Not Phillip Hammond: Some Decent Englishmen
No. 1: TONY BENN
The vile and hypocritical public utterances of the British Foreign Secretary might lead some people to wonder if every British public figure is as despicable. In fact, there ARE decent and honorable English men and women—sadly, not enough of them are in politics. This series is to pay tribute to some of the good, decent English people out there, the antitheses of Blair, Mandelson, Campbell, Freedland, Duncan Smith, Heseltine, Hain, Straw and all those who make the very word “England” a curse to so many around the world.
Tony Benn to BBC “If you wont broadcast the Gaza appeal then I will myself”
There are many people like him in Britain. The furious denunciation, intimidation and scorn they have to endure is immense, as we saw in the Stalinist Show Trial that took place in London last week….
Galloway set out his argument in broad terms in a (Newsnight Scotland) TV debate with veteran socialist Labour-turned-SNP politician, Jim Sillars. Here’s a few excerpts…
Galloway: (In reply to Sillars) “But there are no Scottish State interests. This is the fundamental flaw at the heart of nationalism. The bus driver in Bathgate has far more in common with the bus driver in Bradford than with the man that owns the bus he drives, who happens to be the biggest donor to SNP coffers and the biggest funder of the Yes campaign……When Jim was a champion of the miners in Ayrshire, he had everything in common with the miners in Durham and nothing in common with the Yule and Dodds drivers who were scabbing on the miners strike, even though they were Scottish. This is a fundamental flaw in the nationalist argument.”
Panel Journalist: “But when we look at the political make-up of the UK it’s fair to say the Conservatives and UKIP are more popular in England than here in Scotland. Isn’t there an argument for an independent Scotland being a social beacon for the rest of the UK ?”
Galloway: “But it wouldn’t be. This nonsense on stilts is, Jim, what people are voting for, it’s for a currency union with the Treasury in London…..You wouldn’t be independent at all. You’d be entirely dependent on the fiscal/monetary policies set in the Treasury and in the Bank of England, the clue being in the name. What would happen though, and it’s already been announced by the SNP – a 3% cut in the taxation on private company profit.”
Panel Journalist: “But, could it not be argued that a Yes vote in Scotland would be a seismic shift across these islands that could lead to political change and benefit in the way that you would like to see – the people of Merseyside and these other areas that you mention ?”
Galloway: “Well, it would certainly be a shock !!! And a shock just like the one Mrs Thatcher introduced, laying waste to the Scottish industrial heartland which has never recovered. For example, when there are no MoD orders for the Clyde shipyards – the job loss will be the equivalent of the job loss at Linwood when the motor manufacturers pulled out of there. (The SNP) have made it clear, it would be a free market, low-tax – 3% cut in corporation tax……(To Jim Sillars) You know that, in the Labour heartland that we both come from, people are deeply sceptical about Alex Salmond and the kind of politics he represents…….We are both Socialists and we’re arguing about what the best way for the working people in this Country is. Now my view is that the working people are all. I care nothing for Scottish landowners, Scottish company owners, Scottish billionaires. I have nothing in common with them other than I was born on the same piece of rock, which is of singularly less importance to me than the relationship to wealth and power.”
Right, thanks for this…I do agree with Galloway on one thing…the currency union with the UK would’ve been a big big mistake. Without the ability to issue your own money, issue your own debt, control your own interest rates and foreign exchange rates, you really are just a dependent province, not an independent state.
80 British Politicians Express Solidarity with Venezuela
Telesur, 12 February 2015
One hundred leading British figures, including 82 parliamentarians, have expressed their solidarity with Venezuela against right-wing destabilizing tactics and U.S. intervention.
On the anniversary of last year’s wave of right-wing violent and anti-democratic protests that left 43 people dead and 800 injured, the politicians signed a statement condemning the sectors “whose declared aim is the ousting of the elected government.”
Prestigious signatories include four former government ministers, while in total representatives of seven parties backed the call.
The signatories express agreement with bodies such as the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) in “both condemning the ongoing wave of anti-democratic violence from extreme elements of Venezuela’s right-wing opposition … and in supporting the calls of Venezuela’s elected President Nicolas Maduro for peace and dialogue.”
The statement also expresses opposition to U.S. meddling, backing the Organization of American States in its call for “respect for the principle of non intervention in the internal affairs of states, and therefore disagree with all external interference, including through U.S. sanctions on Venezuela.” ….
Not on a par according to these organisations. Worse.
I see Human Rights Watch has posted a further warning today regarding the Venezuelan Governments permitting use of force by the military to suppress protest.
So forgetting the silly sheep jokes Tricle – how about you answer the question…..what do you think of the human rights and press freedom issues in Venezuela?
The Cia is not fermenting unrest in South America then Sheep Shagger.
The Guardian published evidence that roght wing groups are being funded to ferment unrest in Venezuela.
The very same right winger who are pushing the War on drugs.
But are happy to have corrupt right wing politicians funded by the drug cartels!The Drug cartels don’t want the war on drugs to end as it is feeding demand in Venezuela the drug cartels run most of the suburbs.
Thats why Venezuela has a very high murder rate.
The right wingers are in the pockets of the Drug Cartels.
They don’t want left wing governments decriminalizing it would take away their income.
Argentina a prosecutor is murdered for trying to put a corrupt right wing politician on trial CIA drug money again.
I don’t know if you watched sons of anarchy but its underlying story was about US corruption the Drug trade gun trade.
The guns and money come from the US
The Drugs come from South America.
Decriminalizing all Drugs would do what getting rid of prohibition did in the 30’s.
The CIA have been tethered to the drug trade since George HW Bush as head of the CIA used a $200 million cocaine deal for the Iran Contra deal as the CIA could not gey funding from Congress.
You have avoided the question once again Tricle. (And MORRISSEY doesn’t want to make any comment either?)
Can you please give me a straight reply?
What do you think of the human rights and press freedom issues in Venezuela?
Do you think the ‘opposition and interference’ justifies the governments erosion of human rights and press freedoms as documented by independent and credible NGO’s?
What do you think about the USA wanting to see the last of Chavez’ government fail, and actively working to return millions of Venezuelans to poverty in order to do it?
Frankly, Venezuela has a far freer media environment than the USA has so what the fuck are you bitching about?
Okay, so the US, where mentalists claim freely that 9/11 was framed, are unfree, compared to any non-state Venezuelans are supes free and can have sweet yarns are free. Idiot. CV, you’ve jumped the shark
HRW is heavily connected to the establishment of the US and A. The “human rights” they are most concerned about are the rights to make a buck. They would support the rights of Sly City against the Kiwi people.
Why the hell should the Venezuelan government allow an anti-democratic media to subvert their democracy? I think they’re too lenient.
That principle already does apply in NZ. Look at what happens to journalists who threaten FJK’s “democracy”. What about the poaka campaign against Nicky Hager? Bradley Ambrose?
Should the Weimar Republic have arrested Julius Streicher and dumped Der Spiegel’s printing presses in the Baltic? Yes. That’s what Maduro’s government is facing, and I think they’re stupidly lenient.
Lost sheep you are reporting only half the story Venezuelan Right Wing fascist dictatoships held power for most of the last century.
They shared power at one stage.
Then Chavez took power only to be overthrown then he won power back.
Now Maduro has power.
Their is a slow burning civil war in Venezuela.
The Human rights abuses And corruption have continued right througout the Venzuelan history nothing new.
Thanks for acknowledging the human rights abuses and corruption of the past and current Venezuelan Govts. Tricle.
That is the other half of the story that doesn’t get mentioned by people like Morrissey who regularly post pro Venezuelan government material here.
And those same pro Venezuelan govt. people here seem to be totally unwilling to address these issues.
Would that be because they are willing to excuse levels of corruption and abuse in a Socialist country that they would not accept in a Capitalist one?
Or is it that admitting that Socialist Governments can be just as abusive and corrupt as any other doesn’t fit with the narrative that Socialism would eliminate such issues?
I don’t see why we should support any country that has such a poor record on human rights and press freedoms. And I think the implication that it is somehow ‘justified’ by ‘opposition’ is the most frighteningly corrupt concept of all.
You’re full of imperialist shit. The US would like nothing more for a puppet military dictatorship to take over Venezuela and let Exxon Mobil back in to grab billions of barrels of Venezuelan oil while making sure the people of the country get nothing, while the Venezuelan elite class get paid off.
That’s what they tried to do to Chavez a few years back, and that is what they will try to do again.
I think the reason is that many leftist can never acknowledge the downsides of their vision for a new society. They only see upsides and anyone who objects us obviously delusional or out for their own ends or both. What this means is when presented with hard evidence of the failure of regimes imposing a system that reflects their views they tend to blame external forces fir the problems not the policies they themselves support. It is a firm of cognitive dissonance on the left which I find truly fascinating. CO’S reply to you above this is a good example if this in action. Most of Venezuela’s problems are the result of actions of the US. This explains away everything nasty or economically illiterate that the Chavezta regime does.
Really Gos? So has there been either now or any time in the past, any form of “influence” or meddling in Venezuela’s government by the United States? A simple yes or no will suffice.
Rather irrelevant because the impact of any meddling by the US is dwarfed by the negative impact of the policies that the Venezuela government has decided to impose on that poor nation’s citizens. What I do find interesting is that people like you try to blame the US for actions by Venezuelan’s that any rational acting person would do given the circumstances email e.g. stopping selling items that have price controls on them.
Even on your own link the sentence “Venezuela’s traditional media, which are dominated by a few privately-owned publishing companies, are currently undergoing profound structural change.” should have stood out.
The privately owned media have never supported the democratically elected left leaders of Venezuela.
Many private radio and television stations utilised without license, some of the public broadcasting bands and when those bands were reclaimed by the Chavez government – they used their predominance to claim suppression of the press.
The reality is that the majority of media in Venezuela is still privately owned and still anti-government.
No, I’m saying that the premise that the government is controlling the media is negated by your own link: “Venezuela’s traditional media, which are dominated by a few privately-owned publishing companies…”
To say that the state is not allowing dissenting views is incorrect.
Most of the airtime is given to anti-government commentary. Most of the anti-government reports are the ones picked up by international media who have the same ideology.
That is not to say there is no corruption or need for improvement. That occurs in every country.
I wonder if you raised the same freedom of press concerns regarding the police going after Bradley Ambrose, the dismissal of Malcolm Evans due to his cartoon on the Israeli occupation, the Defence Force dismissing Jon Stephenson’s articles even when they knew they were accurate, and the police investigation into Nicky Hager.
Some fair points there Molly, that I’m happy to answer. But before I do, I’d appreciate you answering the straightforward questions I asked you first?
I only do so, because they are very relevant to how I answer your further questions..
“How about Reporters without Borders?
Or Amnesty International?
Are they credible?
And are you implying that Government should exercise control over the media?”
Lost Sheep. Spent some time looking into HRW a couple of years ago, and found the funding behind was particularly dodgy and so was some of the advocacy and criticisms they did – which is why I commented on them in particular.
My feeling is, that you cannot fully rely on any institution to give completely accurate and trustworthy reports unless all monies and associations of that entity are transparent.
The issue with Venezuelan media still stands. The majority is anti-government and often virulently so. The attempted coup against Chavez had been proposed and supported by those privately run stations, and this was an democratically elected government. Images were deliberately shot and presented during that coup that misled the viewing public – and international media.
It is incorrect to say that there is a full out war on dissenting voices in the media there, when the majority of media is still operating and speaking out against the elected government.
Now, are you going to answer regarding NZ authorities persecution of members of our own press?
gosman and lost sheep’s obsession with Venezuela = grasping at straws to defend their rotten capitalist ideology, which has been pillaging the world for most of the last century.
Reagan and Thatcher threw out all the rules, took away democracy and handed sovereignty to the new economic elite.
Shame on LS and Gos for trying to defend a global crime that has caused untold suffering.
@Molly
I’m a great believer in Trotsky’s rule that you will find the truth in a comparison of the lies. Which I am keen to discuss in light of the comments you make.
But before I comment further, can you state your sources of credible information for the situation in Venezuela?
I also believe that debate is a process of point and counter point. With a crucial aspect being that you answer a fair point that was put to you before you move on to further questions of your own.
So can you please answer the question I have already put to you twice….
“are you implying that Government should exercise control over the media?”
It’s a straight forward question that should be very easy for you to answer.
“But before I comment further, can you state your sources of credible information for the situation in Venezuela?”
I’m going to say “No.” Despite my initial comment making reference to “one of your own links” you keep asking me to jump through hoops to find links that you feel comfortable with before you will even discuss the topic.
That is your job.
You can then disagree with any points I make and then defineyour own opinion on it, not someone else’s cut and paste.
Do you really think that commenters who disagree with you must necessarily perform a series of jumping through your own self-created hoops, before you enter into dialogue?
I read up to ten to fifteen books a week – advantages of not watching TV. Some resonate, some don’t. I’m not keeping a book list so that I can feed the gratuitous needs of someone like you. If I come across any websites that I like, I will take time to check out the sources and funding for them before adding to my bookmarks. I watch documentaries online and critique them with my children. Very rarely do I find sources that I agree with unequivocally.
I don’t live in such a rarified state, that I think that is possible or even desirable.
Everything is up for debate, but only if during that debate you are providing good reasoning or quality new information.
@Molly
You talk about everything being up for debate – but you are not going to answer straight forward questions simply put, and you refuse to post a single credible source to counter either the information I provided, or to back the concrete assertions you made?
