZ cares about
Get your MPs as much coverage as they can, say what you’d do in power (and for goodness sake make sure the costings add up) and make sure you front foot this and frame the argument yourselves
I agree with greywarshark. I don’t think any of them except PR are genuine. They often display a herd mentality when a strong theme starts propagating here. Their purpose seems to be one of disruption and diversion.
Take a good slow look at the fisiani posts. Is he using his own words, speaking his own mind, or is he just parroting scripts. No-one in real life converses like that IMO.
“The RWNJs are mounting a very good attack …….” I think its the shape of things to come in 2016.
I’m not too sure its a GOOD attack – it’ll certainly be a very vocal one – they’ve started early – the Speaker’s bum boys haven’t even had a chance to warm his sheepskin; Paula’s still getting over HER devastating loss (‘cos it was all about HER); Soimun’s mulling over his next move and wondering where the vulnerabilities are; Todd’s ego has been captured by TTPA grandiose; Anne’s clutching pearls and wondering where she stands ……
The ideologically driven agenda is starting to show signs of wear and failing to the extent that the average Joe is starting to notice, and the CT talking points and language are looking a bit tired (going forward). And all that “on the back of” a ‘Chinese Konomy’ that’s not looking too crash hot, peak real estate, and not even a TVNZ7/Proim Beck Benchas where the trolls can show up – much as they do here on TS to protest how right and correct they are. I agree with the ‘right’ bit.
Jesus H Christ!
Labour have SO MANY opportunities to bust this government eh?
What the fuck is the matter with them!???
Well, I guess I know that already.
I think I might pay another visit to Mal and Scotty’s to at least try and guage a ‘10%’ minority’s perspective of reality. Bloody expensive thing to do though eh!
It’s the other 90% of voters we rely on though that worries me, let alone half the electorate that didn’t.
Who the fuck is running that Labour show btw? I think most people would be buggered (if they knew)
EDIT: ….. Last time I went there btw, there was some poor sap that had romantic notions of Fran fucking Wilde’s contribution to ‘equality’. If he only knew (which he wudn’t – unless he wanted to be a Fran Toi Boi, once was genuine – now Franny’s leaned how to clup the tuckit and American Express Platinum is moidy trektiv,
Once Was Tim
Sure a lot of things happening. They get to be like a bunch of flies buzzing round your head. It will be that we need to mentally record them but spend most of our time planning positive moves rather than registering the dross from the Dark Side.
🙂
What I fear most is that what I once knew as pretty bloody basic creds have been totally LOST by those who now pretend to ‘represent’ a public.
I’m not sure they even understand the idea of a ‘public’.
But there ya go. I guess they’ll have to learn the hard way.
– and there’s another thing – maybe it’s just me running out of life and becoming impatient.
At least there are inklings …. even amongst a neighbouring Hataitai-resident fag-hag grandma. (I’m at odds to wonder why as a politician, she’s prepare to …….
nah fuckit – now I think about it – she likes Judith Crusher Collins and Paul Henry, AS WELL as abusers of scared blokes worried about their sex you allty (going forward).
It ain’t political pragmatism either. I’m not sure but I suspect she might be training to be the next Fran Wilde
You’ve obviously got a shit load more energy than I have these days. I’m caught between bothering to put up a fight .versus. letting the inevitable play out and letting something organic happen.
Atm – I think maybe the latter – even tho’ it won’t be pretty for the ‘greedy’, or various minorities; or …. well hopefully you get the pitcha (and if you don’t – no matter). Apparently I’m on the verge of being *****BANNED****** (no doubt with some highly intellectual, ego-driven, how fucking dare he justification.
Kia Kaha ….. alongside anything else that gives you strength ( I know it’s not solely your ego)
Once was Tim
You might find Tim again if you go into something organic! It certainly helps with the frustration of present politics to be supporting something doable and health-oriented putting energies into an achievable project.
May be planting flasbushes for the tui, after Maori have been consulted as to whether they might be a good resource and they might like a particular species? that is good for making a particular article. That would be good, and then making sure that they survived, got watered, weren’t eaten by bugs, pulled out by thoughtless Council contractors etc. Hovering, working angel stuff.
Going to classes on growing organic vegs and learning about how to cope with the potato nematode or whatever. Supporting a group that plan the yearly Christmas parade, giving pleasure and joy to all, could be good. Being a hospital volunteer doing whatever they do. Fixing bicycles so kids can have one where it’s safe to go.
I would like to renew my ties with Amnesty International but have to organise my day better to ensure I send those messages in a timely way to distant countries. And I want to keep writing and reading on this blog. People here are generally good-hearted, so that is a positive thing to do, to keep in touch with people who sincerely care about people and the country, and just disagree about methods and effectiveness.
Despite her protestations, Dr Fox has been bought, plain and simple.
Any reasonable person can see that.
More so, Lion will have approached her specifically to do this report because of her earlier work done on disassociating alcohol from violence.
This kind of research is what happens when academic funding is pushed from the public sector to the private sector, something which the current government is determined to do.
…Lion will have approached her specifically to do this report because of her earlier work…
So, which is it? Lion paid her off, or Lion funded her research because her prior research suited it?
Any conflict of interest she has in being funded by Lion is no greater than Kypris’ in being part of a religious anti-alcohol group, In fact, Kypris’ conflict seems worse – researchers are sometimes willing to tell funding bodies what they don’t want to hear, but religious conviction is impervious to rationalism.
“…but religious conviction is impervious to rationalism.”
You may want to check out the Rechabites PM…they appear to have moved with the times, evolved…and indeed, seem to promote similar ideals to those of many here on TS.
The Rechabites commitment to alcohol harm minimisation is a worthy mission….one that most of the poor sods working in A&E departments around the country would support.
The Rechabites commitment to alcohol harm minimisation is a worthy mission
– Rosemary McDonald
Yes, and Lion’s commitment to minimising the appearance of alcohol harm is an unworthy one.
It seems that Lion is quite happy with Fox’s report (which is what they would have expected when they commissioned her), so there doesn’t seem to be any indication that they were told something they didn’t want to hear as Psycho Milt suggests.
Dr Fox probably even believes her own shite. Even amongst academics that claim to be non-partisan. It’s not unlike the detective that’s convinced their theory valid (often based on a hunch), and who then gathers evidence on that basis, and with that perspective.
With apologies to Steven Sackur and the Key interview when – well you hopefully know the rest …. claiming academic credentials and being ‘an academic’ can be two very different things. Personally I think Foctor Dox fits.
The good Foctor probably has as many disciples (and if not, they’ll be searching them out hard and fast), as there are opposing.
To be clear (in my opinion), the Foctor is a bullshit artist
Because there’s no need to bribe someone who’s already doing what you want. I guess it’s possible Lion are just particularly generous and trouble themselves to bribe researchers whose findings to date were convenient for Lion anyway, but they didn’t get where they are today by being generous with their cash.
To be clear (in my opinion), the Foctor is a bullshit artist
You’ve reviewed her research and found it wanting, have you? To be fair, I have to disclose that I regard anti-alcohol activists like Sellman and his mates at the Uni of Otago school of public health to be bullshit artists, but then I have a low opinion of the social sciences in general. Do you have some evidence for why Fox is a bullshit artist, but not Jackson, Kypris, Sellman et al?
In that case, everyone who accepts payment for their work is “bought.” That clearly isn’t what you meant. Unless you’ve some evidence that her research was falsified or skewed in some way to Lion’s benefit, your comment is just libel.
As it happens, her conclusions about alcohol causing violence (that its variability across cultures suggests a social rather than physiological basis for violence, that there is in any case no evidence for alcohol having a physiological means of controlling behavior, and that there are social conditions that are more likely candidates) is compelling on a logical basis alone, regardless of the research behind it. The onus is actually on her opponents to demonstrate that alcohol does control behaviour.
Here are some of her findings – they look pretty credible to me. I wouldn’t disagree with any of it:
1. It’s the wider culture that determines the behaviour whilst drinking, not just the drinking
Different societies with comparable levels and patterns of alcohol consumption experience very different levels of anti-social and violent behaviour in their night-time economies. Most of the differences can be explained by social and cultural factors and, with concerted effort, they can be influenced.
2. The physical effects of alcohol do not determine a behavioural response.
In layman’s terms, Dr. Fox’s research suggests that while alcohol has a very definite physical effect, it doesn’t hijack your moral compass.
Dr Fox says: “Certainly alcohol carries very definite physiological effects. At high doses, the point at which alcohol enters the brain stem, it is easy to see that the physical effects of alcohol can incapacitate all drinkers equally, regardless of cultural differences.
“But just because alcohol relaxes and reduces anxiety does not mean it causes inexplicable changes in behaviour or character or blocks impulse control. There are a couple of very simple observations we can all make that support this conclusion. First, the very same person on the same dose of alcohol can react in myriad different ways on different occasions and in different settings. This simply would not happen if we were talking about a purely physiological response.
“Second, morphologically similar humans in different cultures react completely differently to being ‘under the influence’. Some cultures see very little violence and anti-social behaviour, despite similar levels and patterns of consumption to other nations with high levels of such harm.
