I found his situation really upsetting – a man in poor health goes undiagnosed – and apparently everyone did everything properly. It seems like ticking the boxes to me, it doesn’t reflect well on the spirit of Wellington health services at all.
“…Coroner Ian Smith said he was satisfied the health practitioners involved with Mr Leach met all acceptable standards.
“It is clear, however, that his health had badly deteriorated over the last weeks and that as a resident at the Capital & Coast District Health Board hostel, the issue of his diarrhoea should have highlighted that this man had a medical condition that needed attention.”
He was pleased that since Mr Leach’s death a corroborative inter-agency group had been set up to assist the homeless. …”
Dear oh dear. It is acceptable for health professionals to miss diarrhoea as symptom. I knew our health system was in a decline, but really? Oh well, make a donation to an associated cause and move on.
“…subjective assessment of the patient rather than objective assessment of the symptoms.”
I’m sorry to say that my experience of doctors, so far, supports this idea: skilled people trapped in either a comfortable and delusional world of their own; looking outwards to the patient as a victim they must help because they themselves are better, sometimes achieving good results despite the overuse of subjective measures; or trapped in a personal battle between their disgust of lower class people and their urge to be professional to whoever walks through the door. It is both sweet, amusing and sad to watch and if you are the patient, it is also extremely irritating and costly.
Some of that behaviour is theoretically a basis for an official complaint, but since the same system turns out these people, like the coroner in the above story, I think they would be unable or unwilling to address the issue. It is understandable that doctors in our society must live a life that limits their experience in the art of medicine in order to become technically experienced doctors, but the irreconcilable issues simply raise questions about our society that are too large to fix with a word or pen.
I don’t know whether you are stupid or you just don’t understand English or if you are plain contrary. Probably all of the above, because your comment supports my observations.
Your comment base comment, followed by a diatribe, was –
““…subjective assessment of the patient rather than objective assessment of the symptoms.”
I’m sorry to say that my experience of doctors, so far, supports this idea”
My comment that you must have a limited experience of medical professionals was a rebuttal from my experience of likely dealing with many more medical professionals than yourself.
I’m afraid how my comment supports your views on medical professionals is too obtuse for my poor grasp of english.
Actually, here I agree with HS – and I’m both “allied professional” and feel like a frequent visitor to A&E/wards/GP, as patient (payback for a misspent youth 🙂 ) or support person.
Some doctors or other medical staff are cocks. Some are tired. Some are busy. In these cases, subjective assessment is a risk. But the vast majority of doctors, therapists, nurses, even porters and technicians are damned fine, well trained, and take the time to do a fair assessment, regular monitoring and patient communication. Hell, I can’t stop doctors etc bringing out models of the latest piece of my body to fall apart. Just gimme the pill and tell me if I can drink while taking it!
There is always the human factor in judgement, but I think you’re being very unfair in claiming that negligent and superficial diagnoses are the norm.
Some doctors or other medical staff are cocks. Some are tired. Some are busy. In these cases, subjective assessment is a risk. But the vast majority of doctors, therapists, nurses, even porters and technicians are damned fine, well trained, and take the time to do a fair assessment, regular monitoring and patient communication
That’s true. The careless ones are, thankfully, a minority…
there are many awesome doctors out there, but some are too overworked / cynical / inexperienced / incompetent that their decision-making in complex cases goes out the window and a subjective assessment of patient character or personal situation comes in, sometimes with tragic outcomes. I know good doctors are aware that this happens all too often.
I think you’ve hit the nail on the head there rosy, the patients personal circumstances were diagnosed instead of his physical condition. Although the liberty was probably not available to Mr Leach… the best thing people can do is try a few different doctors to find a good one.
The sad truth of the matter is that John David Leach’s death looks like it was preventable. From his condition being undiagnosed, to being evicted while unwell and then being bailed by the police to homelessness, this is another sign that the system is failing.
The question regarding incompetency within the medical profession is best answered by the amount of treatment injuries that occur. Since 2003, treatment injuries more than quadrupled in New Zealand to approximately 8829 in 2011. With most of these being caused by GP’s, this is a clear indication that the skill level of our doctors is in decline.
If Mr Leach had died from a blood clot in the brain, you could understand why it had gone undiagnosed… but a large brain tumor he likely had for a long time should have been diagnosed and he should not have been evicted with obviously serious health conditions.
As if we needed another clear example of the of how much of the doctrine we have swallowed here in NZ and, how far we have fallen here is “godszone”.