Those are the actions of someone completely unwilling to engage in genuine debate.
You know very well that you can’t sustain any sensible comparison between the situation in NZ and the one in Venezuela, and so you are refusing to engage.
I’ve seen the Venezuela situation all before, and in fact this is exactly why I am an ex communist /socialist.
Govt comes to power on a strong ideology that is going to create a nirvana. Things don’t work out that way. Govt starts to blame outside interference. Things continue to go wrong so Govt starts to try and control information exposing that. Some of the people start to object to ideology. Govt links them to outside interference. Govt tries stronger methods to control ‘outside interference’, even when that actually involves controlling citizens. Legislation changes occur. The judiciary are subjugated. Violence starts occurring. All internal opposition is defined as outside interference and defense of the ideology is linked with the defense of the Country . The military are increasingly used as a control mechanism.
That’s about where Venezuela is now, and I’m just amazed that some of you who set such high standards for govt behavior here in NZ are willing to be apologists for a govt behaving in a way you would never accept here.
It goes downhill badly from here of course.
The next stage is when the Govt decides protection of the ideology is synonymous with the interests of ‘The State / The People’, and democracy is deemed to be a barrier.
In Venezuela this will be circumvented however. The Military will intervene at the point they lose patience with the political situation. Out of the frying pan etc.
All the things you talk about, destruction of a free press, corruption of the judiciary, puppet politicians using violent and totalitarian means to control its population – that is what the USA has become, and what the USA encourages in the creation of servile client states.
Keep in mind that having Venezuela (and its oil) at the beck and call of US oil majors is exactly what the USA wants.
On the other hand, Venezuela has lifted millions of its poorest citizens on to the rungs of the middle classes, and the 1%’ers cannot tolerate that.
Why can’t you let a good comment stand alone lost sheep?
Why have to dumb down Morrisey’s one about something positive with your spiteful, denigrating comparisons? You really are trying to ram your RW attitudes down our throats.
We want to be able to honour and admire people of worth. They can be admired for what they have achieved even if everything about them, and in the world isn’t perfect.
edited
Apparently Shit Sheep the Right Winger is now so very concerned about human rights abuses and press freedoms. Typical two faced dick. Never heard him speaking out for Snowden, Assange or Manning, incidentally.
You have never heard me express any opinion about many things CR. But don’t let that stop you making wild speculations about what I actually believe in!
er…..i that is the first time i can remember being politically aware Phillip.
That first awareness was the realisation of the possibility of being conscripted into the Vietnam war….
Morrissey and others declined to discuss human rights and press freedom issues in Venezuela last time I raised the issue, on the basis i had diverted from the topic in hand at the time.
I said I would bring it up next time someone raised Venezuela specifically, and so i have.
Every day here many people raise issues of human rights and press freedom in countries such as NZ or Britain or the USA, and this is universally considered to be a completely valid and vitally important thing to do?
So how does it work that questioning freedom and rights issues in Venezuela is seen as “spiteful, denigrating comparisons……trying to ram your RW attitudes down our throats.”?
Surely we should question such things openly and freely where ever they occur?
It seems to me there is a major double standard here greywarshark. The implication is clearly that some people here set a lower standard of democratic behavior for a country that is Socialist than they would accept from countries of other ideologies?
And they would rather I didn’t bring up such inconvenient matters here on TS. Perhaps they would prefer such ‘opposition’ to be suppressed?
@ the lost sheep
Baaa. Concern troll. I vill overwhelm you with my sanctimonious speech of reason about whatever subject I choose to disconnect discussion on in the threads I join.
If you want evidence that the Herald is nothing other than a rag designed to propagandise the vile nightmares of the 0.1%, this article about some U.S. finance operator, who made his billions in Russia in the 1990s, (wonder how?!) , claims Reagan as his hero, took part in the recent Davos conference at which Key attended and now wants to impose on this country his nightmarish views on education.
Obviously having destroyed their own nation, and realising Americans might just rise up against their corporatocracy, these criminals are moving to places like NZ and aiming to continue the pillage they started in the 1980s. Monetising education . They see the price of everything and the value of nothing.
I read that article and felt sick. The guy obviously sees a quick buck in charter schools. If they come with a government gift of land and buildings that you get to keep whatever happens, I can see why. We do not need his charter schools to teach STEM subjects well. We need to attract scientifically qualified people to teaching.
I would have expected an article like this about drought to have mentioned the words ‘climate change.’ But no …RNZ sticks to the extreme weather line.
Secondly, there is absolutely no mention of the levels of irrigation going on which would have exacerbated the problem.
These are political decisions, RNZ, not to report either climate change or water usage by corporates.
Who is your master?
The people of NZ or the corporate elite.
Sadly I think we know the answer.
Someone said to me that there was a report that National had done some research and realised that Radionz had a bigger audience than television and they should start moving RW people into it. Has anyone heard of that. I guess it would have been 5 years or so ago.
Helen Clark interview – found it on BBC page.
John Key is not in the same league when it comes to answering interviewer where his first instinct is to deny. (Except when he is vox/pop radio) http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-31423012
You may be right. However left leaning parties are still beholden to centuries of privileged order and organisation. You may be a champion of revolution but others would be prepared to get there more gradually. I guess, from your comment, that it is a matter of indifference to you whether we have a nominally left of centre government with a form of social programme or a Tory administration realigning the purse strings to the privileged undemocratic organisations.
But on a finer point I was observing what it was (and ought to be) to have someone who is learned and articulate as a leader of a nation as opposed to a cliche driven mono-syllabic populist prick.
Prince Phil.
Prince Charles biography has some interesting insights into hippy Prince Charles he used to ditch his body guards and sneek over to the nneighbors for a few joints and conversation.
What do you think about all the panic about children hit by car walking to school. Its not good the accident happened but I’m worried that children will be even more restricted in their movements as a result and how are they going to grow up and make good decisions if they have no freedom to walk up the road to school.
Yes it is a very busy road but there are pedestrian crossings on that road. Its probably more that schools and parents need to talk to the children about the safe way to walk to school. I know we had those sorts of rules when I walked to school as a five year old with some of the neighbours kids. Perhaps because so many children go to school and everywhere else by car they just haven’t been taught how to be safe as a pedestrian. Oh and it doesn’t help the environment either.
Oil prices will plunge in two or three months as global Crude Storage Capacity is maxed out. Could it be because fewer and fewer people can afford to buy it??
The quantitative easing ie bailing out big caused another speculation bubble on commodities like Gold,Oil Minerals etc.
Now the US has slowed its QE the EU is now having to start another round of QE.囧
Because Goldman Sachs and other big banks will be the main beneficeries(Corporate Welfare recipients)they will play casino speculatiion with this money until it runs out and then their inside man (ex Goldman Sachs boss is the European treasury boss)will insist on another round.
Greece may be the fly in the oinkment while the capital gaignsters are feeding like pig’s in the $1.8 Trillion bailout trough.
The slippery slope created by Greece ditching the failed Austerity program could mean even more QE.
Goldman Sachs will be rubbing their hands with glee.
Money for nothing the perpetrators of Greece’s massive debt Goldman Sachs get money for free while the ordinary Greek people have lost jobs 27% unemployment 54% youth unemployment.
Goldman Sachs(loan sharks) who corrupted Greek politicians and Ratings agencies to allow Greece to borrow beyond its abilities have faced no sanctions taken no resposibility and are doing exactly the same now!
Because peak oil occurred in 2005/2006 and we are well into conventional production declines.
What we are seeing is increasing unaffordability of oil and even economic commentators admit that lower oil prices are going to hurt the economy not help it.
These kinds of inversions to the norm and volatility will only grow as we fall more steeply down the oil production descent curve.
And even the NBR is turning on Key. Occasional Standard commenter Matthew Hooton has posted an article about SkyCity titled “Close to Corruption” where he neatly dissects the mess that the SkyCity deal is becoming. Well worth a read …
Close is being kind. I can’t for the life of me see this whole Sly City business as anything but corruption. As seen all over the world, corruption and organised crime find fertile ground in casinos. FJK reminds me of Batista.
There is too much double speak flowing off Hooton’s folked tongue in that NBR article. At no stage is he really taking the stick to SkyCity and he rounds it out by saying the Government has no choice but to stump up $130 million of our money. Of course that’s a fabrication of epic proportions by the slithery tongued one.
Quite simply put in gambling terms the Government is the House and the House sets the rules and never loses. SkyCity are not in a strong bargaining position. Not if they want to keep their gambling empire operating in this country. Hooton knows this and I say he is just like Hosking and clipping the ticket. Why do I think this is because he has chosen to obmit It in the NBR article.
The procurement process for the Auckland centre was a farce and as close to corruption as we ever see in New Zealand.
No Matthew, it was outright corruption and we’ve been seeing a lot more of it over the last few decades especially from National.
The best option would be for the government to walk and restart the procurement process
No, the best option would be for the government to walk and to forget even the idea of supporting the building of a convention centre. If ‘the market’ wants Auckland to have a new convention centre then ‘the market’ can damn well provide.
The problem is that SkyCity has a guaranteed casino monopoly in Auckland and changing that would create enormous litigation risk. Beyond that, SkyCity knows too much. They have been talking privately with Mr Key and Mr Eagleson for many years. Abandoning the project would therefore create unmanageable political risk. Plus there are long-standing personal friendships to consider.
Len Brown missing in action (swanning off to Christchurch for the cricket world cup opening) over crucial reclamation vote, which saw the Right puppets narrowly win 9-8.
I was hopeful anti reclamation lobbyist Matthew Hooton could give us his oil on the issue. Alas he may have picked up some work from POAL, which wouldn’t be a surprise considering their history of taking out opposition.
Yeah that would figure things are a bit crowded in the snake oil world of public relations, what with a few notable new entrant’s into the market, C & T etc.
Actually my sister is learning Spanish in preparation for her annual 6 weeks winter holiday reckons she seen Hooton on campus. Apparently he is learning mandarin. Good for him up skilling and all. Though I thought he could get some lessions from Jude Collins who is fluent, hussle some business from her husband while he is at it.
Too close to an outfit viewed as corrupt, bad for business, any potential dodgy client’s wouldn’t want the GCSB looking into their affairs. Especially Chinese who know Beijing is amping up the anti on white collar crims lurking down here.
The Greeks would have to leave the EU as well as the Eurozone if they wanted to be rescued by Russia. The new Greek Government didn’t promise that and in fact stated they would stay with the Euro.
The new Greek leader is a kept man, he will do what Putin says if he doesn’t want to be thrown out of office.
Where is your offsider Hooton today, I want to tear his snake oil column too bits. Let me guess…flaked out under a table of ponsonby bar, deary me you would think Jude Collins would have barked at him to eat some Tapa’s her husband put on his tab.
So, the first page of those google results are almost all about a comedy made by trans people, with trans actors, that respects trans people’s identities and doesn’t involve misogynistic stereotypes about trans people.
Watch some of that sort of comedy, and see how it differs from your sense of humour and you might just see what Stephanie was on about.
Oh right, Mc Flock, careful we are being watched by the special branch. Sorry was muti tasking which I’m not much chop at, playing with tackle off fishing soon hoping to have smoke snapper for tomorrow’s cricket. Got a leave pass from the boss lady, if I get the house work done in time.
No but I suggested he talk to Mc Carten, he already had, may take a while as he is currently commando. Just wondering if Key is using carpet, you know the lochs comment?
Matt does what Hosking does for SkyCity by endorsing a transplant outfit.
That was a laugh, the comb over link, men are vain. Silly Alf Ngaro carry’s an umbrella everywhere and is seen walking the streets of Wellington on a sunny but windy day with his brolly up practically sitting aloft on his head, trying to hide his identity with hideously large blow fly sunglasses.
No go there Phil as Percy is one of those new age men who gets a chest, back & crack wax jobby monthly, ouch the pain in that.
You might be right about using velcro, there is a technique where they sew strips into the scalp. I will do some studying and flick him a link. Maybe the Labour Party can post it on there web site and add a donation button, they may as well they ask members to donate for everything else.
Pretty sure Shearer will be keen on a rug for his mayoral bid, get one over Lenny with the ladies.
Oh that reality? The one that prints money from a machine and claims it is some sort of reality……
The greeks should print shitloads of euros, load them into some trucks and drive them to the German border. This is what happens anyway – the euro shysters print shitloads of euros, load them into some software and email them to greek inboxes.
The entire Greek national debt would go away with about 2 days worth of ECB printing – but that’s the point isn’t it?
The Central Banks and their investment banking fraternity are in charge of the spigot. They are allowed free money, hundreds of billions of it, but nations like Greece have to be kept enslaved.
Russia Today propaganda on Kiev’s Maidan Square massacre
Russia Today has always questioned western media narratives of how dozens of anti-government protestors were killed by pro-Russian snipers a year ago. Western outrage at the massacres helped sweep out the Yanukovich government and unconstitutionally put in place a pro US administration.
But maybe Russia Today was right in asking the questions that the west didn’t.
Now, the BBC has finally come around to the idea that maybe some of the gunmen involved were actually part of the protestor camp, and fired shots at their own people to help discredit the Yanukovich government.
Dr. Zina O’Leary (Social Psychologist) is giving a seminar on “The Art of Persuasion” next Tuesday, 17th Feb in the Auckland Art Gallery 12 noon. Need to RSVP today.