“The conclusion of my research, and many previous studies, is that alcohol can, in certain cultures and situations, be a facilitator of aggression if aggression is there to begin with, both in the individual and in the cultural environment. It does not produce it where it doesn’t already exist.”
3. Violent individuals, a violence-reinforcing culture and violent situations are the three interlinked drivers of anti-social behaviour and violence in the night-time economy
Dr Fox makes a number of recommendations to address each of these drivers, with some examples provided below:
* Violent individuals: Australia and New Zealand needs to ensure effective identification and direct intervention to tackle the behaviour of the minority exhibiting a pre-disposition to violence.
* Violent situations: We need to work to reduce situational cues – like poor facilities and transport options – that trigger poor behaviour. We also need to change perceptions of what behaviour is socially acceptable while intoxicated and create a genuine fear of stigma for breaking the rules – as has been achieved with drink driving. Realistic consequences such as fines and other sanctions for bad behaviour are needed.
* Violence-reinforcing-cultures: Australia and New Zealand must address the cultural reinforcers of violence, misogyny, and aggressive masculinity in all its cultural expressions from schoolyards to sports fields, politics and pubs, movies and media. Young men need to be taught that responding with violence is a failure in self-control, not a symbol of masculinity.
I’m truly devastated!
I just can’t seem to get people to engage with me and any of my comments (except an occasionale +1 from a Draco)
Why, I can’t even get hard right trolls to engage in debate.
I can’t even get BANNED ffs!
Oh misery!!!! where did I go wrong?
I’m fucking devastated. I’m soos oidle.
No matter how hard oi troi, none of these soshul media specimuns will engage.
Well … oi … oi jiss have to give up!
But hey … didcha hear? Jerry’s married that fukn old relic Rupe and she’s now dripping money and little blue diamond shaped pills
[lprent: Would you feel better if I banned you? 😈 ]
Yes ekshully, I would.
I know there’s been a delay in my replying, but a ban in this case would serve me well and signal to me what is wrong with our reliance on blogs as a challenge to the status quo.
I’d be in good company I think (not that I don’t appreciate your efforts in trying to battle our current situation)
So PLEASE ,,,, if you see fit and are feeling challenged – go ahead and BAN!
Actually, it’d be akin to all that’s wrong in the Labour Party these days (AND I REALISE YOU’RE IN NO WAY A PLATFORM FOR THE LABOUR PARTY).
You could put a ban down to being ‘very adult’ of you
Interesting news story today on the ABC, Malcolm Turnbull has turned down a request from the US to commit more resources to the war effort, this is the first PM in history (Australian) to “say no” to the yanks, I’m a little cynical as there’s an election in 6 months or so, and the most recent state elections (Vic, Queensland) saw there Liberal govts booted out after only one term, the Queensland premiere removed, Campbell Newman was a proponent of the JK way, only problem was the constituency wasn’t, and dealt with his BS policies that saw the destruction of their social fabric, I think they’re a little smarter than most give credit for.
A friend works in aged care in London. One the people she looks after is David Bowie’s aunt. On each of his aunt’s birthdays and at Xmas, a big box of goodies arrives…
My last surviving great aunt is about to hit the ton while I am away on the upcoming business trip. Does anyone have any idea of where to find an age 100 birthday card in Auckland?
The best I idea I have at present is to head to St Lukes.
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This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
ANALYSIS:By Olli Hellmann, University of Waikato When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day today on April 25, it’s not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also to mark a defining event for national identity. The battle of Gallipoli against ...
By Robin Martin, RNZ News reporter A New Zealand local authority, Whanganui District Council, has passed a motion calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, condemnation of all acts of violence and terror against civilians on both sides of the conflict and the immediate return of hostages. It comes as ...
Asia Pacific Report The Aotearoa chapter of the Women’s International league for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) has appealed to the New Zealand government to call out Israel over the “cruel and barbaric use of force” in Gaza and demand a permanent ceasefire. The league’s open letter was sent to Prime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government will invest $566 million over a decade on data, maps and other tools to promote exploration and development in Australia’s resources industry. The project will fund “the first comprehensive map of what’s ...
Asia Pacific Report Following an open letter by Auckland University academics speaking out in support of their students’ right to protest against the genocidal Israeli war on Gaza, a group of academics at Otago University have today also called on New Zealand academic institutions to “repair colonial violence” and end ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Linda J. Graham, Professor and Director of the Centre for Inclusive Education, Queensland University of Technology Ryan Tauss/ Unsplash, CC BY Two male students have been expelled from a Melbourne private school for their involvement in a list ranking female students. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The Reserve Bank is now assuming Australians will see no interest rate cuts this year – and quite possibly none before the next federal election, due next May. That’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Hayward, Emeritus Professor of Public Policy, RMIT University The Victorian budget offered more of the same on Tuesday, with the only change being how the budget papers were packaged. The usual shrink wrap was gone, hinting at savings in the pages ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Coalition is demanding extensive amendments to the government’s legislation targeting non-citizens who refuse to co-operate with their removal. In a dissenting report to the senate inquiry into the legislation, the Coalition says it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vanita Yadav, Senior Research Fellow, Urban Transformations Research Centre, Western Sydney University Brett Boardman/Belvoir The complex and grappling issue of violence against women takes centre stage in the soul-stirring solo dance drama Nayika: A Dancing Girl. During a dinner conversation ...
Disruption to patient care from a nationwide junior doctors strike is bordering on unsafe, a senior doctor claims, despite what health officials say. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Diepstraten, Senior Research Officer, Blood Cells and Blood Cancer Division, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute Ground Picture/Shutterstock The anti-cancer drug abemaciclib (also known as Vernezio) has this month been added to the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) to treat certain ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dominic McAfee, Postdoctoral researcher, marine ecology, University of Adelaide Robbie Porter, OzFish Unlimited Around Australia, hundreds of people are coming together to help a once-prized, but decimated and largely forgotten marine ecosystem. They’re busy restoring Australia’s native oyster and mussel reefs. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Webb, Lecturer, Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology Austin Human/Unsplash How does Earth stop meteors from hitting Earth and hurting people? –Asher, 6 years 11 months, New South Wales Alright, let’s embark on a meteor ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rory Mulcahy, Associate Professor of Marketing, University of the Sunshine Coast Professional sports organisations regularly promote and develop initiatives to support diversity, equity and inclusion. While sport has the power to change attitudes by sparking conversations about political issues and social ...
Comment: The weekly Monday post-Cabinet press conference is a useful forum for observing Christopher Luxon and how he is developing into the job of Prime Minister. He attempts to convey the impression of a man of action, speaking fast, delivering memorised National Party strategies in a connect-the-slogans kind of way, ...
Double votes, missing ballot boxes, tired tech and stressed staff: how tick-tallying went astray at last year’s election. Cast your mind back to November 2023, that bleary-eyed post-election period duringwhichwewaited, andwaited, for a coalition deal to be hammered out. A distraction from the hotel-hopping of our ...
International audiences are starting to discover what New Zealand already knew about After the Party.When After the Party aired in New Zealand last year, the response was fast and furious. In his preview for Rec Room, Duncan Greive said it was a “gritty, wrenching and highly confronting” series. By ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shahram Akbarzadeh, Convenor of the Middle East Studies Forum (MESF), and Acting Director the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University Iran’s leadership has been a direct beneficiary of the months-long war in Gaza. With every missile that Israel fires ...
Claire Mabey reviews the haunting and sexy debut novel from Sinéad Gleeson, who is about to touch down in Aotearoa for a string of live events.When Irish writer Sinéad Gleeson was in Aotearoa in 2018 with her spectacular collection of essays, Constellations, she told me she was working on ...
PNG Post-Courier Bougainville Affairs Minister Manasseh Makiba has described the Post-Courier’s front page story yesterday regarding a meeting between Bougainville and national government leaders as “sensationalised” and without substance. The Autonomous Bougainville Government (AGB) had warned it might use “other avenues to gain its independence” should the PNG government “continue ...
Where some saw the worst press conference given by the government to date, Anna Rawhiti-Connell recognised girl maths game.Nicola Willis, recently exasperated by comparisons to Ruth Richardson, said she was “a bit sick of being compared with every female finance minister that’s ever been out there.”Some think that’s ...
The March results are reported against forecasts based on the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update 2023 (HYEFU 2023), published on 20 December 2023 and the results for the same period for the previous year. ...
Jamie Arbuckle, the district councillor who became an MP but decided to keep getting paid for both roles, will instead donate one salary to charity. ...