Upetting in an understatement, and I have to highlight the comment below to illustrate the sicknes that is now NZ.
“Coroner Ian Smith said he was satisfied the health practitioners involved with Mr Leach met all acceptable standards.
“It is clear, however, that his health had badly deteriorated over the last weeks and that as a resident at the Capital & Coast District Health Board hostel, the issue of his diarrhoea should have highlighted that this man had a medical condition that needed attention.”
– excuse me coroner, what is it, you are satisfied all acceptable standards were met, or is it that his deterioration should have been highlighted – read picked up by professionals – FAIL
Until these smears are outed for what they are then NOTHING can change,,
What hope really on the tract we are on…people still not prepared to stand up and be counted!
The misdiagnosis was bad but things like that will happen – we’re only human after all.
What’s more concerning was that he was turfed out when he was obviously mentally and physically unwell and getting worse:
The hostel manager said Mr Leach’s tenancy was cancelled because of health and safety concerns for himself and other tenants given his poor physical and mental health.
Yeah, the old ‘abide by house rules, no excuses’ meme. Personal responsibility and all that. The Downtown Community Mission is the only organisation that comes out of this with any respect.
Oh, and the police looked after him for a day, basically because he couldn’t keep his trousers up, does this suggest severe weight loss as well? That highlights another problem that’s been a concern since mental health services have been the responsibility of the community – the number of people with problems who end up in custody for being disruptive rather than criminal. Police aren’t trained for this, nor should they be.
A worker preparing the building for demolition found him in the stairwell – he had been living there for several days before his death.
The coroner’s findings into Mr Leach’s death were released yesterday.
Peter Leach said his brother kept in close contact with his family and had worked in construction for much of his life.
Originally from Greymouth, he moved to Wellington in the 1990s. He had been employed on the new Wellington Hospital construction site but when the project finished he was left jobless.
Once I built a tower, up to the sun, brick, and rivet, and lime;
Once I built a tower, now it’s done. Brother, can you spare me a dime?
Why should the Union have authority over the operations of the companies they should have none .This strike is about the union losing control ,and the poor workers are merely pawns in the game being played by the Union
Affco spokesman Rowan Ogg said a “substantial number” of union members had moved to individual contracts since the lockouts began in February. (this is really interesting doesnt seem to be to much loyalty to the union)
Affco chief executive Hamish Simson said the company had been targeted by the Council of Trade Unions and the meat workers’ union because of dwindling union membership at Affco sites.
“The union has already stated the dispute is not about wages but about the authority the union has over the operations of the company and ability to influence or retain members.”
Ah the talleys troll, affco said, affco said, affco said….not surprising there’s no other side of the dispute and yes James union numbers tend to dwindle with a rabid anti union employer who takes every opportunity to ensure its workers are non union.
Even re-employing workers sacked for good reasons as long as they aren’t in a union so it can continue with dangerous practices and ignore its obligations under several acts.
Your posts are as predictable as they are enlightening as an example of RWNJ CT driven spin.
Unlike you I dont see the labour market of the antebellum southern US states as one that is worth emulating. In fact, I dont see any other nation copying it, apart from maybe China and Vietnam.
Millsy they should have no control over the operations unless they are investing money in the company thats simple. It would appear that the Meat Workers union might have a bit of unallocated cash laying around
The potential of Red Alert keeps getting pushed under by MPs who seem to see it as a personal back pat generator and controlled message machine.
In a trivial post yesterday I’ve been banned for two weeks and threatened with more with an incorrect accusation. Social Media 101 seems to have been missed by some MPs. Mallard’s odd accusation.
Does a a parliamentary recess mean MPs don’t have to do anything about serious stuff?
Gosh did the naughty Labourites give you a spanking,diddums, We do tho like the way your knee immediately jerked, perhaps you should give more consideration to your on-going actions instead of harping on about their’s…
Pete, thanks for making your site a bit more readable. Now you have to work on what you’re writing about. You say in your rather long winded whinge fest about being banned from Red Alert:
He’s either confusing me with someone else – who would be being blocked from commenting too simply because Trevor has guessed wrong about their identity – or he’s trying some sort of warning message.
Or he’s trying to establish a pretext to ban me for longer.
You will note that the name used to make the comment that was blocked is Pete George. Somebody else has either used your name, for which you should contact Red Alert directly to get that email permanently banned, or you are lying and did in fact use another email address to try and bypass the two week banning!