If you think that the Sky City issue is a big deal, then you may be surprised (unpleasantly) to know that it is nothing compared with the potential of the TPPA (Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement that the US and the National Government are trying to push through by stealth. The tactic is to keep the proposed text secret so that it is very difficult for the public to express their genuine concerns or be able to do cost benefit analyses because of the lack of available detailed information.
One of the major areas which will be affected greatly is our health system.
NZ and Australian health advocates are joining forces, using the medical journal the Lancet to push for a fairer more transparent process with respect to the TPPA negotiations (Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement.)
“Co-lead author and Canterbury psychiatrist Dr Erik Monasterio, says the TPPA, like other ‘new generation’ trade deals, threatens governmental ability to deliver affordable health care and legislate to protect public health and reduce health inequities. “And all the while, the text is shrouded in secrecy.”
“The negotiations are not about the way most of us think of trade – you and me buying and selling things. Instead they are protecting the massive investments profits of multinational companies that are bigger than the whole New Zealand economy. They want to make sure that countries won’t be able to pass laws or change policies, no matter how important to the local country, if that would cut profits of an overseas investor.”
“It’s an unprecedented expansion of intellectual property rights that will push up the cost of affordable and life-saving medicines, hitting hardest the already vulnerable households in New Zealand and other countries such as Vietnam and Malaysia’”, says Dr Monasterio.
The deal also threatens public health by freezing government ability to pass laws for better health. Dr Monasterio says that governments could be sued for protecting health – but governments can’t sue back. “This will stop important health initiatives on tobacco, alcohol, the obesity epidemic, climate change, antibiotic resistance, and other major future challenges”.
“We are asking for heath impact assessments, for each nation, and then their public release, so that parliaments and the public can discuss the issues– before political trade-offs are made and the agreement is signed”, ends Dr Monasterio.” http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE1502/S00039/new-zealand-leads-lancet-call-for-tppa-transparency.htm
Please discuss the TPPA with as many people as you can. There will be protests held on 7th March and we need to tell this government that our sovereignty is not to be signed away to multinational corporates. Our health and our environment are at risk.
I have been trying to locate a video record or transcripts of the opening addresses to Parliament on 10-02-2015.
Neither Hansard, nor In the House seem to have any record of the speeches.
I have not wanted to locate Parliamentary ‘new year’ speeches before and am now wondering is it normal procedure not to record these speeches when Parliament begins a new year?
Try as I might I just could not locate it. I must have repeatedly skipped a page or something when going through the archive listed because I checked that Debate on the Prime Minister’s Statement archive.
Any clue how to find the Hansard transcript then? -as i have probably walked past that a dozen times today also 🙂 just kidding, –
i’ll track the bugger down eventually, it’s not exactly a life or death scenario
OK that does it – me and my brain are gonna have words – serious words – i think the fingers have been conspiring behind my back 😮 might explain the slaps to the back of the head I keep getting when I load youtube instead of doing stuff –
According to Armstrong, it seems the videos had not been loaded until yesterday, so my fruitless searches on Wednesday and Thursday before asking for assistance, had good reason to be failures 🙂 bit of a relief tbh
Fran Wilde
Chair of the Greater Wellington Regional Council /’Private Citizen’
URGENT ‘Open Letter /OIA request’ to Fran Wilde, Chair of the Greater Wellington Regional Council / ‘Private Citizen’- re: an email you allegedly distributed on Tuesday 10 February 2015 encouraging those emailed to support the Draft Wellington Reorganisation Proposal.
Dear Fran,
I do not claim to be ‘an expert on everything’, but as a proven ‘anti-corruption whistle-blower’, I do have an understanding,in my considered opinion, of allegedly arguably and potentially ‘corrupt conflicts of interest’.
Please be reminded of s.105A of the New Zealand Crimes Act 1961:
“105A Corrupt use of official information
Every official is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years who, whether within New Zealand or elsewhere, corruptly uses or discloses any information, acquired by him or her in his or her official capacity, to obtain, directly or indirectly, an advantage or a pecuniary gain for himself or herself or any other person.”
From: Fran Wilde [mailto:fran@franwilde.com]
Sent: Tuesday, 10 February 2015 10:29 p.m.
To: fran@franwilde.com
Subject: Wellington region needs your help urgently!
Greetings
First an apology for sending a bulk email – my contacts list is too big to personalise on this occasion.
Just before Christmas the Local Government Commission (LGC) published a Draft Proposal for reform of local government in our region. The report is a blueprint for our future 20 or 30 years from now. Links to the report and to a smaller summary are at the bottom of this message.
Wellington is now at a critical time. For more than a decade our economic performance relative to other regions has been dismal and we have infrastructure and social challenges that can’t be addressed by our fragmented local government structure. The new Auckland and post-quake Christchurch are getting huge attention from central government. Wellington appears to be irrelevant. Of course local government isn’t the answer to everything, but it plays a critical role and right now just can’t be an agent for the transformational change we need.
The LGC proposal is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to leapfrog our region into the future – one unified region-wide council to deliver infrastructure, economic development etc, with well-funded local boards replacing current local councils to take care of community issues. One organisation with one Mayor and one CEO and one rates bill. And most importantly the ability to take a regional view of the big issues.
The LGC is seeking submissions and will have hearings. Following that, it may publish a final Proposal the same as, similar to or different from the draft – or it could decide to make no change at all. To proceed along the lines of the Proposal it requires “demonstrable community support” from every single TA area in the region – i.e. Wellington City, Kapiti Coast, Upper Hutt, Carterton etc.
Submission close in just under three weeks – at 4.00pm on Monday March 2nd. Those who oppose change are particularly active are canvassing their local council areas. In my view it’s absolutely imperative that Wellingtonians who want change make their voices heard. Change will not happen unless we say we want it – i.e. “demonstrable community support”.
Please take two minutes to make a submission right now. It’s really easy – you don’t have to write a long piece. All that is required is a short email with your name and address and a message saying that you support the Proposal. Send your email to submissions@lgc.govt.nz
Alternatively, you might want to click on the link below which is the LGC submission form, fill it in then email it to submissions@lgc.govt.nz
Wellington reorganisation proposal – Submission form
You don’t have to appear at the hearings if you make a submission – only if you request to appear.
Finally, in order to get the numbers to show “demonstrable community support” please could you help by talking to or sending these links through to anyone else you know who supports improving local government in our region. It could be people in your family or your street or your workplace – or friends who live in other parts of the region.
Remember the deadline is 4.00pm Monday March 2nd – please could you send in your views now!
IMPORTANT: The information contained in this e-mail message may be legally privileged or confidential. The information is intended only for the recipient named in the e-mail message. If the reader of this e-mail message is not the intended recipient, you are notified that any use, copyingU or distribution of this e-mail message is prohibited. If you have received this e-mail message in error, please notify the sender immediately. Thank you.
______________________________________________________________________________________
1) Please provide the information, which confirms that none of the email addresses to which you sent the above-mentioned email, originated from ANY email database, which was accessible to you, in any way, in your capacity as Chair of the Greater Wellington Regional Council.
2) Please provide the information which confirms in what ‘capacity’ you sent the above-mentioned email.
3) Please provide the information which confirms how it it is not a ‘conflict of interest’ for you to send out this above-mentioned email, which is actively promoting ‘one side’ (as it were) of the Draft Wellington Reorganisation Proposal:
“The LGC is seeking submissions and will have hearings. Following that, it may publish a final Proposal the same as, similar to or different from the draft – or it could decide to make no change at all. To proceed along the lines of the Proposal it requires “demonstrable community support” from every single TA area in the region – i.e. Wellington City, Kapiti Coast, Upper Hutt, Carterton etc.”
– as opposed to just encouraging those emailed to participate in the Draft Wellington Reorganisation Proposal, particularly given that you are arguably, in my considered opinion, a potential candidate for the position of Mayor for this proposed Greater Wellington Regional Council, which you are, in my considered opinion, actively supporting.
4) Please provide the information which confirms that you exercised ‘due diligence’, and took the precautionary step, given your position as current Chair of the Greater Wellington Regional Council, and sought competent legal advice, before sending out this above-mentioned email.
Yours sincerely,
Penny Bright
……………………..
Attendee: 2009 Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference
Attendee: 2010 Transparency International Anti-Corruption Conference
Attendee: 2013 Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference
Attendee: 2014 G20 Anti-Corruption Conference
2013 Auckland Mayoral candidate (polled 4th with 11,723 votes)
______________________________________________________________________________________
This is hysterical, if it were not so awful .. spinning the spin of the spin ..
“In today’s NBR article, ‘Govt, SkyCity refuse to respond to convention centre queries’ (not currently online), Grant writes that ‘spin doctors for Mr Key have refused to directly address NBR’s questions about the convention centre’. He reports on the responses, in particular, from ‘Chief spin doctor Sia Aston’, which have ranged from the opaque to the blatantly disingenuous.
For example, in attempting to explain one inconsistency,
Aston replied:
‘In trying to understand any differences in the language used around this issue, it’s probably just important to note that the situation has clearly changed and therefore the nuances in language have changed’.
In response to further attempts to understand the evolving SkyCity deal, the spin doctor simply replied: ‘We have already answered your queries’.
unfuxxing believable !
see Bryce Edwards masterful gathering of all the published odium falling on Key and Joyce .. surely something must stick sooner or later ?
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission.In this article I look into data on how well the rail network serve New Zealanders, and how many people might be able to travel by train… if we ran more than a ...
Hi,Before we get into Hayden Donnell’s new column about how yes, Donald Trump is definitely the Antichrist, I wanted to touch on something feral that happened in New Zealand last week.Members of Destiny Church pushed and punched their way into an Auckland library, apparently angry it was part of Pride ...
Despite delays, logjams and overcrowding in our emergency departments, funding constraints are limiting the numbers of nurses and doctors being trained. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, February 18 are:A NZ Herald investigation ...
Olivia and Noah and Hana are going to the library!It is fun to go to the library. It has books and songs and mat time and people who smile at you and say, Hello Olivia, what have you been doing this morning?The library is more fun than the mall. At ...
New World Orders: The challenge facing Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins is how to keep their small and vulnerable nation safe and stable in a world whose economic and political climate the forty-seventh American president is changing so profoundly.IT IS, SURELY, the ultimate Millennial revenge fantasy. Calling senior Baby-Boomer and Gen-X ...
“This might surprise you, Laurie, but I reckon Trump’s putting on a bloody impressive performance.”“GOODNESS ME, HANNAH, just look at all those Valentine’s Day cards!”“Occupational hazard, Laurie, the more beer I serve, the more my customers declare their undying love!”“Crikey! I had no idea business was so good.” Laurie squinted ...
In 2005, Labour repealed the long-standing principle of birthright citizenship in Aotearoa. Why? As with everything else Labour does, it all came down to austerity: "foreign mothers" were supposedly "coming to this country to give birth", and this was "put[ting] pressure on hospitals". Then-Immigration Minister George Hawkins explicitly gave this ...
And I just hope that you can forgive usBut everything must goAnd if you need an explanation, nationThen everything must goSongwriters: James Dean Bradfield / Sean Anthony Moore / Nicholas Allen Jones.Today, I’d like to talk about a couple of things that happened over the weekend:Brian Tamaki’s Library Invasion and ...
New reporting highlights how Brooke van Velden refuses to meet with the CTU but is happy to meet with fringe Australian-based unions. Van Velden is pursuing reckless changes to undermine the personal grievance system against the advice of her own officials. Engineering New Zealand are saying that hundreds of engineers ...
The NZCTU strongly supports the Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill. This Bill represents a positive step towards addressing serious issues around unlawful disparities in pay by protecting workers’ rights to discuss their pay and conditions. This Bill also provides welcome support for helping tackle the prevalent gender and ...
Years of hard work finally paid off last week as the country’s biggest and most important transport project, the City Rail Link reached a major milestone with the first test train making its way slowly though the tunnels for the first time. This is a fantastic achievement and it is ...
Engineers are pleading for the Government to free up funds to restart stalled projects. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, February 17 are:Engineering New Zealand CEO Richard Templer said yesterday hundreds of ...
It’s one of New Zealand’s great sustaining myths: the spirit of ANZAC, our mates across the ditch, the spirit of Earl’s Court, Antipodeans united against the world. It is also a myth; it is not reality. That much was clear from a series of speakers, including a former Australian Prime ...
Many people have been unsatisfied for years that things have not improved for them, some as individuals, many more however because their families are clearly putting in more work, for less money – and certainly far less purchase on society. This general discontent has grown exponentially since the GFC. ...
A listing of 34 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 9, 2025 thru Sat, February 15, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report shows worsening food poverty and housing shortages mean more than 400,000 people now need welfare support, the highest level since the 1990s. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and ...
You're just too too obscure for meOh you don't really get through to meAnd there's no need for you to talk that wayIs there any less pessimistic things to say?Songwriters: Graeme DownesToday, I thought we’d take a look at some of the most cringe-inducing moments from last week, but don’t ...
Please note: I’ve delayed my “What can we do?” article for this video.The video above shows Destiny Church members assaulting staff and librarians as they pushed through to a room of terrified parents and young children.It was posted to social media last night.But if you read Sinead Boucher’s Stuff, you ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is sea level rise exaggerated? Sea levels are rising at an accelerating rate, not stagnating or decreasing. Warming global temperatures cause land ice ...
Here is a scenario, but first a historical parallel. Hitler and the Nazis could well have accomplished everything that they wanted to do within German borders, including exterminating Jews, so long as they confined their ambitious to Germany itself. After all, the world pretty much sat and watched as the ...