Adding gender to the Human Rights Act would simply make the implicit explicit. So why is it so controversial? Paul Thistoll explain. At present, Aotearoa’s 1993 Human Rights Act (HRA) includes sex, marital status, religious belief, ethical belief (meaning a lack of religious belief), colour, race, ethnicity or national origin, ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, an 18-year-old who’s studying and working in hospo shares their approach to spending and saving. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Transmasc Age: 18 Ethnicity: Pākehā/Māori Role: Student, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jane Kelsey, Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Resources Minister Shane Jones has reportedly asked officials for advice on whether oil and gas companies could be offered “bonds” as compensation if drilling rights offered by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Gleeson, Associate Professor of Law, Macquarie University Shutterstock The Albanese government is weighing up the costs of delivering an election promise to protect religious people from discrimination in Commonwealth law. Such protections were relatively uncontroversial when included in state anti-discrimination ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yen Ying Lim, Associate Professor, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University Pexels/Andrea Piacquadio Dementia is often described as “the long goodbye”. Although the person is still alive, dementia slowly and irreversibly chips away at their memories and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Judy Bush, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, The University of Melbourne Adam Calaitzis/Shutterstock I met with a friend for a walk beside Merri Creek, in inner Melbourne. She had lived in the area for a few years, and as we walked ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Throsby, Distinguished Professor of Economics, Macquarie University Arts companies and individual artists in Australia are supported by government arts agencies, philanthropists, industry bodies, private donors and patrons. However, it is frequently overlooked that a major source of support for the arts ...
Harm Reduction Coalition Aotearoa, a new incorporated society dedicated to ending harmful drug policies, officially launched today, seeks a new fit-for-purpose drug law for Aotearoa New Zealand, rooted in science, experience and evidence. ...
The Corrections Minister admits he "muddied the water" after he and the Prime Minister repeatedly provided incorrect information about a $1.9 billion prison spend-up. ...
It took a post-post-cabinet statement to confirm that 810 new beds will be built at Waikeria, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Lili Tokaduadua was only 15 when she left her family in Fiji to pursue her netball dream in New Zealand. She’d been playing the sport for 10 years and was offered a netball scholarship at Auckland’s Howick College. Now, in her first year out of high school, the 19-year-old defender ...
The beloved local grocers lost a legal challenge to stop a new cycleway outside their store. Joel MacManus reports. In the annals of New Zealand legal history, there are a few brave people who have dared to stand up to the powers that be, no matter how bleak the odds ...
How what we produce and what we eat connects us to the world beyond our shores, visualised. Walking around a supermarket or vege shop, it might be obvious that everything on the shelves came from somewhere. But you might ...
Professor Jemma Geoghegan, of the University of Otago, Otakou Whakaihu Waka, co-leads a Te Niwha project aimed at understanding how and where avian influenza could affect Aotearoa New Zealand, as the highly infectious H5N1 virus spreads globally. The virus has now spread to all continents except Oceania and was recently ...
Thirty years on from Rwanda’s genocide, is guilt over the atrocities is blinding the world to the true nature of its current leadership? The post The repressive underside of Rwanda’s regime appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Opinion: Last week, important recommendations for our criminal justice system were made by the international community. Every five years, each member of the United Nations has its human rights practices reviewed. This rolling event – the Universal Periodic Review – is the culmination of a government reporting on its human ...
Highly pathogenic avian influenza – H5N1, or bird flu – has been flying around the world since the late 1990s. New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Islands are so far free of it, but now it’s been discovered in mainland Antarctica and scientists say it’s only a matter of time ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 7 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
The following interview with auto electrician and former caver Stu Berendt, 68, of Charleston on the West Coast, came about because he was part of the caving team that found the rare and amazing fossil remains of the giant Haast eagle, the subject of one of the year’s best books, ...
A $1.8b funding boost for Pharmac still won’t enable it to buy more drugs, raising questions about the Government’s approach to the agency The post Can Pharmac do more with the same pot of money? appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Eric Stokan, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Maryland, Baltimore County If you live in one of the most economically deprived neighborhoods in your city, you might think the government is directing a smaller share of public funds to your community. ...
Wansolwara The news media’s crucial role in climate change and environment journalism was the focus of The University of the South Pacific’s Journalism Programme 2024 World Press Freedom Day celebrations. The European Union Ambassador to the Pacific, Barbara Plinkert, and Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Henry Puna were the chief ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Adams, Professor of Corporate Law & Academic Director of UNE Sydney campus, University of New England Last August, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) launched legal proceedings against Qantas. The consumer watchdog accused the airline of selling thousands of tickets ...
This episode of A View From Afar was recorded LIVE on May 6, 2024 (NZST) which is Sunday evening, May 5, 2024 at 8:30pm (USEST). In an analytical essay titled ‘A moment of friction’ political scientist Dr Paul Buchanan wrote how we are living within a decisive moment ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alison Taylor, Assistant Professor, Bond University Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures At the crux of the critical response to Luca Guadagnino’s new movie Challengers is one word: “sexy”. The film charts a love triangle between three up-and-coming tennis players: Tashi (Zendaya), ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jenny Stewart, Professor of Public Policy, ADFA Canberra, UNSW Sydney For years, First Nations people have been telling governments they want to be listened to. In particular, they want more ownership of the programs and services that are supposed to help them. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Why do trees have bark? Julien, age 6, Melbourne. This is a great question, Julien. We are so familiar with bark on trees, that most of us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anthony Nasser, Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy, University of Technology Sydney PeopleImages.com – Yuri A/Shutterstock The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is an important ligament in the knee. It runs from the thigh bone (femur) to the shin bone (tibia) and helps stabilise ...
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/08/venezuelas-chavistas-and-newly-elected-opposition-head-for-deadlock
Disturbing ( but unsurprising) moves from the Chavista regime to ignore it’s defeat in the recent elections and attempt to hobble a branch of government for the sake of the ‘revolution’.
More often than not in the struggle for democracy its been the u.s.a helping stand in the way ………backing genocide and death squads.
“declassified documents[5] indicate that the United States “provided economic, technical and military aid to the army soon after the killings started. It continued to do so long after it was clear a ‘widespread slaughter’ was taking place in Northern Sumatra and other places, and in the expectation that US assistance would contribute to this end.
The repercussions of the u.s.a supported murderous overthrow of Indonesia’s democratic government are still going on and countries like east timor also paid a terrible price.”
http://theactofkilling.com/trailer/
Disturbing news that capitalism is failing the people of the world with another crash imminent.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/rbs-tells-investors-sell-everything-20160111-gm3ssa.html
From the article.
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has advised clients to brace for a “cataclysmic year” and a global deflationary crisis, warning that the major stock markets could fall by a fifth and oil may reach $US16 a barrel.
The bank’s credit team said markets are flashing the same stress alerts as they did before the Lehman crisis in 2008.
“Sell everything except high quality bonds. This is about return of capital, not return on capital. In a crowded hall, exit doors are small,” it said in a client note.
Andrew Roberts, the bank’s credit chief, said both global trade and loans are contracting, a nasty cocktail for corporate balance sheets and equity earnings, and uncharted waters given that debt ratios have reached record highs.
“China has set off a major correction and it is going to snowball. Equities and credit have become very dangerous, and we have hardly even begun to retrace the ‘Goldilocks’ love-in of the last two years,” he said.
Mr Roberts expects Wall Street and European stocks to fall by 10pc to 20pc, with an even deeper slide for the FTSE-100 thanks to its high weighting of energy and commodities.’
‘Govt wants NZ base for TPP deal
Trade Minister Todd McClay will promote New Zealand’s case to host a proposed secretariat for the Trans-Pacific Partnership when trade ministers from 12 Asia Pacific nations are expected to gather in Auckland to sign the deal next month.
McClay confirmed to the Herald that there are some considerable “sensitivities” around the secretariat proposal. The proposal is expected to be one of the topics for discussion at a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) ministerial meeting before the formal signing of the ground-breaking regional agreement, which covers some of the world’s most robust economies and 40 per cent of global GDP…………..
Reliable sources have confirmed to the Herald that February 4 emerged as the preferred signing date after Prime Minister John Key offered New Zealand as the host while he was at the Apec leaders meeting in the Philippines.
McClay expects to be able to confirm a signing date “in the next week or so” after it is clear all 12 nations will be in a position to proceed.’
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11572801
Thoughts?
Would be excellent if we could get a secretariat based here. Clever strategy by McClay to seek to ensure implementation of the TPPA. It is were done then best it be done well. We are a small nation of just 4.5M people and if we can influence 40% of the world’s GDP we should grab the chance. Not even the most strident Leftie would surely disagree.
Romania was a small country when it signed the Tripartite Pact in Berlin in 1940.
Signing bad deals that give up your sovereignty – even if it gives of the appearance of more importance – does not equal good governance or statesmanship.
It seems more like treason.
Minor tweaks to sovereignty takes place with every trade deal. You do not lose or give up sovereignty. New Zealand needs to trade with the world. Signing a deal with 40% of the World’s GDP is a hell of a lot better than not signing it. Having a permanent secretariat based here to implement it could be the icing on the cake. Tim Groser should get a knighthood for the work he has put in to making our future even brighter.
Actually, we don’t. In fact, no country needs to trade with any other country.
Not when that deal is so detrimental to the people of NZ.
You cannot possibly be serious. Without trading with other countries we would be be penniless. If your comment is the level of Left wing thinking no wonder it is unelectable.