Although Mallard can sometimes be a bit overgenerous with his moderation, I think he was perfectly justified in giving you a ban. You rattled on about spades and then called him a liar without any evidence to back up your assertion.
The defamation case is yet to be heard, which will hopefully shed more light on Judith Collins’ involvement in the ACC debacle. Personally I think it’s a bluff and the end result will be her credibility will be in tatters.
Cabinet has decided that the Crown has to retain 51% of the voting shares of the power companies, not 51% of the total shares. So while it can retain control its ownership share could be diluted right down so that its income from dividends could be minute.
Effectively the power companies could be pretty well completely privatised. The directors of the companies would be obliged to make decisions for the benefit of all shareholders, not only those that have voting rights.
Get the feeling we the public of New Zealand have been lied to?
I thought National could not top the bad month they had last month (ACC). Well they have this month with the Paid Parental Leave Bill and now the truth is coming out about dividends re energy asset sales.
Agreed Treetop. But when is it going to start penetrating skulls and being reflected in the polls?
I don’t like his politics, but thank God for Winston back in Parliament keeping things honest. To paraphrase him on the radio this morning about PPL: Such medieval arrogant thinking has no place in a modern democracy!
There is one particular Kiwi who definitely has the skull of a Neanderthal and whose skull is unlikely to be penetrated….and he holds the casting vote in this issue.
Too right, I always suspected the buggers would try and find a way around the 51% ownership issue. Mr Dung, is this the type of “honesty” your moral and upright persona will vote for?
I’m waiting for Pete George to start arguing that, although many people were left with the impression that Dunne was against asset sales, Dunne did actually express support for selling 99% of the ownership of SOEs as long as only 49% of the voting shares were sold.
Conspicuous by his absence. He must have just realised that the Follicle was going to sell NZ down the river, and is now having a good cry, or mental breakdown. So Petey, it’s not Your NZ. It’s Dunnes NZ to steal!! Go on defend this abomination Petey.
The difference between the current Neo-Liberal masters and the Fuedal overlords they replaced is that slaves were generally kept alive at subsistence levels so they could produce the goods that made the ruling class rich.
Our current bunch sees an excess of people as excuse to seek no minimum wage or conditions and actively degrades health and social services so that a labourer cannot even afford to survive to work.
You may have spotted the obvious end to our highly intelligent overlord’s plan. They are banking on people waiting for some time yet.
The difference between the current Neo-Liberal masters and the Fuedal overlords they replaced is that slaves were generally kept alive at subsistence levels so they could produce the goods that made the ruling class rich.
Actually, you’re wrong there. Slaves had to be well kept which why only the rich had them and tended to work them to work in the house. Having slaves was a status symbol. On the other hand, the slaves kept on the other side of the Atlantic were abused, underfed and worked to death under typical free-market dogma.
Feudal lords had clear responsibilities to care for their serfs, including the provision of sufficient land (and time) for a family to live off. Not these days of course.
So we can’t find any extra funding for PPL, but no problem to prop up one of the most elite, expensive schools in the country. I grew up in Whanganui and believe me the kids who went to this school were from born-to-rule Tory families who wanted for nothing, while the rest of us in the city’s public schools were from families on Struggle Street.
The priorities of this Government make me so ANGRY.
And meanwhile, as it was when I was at school, public schools nationwide are being told to tighten their belts, make do with no extra funding etc etc.
I wonder if the extra funding will allow the very small class size to be retained?
And allow other privileges of such a school to be retained?
If the 250 privileged kids were to be integrated into the State schools they would be absorbed as just another kid scattered here and there and very little burden on the State.
But should Whanganui Collegiate close, I bet those elite kids would just transfer to another Private school. Lindisfarne for example.
Grew up there myself, Frida. Used to have a mate at Collegiate who was required to do rifle shooting on a Saturday morning. The sessions were nicknamed ‘pleb practice’. Bloody ringies, eh?
The only reason why parents send their kids to private/Catholic schools is so their precious darlings cant catch poor people germs. They can carry on all they like, but that is the underlying fact.
If I had my way I would close every private, iwi and church run school in this country. This country will never heal its social and racial division unless their children all went to the same schools.
Hot on the heels of speculation of NZ adopting the Aussie dollar as our currency comes this
He said not a lot of people knew that the first Labour Prime Minister of Australia was a bloke called Watson, from Oamaru and the first Labour Prime Minister of New Zealand was an Australian, Michael Joseph Savage.