I’ve spent the last couple of days in Hamilton covering Waikato University’s annual NZ Economics Forum, where (arguably) three of the most influential people in our political economy right now laid out their thinking in major speeches about the size and role of Government, their views on for spending, tax ...
Simeon Brown’s Ideology BentSimeon Brown once told Kiwis he tries to represent his deep sense of faith by interacting “with integrity”.“It’s important that there’s Christians in Parliament…and from my perspective, it’s great to be a Christian in Parliament and to bring that perspective to [laws, conversations and policies].”And with ...
Severe geological and financial earthquakes are inevitable. We just don’t know how soon and how they will play out. Are we putting the right effort into preparing for them?Every decade or so the international economy has a major financial crisis. We cannot predict exactly when or exactly how it will ...
Questions1. How did Old Mate Grabaseat describe his soon-to-be-Deputy-PM’s letter to police advocating for Philip Polkinghorne?a.Ill-advisedb.A perfect letterc.A letter that will live in infamyd.He had me at hello2. What did Seymour say in response?a.What’s ill-advised is commenting when you don’t know all the facts and ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff has called on OJI Fibre Solutions to work with the government, unions, and the community before closing the Kinleith Paper Mill. “OJI has today announced 230 job losses in what will be a devastating blow for the community. OJI needs to work with ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is sounding the alarm about the latest attack on workers from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden, who is ignoring her own officials to pursue reckless changes that would completely undermine the personal grievance system. “Brooke van Velden’s changes will ...
Hi,When I started writing Webworm in 2020, I wrote a lot about the conspiracy theories that were suddenly invading our Twitter timelines and Facebook feeds. Four years ago a reader, John, left this feedback under one of my essays:It’s a never ending labyrinth of lunacy which, as you have pointed ...
And if you said this life ain't good enoughI would give my world to lift you upI could change my life to better suit your moodBecause you're so smoothAnd it's just like the ocean under the moonOh, it's the same as the emotion that I get from youYou got the ...
Aotearoa remains the minority’s birthright, New Zealand the majority’s possession. WAITANGI DAY commentary see-saws manically between the warmly positive and the coldly negative. Many New Zealanders consider this a good thing. They point to the unexamined patriotism of July Fourth and Bastille Day celebrations, and applaud the fact that the ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: and on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump’s administration over Gaza and Ukraine; on the ...
Up until now, the prevailing coalition view of public servants was that there were simply too many of them. But yesterday the new Public Service Commissioner, handpicked by the Luxon Government, said it was not so much numbers but what they did and the value they produced that mattered. Sir ...
In a moment we explore the question: What is Andrew Bayly wanting to tell ACC, and will it involve enjoying a small wine tasting and then telling someone to fuck off? But first, for context, a broader one: What do we look for in a government?Imagine for a moment, you ...
As expected, Donald Trump just threw Ukraine under the bus, demanding that it accept Russia's illegal theft of land, while ruling out any future membership of NATO. Its a colossal betrayal, which effectively legitimises Russia's invasion, while laying the groundwork for the next one. But Trump is apparently fine with ...
A ballot for a single member's bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Employment Relations (Collective Agreements in Triangular Relationships) Amendment Bill (Adrian Rurawhe) The bill would extend union rights to employees in triangular relationships, where they are (nominally) employed by one party, but ...
This is a guest post by George Weeks, reviewing a book called ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin AshtonBook review: ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin Ashton (2015) – and what it means for Auckland. The title of this article might unnerve any Greater Auckland ...
This story was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Within just a week, the sheer devastation of the Los Angeles wildfires has pushed to the fore fundamental questions about the impact of the climate crisis that have been ...
In this world, it's just usYou know it's not the same as it wasSongwriters: Harry Edward Styles / Thomas Edward Percy Hull / Tyler Sam JohnsonYesterday, I received a lovely message from Caty, a reader of Nick’s Kōrero, that got me thinking. So I thought I’d share it with you, ...
In past times a person was considered “unserious” or “not a serious” person if they failed to grasp, behave and speak according to the solemnity of the context in which they were located. For example a serious person does not audibly pass gas at Church, or yell “gun” at a ...
Long stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, February 13 are:The coalition Government’s early 2024 ‘fiscal emergency’ freeze on funding, planning and building houses, schools, local roads and hospitals helped extend and deepen the economic and jobs recession through calendar ...
For obvious reasons, people feel uneasy when the right to be a citizen is sold off to wealthy foreigners. Even selling the right to residency seems a bit dubious, when so many migrants who are not millionaires get turned away or are made to jump through innumerable hoops – simply ...
A new season of White Lotus is nearly upon us: more murder mystery, more sumptuous surroundings, more rich people behaving badly.Once more we get to identify with the experience of the pampered tourist or perhaps the poorly paid help; there's something in White Lotus for all New Zealanders.And unlike the ...
In 2016, Aotearoa shockingly plunged to fourth place in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. Nine years later, and we're back there again: New Zealand has seen a further slip in its global ranking in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). [...] In the latest CPI New Zealand's score ...
1. You’ve started ranking your politicians on how much they respect the rule of law2. You’ve stopped paying attention to those news publications3. You’ve developed a sudden interest in a particular period of history4. More and more people are sounding like your racist, conspiracist uncle.5. Someone just pulled a Nazi ...
Transforming New Zealand: Brian EastonBrian Easton will discuss the above topic at 2/57 Willis Street, Wellington at 5:30pm on Tuesday 26 February at 2/57 Willis Street, WellingtonThe sub-title to the above is "Why is the Left failing?" Brian Easton's analysis is based on his view that while the ...
Salvation Army’s State of the Nation 2025 report highlights falling living standards, the highest unemployment rates since the 1990s and half of all Pacific children going without food. There are reports of hundreds if not thousands of people are applying for the same jobs in the wake of last year’s ...
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Correction: On the article The Condundrum of David Seymour, Luke Malpass conducted joint reviews with Bryce Wilkinson, the architect of the Regulatory Standards Bill - not Bryce Edwards. The article ...
Tomorrow the council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee meet and agenda has a few interesting papers. Council’s Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport Every year the council provide a Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport which is part of the process for informing AT of the council’s priorities and ...
All around in my home townThey're trying to track me down, yeahThey say they want to bring me in guiltyFor the killing of a deputyFor the life of a deputySongwriter: Robert Nesta Marley.Support Nick’s Kōrero today with a 20% discount on a paid subscription to receive all my newsletters directly ...
Hi,I think all of us have probably experienced the power of music — that strange, transformative thing that gets under our skin and helps us experience this whole life thing with some kind of sanity.Listening and experiencing music has always been such a huge part of my life, and has ...
Business frustration over the stalled economy is growing, and only 34% of voters are confidentNicola Willis can deliver. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 12 are:Business frustration is growing about a ...
I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
This session will feature Simon McCallum, Senior Lecturer in Engineering and Computer Science (VUW) and recent Labour Party candidate in the Southland Electorate talking about some of the issues around AI and how this should inform Labour Party policy. Simon is an excellent speaker with a comprehensive command of AI ...
The proposed Waimate garbage incinerator is dead: The company behind a highly-controversial proposal to build a waste-to-energy plant in the Waimate District no longer has the land. [...] However, SIRRL director Paul Taylor said the sales and purchase agreement to purchase land from Murphy Farms, near Glenavy, lapsed at ...
The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been a vital tool in combatting international corruption. It forbids US companies and citizens from bribing foreign public officials anywhere in the world. And its actually enforced: some of the world's biggest companies - Siemens, Hewlett Packard, and Bristol Myers Squibb - have ...
December 2024 photo - with UK Tory Boris Johnson (Source: Facebook)Those PollsFor hours, political poll results have resounded across political hallways and commentary.According to the 1News Verizon poll, 50% of the country believe we are heading in the “wrong direction”, while 39% believe we are “on the right track”.The left ...
A Tai Rāwhiti mill that ran for 30 years before it was shut down in late 2023 is set to re-open in the coming months, which will eventually see nearly 300 new jobs in the region. A new report from Massey University shows that pensioners are struggling with rising costs. ...
As support continues to fall, Luxon also now faces his biggest internal ructions within the coalition since the election, with David Seymour reacting badly to being criticised by the PM. File photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Not since 1988 when Richard Prebble openly criticised David Lange have we seen such a challenge to a Prime Minister as that of David Seymour to Christopher Luxon last night. Prebble suggested Lange had mental health issues during a TV interview and was almost immediately fired. Seymour hasn’t gone quite ...
Three weeks in, and the 24/7 news cycle is not helping anyone feel calm and informed about the second Trump presidency. One day, the US is threatening 25% trade tariffs on its friends and neighbours. The reasons offered by the White House are absurd, such as stopping fentanyl coming in ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Wherever you look, you'll hear headlines claiming we've passed 1.5 degrees of global warming. And while 2024 saw ...
Photo by Heather M. Edwards on UnsplashHere’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s politics and economy in the week to Feb 10 below. That’s ahead of live chats on the Substack App and The Kākā’s front page on Substack at 5pm with: on his column in The ...
Is there anyone in the world the National Party loves more than a campaign donor? Why yes, there is! They will always have the warmest hello and would you like to slip into something more comfortable for that great god of our age, the High Net Worth Individual.The words the ...
Waste and fraud certainly exist in foreign aid programs, but rightwing celebration of USAID’s dismantling shows profound ignorance of the value of soft power (as opposed to hard power) in projecting US influence and interests abroad by non-military/coercive means (think of “hearts and minds,” “hugs, not bullets,” “honey versus vinegar,” ...
Health New Zealand is proposing to cut almost half of its data and digital positions – more than 1000 of them. The PSA has called on the Privacy Commissioner to urgently investigate the cuts due to the potential for serious consequences for patients. NZNO is calling for an urgent increase ...
We may see a few more luxury cars on Queen Street, but a loosening of rules to entice rich foreigners to invest more here is unlikely to “turbocharge our economic growth”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Let us not dance daintily around the elephant in the room. Our politicians who serve us in the present are not honest, certainly not as honest as they should be, and while the right are taking out most of the trophies for warping narratives and literally redefining “facts”, the kiwi ...
A few weeks ago I took a look at public transport ridership in 2024. In today’s post I’m going to be looking a bit deeper at bus ridership. Buses make up the vast majority of ridership in Auckland with 70 million boardings last year out of a total of 89.4 ...
Oh, you know I did itIt's over and I feel fineNothing you could say is gonna change my mindWaited and I waited the longest nightNothing like the taste of sweet declineSongwriters: Chris Shiflett / David Eric Grohl / Nate Mendel / Taylor Hawkins.Hindsight is good, eh?The clarity when the pieces ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 16 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 10The Kākā’s weekly wrap-up of news about politics and the economy is due at midday, followed by webinar for paying subscribers in Substack’s ...
The Government’s newly announced funding for biodiversity and tourism of $30-million over three years is a small fraction of what is required for conservation in this country. ...
The Government's sudden cancellation of the tertiary education funding increase is a reckless move that risks widespread job losses and service reductions across New Zealand's universities. ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
The last good thing at the supermarket is gone. Mad Chapman mourns the Cadbury mini egg cartons. When life is overwhelming and it feels like every story around you is a bad news story, there are a few things that can be relied upon to instil a sense of calm, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Parker, Honorary Professorial Fellow, Melbourne CSHE, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock Judges in Australian courtrooms have a lot of power. They can decide on someone’s guilt and the punishment for it, including lengthy prison time. But what if they get ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Louise Birrell, Researcher, Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney Pixel-Shot/Shutterstock Australians are waiting an average of 12 years to seek treatment for mental health and substance use disorders, our new research shows. While ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Justine Bell-James, Professor, TC Beirne School of Law, The University of Queensland Almost 200 nations have signed an ambitious agreement to halt and reverse biodiversity loss but none is on track to meet the crucial goal, our new research reveals. The agreement, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Philippa Collin, Professor, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University Australian school students’ civics knowledge is the lowest it has been since testing began 20 years ago, according to new national data. Results have fallen since the last assessment in 2019 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Buckley, Senior Research Fellow, Education Research, Policy and Development Division, Australian Council for Educational Research Michael Jung/ Shutterstock There is a persistent gender gap in Australian schools. Boys, on average, outperform girls in maths. We see this in national ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Deane, Professor, Queensland University of Technology Australian beef exports to the United States are GST-free and should not be subject to any retaliatory tariff. William Edge/Shutterstock The latest round of proposed tariffs from US President Donald Trump includes a response ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a 36-year-old tertiary adviser and bartender shares her approach to spending and saving. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Female. Age: 36. Ethnicity: Pākehā. Role: Tertiary adviser, ...
The change allows for devices that do screening, similar to at drink-drive checkpoints, rather than having to test oral fluid to an evidentiary standard. ...
Almost 40% of those departing NZ long-term are aged 18 to 30. What sort of country will they leave behind, asks Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Young people leading the charge out the door Last year saw ...
New Health Minister Simeon Brown is presiding over a list of resignations from high-ranking health officials that some say is a "bloodbath". What's going on? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Rickerby, Lecturer, School of Product Design, University of Canterbury The Poly-1. MOTAT , CC BY-NC Some 45 years ago, a team of staff and students at Wellington Polytechnic designed and built a desktop computer with an operating system customised for ...
The Forum has raised concerns regarding the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill and the Regulatory Standards Bill, which, if enacted, will radically undermine existing human rights protections, Indigenous rights, and constitutional safeguards ...