This is a fundamental misunderstanding of economics but it’s one that’s shared across the political spectrum. Many have come to believe that we need money. This belief is delusional.
We don’t need money, we need resources and we have all that we need in our borders already. Plenty of resources here to provide everything that we need – as long as we don’t squander them unsustainably. Unfortunately, our present delusional financial system has us doing exactly that. The 300m tonnes of iron sands down the West Coast of Te Ika a Māui will be gone in about 50 years because we’re so determined to have money that we’re selling off the resources we actually need to other countries.
The problem is the delusional thinking that you and many others espouse.
“Many have come to believe that we need money. This belief is delusional.”
Try living without any.
And you failed to understand what I said.
Money is a tool that helps us distribute the resources that we have in the country but it’s not actually needed. We could use other systems for that distribution (I’m in favour of democracy).
What we can’t do without is those resources. Without those resources we have no food, no housing, no roads, etc etc.
Using a monetary system because we have all the resources in the country to provide the food and the houses and the roads then the only money we need is NZ$. We have no need of foreign exchange.
We are wasting the limited resources we have by exporting them for foreign exchange (Really, it’s even worse than that as we’re wasting those resources to make a few people rich).
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/75807613/world-bank-estimates-10-per-cent-boost-to-nz-exports-by-2030-from-tppa
If that is what you call detrimental then were else would we get money for schools and hospitals. No wonder the Far Left are ignored.
Copyright changes sting NZ
Ministry says alterations to TPP could cost New Zealand up to $55 million a year
New Zealand consumers could face higher costs than first predicted as a result of copyright changes in the Trans Pacific Partnership, newly released documents show.
The biggest costs will come from concessions on copyright. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) says the cost to consumers and businesses of extending the copyright term from 50 years to 70 years will eventually rise to around $55 million a year.
InternetNZ work programme director Andrew Cushen said the change meant increased costs for New Zealanders, and greater revenue for overseas copyright holders.
“We will pay more over time to access music and movies. We will also pay more over time for books and educational resources, making it more expensive for us to learn and to do business.”
Mr Cushen said the $55 million did not take into account the increased cost and difficulty of re-using copyright works.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11572838
All of a sudden, we get newly released documents.
Democracy, what a joke!
Bless the OIA.
How did an estimate of $55m which may be understated, become “up to” $55 million?
Optimistic editing/writing?
Just saw this on Kiwiblog.
This judge has an appalling track record, but this would have to be her worst judgement ever
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/75405361/auckland-professional-caught-with-6000-objectionable-images
How do you get rid of such a bad judge?
Kiwiblog.
Reliable source.
Fuck off, you boring wanker
Pleasant
Zzzzz
And bannable, I would have thought. Pretty average of BM to lose it like that on the internet.
In BMs defence you reap what you sow
He lost his cool. Blinked first, as it were.
At least it’s known what buttons to push now.
I don’t think its worth sinking down to Pauls level just to get a reaction from BM but that’s just my opinion
Farrar makes a lot of reactionary mistakes and ill-informed comment on his hate site, and he’s generally several days behind the news.
It was a very astute observation by Paul which made BM become abusive for some reason.
You mean the same guy that was praised by the PM on election night for his accurate polling?
Polling is one thing. You ring some people, ask some questions, and write the answers down.
Critical thought and analysis is quite another.
Yet the PM that won thought it was a big enough deal to mention him by name
So I’m going to guess theres a bit more to it then what you’re suggesting
Lol. Way to shift the goal posts, mate.
You’ve just demonstrated one of the (many) failings of the left in NZ and that’s to underestimate pretty much anyone on the right
John Key – hes just a money man
David Farrar – makes a lot of mistakes and its just a hate site
and so on and so on
“Farrar makes a lot ………”
You obviously must read it though.
If you didn’t how could you possibly make these comments?
These paid rwnj trolls come on this site to derail conversations and to instigate puerile arguments. They are not interested in debates. They are also very predictable and very dull.
I think the best way to deal with them is to either ignore them completely or just type a word like dull.
It seems to work. They don’t like being described as uninteresting.
Maybe they’ll go away one day.
They’re easily ignored most of the time but when they become abusive online I have to say something.
Zzzzz
You should be careful PR. Bans have been proposed for Zzzzzzs.
“Paul 8.1.1
30 December 2015 at 9:56 am
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
[RL: The ‘zzz’s’ are not needed. You and anyone else repeating them will earn a ban.]”
On the other hand Paul may have learned his lesson. Whereas a couple of weeks ago he seemed to thing the repetition of the final letter of the alphabet was the height of wit he now realises that it is very dull and he was only demonstrating that he was a prat.
If questioning the interest level of pr’s contributions is ‘prattish’, then I am proud to be described by you as one, alwyn.
Thanks for your pleasant contribution.
Thanks Alwyn, I didn’t see that
Good on you Paul for pointing out Kiwiblog. The response speaks massively in only a few short sharp words.
I say again that the blog can be enhanced by some banning action against the silly irritating and smart-arse comments coming daily. If people wanted to hear cloth-eared ideas they would go to radio talkback or some tabloid like the Herald.
Some commenters here find it amusing but these factoids spoil the blog’s ability to converse intelligently with people who at least appear to be left thinking and interested in discussion on political matters. These insects are just spoiling the picnic every day.
And a lot of people don’t understand the idea of being amused in a superior way by the spoilers, and don’t understand why they crop up here, or the negative effect they have on polite discourse here. I despise them, they don’t give a damn about our efforts to think towards better policies for the country. They just fill in their time by being objectionable on purpose. It’s pathetic and stupid behaviour and belongs elsewhere. We would still have disagreements and arguments without them, we wouldn’t settle into an unstirred sludge you, can bet on that.
Kiwiblog.
Reliable source.
@ BM (5.1.1) – your abusive comments towards another poster, in this case Paul, who does offer constructive debate, has invalidated any argument you might have put forward. Getting nasty and personal, automatically puts you on the losing side.
Have a nice day, if you possibly can.
The source is actually a stuff article (see the link)
I know that Fairfax aren’t much more reliable than blogs as a source of info but I would think it is correct.
So if 6000 picture/videos of child abuse aren’t enough to get sent to prison what is?
BM is right – the Judge is out of touch – you can tell this by her refusing to view the evidential images – obviously the viewing would interrupt her do-gooding tinted glasses.
The sad thing is the images are the only way for the victims to cry out for justice.
As for the threat of suicide being a sufficient reason to not send him to jail – what a joke.
I do hope the Prosecution appeal this – damaged children are worth more than a few hours of PD.
You’ve got to wonder
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11291156
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/5555711/Comedian-discharged-over-sex-act-on-daughter
The first article is a shocker, strike 5 now.
Judge Cunningham is said to be firmly entrenched in what is referred to as the legal sisterhood.
Guess that makes her untouchable.
Kind of like the old boys network. Or maybe it’s just that you can’t fire judges easily because we need an independent judiciary. Or maybe her sentencing is not out of the range of normal.
Tell me, what would a judge’s sentencing look like if they understood the value of rehabilitation as well as punishment and protecting the public?
She’s away in her own little world and should be given the boot.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/270325/tougher-child-exploitation-law-wins-approval
Do judges get to pass laws? I thought that was parliament’s job.
Um all permanent judges have security of tenure, even the women judges. It is to stop governments firing them because they do not like their judgments.
And why is it that you are so upset because a Judge showed some compassion. The alternative would have been to send this poor sap to jail, making him permanently unemployable and a permanent burden on the welfare state.
And surely our justice system has to be able to display mercy from time to time.
Absolutely display mercy sure but don’t you think that crimes of a sexual nature against children mean that judges should err on the side of caution?
She did err on the side of caution.
Home detention and discharge without conviction isn’t what I’d call erring on the side of caution and it appears Jan Logie would agree with me as well
https://blog.greens.org.nz/2011/09/05/open-letter-to-judge-philippa-cunningham/
That was another case that went on appeal and had a different sentence imposed.
She was cautious not to push him over the edge. It’s only Cameron Slater and those of his ilk who’d welcome the guy’s suicide. There’d also be a whole lot stuff we wouldn’t know about this case that wasn’t reported but which the judge would’ve seen.
He was charged with possession of objectionable material not sexual offences against children. I agree there are victims of this sort of offending but for a first time offender at his age and with his mental condition I think the decision was not out of what the Judge could do.
What good would sending him to jail do, for him or for society?
Micky, do offenders in that situation have ongoing supervision to make sure they’re likely to reoffend, or are they basically left to it once the sentence is served?
There are standard conditions that are imposed for a period f 12 months and the Judge also has the power to impose further conditions. It is not clear from the report what happened here.
http://legislation.co.nz/act/public/2002/0009/latest/DLM136414.html
Can you please put this particular sentence in the context of other similar offending and the sentences they’ve received?
It is not an unusual sentence for this offence although this guy had quite a few images. For instance this guy received home detention for a second offense.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/6440189/Home-detention-for-child-porn-offences
But that’s just madness! What if they start breastfeeding in court, or crying???!!!???