…It began, when our nations were colonised. We were governed from New South Wales for some time.
While there may similarities between our countries there is not a lot to like about the way the Aussies have treated and continue to treat their indigenous people, and nothing to respect in Australia’s unseemly enthusiasm for the immoral wars of the US or its’ treatment of refugees.
The thing about being ‘good mates’ is that it is supposed to allow you to have a dialogue even when there is disagreement. Well when it counts, and on the issues that are most contentious I don’t see Australia listening to NZ at all. So Mr Moore can joke all he likes about “Australia becoming a state of NZ” – the real joke is believing that there is any respect shared between us beyond the superficial fondness to be found in the comradeliness of bad jokes and copious quantities of beer.
“Welcoming the troops, Australia’s Defence Minister Stephen Smith said the decision to host them was a response to a changing global balance.
“The world needs to essentially come to grips with the rise of China, the rise of India, the move of strategic and political and economic influence to our part of the world,” he said”
– What a total load or garbage!
Yes I expect there to be a more permanent arrangement with NZ sometime, and the platform will either be laid by some “terror event”, or the TPPA enforcement as part of any FTA with the USA!
Groser wants to prioritize our taxes on getting pissed and taking expensive and unnecessary trips to Paris. Only an A hole of the first order would put such priorities above the welfare of our children…
Computer Society chief executive Paul Matthews said he feared the Patents Bill had been put on ice by the Government because concessions might be made to the US on the issue of software patents during trade negotiations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
He had ”no solid evidence” that was the case, but there appeared to be no other realistic explanation for the delay, he said.
So, our government prepares a law that bans software patents, it’s set to go through and then the USA gets involved in the TPPA talks and it gets held up…
Yeah, I can’t think of any other reason for the delay either especially when…
”If we had software patents back in the days when computers and technology were emerging, then the whole sector wouldn’t exist. Since the Patents Bill changes were announced we have been approached by a number of overseas technology companies looking to relocate to New Zealand.
…we have businesses that want to locate here if the law goes ahead.
There really wasn’t anywhere else that the detailed private information about Cecil Walker could have come from, and in releasing it, PoAL management have scored a very significant own goal…
Who has defied the international community? Only North Korea?
Radio New Zealand National news, 2:00 p.m., Friday 13 April 2012
Newsreader Chris Whitta gravely intones: “North Korea has defied the international community and launched a rocket…”
While North Korea has certainly done exactly that, it’s surely a matter of profound public interest that when Britain, the United States, Australia and Israel defy the international community, their actions are never described in such plain terms.
I cannot recall a mainstream news organization (such as Radio New Zealand) ever calling the Bush
regime’s flouting of international law as “defiance”. I cannot remember Israel’s scofflaw leaders ever being called “defiant”, even during the brutal 22-day massacre in Gaza in 2008-9 or after the pirate action in which it slaughtered nine peace activists in 2010.
But North Korea launches a rocket, which kills nobody, and the Korean leadership is described as having “defied” the “international community”.
The rocket didn’t even work properly, so what is the big deal? The duplicitous responses to crimes against humanity and gross breaches of law by those who are apparently a part of the international “community” compared to North Korea launching a satellite rocket that didn’t even work properly is blatant hypocrisy!
The United Nations have said a North Korea rocket launch would violate U.N. Security Council resolutions banning the North from developing its nuclear and missile programs. (Reuters)
Strange, I thought it was a rocket to launch a satellite so unless the UN and other states have hard proof that it was a missile test then there’s nothing wrong with the launch.
Personally, I see no problem with any country developing both space capability or the ability to defend itself. This demand that some countries not develop such ability seems to be solely to keep them as dependent countries, ie, to keep the US empire going.
There’s not much difference between a satellite lifter and a ballistic missile – and orbit is just a different type of target coordinate for the guidance system. Actually, ISTR reading that Sputnik was lifted by a converted missile (Ha – I freaking love wikipedia!).
If we were talking about Japan or Indonesia, I’d agree with you (like I’m not too worked up about Iran and it’s nuclear power plants). But North Korea is the geopolitical equivalent of the gun-nut loner in the shack with no electricity down in the bush.
There’s not much difference between a satellite lifter and a ballistic missile…
Well, if we want to get technical – there’s no difference.
Actually, ISTR reading that Sputnik was lifted by a converted missile
That’s really not all that unique. Why design and build a new rocket when you’ve already got a few lying around that could do the job?