The passage of time hasn’t been kind to Ngāi Tahu.When its High Court hearing over wai māori (freshwater) commenced last week, 52 months after the claim was filed, the tribe mourned the loss of two named first plaintiffs – Bishop Richard Wallace, of Makaawhio, and Theo Bunker, of Wairewa – ...
Margie Apa, Nicholas Jones, Diana Sarfati, the board of Health New Zealand … and will Lester Levy be next?The biggest names in our health service are tumbling like dominos.It’s been called a bloodbath and a crisis.What’s going on?Every day there’s a new story about shortages, patients having to wait for ...
Opinion: The coalition Government’s recent revisions to the business investor visa, officially the Active Investor Plus but commonly known as the ‘golden visa’, has put pay-for-residency back in the headlines. While many object to the commodification of citizenship implicit in this policy, questions should be asked about its potential as ...
One Christmas, to thank him for helping me hugely with my writing (on a mentor scheme), I sent Michael King a dark blue cashmere scarf. I chose it with the awful knowledge that he was battling cancer, and I somehow thought it might keep him warm and make him feel ...
Comment: Readers may recall the commentaries from academics that appeared on these pages as well as on many media outlets, alarmed and appalled by the disbanding of the Marsden panels for humanities and the social sciences.The Marsden Fund is a “blue skies” initiative established by Simon Upton in the 1990s. ...
Everything you missed from day five of the Treaty principles bill hearings, when the Justice Committee heard seven hours of submissions. Read our recaps of the previous hearings here.An “insult to every one of our tīpuna” was the first advice the Justice Committee heard on the Treaty principles bill ...
The same councillors who decry excessive spending on pet projects just voted to pump millions of dollars into a greenhouse for flowers. On Thursday last week, Wellington City Council voted to consult on repairing Begonia House, the greenhouse for exotic flowers in Wellington Botanic Garden. The options for repairs range ...
It’s important to respect people’s right to free speech and peaceful assembly, but how much political deference is due when it isn’t peaceful? Commenting on Destiny Church members storming a children’s event at the Te Atatū library and community centre on Saturday, prime minister Christopher Luxon said it’s important to ...
Comment: US is capitulating to Moscow’s demands before negotiations over Ukraine even begin The post The day the West died appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('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 18 February appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Asia Pacific Report Two Palestinian resistance groups have condemned “the brutal assault” on prisoners at Ofer Prison, saying it was “barbaric criminal behaviour that reflects the fascist and terrorist nature of” Israel. In the joint statement, Hamas and Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ) called the attack a “miserable attempt” by Israel ...
By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist in Avarua, Rarotonga Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown hopes to have “an opportunity to talk” with the New Zealand government to “heal some of the rift”. Brown returned to Avarua on Sunday afternoon (Cook Islands Time) following his week-long state visit to China, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sonia R. Grover, Clinical Professor of Gynaecology, The University of Melbourne Polina Zimmerman/Pexels Menstruation, or a period, is the bleeding that occurs about monthly in healthy people born with a uterus, from puberty to menopause. This happens when the endometrium, the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ella Barclay, Senior Lecturer, School of Art and Design, Australian National University Despite the perceived outrage at Khaled Sabsabi’s depiction of Hassan Nasrallah in his 2007 work You, Australian art has long made subjects of outlaws and questionable figures. And it is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Louise Pryke, Honorary Research Associate, Department of Classics and Ancient History, University of Sydney Lisa Tomasetti/Opera Australia “It’s an old song”, Hermes (Christine Anu) sings at the opening of Hadestown, but “we’re gonna sing it again and again”. Based on a ...
An additional $13 million will be invested in tourism infrastructure, including upgrading huts and resolving the backlog in Milford Sound concessions. ...
The reality is that we have no obligation to tolerate the intolerant. They are using violence to shut down and silence others. The result of tolerating intolerant views is the loss of everyone’s freedom of speech except for the one who most effectively ...
Not Phillip Hammond: Some Decent Englishmen
No. 1: TONY BENN
The vile and hypocritical public utterances of the British Foreign Secretary might lead some people to wonder if every British public figure is as despicable. In fact, there ARE decent and honorable English men and women—sadly, not enough of them are in politics. This series is to pay tribute to some of the good, decent English people out there, the antitheses of Blair, Mandelson, Campbell, Freedland, Duncan Smith, Heseltine, Hain, Straw and all those who make the very word “England” a curse to so many around the world.
Tony Benn to BBC “If you wont broadcast the Gaza appeal then I will myself”
A fine man.
There are many people like him in Britain. The furious denunciation, intimidation and scorn they have to endure is immense, as we saw in the Stalinist Show Trial that took place in London last week….
Galloway is a brave man peaking against a powerful establishment.
3. Russell Brand
4. Dennis Skinner
I still find it odd that Galloway backed the Tories and Labour speaking against Scottish independence.
Galloway set out his argument in broad terms in a (Newsnight Scotland) TV debate with veteran socialist Labour-turned-SNP politician, Jim Sillars. Here’s a few excerpts…
Galloway: (In reply to Sillars) “But there are no Scottish State interests. This is the fundamental flaw at the heart of nationalism. The bus driver in Bathgate has far more in common with the bus driver in Bradford than with the man that owns the bus he drives, who happens to be the biggest donor to SNP coffers and the biggest funder of the Yes campaign……When Jim was a champion of the miners in Ayrshire, he had everything in common with the miners in Durham and nothing in common with the Yule and Dodds drivers who were scabbing on the miners strike, even though they were Scottish. This is a fundamental flaw in the nationalist argument.”
Panel Journalist: “But when we look at the political make-up of the UK it’s fair to say the Conservatives and UKIP are more popular in England than here in Scotland. Isn’t there an argument for an independent Scotland being a social beacon for the rest of the UK ?”
Galloway: “But it wouldn’t be. This nonsense on stilts is, Jim, what people are voting for, it’s for a currency union with the Treasury in London…..You wouldn’t be independent at all. You’d be entirely dependent on the fiscal/monetary policies set in the Treasury and in the Bank of England, the clue being in the name. What would happen though, and it’s already been announced by the SNP – a 3% cut in the taxation on private company profit.”
Panel Journalist: “But, could it not be argued that a Yes vote in Scotland would be a seismic shift across these islands that could lead to political change and benefit in the way that you would like to see – the people of Merseyside and these other areas that you mention ?”
Galloway: “Well, it would certainly be a shock !!! And a shock just like the one Mrs Thatcher introduced, laying waste to the Scottish industrial heartland which has never recovered. For example, when there are no MoD orders for the Clyde shipyards – the job loss will be the equivalent of the job loss at Linwood when the motor manufacturers pulled out of there. (The SNP) have made it clear, it would be a free market, low-tax – 3% cut in corporation tax……(To Jim Sillars) You know that, in the Labour heartland that we both come from, people are deeply sceptical about Alex Salmond and the kind of politics he represents…….We are both Socialists and we’re arguing about what the best way for the working people in this Country is. Now my view is that the working people are all. I care nothing for Scottish landowners, Scottish company owners, Scottish billionaires. I have nothing in common with them other than I was born on the same piece of rock, which is of singularly less importance to me than the relationship to wealth and power.”
Right, thanks for this…I do agree with Galloway on one thing…the currency union with the UK would’ve been a big big mistake. Without the ability to issue your own money, issue your own debt, control your own interest rates and foreign exchange rates, you really are just a dependent province, not an independent state.
80 British Politicians Express Solidarity with Venezuela
Telesur, 12 February 2015
One hundred leading British figures, including 82 parliamentarians, have expressed their solidarity with Venezuela against right-wing destabilizing tactics and U.S. intervention.
On the anniversary of last year’s wave of right-wing violent and anti-democratic protests that left 43 people dead and 800 injured, the politicians signed a statement condemning the sectors “whose declared aim is the ousting of the elected government.”
Prestigious signatories include four former government ministers, while in total representatives of seven parties backed the call.
The signatories express agreement with bodies such as the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) in “both condemning the ongoing wave of anti-democratic violence from extreme elements of Venezuela’s right-wing opposition … and in supporting the calls of Venezuela’s elected President Nicolas Maduro for peace and dialogue.”
The statement also expresses opposition to U.S. meddling, backing the Organization of American States in its call for “respect for the principle of non intervention in the internal affairs of states, and therefore disagree with all external interference, including through U.S. sanctions on Venezuela.” ….
Read more….
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/80-British-Politicians-Express-Solidarity-with-Venezuela-20150212-0015.html
What do you think about the Venezuelan Governments continued erosion of human rights and press freedom Morrissey?
Does this level of ‘opposition and interference’ justify it?
http://www.hrw.org/world-report/2014/country-chapters/venezuela?page=1
http://en.rsf.org/venezuela-venezuela-urged-to-improve-media-04-08-2014,46751.html
http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/venezuela-face-tough-questions-about-torture-and-other-ill-treatment-2014-1
lost sheep shagger So they are on par with the US torturing,Murdocracy Media.
Not on a par according to these organisations. Worse.
I see Human Rights Watch has posted a further warning today regarding the Venezuelan Governments permitting use of force by the military to suppress protest.
http://www.hrw.org/news/2015/02/12/venezuela-new-military-authority-curb-protests
So forgetting the silly sheep jokes Tricle – how about you answer the question…..what do you think of the human rights and press freedom issues in Venezuela?
Morrissey?
The Cia is not fermenting unrest in South America then Sheep Shagger.
The Guardian published evidence that roght wing groups are being funded to ferment unrest in Venezuela.
The very same right winger who are pushing the War on drugs.
But are happy to have corrupt right wing politicians funded by the drug cartels!The Drug cartels don’t want the war on drugs to end as it is feeding demand in Venezuela the drug cartels run most of the suburbs.
Thats why Venezuela has a very high murder rate.
The right wingers are in the pockets of the Drug Cartels.
They don’t want left wing governments decriminalizing it would take away their income.
Argentina a prosecutor is murdered for trying to put a corrupt right wing politician on trial CIA drug money again.
I don’t know if you watched sons of anarchy but its underlying story was about US corruption the Drug trade gun trade.
The guns and money come from the US
The Drugs come from South America.
Decriminalizing all Drugs would do what getting rid of prohibition did in the 30’s.
The CIA have been tethered to the drug trade since George HW Bush as head of the CIA used a $200 million cocaine deal for the Iran Contra deal as the CIA could not gey funding from Congress.
You have avoided the question once again Tricle. (And MORRISSEY doesn’t want to make any comment either?)
Can you please give me a straight reply?
What do you think of the human rights and press freedom issues in Venezuela?
Do you think the ‘opposition and interference’ justifies the governments erosion of human rights and press freedoms as documented by independent and credible NGO’s?
What do you think about the USA wanting to see the last of Chavez’ government fail, and actively working to return millions of Venezuelans to poverty in order to do it?
Frankly, Venezuela has a far freer media environment than the USA has so what the fuck are you bitching about?
Okay, so the US, where mentalists claim freely that 9/11 was framed, are unfree, compared to any non-state Venezuelans are supes free and can have sweet yarns are free. Idiot. CV, you’ve jumped the shark
HRW is heavily connected to the establishment of the US and A. The “human rights” they are most concerned about are the rights to make a buck. They would support the rights of Sly City against the Kiwi people.
Why the hell should the Venezuelan government allow an anti-democratic media to subvert their democracy? I think they’re too lenient.
Amnesty International and Reporters without Borders are RW lackeys also MR?
And you support the right of governments to suppress human rights and press freedom if they consider ‘democracy’ is threatened?
So who decides whether the threat exists and such suppression is justified? The government itself?, or some other body like….?
And would you be happy for that principle to apply in NZ?
That principle already does apply in NZ. Look at what happens to journalists who threaten FJK’s “democracy”. What about the poaka campaign against Nicky Hager? Bradley Ambrose?
Go for a walk. Remember your gumboots.
Nonsense MR.
Show me any credible source that puts NZ and Venezuela’s human rights and press freedom ratings on an equal footing?
I’ll make it even easier for you. Show me any organisation that doesn’t put NZ among the best 10% of countries and Venezuela among the worst 30%?
And you think no one noticed that you completely avoided the inconvenient questions I asked?
Should the Weimar Republic have arrested Julius Streicher and dumped Der Spiegel’s printing presses in the Baltic? Yes. That’s what Maduro’s government is facing, and I think they’re stupidly lenient.
And you think no one noticed that you completely avoided the inconvenient questions I asked?
But nice fantasy about government suppression of free speech.
Brings to mind an image of freshly polished jack boots.
Lost sheep you are reporting only half the story Venezuelan Right Wing fascist dictatoships held power for most of the last century.
They shared power at one stage.
Then Chavez took power only to be overthrown then he won power back.
Now Maduro has power.
Their is a slow burning civil war in Venezuela.
The Human rights abuses And corruption have continued right througout the Venzuelan history nothing new.
Thanks for acknowledging the human rights abuses and corruption of the past and current Venezuelan Govts. Tricle.
That is the other half of the story that doesn’t get mentioned by people like Morrissey who regularly post pro Venezuelan government material here.
And those same pro Venezuelan govt. people here seem to be totally unwilling to address these issues.
Would that be because they are willing to excuse levels of corruption and abuse in a Socialist country that they would not accept in a Capitalist one?
Or is it that admitting that Socialist Governments can be just as abusive and corrupt as any other doesn’t fit with the narrative that Socialism would eliminate such issues?
I don’t see why we should support any country that has such a poor record on human rights and press freedoms. And I think the implication that it is somehow ‘justified’ by ‘opposition’ is the most frighteningly corrupt concept of all.