@mickeysavage
“The alternative would have been to send this poor sap to jail, making him permanently unemployable and a permanent burden on the welfare state.”
“poor sap”…you have to be joking…right…?
Find him a job that allows him NO access to a computer or the internet, and no access to children.
After work, make sure of the same conditions. Forever.
He is peadophile.
How much mercy did he show his victims?
And…we don’t know who he is or what his profession is…how can we keep our children safe?
Stop enabling the enablers of perverts mickeysavage.
And what do you propose? Execution by firing squad?
I have had some professional dealings with people facing these charges. They are sad and often have awful backgrounds. They can be treated. Some compassion, such as that shown by Judge Cunningham, helps.
“And what do you propose? Execution by firing squad?”
Shit…why does it have to be one extreme or another?
I have had professional dealings with the victims of child sexual assault…some, no, all of those people have had their youth destroyed to some extent by those sad bastards you are advocating for.
Great….they have a ‘friend’….but show a modicum of respect and compassion for their victims.
“He was charged with possession of objectionable material not sexual offences against children.”
from 5.2.1.2.1.2
Spare me the ‘child pornography is a victimless crime’ line….do you know how much credibility the legal profession lost when the Law Society did not eject their child porn perving member?
Let’s spell it out….for every image of a child being sexually assaulted there is a child victim involved.
Without a customer there wouldn’t be a product.
http://www.stopdemand.org/wawcs0154994/idDetails=191/Child%20sex%20abuse%20images%20(child%20pornography)
This….thing….didn’t just have a ‘whoops I’ve accidentally stumbled upon a child porn site ‘ moment…he had over 6060 images of extreme assaults on children.
IMHO he should have done time in jail(getting ‘treated’) ….the tea and sympathy from the judge, on top of the leniency, was a gross insult to his victims.
“And what do you propose? Execution by firing squad?”
Shit…why does it have to be one extreme or another?
Fair call. I was responding to your comment that I was “enabling the enablers of perverts”. I was merely suggesting that home detention is not an unsuitable punishment for those who collect pornography.
I am not advocating for them. I am suggesting that sending them to jail may be counterproductive.
“He was charged with possession of objectionable material not sexual offences against children.”
…
Let’s spell it out….for every image of a child being sexually assaulted there is a child victim involved.
Agreed. That is why I made the comment that “I agree there are victims of this sort of offending but for a first time offender at his age and with his mental condition I think the decision was not out of what the Judge could do.”
Nothing can repair the damage caused by sexual abuse. But a preventative approach rather than a retributive approach may result in a different sentence. And there is no such thing as adequate treatment in jail.
Immediately after they were found he sought help…
Remorse demonstrated only after you’ve been caught red-handed ought to count for shit at sentencing.
This sentence is what got me.
Christ, it’s like she thinks he’s the victim.
Mate, this news is about 3 weeks old. Why scour Farrar’s hate site looking for old, trollable articles?
You seem to have an agenda…
BM raises a good point, how do you get rid of judges that are completely out of touch with reality?
I assume they undergo some sort of peer review.
The current government will have it all sorted out, I’m sure.
Nationals in cruise control so they’ll probably ignore like every other government has
how do you get rid of judges that are completely out of touch with reality?
But who says she is? Occasional displays of compassion by our justice system should not be frowned on. Otherwise we may as well design a computer system to handle it and leave it to the machines.
I’d have thought that crimes of a sexual nature especially against children might have judges erring on the side of caution as opposed to granting home detention or discharge without conviction
I only read stuff or herald, if I see a link to an article that is of interest.
I’ve got better things to do than wade through all that click bait dross.
Here are some other options for you
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/category/most-recent-blogs/
http://robinwestenra.blogspot.co.nz/
http://www.theautomaticearth.com/the-automatic-earth/
http://norightturn.blogspot.co.nz/
http://www.scoop.co.nz/
@ Paul – (5.3.1.1.2.1) 🙂
“Remorse demonstrated only after you’ve been caught red-handed ought to count for shit at sentencing.”
For people who are using child rape porn I’d prefer that for first offences the focus is on rehabilitation and supervision. The thing most likely to turn that man into an active rapist is a term in prison.
I do think his home detention and fining were light, but I don’t know if that’s because of sentencing guidelines and rules, or leniancy by the judge.
I actually agree with you on some of your points but I’m thinking that in light of some of her other judgements its leniency on her side
That doesn’t make sense though. To understand if any of her sentences are lenient, you’d have to compare them to similar offending sentences of other judges, not her own sentences.
Well true, I guess I’m more suggesting she has a bias towards leniency
That depends very much on your point of view: most right wingers are deranged and utterly incompetent when it comes to effective (ie: actually reducing crime) penal policy.
I’m guessing that you really don’t have a clue having taken your lead from DPF and not even bothered looking at other sources.
That’s nice dear
Clocked on at 8.30 a.m.
When does your shift end?
Can you prove I get paid to do this? If not I expect a retraction and an apology
AFAIK …. organisations like samaritans and others have ‘shifts’ and it’s voluntary (you know – philanthropy – the way the Natzis think compassion and aid for fellow humankind should work). IT’s a win win situation – it allows the philanthropist to feel good about themselves if and when they have the means, there’s no guilt feelings involved, they can cling to any Christian religious beliefs they may have, they can feign concern and their friends can see them being nice blokes, and they don’t have to inconvenience themselves in any way whatsoever. Most times – even their kuds can claim their tragic aging old parents are decent ‘stock’ and are their bestest ever best freinds.
They really are ‘decent’ lore-biding folk!
For people who are using child rape porn I’d prefer that for first offences the focus is on rehabilitation and supervision.
Sure. But what does “supervision” mean? It doesn’t mean this prick never gets to use a password to ensure his privacy on a network-connected computer ever again, which is really the only supervision that would address his particular problem. Also, he gets name suppression, which is very much up to the judge. I wouldn’t want this guy anywhere computers I was responsible for, but the judge has decided I don’t need to know. Rehabilitation for him should involve learning to do something that doesn’t involve computers – there’s plenty of work out there for cleaners and other forms of unskilled labour.
Name suppression is an interesting and difficult subject.
In an unreal world he would be banned from owning and using electronic devices for the rest of his life, probably in a real world if he was a citizen of Saudi Arabia he would have his hands cut off to absolutely make sure he didn’t. I wonder what the Judge would have brought down if he had been just poor, uneducated and not employed – jail time and hell in the showers. I hope his wife and kids leave him for the kids sake and well being. What a tosser.
That’s the crux of it for me too Kate. Loss of status is being considered a punishment by judges now and one has to ask how that can be considered justice.
A poor person has little status so they can go to jail whereas a rich or important person has some perceived stature so they get a slap on the wrist because sending them to jail will demean them in the public’s eye. Lovely.
Absolutely DH – its a closed off world where they have a law for themselves and they make sure they look after each other. Child sex offending and child porn is repugnant and there should be serious consequences for such offenders. Its odd how it seems to me to be a “sport cum pastime” for the wealthy and well educated with their secret clubs and places where they go for their kicks – so many people in power seem to get caught at it. Its sickening and so many of them have children of their own, beggars belief really how sick some people can be. I have absolutely no sympathy for them and believe they are unable to be rehabilitated and we shouldn’t be wasting good money on them. The judge should be reprimanded and told to re look at her findings.
Absolutely agree.
As do these guys…http://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503450&objectid=11525657
and these interesting stats…
“The graphic details
• 30 per cent – of all internet bandwidth is used for pornography. (Source: Huffington Post)
• 70 per cent – of men and 30 per cent of women watch porn. The average time spent on a porn site is 12 minutes. (Huffington Post)
• 450 million – Unique visitors to porn sites each month. When combined, Netflix, Amazon and Twitter get 316 million visitors. (Huffington Post)
• 90 per cent – of all content included verbal or physical abuse against women in one study of 50 popular pornographic websites and DVDs. (Violence Against Women)”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10892165
@Whispering Kate
Nail hit firmly on head.
This is an ‘old’ story, but one that does deserve more air.
Fifty year old ‘professional’ is caught perving at 6000 images of child pornography so hideous that the Judge can’t bear to view them and gets sentenced to stay home.
And…gets name suppression.
In an ideal world he’d be rendered incapable of further offending….ever.
His ‘mental illness’…what a crock.
But, the Judge…bless her for her many acts of mercy…has let him of, and protected his identity, and suppressed his ‘profession’.
Is he a lawyer? Can’t trust any of them if male and fifty years old.
Is he a doctor? A judge? An IT consultant? An engineer?
So many fifty year old male professionals we can no longer trust…is it him that gets off on watching children being sexually abused?
See, guys, this is what happens when sexual predators are protected…we can’t trust any man.
Farrar is more of a creep than Slater…….being the good cop in the bad cop/good cop routine that he and Slater played for John Key makes him the more dishonest one.
I also suspect he did the polling and advised John Key he did not have to apologize to Tania Billington as the numbers were not hurting him…….