But North Korea is the geopolitical equivalent of the gun-nut loner in the shack with no electricity down in the bush.
Well, they may become a little less belligerent with their new leader, too early to tell ATM of course.
The international community really doesn’t have the right to prevent them from developing rocketry. That said, they are alone and if they try to use those weapons aggressively the entire nation will get turned into a radioactive lunar landscape as Afghanistan and Iraq show.
North Korea is the geopolitical equivalent of the gun-nut loner in the shack with no electricity down in the bush.
Oh really?
How many Iraqi and Afghan and Pakistani civilians have been killed by North Korean drone strikes?
How many North Korean soldiers have dragged families out of their houses at night and machine-gunned them to death?
How many North Korean army squadrons compete amongst themselves to cut off and collect the most fingers of civilians they have killed?
How many North Korean secret service operatives have kidnapped civilians from other countries and transported them to secret locations to torture them, often to death?
True. But then US motivations are generally pretty understandable (if not likeable). NK has a history of kidnapping people from their homes in other countries and imprisoning them for years because the dear leader liked their movies.
Try accounting for that sort of thing in geopolitical models.
“Foreign minister Murray McCully says despite the closed off country’s claim the launch is for peaceful purposes, it violates UN Security Council Resolutions, aggravates tensions and undermines attempts to build peace and stability”
Yeah ok, so when NATO bombs some poor country into oblivion for “humanitarian reasons”, when there is only an “internal problem”, which the UN charter does cover, as it only deals with external security threats between nations supposedly, what did NZ say.
Israelis can be angry with Gunter Grass, but they must listen to him
After we denounce the exaggeration, after we shake off the unjustified part of the charge, we must listen to the condemnation of these great people.
by GIDEON LEVY
The harsh, and in some parts infuriating, poem by Gunter Grass of course immediately sparked a wave of vilifications against it and mainly against its author. Grass indeed went a few steps too far (and too mendaciously) – Israel will not destroy the Iranian people – and for that he will be punished, in his own country and in Israel. But in precisely the same way the poem’s nine stanzas lost a sense of proportion in terms of their judgment of Israel, so too the angry responses to it suffer from exaggeration. Tom Segev wrote in Haaretz: “Unless Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad recently confided in him, his opinion is vacuous.” (“More pathetic than anti-Semitic,” April 5 ). Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned Grass’ Nazi past, and Israeli embassies in Germany went so far as to state, ridiculously, that the poem signified “anti-Semitism in the best European tradition of blood libels before Passover.”
It is doubtful that Grass intended his poem to be published on the eve of Passover. It contains no blood libel. In fact, it is the branding of it as anti-Semitic that is a matter of tradition – all criticism of Israel is immediately thus labeled. Grass’ Nazi past, his joining the Waffen SS as a youth, does not warrant shutting him up some 70 years later, and his opinion is far from vacuous. According to Segev, anyone who is not a nuclear scientist, an Israeli prime minister or an Iranian president must keep silent on the stormiest issue in Israel and the world today. That is a flawed approach.
Grass’ “What Must Be Said” does contain things that must be said. It can and should be said that Israel’s policy is endangering world peace. His position against Israeli nuclear power is also legitimate. He can also oppose supplying submarines to Israel without his past immediately being pulled out as a counterclaim. But Grass exaggerated, unnecessarily and in a way that damaged his own position. Perhaps it is his advanced age and his ambition to attract a last round of attention, and perhaps the words came forth all at once like a cascade, after decades during which it was almost impossible to criticize Israel in Germany.
That’s the way it is when all criticism of Israel is considered illegitimate and improper and is stopped up inside for years. In the end it erupts in an extreme form. Grass’ poem was published only a few weeks after another prominent German, the chairman of the Social Democratic Party, Sigmar Gabriel, wrote that there is an apartheid regime in Hebron. He also aroused angry responses. Therefore it is better to listen to the statements and, especially, finally, to lift the prohibition against criticizing Israel in Germany.
Israel has many friends in Germany, more than in most European countries. Some of them support us blindly, some have justified guilt feelings and some are true, critical friends of Israel. There are, of course, anti-Semites in Germany and the demand that Germany never forget is also justified. But a situation in which any German who dares criticize Israel is instantly accused of anti-Semitism is intolerable.