You’re full of imperialist shit. The US would like nothing more for a puppet military dictatorship to take over Venezuela and let Exxon Mobil back in to grab billions of barrels of Venezuelan oil while making sure the people of the country get nothing, while the Venezuelan elite class get paid off.
That’s what they tried to do to Chavez a few years back, and that is what they will try to do again.
I think the reason is that many leftist can never acknowledge the downsides of their vision for a new society. They only see upsides and anyone who objects us obviously delusional or out for their own ends or both. What this means is when presented with hard evidence of the failure of regimes imposing a system that reflects their views they tend to blame external forces fir the problems not the policies they themselves support. It is a firm of cognitive dissonance on the left which I find truly fascinating. CO’S reply to you above this is a good example if this in action. Most of Venezuela’s problems are the result of actions of the US. This explains away everything nasty or economically illiterate that the Chavezta regime does.
Really Gos? So has there been either now or any time in the past, any form of “influence” or meddling in Venezuela’s government by the United States? A simple yes or no will suffice.
Rather irrelevant because the impact of any meddling by the US is dwarfed by the negative impact of the policies that the Venezuela government has decided to impose on that poor nation’s citizens. What I do find interesting is that people like you try to blame the US for actions by Venezuelan’s that any rational acting person would do given the circumstances email e.g. stopping selling items that have price controls on them.
A simple yes or no will suffice.
No response as expected.
Even on your own link the sentence “Venezuela’s traditional media, which are dominated by a few privately-owned publishing companies, are currently undergoing profound structural change.” should have stood out.
The privately owned media have never supported the democratically elected left leaders of Venezuela.
Many private radio and television stations utilised without license, some of the public broadcasting bands and when those bands were reclaimed by the Chavez government – they used their predominance to claim suppression of the press.
The reality is that the majority of media in Venezuela is still privately owned and still anti-government.
HRW does not have credibility.
How about Reporters without Borders Molly?
Or Amnesty International?
Are they credible?
And are you implying that Government should exercise control over the media?
I do believe that is what she is implying.
No, I’m saying that the premise that the government is controlling the media is negated by your own link:
“Venezuela’s traditional media, which are dominated by a few privately-owned publishing companies…”
To say that the state is not allowing dissenting views is incorrect.
Most of the airtime is given to anti-government commentary. Most of the anti-government reports are the ones picked up by international media who have the same ideology.
That is not to say there is no corruption or need for improvement. That occurs in every country.
I wonder if you raised the same freedom of press concerns regarding the police going after Bradley Ambrose, the dismissal of Malcolm Evans due to his cartoon on the Israeli occupation, the Defence Force dismissing Jon Stephenson’s articles even when they knew they were accurate, and the police investigation into Nicky Hager.
Some fair points there Molly, that I’m happy to answer. But before I do, I’d appreciate you answering the straightforward questions I asked you first?
I only do so, because they are very relevant to how I answer your further questions..
“How about Reporters without Borders?
Or Amnesty International?
Are they credible?
And are you implying that Government should exercise control over the media?”
Lost Sheep. Spent some time looking into HRW a couple of years ago, and found the funding behind was particularly dodgy and so was some of the advocacy and criticisms they did – which is why I commented on them in particular.
Briefly looked at Reporters without Borders and immediately came across the Wikipedia entry that claims pro US bias when reporting countries – including Venezuela.
Amnesty International also has received merited criticism for bias.
My feeling is, that you cannot fully rely on any institution to give completely accurate and trustworthy reports unless all monies and associations of that entity are transparent.
The issue with Venezuelan media still stands. The majority is anti-government and often virulently so. The attempted coup against Chavez had been proposed and supported by those privately run stations, and this was an democratically elected government. Images were deliberately shot and presented during that coup that misled the viewing public – and international media.
It is incorrect to say that there is a full out war on dissenting voices in the media there, when the majority of media is still operating and speaking out against the elected government.
Now, are you going to answer regarding NZ authorities persecution of members of our own press?
gosman and lost sheep’s obsession with Venezuela = grasping at straws to defend their rotten capitalist ideology, which has been pillaging the world for most of the last century.
Reagan and Thatcher threw out all the rules, took away democracy and handed sovereignty to the new economic elite.
Shame on LS and Gos for trying to defend a global crime that has caused untold suffering.
@Molly
I’m a great believer in Trotsky’s rule that you will find the truth in a comparison of the lies. Which I am keen to discuss in light of the comments you make.
But before I comment further, can you state your sources of credible information for the situation in Venezuela?
I also believe that debate is a process of point and counter point. With a crucial aspect being that you answer a fair point that was put to you before you move on to further questions of your own.
So can you please answer the question I have already put to you twice….
“are you implying that Government should exercise control over the media?”
It’s a straight forward question that should be very easy for you to answer.
The Lost Sheep.
“But before I comment further, can you state your sources of credible information for the situation in Venezuela?”
I’m going to say “No.” Despite my initial comment making reference to “one of your own links” you keep asking me to jump through hoops to find links that you feel comfortable with before you will even discuss the topic.
That is your job.
You can then disagree with any points I make and then defineyour own opinion on it, not someone else’s cut and paste.
Do you really think that commenters who disagree with you must necessarily perform a series of jumping through your own self-created hoops, before you enter into dialogue?
I read up to ten to fifteen books a week – advantages of not watching TV. Some resonate, some don’t. I’m not keeping a book list so that I can feed the gratuitous needs of someone like you. If I come across any websites that I like, I will take time to check out the sources and funding for them before adding to my bookmarks. I watch documentaries online and critique them with my children. Very rarely do I find sources that I agree with unequivocally.
I don’t live in such a rarified state, that I think that is possible or even desirable.
Everything is up for debate, but only if during that debate you are providing good reasoning or quality new information.
You have done neither. I doubt your sincerity.
@Molly
You talk about everything being up for debate – but you are not going to answer straight forward questions simply put, and you refuse to post a single credible source to counter either the information I provided, or to back the concrete assertions you made?
Those are the actions of someone completely unwilling to engage in genuine debate.
You know very well that you can’t sustain any sensible comparison between the situation in NZ and the one in Venezuela, and so you are refusing to engage.
I’ve seen the Venezuela situation all before, and in fact this is exactly why I am an ex communist /socialist.
Govt comes to power on a strong ideology that is going to create a nirvana. Things don’t work out that way. Govt starts to blame outside interference. Things continue to go wrong so Govt starts to try and control information exposing that. Some of the people start to object to ideology. Govt links them to outside interference. Govt tries stronger methods to control ‘outside interference’, even when that actually involves controlling citizens. Legislation changes occur. The judiciary are subjugated. Violence starts occurring. All internal opposition is defined as outside interference and defense of the ideology is linked with the defense of the Country . The military are increasingly used as a control mechanism.
That’s about where Venezuela is now, and I’m just amazed that some of you who set such high standards for govt behavior here in NZ are willing to be apologists for a govt behaving in a way you would never accept here.
It goes downhill badly from here of course.
The next stage is when the Govt decides protection of the ideology is synonymous with the interests of ‘The State / The People’, and democracy is deemed to be a barrier.
In Venezuela this will be circumvented however. The Military will intervene at the point they lose patience with the political situation. Out of the frying pan etc.
All the things you talk about, destruction of a free press, corruption of the judiciary, puppet politicians using violent and totalitarian means to control its population – that is what the USA has become, and what the USA encourages in the creation of servile client states.
Keep in mind that having Venezuela (and its oil) at the beck and call of US oil majors is exactly what the USA wants.
On the other hand, Venezuela has lifted millions of its poorest citizens on to the rungs of the middle classes, and the 1%’ers cannot tolerate that.
“…straight forward questions simply put,”
That’s a joke. Leading questions liberally adorned with fishhooks.
Oh, and Molly answered your question at 7:31 pm yesterday.
“No…”
Why can’t you let a good comment stand alone lost sheep?
Why have to dumb down Morrisey’s one about something positive with your spiteful, denigrating comparisons? You really are trying to ram your RW attitudes down our throats.
We want to be able to honour and admire people of worth. They can be admired for what they have achieved even if everything about them, and in the world isn’t perfect.
edited
Apparently Shit Sheep the Right Winger is now so very concerned about human rights abuses and press freedoms. Typical two faced dick. Never heard him speaking out for Snowden, Assange or Manning, incidentally.
You have never heard me express any opinion about many things CR. But don’t let that stop you making wild speculations about what I actually believe in!
Did you speak out for Nicky Hager? Or Bradley Ambrose? Or Andrea Vance? Did you criticise the police raid on TV3?
Or is your current fascination with press freedom some new found fling you’ve just decided to adopt?
Had a consistent concern for press freedom and human rights issues, where ever they occur, since 1967.
what happened in 1967..?
er…..i that is the first time i can remember being politically aware Phillip.
That first awareness was the realisation of the possibility of being conscripted into the Vietnam war….
so..you didn’t want to go..i am presuming..
..but as a rightwinger..
..you wd b all gung-ho for this latest spear-carrier job..?
..or did you want to go and stop the yellow peril in vietnam..
..i mean..if not us..who..?..eh..?
..i mean..that was the yellow-peril..
..our political-masters told us if we didn’t go there to stop them..
..the dominos wd fall..and they wd invade us here in nz..
..that was a total crock of shit then..
..and groundhog-day alert..!
..those arguments..(most recently pushed by trp..)
..are still a total crock of shit..
I’ve never seen you rail against Japanese occupation policy in Indochina between 1941 and 1945. That doesn’t mean you support their actions does it?
Morrissey and others declined to discuss human rights and press freedom issues in Venezuela last time I raised the issue, on the basis i had diverted from the topic in hand at the time.
I said I would bring it up next time someone raised Venezuela specifically, and so i have.
Every day here many people raise issues of human rights and press freedom in countries such as NZ or Britain or the USA, and this is universally considered to be a completely valid and vitally important thing to do?
So how does it work that questioning freedom and rights issues in Venezuela is seen as “spiteful, denigrating comparisons……trying to ram your RW attitudes down our throats.”?
Surely we should question such things openly and freely where ever they occur?
It seems to me there is a major double standard here greywarshark. The implication is clearly that some people here set a lower standard of democratic behavior for a country that is Socialist than they would accept from countries of other ideologies?
And they would rather I didn’t bring up such inconvenient matters here on TS. Perhaps they would prefer such ‘opposition’ to be suppressed?
@ the lost sheep
Baaa. Concern troll. I vill overwhelm you with my sanctimonious speech of reason about whatever subject I choose to disconnect discussion on in the threads I join.
“concern troll” is just another mechanism for avoiding fronting up to straightforward but inconvenient points.
Lost Sheep rehabilitates Lord Haw-Haw, because it’s all about the freedom of the press.
If you want evidence that the Herald is nothing other than a rag designed to propagandise the vile nightmares of the 0.1%, this article about some U.S. finance operator, who made his billions in Russia in the 1990s, (wonder how?!) , claims Reagan as his hero, took part in the recent Davos conference at which Key attended and now wants to impose on this country his nightmarish views on education.
Obviously having destroyed their own nation, and realising Americans might just rise up against their corporatocracy, these criminals are moving to places like NZ and aiming to continue the pillage they started in the 1980s. Monetising education . They see the price of everything and the value of nothing.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11401132
And as for the Herald.
If you buy it, you should divest now.
I read that article and felt sick. The guy obviously sees a quick buck in charter schools. If they come with a government gift of land and buildings that you get to keep whatever happens, I can see why. We do not need his charter schools to teach STEM subjects well. We need to attract scientifically qualified people to teaching.
Nz is in deep trouble
RNZ reports on the droughts in the South Island.
‘We haven’t seen these conditions before’
I would have expected an article like this about drought to have mentioned the words ‘climate change.’ But no …RNZ sticks to the extreme weather line.
Secondly, there is absolutely no mention of the levels of irrigation going on which would have exacerbated the problem.
These are political decisions, RNZ, not to report either climate change or water usage by corporates.
Who is your master?
The people of NZ or the corporate elite.
Sadly I think we know the answer.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/266002/'we-haven't-seen-these-conditions-before‘
Its not a true drought though is it – it is a poor-farming-model drought.
If the east coast gets say 100 units of rain per year and the farming model needs 200 units of water per year then … ummmm ………
where is the commonsense in all of this?
Haven’t seen these conditions before? Didn’t we just have a drought over much of the country a summer or two ago?
Yes we have.
There was a post on this site titled ‘ The Big Dry’
USA may return to mega droughts in the near future
Whoops. I think the US will be looking to takeover Canada shortly.
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-31434030
Someone said to me that there was a report that National had done some research and realised that Radionz had a bigger audience than television and they should start moving RW people into it. Has anyone heard of that. I guess it would have been 5 years or so ago.
Helen Clark interview – found it on BBC page.
John Key is not in the same league when it comes to answering interviewer where his first instinct is to deny. (Except when he is vox/pop radio)
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-31423012
Thanks logie97
It was good to have an intelligent (and competent) PM for 9 years.
Imagine if she returned.
if you were poor..it wasn’t..
..it was nine yrs of neglect/marginalisation/demonising/welfare-cuts..
..actions that virtually all of the ‘left’..just sat silently watching..
..(i’m looking @ you.!..unions..!..)