Farrar is a grubby little fuck …………………. you should spend more time at his blog BM
Why the NZ media sucks:
example 1
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/368859/woman-punched-head-speaking-te-reo
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11570046
example 2
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11572163
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/369447/beached-car-recovery-rocky-road-rescuers-say
I don’t see your point. The Herald led with the same article as the ODT in example 1, both major ‘papers seem to be syndicating off each other a lot these days.
I’d think correcting a wrong report to be ethical media behaviour. Where the Herald in particular get a bit ratlike is they sometimes print the false claim on the front page with a big print headline & many column centimetres and hide the subsequent retraction or alternate view deep in the paper using small print and only a few words.
They suck because instead of trying to get both sides of the story they just went with the most sensationalist headline they could get without even the pretence of balance
Hey, that’s BM’s favourite news source you are bad-mouthing there.
Is pr at last seeing the light?
The Herald has been a rag for ages. Has he finally noticed?
Zzzzz
You are going to get suspended if you keep that up.
Thank me later.
Whenever I see a post from Paul I’m reminded of The Young Ones
Rick: Oh, God, I’m bored. Might as well be listening to Genesis.
So you found the article from the Guardian about the oncoming market collapse dull?
Or the one on the consequence of the TPP on copyright dull?
OK……
For your enjoyment
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery
Dull
Not sure I can follow that PR. Both incidents appear to have had timing issues where more information was revealed later and I don’t think you can blame the media for printing what was topical, and appeared truthful, at the time.
“Appeared truthful”
That’s the thing though isn’t the fourth estate supposed to find out whether its truthful or not? It just appears to be lazy in that someone runs to the media and the media print the story without doing their jobs and the media wonder why people are turning away
What do you expect from them? If they thoroughly investigated every act that was reported to them they’d have nothing to print.
Filling a newspaper every day can’t be an easy task. Sure they put some drivel in it and yes they can be a bit hasty at times but so long as they maintain a genuine balance with the storyline I don’t see it being a problem.
I thought they did ok on the Te Reo one. The media have adopted a practice of milking a story for as long as they can keep people interested and they killed that one with the follow up. With the first article the way they worded it they looked to be priming the rednecks for more gossip & innuendo and instead the story just died.
They tried to make the Te Reo one into a race issue, that’s pretty poor reporting
genuine uestion for you PR;
Why do you think journalism was traditionally called ‘the first draft of history’?
Well I haven’t heard that one before but it does sound rather pertinent
Yeah, I like it coz it’s neither a praise of journlaism nor a condemnation of it. It just calss it what it is, an important part of the eventual discussion that becomes ‘what we accept as historical truth’.
It’s job is to get stuff fast, and as accurate as fast allows. It’s going to get stuff wrong, and will need to revise itself and update itself and generally keep on journalisming. No one has yet come up with a better model that actually works.
I think the problem is you simply can’t but what makes it worse is the news media (imho) are trying to go head to head with blogs
The news media can’t compete with speed but they can compete with quality, instead of going down market and going after the lowest common dominator it’d be nice to see a newspaper go the other way and compete on quality of reporting instead
I wish that the newspapers would just try and get the simplest things right.
The DomPost this morning had a story that Singapore Airlines were going to start a service from Wellington to Canberra using an Airbus A330. They put a picture on the front page which they labelled as being an A330.
The only problem is that the A330 is a twin engine single deck aircraft. The photo was of a four engine double decker A380. Can’t they get even the simplest things right? Do they even care?
Trouble is that quality costs.
Heh – what’s the old quote from tradies: you can have any combination you want of fast, cheap and good that you want, but you can only have two out of three. Well, in modern media fast is cheap, but good is extremely expensive – good investigators, good editors, good sub editors, lose one and the others become precarious.
The “both sides of the story” is a crock.
In most cases the call for both sides results in false balance; giving more equal weight to opposing views than actual evidence supports.
The reporting around climate change being primarily caused by human activity is an obvious example of the failure of “both sides” reporting.
And then there is the similar argument to moderation where the middle ground between two opposing views is viewed as the correct one, and discounts views at either extreme end simply because they are at the edges.
The reporting around the effects of climate change is a good example.
With the Te Reo story, it looks like the Herald ran with a breaking story without investigating the actual facts of the matter, and tacked on a headline that can best be described as race-baiting.
Or, to put it another way, they couldn’t be arsed actually doing their job and decided to poison the public discussion around Te Reo instead.
That’s a good point about the both sides being a crock, I hadn’t considered that.
Probably best to add that hearing from both sides is sometimes essential to actually understanding what is being reported.
Reporting of court cases is an example.
The interesting thing to me is that the ODT clearly attributes both the story and the photo to the Herald, but the Herald only attributes the photo, not the identical story, or any other indication it’s syndicated content.
FFS you lot, is it going to be like this all day? Really?
Maybe we should ask lprent for a “Daily Troll-Pit” as well as “Open Mike”
I endeavoured to open debate on the warnings by the RBS at 2, and to generate conversation about some of the future effects of the TPP at 3 and 4.
yes, and that’s all good but it’s not all you did is it.
Care to comment on either of the issues?
No. In this subthread I’m talking about behaviour on ts. Shall we turn this one into a long boring trollfest too? You are better than this usually, so feel free to not take my original comment personally.
If any body can pick the top of a market or the bottom they would be infinitely rich Take these announcement with a grain of salt, similar advice to buy . if RBS believed as thier predictions are 100pc kosher and so do you Paul I suggest you short the total market with every thing you got, you can’t loose
I called out abusive language directed at another member.
Public service innit?
Looks like you want to fight RWNJ and/or trolls rather than discuss politics. I think there are better ways to do that if you want it to also be a public service.
Ah well, the more considered approach is fine to a point but every now and then it’s better to be more direct. Not sure some people understand any other way.
I note you have said yourself below that the month old story about the judge and the professional was a set up. What’s wrong with calling that out early?
I don’t have a problem with calling out bullshit. It was more just that I came onto OM this morning and it was full of bickering. Naming bullshit is one thing, arguing about it endlessly is another. I know how easy it is to get sucked into that, do it myself, but it was just a bit much and I thought it might be good to name it and see if it changed 🙂
I seem to remember it getting like this last year at about the same time, its caused by the lack of fresh meat to feed them.
It did seem like a bit of a feeding frenzy this morning.
Plus I suspect the sexual offending one is a set up. Cue post from Pete George saying that the standard supports child pornography watchers.
http://www.theage.com.au/comment/the-age-editorial/it-is-time-for-australia-to-set-the-refugees-free-20151227-glvflx.html
http://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/75808937/New-Zealand-refugee-settlement-given-to-Syria-because-Australia-hasn-t-taken-up-offer
Its time key “got some guts” and put pressure on these Aussie wankers.
Oil price plummeting. Why has all the alarmist Peak Oil crap gone silent? What will be the next alarmist warning Ah yes TPPA, the end of civilisation. Welfare reform-?
Clearly the world’s oil market was not functioning as a effective market and we were paying too much for oil.
The Saudis are playing games so that American fracking and off-shore drilling becomes to expensive to continue and that the Russian war chest gets depleted.
The Americans used to rely on the Saudis for oil and the Saudis don’t like it that they don’t need to anymore. It hard to make them fight your enemies when you can’t blackmail them over their oil needs.
Actually I’m not sure America actually purchased oil directly from SA. I think the US purchased oil from Canada and Mexico, and no now longer need to do it. So Canada and Mexico are selling their oil to countries that would have bought from SA.
Oil is fungible.
They do still import oil from the Kingdom.
It peaked at about 50 million bbl/month in 2003 and is now down to about 30 million.
http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=MTTIMUSSA1&f=M
You are quite right about it being basically fungible. There is a difference in properties but that can be got around if you don’t want the cheapest price. New Zealand of course both imports AND exports crude. Our production isn’t very good for producing the mix of products we want.
Thanks.
“Why has all the alarmist Peak Oil crap gone silent?”
It hasn’t.
Read up, fisi: http://ourfiniteworld.com/
The media suck
example 3
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/75747157/minister-denies-meeting-chinese-billionaires-rep
Minto said the information came from an anonymous source but it seemed credible as it matched with Pinnacle’s stated intentions.
Minto said: “Whether or not [Bennett] met with them, it’s clear Dr Cheng’s Pinnacle group want to buy state houses. They’ve been quite explicit about that.”
Sounds the same as the old question of have you stopped beating your wife…
yes, the MSM suck. Now, which political parties have policies on improving the quality and standard of the MSM in NZ?
I’m not comfortable with political parties having anything to do with journalistic standards except in the most broadest possible terms
Oh, I think a couple of laws about the MSM sticking to the truth should bring about a few changes. The reporting of the Donghua Liu (sp?) affair should have brought about significant consequences to the publishing houses. Maybe if they’d been looking at a fine of a few million dollars they would have investigated it properly before jumping on National’s Dirty Politics bandwagon.
The Labour Party did have the opportunity to sue the Herald and it’s reporters for defamation. And Donghua Liu for libel*.
But they didn’t.
So if the Labour Party shows no interest in defending itself, why would anyone assume they would stand up for New Zealanders?