Some years ago, after a critical article of mine was published in the German daily Die Welt, one of its editors told me: “No journalist of ours could write an article like that.” I was never again invited to write for that paper. For years, any journalist who joined the huge German media outlet Axel Springer had to sign a pledge never to write anything that casts aspersions on Israel’s right to exist. That is an unhealthy situation that ended with an eruption of exaggerated criticism like Grass’.
Grass is not alone. No less of a major figure, the great author Jose de Sousa Saramago opened the floodgates in his later years when, after a visit to the occupied territories, he compared what was going on there to Auschwitz. Like Grass, Saramago went too far, but his remarks about the Israelis should have been heeded: “Living under the shadow of the Holocaust and expecting forgiveness for everything they will do in the name of their suffering seems coarse. They have learned nothing from the suffering of their parents and their grandparents.”
After we denounce the exaggeration, after we shake off the unjustified part of the charge, we must listen to these great people. They are not anti-Semites, they are expressing the opinion of many people. Instead of accusing them we should consider what we did that led them to express it..
Yeah, Norman Finkelstein has some interesting things to say about the Germans’ Philo-Semitism/ultra-Political Correctness on Israel. Astonishing how so many around the world take precisely the wrong (particularist rather than universalist) message from the nazi holocaust. Let’s all make up for the 6 million dead 70 years ago by cheerfully standing by and watching the slow torture and destruction of the Palestinian people now.
Do you ever think we’ll see even five seconds of Finkelstein speaking on television in New Zealand? I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen people like that loathsome reptile Mark Regev telling lies, and never once having them contested by the head-nodders back in the studio.
As for them going to someone who actually knows what he is talking about, and is scrupulously honest and even-handed, like Finkelstein? Forget it.
“Mental skills” coach Gilbert Enoka disappointing on radio this morning
National Radio, Friday 13 April 2012
Nine To Noon with Kathryn Ryan
Interview with the All Blacks’ “mental skills coach” GILBERT ENOKA
It wasn’t all bad. As you would expect, Gilbert Enoka does have a few interesting things to say about his twelve years with the All Blacks. After the 2007 quarter-final loss in Cardiff, Enoka spent most of his time in the changing room “trying to contain the distress” of the players. Important work, no doubt, although he obviously failed to contain the distress of one DOUG HOWLETT, who went on a drunken one-man car-bonnet-stomping rampage in the small hours of the morning after.
He had a couple of good one-liners, including this one: “Just because it’s common sense doesn’t mean it’s common practice.”
He also had some interesting things to say about the All Blacks’ change of attitude toward the RWC; in 2007 they had insisted that World Cup games were just like any other games, but in 2011 the focus changed: the World Cup became the focus of the entire year. The team decided to acknowledge that the RWC was a knock-out tournament, and teams could perform “heroically”, like Tonga did against France. The All Blacks acknowledged that they too had to perform at the Cup, and that if they did not, they would “choke”.
Here Kathryn Ryan decided to interject with an especially inane comment: “The All Blacks choked in the final and still won!” she blurted cheerily.
Enoka’s a nice guy, but he wasn’t going to dignify such an idiotic outburst by affirming it. Instead, he riffed on the theme of tension and pressure….
ENOKA: We acknowledged that there would be moments of great tension and pressure. Some people just can’t execute.
RYAN: And then there is the high-performing team that loses its bottle at the critical moment.
ENOKA: Yeah…
[And so on, and so forth…]
You would have been gravely disappointed if you’d expected to hear something interesting or revelatory or—God forbid—HONEST from Gilbert Enoka about the big question from last year, viz., Why did the referee in the final fail so gruesomely to do his job? But Enoka is a key member of the All Black camp, so the iron-clad code of silence applies to him as much as it does to Graham Henry or any of the players.
But without any doubt Enoka would have been highly alert to the irony (intended or not) in Ryan’s comment about a team “losing its bottle at the critical moment” and failing to perform. Enoka, the expert in human motivation and performance management, knows that if ever there was an example of losing one’s bottle and grievously failing to perform, it was not either of the teams in the final. It was, of course, the referee (or as he is called in France, the non-referee) Craig Joubert.
Conclusion: It’s just too much to expect Gilbert Enoka, or anyone in the All Blacks’ camp, to break ranks and admit to the presence of that hideous South African elephant in the room.