..aside from unite…not a peep from them…
..especially not the fucken engineers..eh mr little..?
phillip ure
You may be right. However left leaning parties are still beholden to centuries of privileged order and organisation. You may be a champion of revolution but others would be prepared to get there more gradually. I guess, from your comment, that it is a matter of indifference to you whether we have a nominally left of centre government with a form of social programme or a Tory administration realigning the purse strings to the privileged undemocratic organisations.
But on a finer point I was observing what it was (and ought to be) to have someone who is learned and articulate as a leader of a nation as opposed to a cliche driven mono-syllabic populist prick.
just shut up and be happy with tweedle-dum..eh..?
..’cos they aren’t quite as vile as tweedle-dee..?
..yeah..nah..eh..?
“..This Country Cut Drug Addiction Rates in Half – by Rejecting Criminalization..
..Fifteen years ago –
– the Portuguese had one of the worst drug problems in Europe..”
(cont..)
http://www.alternet.org/drugs/country-cut-drug-addiction-rates-half-rejecting-criminalization
“..How the Drug War Destroys Women’s Lives..
..One glance at the mass of black and brown faces locked in prison on nonviolent drug charges –
– and it’s clear that the so-called War on Drugs has deep roots in racism.
But what about the drug war’s impact on gender?..”
(cont..)
http://www.alternet.org/drugs/sexism-drug-war
“..Humans Have Been Getting High Since Prehistoric Times – Research Shows..
..According to a newly published review of decades of archaeological research –
– humans worldwide have been using psychoactive substances like opium – alcohol – and ‘magic mushrooms’-
– since prehistoric times..”
(cont..)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/12/prehistoric-drug-use-thousands-of-years_n_6622446.html
So glad someone else is onto this. Check out what this dude has to say about the *war* on drugs. Myths exploded here:
Prince Phil.
Prince Charles biography has some interesting insights into hippy Prince Charles he used to ditch his body guards and sneek over to the nneighbors for a few joints and conversation.
yeah..i linked to that one earlier @ whoar…
..it’s funny..
..i also found an interesting doco..
..a handheld camera was given to a heroin addict..
..for him to make a record of what life is like as a heroin-addict..
..(i haven’t watched it..and probably won’t..as i already know..
..but for others i can see the educational/awareness-benefits from watching it..
..because of course we must follow that portugese-model..
..just some med-pot is not enough..
..all addictions should be treated as the health-issues they are..)
What do you think about all the panic about children hit by car walking to school. Its not good the accident happened but I’m worried that children will be even more restricted in their movements as a result and how are they going to grow up and make good decisions if they have no freedom to walk up the road to school.
In the video it seemed to be the 10 yr old making the bad decision to run between the cars. (the 5year old followed)
The road is a very busy road and the kids probable need some supervision though.
Yes it is a very busy road but there are pedestrian crossings on that road. Its probably more that schools and parents need to talk to the children about the safe way to walk to school. I know we had those sorts of rules when I walked to school as a five year old with some of the neighbours kids. Perhaps because so many children go to school and everywhere else by car they just haven’t been taught how to be safe as a pedestrian. Oh and it doesn’t help the environment either.
Oil prices will plunge in two or three months as global Crude Storage Capacity is maxed out. Could it be because fewer and fewer people can afford to buy it??
http://kingworldnews.com/danger-one-heavily-watched-indicators-world-just-hit-80-year-high/
The quantitative easing ie bailing out big caused another speculation bubble on commodities like Gold,Oil Minerals etc.
Now the US has slowed its QE the EU is now having to start another round of QE.囧
Because Goldman Sachs and other big banks will be the main beneficeries(Corporate Welfare recipients)they will play casino speculatiion with this money until it runs out and then their inside man (ex Goldman Sachs boss is the European treasury boss)will insist on another round.
Greece may be the fly in the oinkment while the capital gaignsters are feeding like pig’s in the $1.8 Trillion bailout trough.
The slippery slope created by Greece ditching the failed Austerity program could mean even more QE.
Goldman Sachs will be rubbing their hands with glee.
Money for nothing the perpetrators of Greece’s massive debt Goldman Sachs get money for free while the ordinary Greek people have lost jobs 27% unemployment 54% youth unemployment.
Goldman Sachs(loan sharks) who corrupted Greek politicians and Ratings agencies to allow Greece to borrow beyond its abilities have faced no sanctions taken no resposibility and are doing exactly the same now!
Why has all the talk of Peak Oil gone silent?
Is it like the so called manufacturing crisis which has seen rises every month for the last 13 months.
Because peak oil occurred in 2005/2006 and we are well into conventional production declines.
What we are seeing is increasing unaffordability of oil and even economic commentators admit that lower oil prices are going to hurt the economy not help it.
These kinds of inversions to the norm and volatility will only grow as we fall more steeply down the oil production descent curve.
A picture worth a thousand words. “Skywalking”:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/news-cartoons/news/article.cfm?c_id=500814&objectid=11401097
And even the NBR is turning on Key. Occasional Standard commenter Matthew Hooton has posted an article about SkyCity titled “Close to Corruption” where he neatly dissects the mess that the SkyCity deal is becoming. Well worth a read …
http://www.nbr.co.nz/opinion/skycity-debacle-offers-morbid-fascination
Close is being kind. I can’t for the life of me see this whole Sly City business as anything but corruption. As seen all over the world, corruption and organised crime find fertile ground in casinos. FJK reminds me of Batista.
There is too much double speak flowing off Hooton’s folked tongue in that NBR article. At no stage is he really taking the stick to SkyCity and he rounds it out by saying the Government has no choice but to stump up $130 million of our money. Of course that’s a fabrication of epic proportions by the slithery tongued one.
Quite simply put in gambling terms the Government is the House and the House sets the rules and never loses. SkyCity are not in a strong bargaining position. Not if they want to keep their gambling empire operating in this country. Hooton knows this and I say he is just like Hosking and clipping the ticket. Why do I think this is because he has chosen to obmit It in the NBR article.
+1111
Quoting the article:
No Matthew, it was outright corruption and we’ve been seeing a lot more of it over the last few decades especially from National.
No, the best option would be for the government to walk and to forget even the idea of supporting the building of a convention centre. If ‘the market’ wants Auckland to have a new convention centre then ‘the market’ can damn well provide.
And that’s the outright corruption of this deal.
Len Brown missing in action (swanning off to Christchurch for the cricket world cup opening) over crucial reclamation vote, which saw the Right puppets narrowly win 9-8.
I was hopeful anti reclamation lobbyist Matthew Hooton could give us his oil on the issue. Alas he may have picked up some work from POAL, which wouldn’t be a surprise considering their history of taking out opposition.
m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11401122
that wd be some ‘more’ work..
..cd that be a fiendishly-clever way for him to get spin-work..?
..appear here appearing to oppose something..
..so that those he opposes will rush to hire and thus silence him…
..can’t see why that wouldn’t work…
(i am sure that tactic must be covered in ‘rapacious-capitalism for dummies’..
..a book i am sure he has a well-thumbed copy of..).
Yeah that would figure things are a bit crowded in the snake oil world of public relations, what with a few notable new entrant’s into the market, C & T etc.
Actually my sister is learning Spanish in preparation for her annual 6 weeks winter holiday reckons she seen Hooton on campus. Apparently he is learning mandarin. Good for him up skilling and all. Though I thought he could get some lessions from Jude Collins who is fluent, hussle some business from her husband while he is at it.
and how do we know he is not already doing exactly that for jc and oravida etc, skinny ?
Too close to an outfit viewed as corrupt, bad for business, any potential dodgy client’s wouldn’t want the GCSB looking into their affairs. Especially Chinese who know Beijing is amping up the anti on white collar crims lurking down here.
Syriza is calling for solidarity as the big guns in the EU continue to put the squeeze on Greece:
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/02/12/syriza-calls-for-solidarity/
Phil
Good luck if you want to see much in the way of sympathy protests here.
I believe the Greeks will soon real use the limitations of democracy soon enough.
Your a bit behind the times Gosman, Putin has their back.
You get the whisper the other day like I did on SkyCity shares. Nice collect on Joyce & Morrinson’s little manipulation of the market.
Putin will soon be running short of hard currency given the collapse in the Oil price. He won’t have money to lend.
LOL give it 2 or 3 years Gossie
Greece doesn’t have 2 or 3 years. It has got 2 or 3 months max.
Trade dear boy, of course Russia would be very keen on the Greeks telling the German’s whistle for their money, bit of payback in history.
The Greeks would have to leave the EU as well as the Eurozone if they wanted to be rescued by Russia. The new Greek Government didn’t promise that and in fact stated they would stay with the Euro.
The new Greek leader is a kept man, he will do what Putin says if he doesn’t want to be thrown out of office.
Where is your offsider Hooton today, I want to tear his snake oil column too bits. Let me guess…flaked out under a table of ponsonby bar, deary me you would think Jude Collins would have barked at him to eat some Tapa’s her husband put on his tab.
an f.y.i. for s.rogers..
https://www.google.co.nz/?gfe_rd=cr&ei=TC_dVPavJKiN8QfVuoAQ&gws_rd=ssl#q=transgender+comedy
So, the first page of those google results are almost all about a comedy made by trans people, with trans actors, that respects trans people’s identities and doesn’t involve misogynistic stereotypes about trans people.
Watch some of that sort of comedy, and see how it differs from your sense of humour and you might just see what Stephanie was on about.
dare I ask what fuck-useless drivel ure is trying to defend/justify now?
Straight to the point lol.
whoosh..!
Sorry Phil thought Flock was replying to DPG.
Hey I texted Percy about his hairdo, apparently he was low on tacking product for his rug.
You could have balanced things out with a crack at Nats tricky Alfie Ngaro, I haven’t seen a comb over like that since Koro.
I was replying to DPG.
That “whoosh” was just phil coughing into the bong.
Oh right, Mc Flock, careful we are being watched by the special branch. Sorry was muti tasking which I’m not much chop at, playing with tackle off fishing soon hoping to have smoke snapper for tomorrow’s cricket. Got a leave pass from the boss lady, if I get the house work done in time.
sounds nice – have a good ‘un
@ skinny..
..has he tried velcro..?
No but I suggested he talk to Mc Carten, he already had, may take a while as he is currently commando. Just wondering if Key is using carpet, you know the lochs comment?
is mccarten the labour party comb-over maintenance-expert..?
..i didn’t realise he was so multi-talented..
maybe you shd flick this one to parker..?
http://www.cracked.com/funny-2412-comb-overs/#ixzz3RamTdoY1
(here is the promise made..)
‘Going bald? – Don’t worry!
As long as you still have that outer strip of hair there’s hope!
And nobody will ever notice!
Really – we promise.’
..(link has great hair-disarray pics of d. trump..)
does mccarten ever do workshops on it..?
Matt does what Hosking does for SkyCity by endorsing a transplant outfit.
That was a laugh, the comb over link, men are vain. Silly Alf Ngaro carry’s an umbrella everywhere and is seen walking the streets of Wellington on a sunny but windy day with his brolly up practically sitting aloft on his head, trying to hide his identity with hideously large blow fly sunglasses.
aah..!..he laid new-lawn..
which begs that question you raised..
..if it means so much to parker..
..why doesn’t he go and get some hair taken off his back/bum..
..and stuck into his head..?
..(he can afford it..)
..i mean..imagine the maintenance/constant-stress of a serious comb-over..?
..surely you’d go for the new lawn..or a number one..
..as yr only options..?
..the comb-over..is just ‘sad’..
..no/little dignity there…
(yes…we’re looking @ you..foss-the-hapless..!)
..and i mean..surely having d. trump as the comb-over-world icon..
..must make parker ideologicaly-uneasy..?
..you’d think..?
‘koro’..
now yr talking ‘comb-over’..
..a titan..
..from memory he used the plaster/stick to the scalp approach..
..with..it must be said..limited success..
No go there Phil as Percy is one of those new age men who gets a chest, back & crack wax jobby monthly, ouch the pain in that.
You might be right about using velcro, there is a technique where they sew strips into the scalp. I will do some studying and flick him a link. Maybe the Labour Party can post it on there web site and add a donation button, they may as well they ask members to donate for everything else.
Pretty sure Shearer will be keen on a rug for his mayoral bid, get one over Lenny with the ladies.
his life seems to revolve around different regions of body-hair..
..maybe he cd ask for a party member hair-volunteer..?
..or..if he shuns the velcro-idea..maybe labour cd hire a comb-over minder for him..?
..someone equipped with the tools of the trade..
..to ensure that things are always in place..
..especially before/during public-appearances..
..and i must say..the thought of either shearer or goff as mayor of auckland..
..kinda has me dry-heaving..
Thanks, DPG. That pretty much covers it.
The Greeks are coming face to face with political and economic reality.
http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21642210-how-european-central-bank-can-dictate-terms-greek-government
Should be interesting to see how the new Greek government spins any backsliding from their election promises.
Oh that reality? The one that prints money from a machine and claims it is some sort of reality……
The greeks should print shitloads of euros, load them into some trucks and drive them to the German border. This is what happens anyway – the euro shysters print shitloads of euros, load them into some software and email them to greek inboxes.
sham sham sham
shame shame shame
@ vto
That’s a very effective juxtaposition. Sham : Shame. Clever. And so frequently applicable.
I don’t think the Greeks have the ability to print Euro’s.
The entire Greek national debt would go away with about 2 days worth of ECB printing – but that’s the point isn’t it?
The Central Banks and their investment banking fraternity are in charge of the spigot. They are allowed free money, hundreds of billions of it, but nations like Greece have to be kept enslaved.