* I’m assuming Liu’s statement false statement was quoted instead of paraphrased – I can’t remember, and don’t want to wade through all that muck again.
The problem is though that you may get a government that comes and decides to make their own changes, changes you may not like or agree with
Interesting, you’re actually complaining about the dictatorial political system we have.
And that’s why we need a democracy rather than an elected dictatorship where policy is decided by the people and not a small clique of dictators as we have now.
Well we have a two party state as it, I mean in 2020 Labour will get in for two or three cycles then it’ll be National and so on and so on
How can we change that?
Have you heard of MMP?
The Greens have been steadily creeping their vote up. Recently NZF has as well.
I’d expect that after National get handed their arse because they haven’t managed to build any coalition partners, and they booted off the treasury benches in 2017, that they will have other parties form – probably along the obvious internal fracture lines.
Some of those parties may grow. But in the end, a party needs to get above 5% vote to get into parliament (electorate seats are hard to keep for a small party – they kill party vote), and above about 15% of MPs to be viewed as a major party.
To do that, they have to get a dedicated party membership and activists, both as a source of candidates and to provide the room to groom viable candidates who don’t bug out. Think of Pam Corkery and a number of other celeb candidates over the years.
No secret…
I just don’t see the Greens overtaking Labour so they’ll always be a support partner for Labour and same with NZFirst
I just think with NZ, due to our size, it’ll be a choice of blue or red so basically a two party state
Easier said then done as Colin Craig found out
Yes, but CC is just a weirdo. Everything was going very well for them until his weirdness overshadowed everything.
Their policy positions were popular. Probably the only thing that stopped them getting more votes was scepticism that they would get enough votes to be elected – catch 22.
If the threshold had been 4% they would have easily gotten in, and probably polled 5%+ anyway.
Of course with Colin’s meltdown, we could have been looking at an early election.
I enclose a polling graph. I assume it is accurate. Can you confirm that the Greens have been steadily creeping their vote up. My eyes must be playing tricks on me.
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2016/01/december_public_polls-2.html
Try this one,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Party_of_Aotearoa_New_Zealand#Parliament
From zero to 14 MPs in 24 years and only one election did they lose MPs.
After observing politics for a few decades, I’ve come to the general conclusion that most of the people interested in politics are interested in being critics rather than doing the political leg work. That definitely includes me. I prefer to find a decent seasoned candidate and to support them.
That job is too hard. I just don’t have the stamina.
Granny front page today about a tree that cant be cutdown. Another barely hidden whine about supercity rules that developers probably want ‘fixed’…..and they wonder why circulation is declining.
In this case though, it’s a tree that needs to be removed.
So, it’s the opposite of the Kauri up in Titirangi.
Pretty sure the two stories will be conflated in the next couple of days by someone who has both a large public platform and a penchant for magical thinking.
people need reminding who created the clusterf@&k that is supercity.
Anyone know the details of this case*?
It looks like the result of piss poor legislation.
* Owner denied consent to remove a dangerous and failing Norfolk Pine.
That would be actual journalism you expect from nationals herald, move on.
Story has been updated with some more detail.
I expect I’ll have to wait (and hope) that Prof. Geddis or G. Edgeler is curious enough to identify and blog on the legislative conflict that the environment court was unable to resolve.
Yes however the printed version stays out there like a dog whistle not leaving the herders mouth.
The story should be completed first then published but hey thats journalism whereas this is nationals herald
“the printed version stays out there like a dog whistle not leaving the herders mouth”
I saw the headline and my first thought was; “bastards have cut the Kauri down”.
It wasn’t til I clicked and read the story did I realise that it was a different tree at a different locale under different circumstances.
117 comments already and half it seems from RWs. How can anyone concentrate on thinking about anything important when these time and space-wasters block the thread, intelligent discussion gets deflected just when it is required more than ever before.
The RWNJs are mounting a very good attack on TS every day, it’s almost like a denial of service because it is hard to get through to the valuable thoughts and musing coming from real people with integrity. Patience is a virtue goes the saying, but too much turns you into a doormat for others to wipe their feet on.
edited
Agreed as they rely on the egalitarian nature of TS.
Try similar on blubberboy or princessparty blogs and the barrier comes down so the rwnj comments can flow freely for all the others to feed off and feel justified.
It looks like PR, fisiani and BM. All of those people are quite capable of debating properly, although PR often needs knocking into shape and is the most trollish of the three IME. BM likes to drop in somewhat inflammatory comments, but he will engage intelligently if you respond to him intelligently. Bickering with them will almost certainly get met in kind.
I don’t mind their presence so much as the fact that so much of the discussion is personal and squabbling. But that could just as easily be lefties (and in this case it was too) 😉
But yeah, if this were happening under a post rather than OM it would be seriously disruptive. Probably first week back at work dynamics too.
Ok so to provide balance heres my advice to Labour
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11572293
Go hard on this issue, forget about people with Chinese sounding names or crims on Easter Island, this is what will get Labour a much needed bump in the polls, this is what middle NZ cares about
Get your MPs as much coverage as they can, say what you’d do in power (and for goodness sake make sure the costings add up) and make sure you front foot this and frame the argument yourselves
Yes they make reading this thread dull
I agree with greywarshark. I don’t think any of them except PR are genuine. They often display a herd mentality when a strong theme starts propagating here. Their purpose seems to be one of disruption and diversion.
Take a good slow look at the fisiani posts. Is he using his own words, speaking his own mind, or is he just parroting scripts. No-one in real life converses like that IMO.
“The RWNJs are mounting a very good attack …….” I think its the shape of things to come in 2016.
I’m not too sure its a GOOD attack – it’ll certainly be a very vocal one – they’ve started early – the Speaker’s bum boys haven’t even had a chance to warm his sheepskin; Paula’s still getting over HER devastating loss (‘cos it was all about HER); Soimun’s mulling over his next move and wondering where the vulnerabilities are; Todd’s ego has been captured by TTPA grandiose; Anne’s clutching pearls and wondering where she stands ……
The ideologically driven agenda is starting to show signs of wear and failing to the extent that the average Joe is starting to notice, and the CT talking points and language are looking a bit tired (going forward). And all that “on the back of” a ‘Chinese Konomy’ that’s not looking too crash hot, peak real estate, and not even a TVNZ7/Proim Beck Benchas where the trolls can show up – much as they do here on TS to protest how right and correct they are. I agree with the ‘right’ bit.
Jesus H Christ!
Labour have SO MANY opportunities to bust this government eh?
What the fuck is the matter with them!???
Well, I guess I know that already.
I think I might pay another visit to Mal and Scotty’s to at least try and guage a ‘10%’ minority’s perspective of reality. Bloody expensive thing to do though eh!
It’s the other 90% of voters we rely on though that worries me, let alone half the electorate that didn’t.
Who the fuck is running that Labour show btw? I think most people would be buggered (if they knew)
EDIT: ….. Last time I went there btw, there was some poor sap that had romantic notions of Fran fucking Wilde’s contribution to ‘equality’. If he only knew (which he wudn’t – unless he wanted to be a Fran Toi Boi, once was genuine – now Franny’s leaned how to clup the tuckit and American Express Platinum is moidy trektiv,
Once Was Tim
Sure a lot of things happening. They get to be like a bunch of flies buzzing round your head. It will be that we need to mentally record them but spend most of our time planning positive moves rather than registering the dross from the Dark Side.
🙂
What I fear most is that what I once knew as pretty bloody basic creds have been totally LOST by those who now pretend to ‘represent’ a public.
I’m not sure they even understand the idea of a ‘public’.
But there ya go. I guess they’ll have to learn the hard way.
– and there’s another thing – maybe it’s just me running out of life and becoming impatient.
At least there are inklings …. even amongst a neighbouring Hataitai-resident fag-hag grandma. (I’m at odds to wonder why as a politician, she’s prepare to …….
nah fuckit – now I think about it – she likes Judith Crusher Collins and Paul Henry, AS WELL as abusers of scared blokes worried about their sex you allty (going forward).
It ain’t political pragmatism either. I’m not sure but I suspect she might be training to be the next Fran Wilde
You’ve obviously got a shit load more energy than I have these days. I’m caught between bothering to put up a fight .versus. letting the inevitable play out and letting something organic happen.
Atm – I think maybe the latter – even tho’ it won’t be pretty for the ‘greedy’, or various minorities; or …. well hopefully you get the pitcha (and if you don’t – no matter). Apparently I’m on the verge of being *****BANNED****** (no doubt with some highly intellectual, ego-driven, how fucking dare he justification.
Kia Kaha ….. alongside anything else that gives you strength ( I know it’s not solely your ego)
Once was Tim
You might find Tim again if you go into something organic! It certainly helps with the frustration of present politics to be supporting something doable and health-oriented putting energies into an achievable project.
May be planting flasbushes for the tui, after Maori have been consulted as to whether they might be a good resource and they might like a particular species? that is good for making a particular article. That would be good, and then making sure that they survived, got watered, weren’t eaten by bugs, pulled out by thoughtless Council contractors etc. Hovering, working angel stuff.
Going to classes on growing organic vegs and learning about how to cope with the potato nematode or whatever. Supporting a group that plan the yearly Christmas parade, giving pleasure and joy to all, could be good. Being a hospital volunteer doing whatever they do. Fixing bicycles so kids can have one where it’s safe to go.
I would like to renew my ties with Amnesty International but have to organise my day better to ensure I send those messages in a timely way to distant countries. And I want to keep writing and reading on this blog. People here are generally good-hearted, so that is a positive thing to do, to keep in touch with people who sincerely care about people and the country, and just disagree about methods and effectiveness.
Academics go head to head over liquor industry funded ‘research’ on alcohol/violence link.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11573183
Despite her protestations, Dr Fox has been bought, plain and simple.
Any reasonable person can see that.
More so, Lion will have approached her specifically to do this report because of her earlier work done on disassociating alcohol from violence.
This kind of research is what happens when academic funding is pushed from the public sector to the private sector, something which the current government is determined to do.
+1
Dr Fox has been bought, plain and simple.
Followed by:
…Lion will have approached her specifically to do this report because of her earlier work…
So, which is it? Lion paid her off, or Lion funded her research because her prior research suited it?
Any conflict of interest she has in being funded by Lion is no greater than Kypris’ in being part of a religious anti-alcohol group, In fact, Kypris’ conflict seems worse – researchers are sometimes willing to tell funding bodies what they don’t want to hear, but religious conviction is impervious to rationalism.
“…but religious conviction is impervious to rationalism.”
You may want to check out the Rechabites PM…they appear to have moved with the times, evolved…and indeed, seem to promote similar ideals to those of many here on TS.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_Order_of_Rechabites
The Rechabites commitment to alcohol harm minimisation is a worthy mission….one that most of the poor sods working in A&E departments around the country would support.
– Rosemary McDonald
Yes, and Lion’s commitment to minimising the appearance of alcohol harm is an unworthy one.
It seems that Lion is quite happy with Fox’s report (which is what they would have expected when they commissioned her), so there doesn’t seem to be any indication that they were told something they didn’t want to hear as Psycho Milt suggests.
@PM – why are those things mutually exclusive?.
Dr Fox probably even believes her own shite. Even amongst academics that claim to be non-partisan. It’s not unlike the detective that’s convinced their theory valid (often based on a hunch), and who then gathers evidence on that basis, and with that perspective.
With apologies to Steven Sackur and the Key interview when – well you hopefully know the rest …. claiming academic credentials and being ‘an academic’ can be two very different things. Personally I think Foctor Dox fits.
The good Foctor probably has as many disciples (and if not, they’ll be searching them out hard and fast), as there are opposing.
To be clear (in my opinion), the Foctor is a bullshit artist
…why are those things mutually exclusive?
Because there’s no need to bribe someone who’s already doing what you want. I guess it’s possible Lion are just particularly generous and trouble themselves to bribe researchers whose findings to date were convenient for Lion anyway, but they didn’t get where they are today by being generous with their cash.
To be clear (in my opinion), the Foctor is a bullshit artist
You’ve reviewed her research and found it wanting, have you? To be fair, I have to disclose that I regard anti-alcohol activists like Sellman and his mates at the Uni of Otago school of public health to be bullshit artists, but then I have a low opinion of the social sciences in general. Do you have some evidence for why Fox is a bullshit artist, but not Jackson, Kypris, Sellman et al?
According to the Herald article, Lion commissioned the report to use as a tool with which to lobby governments.
I guess they’d need to pay her for that.
In that case, everyone who accepts payment for their work is “bought.” That clearly isn’t what you meant. Unless you’ve some evidence that her research was falsified or skewed in some way to Lion’s benefit, your comment is just libel.
As it happens, her conclusions about alcohol causing violence (that its variability across cultures suggests a social rather than physiological basis for violence, that there is in any case no evidence for alcohol having a physiological means of controlling behavior, and that there are social conditions that are more likely candidates) is compelling on a logical basis alone, regardless of the research behind it. The onus is actually on her opponents to demonstrate that alcohol does control behaviour.
Here are some of her findings – they look pretty credible to me. I wouldn’t disagree with any of it:
1. It’s the wider culture that determines the behaviour whilst drinking, not just the drinking
Different societies with comparable levels and patterns of alcohol consumption experience very different levels of anti-social and violent behaviour in their night-time economies. Most of the differences can be explained by social and cultural factors and, with concerted effort, they can be influenced.
2. The physical effects of alcohol do not determine a behavioural response.
In layman’s terms, Dr. Fox’s research suggests that while alcohol has a very definite physical effect, it doesn’t hijack your moral compass.
Dr Fox says: “Certainly alcohol carries very definite physiological effects. At high doses, the point at which alcohol enters the brain stem, it is easy to see that the physical effects of alcohol can incapacitate all drinkers equally, regardless of cultural differences.
“But just because alcohol relaxes and reduces anxiety does not mean it causes inexplicable changes in behaviour or character or blocks impulse control. There are a couple of very simple observations we can all make that support this conclusion. First, the very same person on the same dose of alcohol can react in myriad different ways on different occasions and in different settings. This simply would not happen if we were talking about a purely physiological response.
“Second, morphologically similar humans in different cultures react completely differently to being ‘under the influence’. Some cultures see very little violence and anti-social behaviour, despite similar levels and patterns of consumption to other nations with high levels of such harm.
“The conclusion of my research, and many previous studies, is that alcohol can, in certain cultures and situations, be a facilitator of aggression if aggression is there to begin with, both in the individual and in the cultural environment. It does not produce it where it doesn’t already exist.”
3. Violent individuals, a violence-reinforcing culture and violent situations are the three interlinked drivers of anti-social behaviour and violence in the night-time economy
Dr Fox makes a number of recommendations to address each of these drivers, with some examples provided below:
* Violent individuals: Australia and New Zealand needs to ensure effective identification and direct intervention to tackle the behaviour of the minority exhibiting a pre-disposition to violence.
* Violent situations: We need to work to reduce situational cues – like poor facilities and transport options – that trigger poor behaviour. We also need to change perceptions of what behaviour is socially acceptable while intoxicated and create a genuine fear of stigma for breaking the rules – as has been achieved with drink driving. Realistic consequences such as fines and other sanctions for bad behaviour are needed.
* Violence-reinforcing-cultures: Australia and New Zealand must address the cultural reinforcers of violence, misogyny, and aggressive masculinity in all its cultural expressions from schoolyards to sports fields, politics and pubs, movies and media. Young men need to be taught that responding with violence is a failure in self-control, not a symbol of masculinity.
seriously?
It’s almost as if being drunk, or being around drunk people, is an unfamiliar experience for her.
oh well, file this under ….they can always move 🙂
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/super-city/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501110&objectid=11572269
Awww, The poor special snowflakes.
http://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/75775117/Official-Information-Act-request-charges-for-media-in-spotlight
National making it harder for people to expose their dishonest practices!!
I’m truly devastated!
I just can’t seem to get people to engage with me and any of my comments (except an occasionale +1 from a Draco)
Why, I can’t even get hard right trolls to engage in debate.
I can’t even get BANNED ffs!
Oh misery!!!! where did I go wrong?
I’m fucking devastated. I’m soos oidle.
No matter how hard oi troi, none of these soshul media specimuns will engage.
Well … oi … oi jiss have to give up!
But hey … didcha hear? Jerry’s married that fukn old relic Rupe and she’s now dripping money and little blue diamond shaped pills
[lprent: Would you feel better if I banned you? 😈 ]
Your comments are to deep for my battered mush of a brain to digest and come up with a reply there, the one who was once Tim.
Yes ekshully, I would.
I know there’s been a delay in my replying, but a ban in this case would serve me well and signal to me what is wrong with our reliance on blogs as a challenge to the status quo.
I’d be in good company I think (not that I don’t appreciate your efforts in trying to battle our current situation)
So PLEASE ,,,, if you see fit and are feeling challenged – go ahead and BAN!
Actually, it’d be akin to all that’s wrong in the Labour Party these days (AND I REALISE YOU’RE IN NO WAY A PLATFORM FOR THE LABOUR PARTY).
You could put a ban down to being ‘very adult’ of you
The TPP is some bs.
Maybe some people will start to get from under the rock now.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11573299
Interesting news story today on the ABC, Malcolm Turnbull has turned down a request from the US to commit more resources to the war effort, this is the first PM in history (Australian) to “say no” to the yanks, I’m a little cynical as there’s an election in 6 months or so, and the most recent state elections (Vic, Queensland) saw there Liberal govts booted out after only one term, the Queensland premiere removed, Campbell Newman was a proponent of the JK way, only problem was the constituency wasn’t, and dealt with his BS policies that saw the destruction of their social fabric, I think they’re a little smarter than most give credit for.
TRP reminded me
My last surviving great aunt is about to hit the ton while I am away on the upcoming business trip. Does anyone have any idea of where to find an age 100 birthday card in Auckland?
The best I idea I have at present is to head to St Lukes.
Amaze
Ponsonby Road