Do you know how much of Greek debt is owned by foreign investment banks?
Slightly off topic but how stupid are we humans to create something ie money and then let it in slave us.
Russia Today propaganda on Kiev’s Maidan Square massacre
Russia Today has always questioned western media narratives of how dozens of anti-government protestors were killed by pro-Russian snipers a year ago. Western outrage at the massacres helped sweep out the Yanukovich government and unconstitutionally put in place a pro US administration.
But maybe Russia Today was right in asking the questions that the west didn’t.
Now, the BBC has finally come around to the idea that maybe some of the gunmen involved were actually part of the protestor camp, and fired shots at their own people to help discredit the Yanukovich government.
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31359021
Or were CIA snipers, not involved with the protestors at all.
Dr. Zina O’Leary (Social Psychologist) is giving a seminar on “The Art of Persuasion” next Tuesday, 17th Feb in the Auckland Art Gallery 12 noon. Need to RSVP today.
https://www.anzsog.edu.au/events/events-calendar/2015/02/16/ssc-new-zealand-partnership-program-event/583/dr-zina-oleary-the-art-of-persuasion-auckland-register-now
If you think that the Sky City issue is a big deal, then you may be surprised (unpleasantly) to know that it is nothing compared with the potential of the TPPA (Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement that the US and the National Government are trying to push through by stealth. The tactic is to keep the proposed text secret so that it is very difficult for the public to express their genuine concerns or be able to do cost benefit analyses because of the lack of available detailed information.
One of the major areas which will be affected greatly is our health system.
NZ and Australian health advocates are joining forces, using the medical journal the Lancet to push for a fairer more transparent process with respect to the TPPA negotiations (Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement.)
“Co-lead author and Canterbury psychiatrist Dr Erik Monasterio, says the TPPA, like other ‘new generation’ trade deals, threatens governmental ability to deliver affordable health care and legislate to protect public health and reduce health inequities. “And all the while, the text is shrouded in secrecy.”
“The negotiations are not about the way most of us think of trade – you and me buying and selling things. Instead they are protecting the massive investments profits of multinational companies that are bigger than the whole New Zealand economy. They want to make sure that countries won’t be able to pass laws or change policies, no matter how important to the local country, if that would cut profits of an overseas investor.”
“It’s an unprecedented expansion of intellectual property rights that will push up the cost of affordable and life-saving medicines, hitting hardest the already vulnerable households in New Zealand and other countries such as Vietnam and Malaysia’”, says Dr Monasterio.
The deal also threatens public health by freezing government ability to pass laws for better health. Dr Monasterio says that governments could be sued for protecting health – but governments can’t sue back. “This will stop important health initiatives on tobacco, alcohol, the obesity epidemic, climate change, antibiotic resistance, and other major future challenges”.
“We are asking for heath impact assessments, for each nation, and then their public release, so that parliaments and the public can discuss the issues– before political trade-offs are made and the agreement is signed”, ends Dr Monasterio.”
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE1502/S00039/new-zealand-leads-lancet-call-for-tppa-transparency.htm
Please discuss the TPPA with as many people as you can. There will be protests held on 7th March and we need to tell this government that our sovereignty is not to be signed away to multinational corporates. Our health and our environment are at risk.
yeah – it’ll really be long term badness for us (NZers) if the govt signs up.
@Lynn – I think there might be something skew-whiff with the blog feeds in the right hand column. There have been no new posts there for 3 days.
Assistance please
I have been trying to locate a video record or transcripts of the opening addresses to Parliament on 10-02-2015.
Neither Hansard, nor In the House seem to have any record of the speeches.
I have not wanted to locate Parliamentary ‘new year’ speeches before and am now wondering is it normal procedure not to record these speeches when Parliament begins a new year?
Thank you
@freedom … is this what you are looking for … Key in main frame and replies listed below …
http://www.inthehouse.co.nz/video/35428
and nb Andrew Little and Winston are must-watch !
i wd also recommend watching the speech from marama fox from the maori party..
..she possibly said as much about poverty/inequality as has been heard in that house/forum in yrs..(esp. in scene-setting speeches like this..)
..i am surprised her speech has been so ignored by most..
..it deserves better..
I did enjoy that on the day – but then you remember the last few years and wonder if it is all too little too late for the Maori Party
i know..
..the juxtaposition of the words..and the party history..
..was jarring..
A hearty thankyou rawshark-yeshe .
Try as I might I just could not locate it. I must have repeatedly skipped a page or something when going through the archive listed because I checked that Debate on the Prime Minister’s Statement archive.
Any clue how to find the Hansard transcript then? -as i have probably walked past that a dozen times today also 🙂 just kidding, –
i’ll track the bugger down eventually, it’s not exactly a life or death scenario
thanks again
here you are, freedom … seems to be my luck today so I’m happy to help 😀
http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/pb/debates/debates/51HansD_20150210_00000008/debate-on-prime-minister%E2%80%99s-statement
OK that does it –
me and my brain are gonna have words – serious words – i think the fingers have been conspiring behind my back 😮 might explain the slaps to the back of the head I keep getting when I load youtube instead of doing stuff –
maybe you were loading caches of pages ? and I hope no-one is slapping you on the back of the head … some days I can’t find anything either !! 😀
According to Armstrong, it seems the videos had not been loaded until yesterday, so my fruitless searches on Wednesday and Thursday before asking for assistance, had good reason to be failures 🙂 bit of a relief tbh
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11401694
“So utterly underwhelming was Tuesday’s effort that it was three days later before someone noticed it had not been posted on the home page of the official Government website.”
FYI folks …..
______________________________________________________________________________________
13 February 2015
Fran Wilde
Chair of the Greater Wellington Regional Council /’Private Citizen’
URGENT ‘Open Letter /OIA request’ to Fran Wilde, Chair of the Greater Wellington Regional Council / ‘Private Citizen’- re: an email you allegedly distributed on Tuesday 10 February 2015 encouraging those emailed to support the Draft Wellington Reorganisation Proposal.
Dear Fran,
I do not claim to be ‘an expert on everything’, but as a proven ‘anti-corruption whistle-blower’, I do have an understanding,in my considered opinion, of allegedly arguably and potentially ‘corrupt conflicts of interest’.
Please be reminded of s.105A of the New Zealand Crimes Act 1961:
“105A Corrupt use of official information
Every official is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years who, whether within New Zealand or elsewhere, corruptly uses or discloses any information, acquired by him or her in his or her official capacity, to obtain, directly or indirectly, an advantage or a pecuniary gain for himself or herself or any other person.”
______________________________________________________________________________________
I have been forwarded the following email, which you allegedly posted on Tuesday 10 February 2015 at 10.29pm.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
From: Fran Wilde [mailto:fran@franwilde.com]
Sent: Tuesday, 10 February 2015 10:29 p.m.
To: fran@franwilde.com
Subject: Wellington region needs your help urgently!
Greetings
First an apology for sending a bulk email – my contacts list is too big to personalise on this occasion.
Just before Christmas the Local Government Commission (LGC) published a Draft Proposal for reform of local government in our region. The report is a blueprint for our future 20 or 30 years from now. Links to the report and to a smaller summary are at the bottom of this message.
Wellington is now at a critical time. For more than a decade our economic performance relative to other regions has been dismal and we have infrastructure and social challenges that can’t be addressed by our fragmented local government structure. The new Auckland and post-quake Christchurch are getting huge attention from central government. Wellington appears to be irrelevant. Of course local government isn’t the answer to everything, but it plays a critical role and right now just can’t be an agent for the transformational change we need.
The LGC proposal is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to leapfrog our region into the future – one unified region-wide council to deliver infrastructure, economic development etc, with well-funded local boards replacing current local councils to take care of community issues. One organisation with one Mayor and one CEO and one rates bill. And most importantly the ability to take a regional view of the big issues.
The LGC is seeking submissions and will have hearings. Following that, it may publish a final Proposal the same as, similar to or different from the draft – or it could decide to make no change at all. To proceed along the lines of the Proposal it requires “demonstrable community support” from every single TA area in the region – i.e. Wellington City, Kapiti Coast, Upper Hutt, Carterton etc.
Submission close in just under three weeks – at 4.00pm on Monday March 2nd. Those who oppose change are particularly active are canvassing their local council areas. In my view it’s absolutely imperative that Wellingtonians who want change make their voices heard. Change will not happen unless we say we want it – i.e. “demonstrable community support”.
Please take two minutes to make a submission right now. It’s really easy – you don’t have to write a long piece. All that is required is a short email with your name and address and a message saying that you support the Proposal. Send your email to submissions@lgc.govt.nz
Alternatively, you might want to click on the link below which is the LGC submission form, fill it in then email it to submissions@lgc.govt.nz
Wellington reorganisation proposal – Submission form
You don’t have to appear at the hearings if you make a submission – only if you request to appear.
Finally, in order to get the numbers to show “demonstrable community support” please could you help by talking to or sending these links through to anyone else you know who supports improving local government in our region. It could be people in your family or your street or your workplace – or friends who live in other parts of the region.
Remember the deadline is 4.00pm Monday March 2nd – please could you send in your views now!
Regards
Fran
http://www.lgc.govt.nz/assets/Wellington-Reorganisation/Wellington-reorg-Draft-Proposal-Wellington-Volume-1.pdf
Summary
http://www.lgc.govt.nz/assets/Wellington-Reorganisation/Wellington-reorg-Draft-Proposal-Wellington-Volume-2.pdf
Full report
IMPORTANT: The information contained in this e-mail message may be legally privileged or confidential. The information is intended only for the recipient named in the e-mail message. If the reader of this e-mail message is not the intended recipient, you are notified that any use, copyingU or distribution of this e-mail message is prohibited. If you have received this e-mail message in error, please notify the sender immediately. Thank you.
______________________________________________________________________________________
1) Please provide the information, which confirms that none of the email addresses to which you sent the above-mentioned email, originated from ANY email database, which was accessible to you, in any way, in your capacity as Chair of the Greater Wellington Regional Council.
2) Please provide the information which confirms in what ‘capacity’ you sent the above-mentioned email.
3) Please provide the information which confirms how it it is not a ‘conflict of interest’ for you to send out this above-mentioned email, which is actively promoting ‘one side’ (as it were) of the Draft Wellington Reorganisation Proposal:
“The LGC is seeking submissions and will have hearings. Following that, it may publish a final Proposal the same as, similar to or different from the draft – or it could decide to make no change at all. To proceed along the lines of the Proposal it requires “demonstrable community support” from every single TA area in the region – i.e. Wellington City, Kapiti Coast, Upper Hutt, Carterton etc.”
– as opposed to just encouraging those emailed to participate in the Draft Wellington Reorganisation Proposal, particularly given that you are arguably, in my considered opinion, a potential candidate for the position of Mayor for this proposed Greater Wellington Regional Council, which you are, in my considered opinion, actively supporting.
4) Please provide the information which confirms that you exercised ‘due diligence’, and took the precautionary step, given your position as current Chair of the Greater Wellington Regional Council, and sought competent legal advice, before sending out this above-mentioned email.
Yours sincerely,
Penny Bright
……………………..
Attendee: 2009 Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference
Attendee: 2010 Transparency International Anti-Corruption Conference
Attendee: 2013 Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference
Attendee: 2014 G20 Anti-Corruption Conference
2013 Auckland Mayoral candidate (polled 4th with 11,723 votes)
______________________________________________________________________________________
Kind regards,
Penny Bright
http://www.pennybright4mayor.org.nz
the drought has broken..!
..after four days of female panelists on moras’ show..
..that wd have the most enthusiastic feminist despairing for womanhood…
..today we were able to drink..
..her name is jolisa gracewood..
..it is her first appearance..
..and may there be many more…
and as a suggestion to the producers of the panel..
..it is way past time there was a cleanout of the deadwood-dumb in the panelists..
..both male and female..
..and wd it not be more interesting to do a left/right pairing on a regular basis..?
..as two just cooing in agreement..be they left or right..
..can be a bit of a snooze-fest..
..and helps resolve/clarify for listeners not a whit…
..and think how it will make life easier for yr host..doing that cleanout..
..’cos listening to him/mora trying to extract some semblance of intelligent/relevant comment..
..from some of them..
..is teeth-grinding/behind-the-sofa radio..
..tension..yes..
..but not good-tension..
..and he seems to be having no fun at all..
..whereas today..?
..with two intelligent/lucid commentators..
..he was as relaxed as..
..even seeming to enjoy it..
..certainly more so than on other days this week..
..(as you well know..so what’s stopping you..?..)
Fade to gray …
http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/steve-strange-dead-visage-lead-5154662
This is hysterical, if it were not so awful .. spinning the spin of the spin ..
“In today’s NBR article, ‘Govt, SkyCity refuse to respond to convention centre queries’ (not currently online), Grant writes that ‘spin doctors for Mr Key have refused to directly address NBR’s questions about the convention centre’. He reports on the responses, in particular, from ‘Chief spin doctor Sia Aston’, which have ranged from the opaque to the blatantly disingenuous.
For example, in attempting to explain one inconsistency,
Aston replied:
‘In trying to understand any differences in the language used around this issue, it’s probably just important to note that the situation has clearly changed and therefore the nuances in language have changed’.
In response to further attempts to understand the evolving SkyCity deal, the spin doctor simply replied: ‘We have already answered your queries’.
unfuxxing believable !
see Bryce Edwards masterful gathering of all the published odium falling on Key and Joyce .. surely something must stick sooner or later ?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11401591