Bloody hell Morrissey, we disagreed yesterday, now today. I have watched it 10 times, and the ref got it right. It is very dark at the bottom of those rucks and mauls, trust me I have spent a lot of time there. And the ref can only be on one side of them at a time. You would have needed two refs with night vision goggles to get a mere smidgen of what both sides were doing. (OK if I was honest I have spotted about 5 “penalty” offenses both ways..neither side benefited).
I will contend with all confidence that if need be that Beaver would have dropped a goal, honest. Actually, the winning of the game which Enoka and Henry never mention was the direction of the replacement halfback (Ellis) who refused to kick long despite being told to in the last 4 minutes. He insisted the forwards take it up, hold onto it. A hard head when others looked decidedly panicked (especially Henry).
I will lay on the floor in front of the TV and ask all parties (cat, dog, any local humans) to jump on top of me, don the night vision goggles and re appraise in slow motion. I promise not to earn the French a penalty by being on the wrong side of the carpet or by refusing to roll away, and I will definitley not hang on to the dog. We will still win. Promise.
Well that is a couple of very partisan gents would you not say? And they definitely dont appear to like the ABs do they? And yes, the clips showed some seriously bad reffing…indeed.
Some of us watched the whole game and saw all sorts of things that the ref missed like eye gouging players who should not have remained on the pitch. We saw Piri miss 4 penalties (another stupidly bad Henry move to pick a goal kicker with a stuffed ankle), we saw the ABs bomb a couple of tries.
Its all too late to complain, bit like the Suzie incident. Yes the ABs were lucky, but the ref ultimately, like in the quarter in Cardiff did not dictate the result. All up a very average French team played well above themselves and still managed to lose to a very beatable NZ team. Self inflicted wounds perhaps. I wont impugn Joubert or Barnes, their optometrists may bear some responsibility however.
I am curious Morrissey, did you want the ABs to lose?
Well that is a couple of very partisan gents would you not say?
Actually, it’s a couple of neutral commentators. They were, like anyone who watched the game in a fair-minded way, appalled by the referee’s refusal to do his job.
And they definitely dont appear to like the ABs do they?
Not true. They were critical of the referee’s failure to do his job. They acknowledged that the All Blacks cheated blatantly throughout the second half, but they did not blame them; they blamed the man who let them cheat.
All up a very average French team played well above themselves
Do you actually know anything about French rugby? The fact is that the Tricolors had not only played well BELOW their true ability, but in their first round games against NZ and Tonga, they didn’t even try to play. What you’ve written makes no sense—unless you’re trying to be condescending toward a team which has more talent to draw on than any other team in the world.
I wont impugn Joubert
Well, that’s a pity. I’m sure you actually have more integrity than that. If you continue to indulge Joubert’s outrageous non-performance, then you’re choosing to turn a blind eye to it.
or Barnes
And nor should you. There is no comparison between Barnes’ honest mistakes in 2007, and Joubert’s determined refusal to do his job in 2011.
I am curious Morrissey, did you want the ABs to lose?
No, of course not. I wanted to see a good game of football. Unfortunately, the referee (or more accurately, the non-referee) was determined to allow one team to kill the ball illegally and persistently.
Bloody hell Morrissey you are a belligerent bugger. Never ever wrong, can only see it your way. No one else could possibly be right or have their own opinion.
For that you get to play in my front row, your job is to question and badger the ref to death. My job as an aged flanker is to get away with whatever I can.
“Belligerent?” Oh hell, I’ll accept that. But go easy on the “bugger” allegation, please.
Never ever wrong, can only see it your way.
Not so. I’m often wrong, and I am prepared to reconsider my opinions.
No one else could possibly be right or have their own opinion.
Not true. I accept people will disagree over many things. But facts are not like opinions. The fact is: Craig Joubert failed to do his job in the RWC final. There are many opinions about why he failed to do his job, and I am prepared to be convinced that it was due to a failure of nerve, and not due to corruption on his part.
But that will require some skilled advocacy. I’m sure you’re up to the job, though, my friend.
If they selected their best and played to their ability, ref or no ref we would have been dog tucker.
Well, possibly. But quite possibly we (New Zealand) would still have won. I am just disappointed that we never got the chance to really find out.
I bid you good night, Bored. You have worked hard today, and done exceedingly well.
Guys, I hope I am not being rude in saying this, but could you please not talk about rugby so much here? I think it’s going to be interesting, so i start to read, but … no… it’s just sport!
Akismet is having some (presumed black friday) problems today. There have been some quite extensive timeouts on checking comments. But I think it may have been some network outages on the local networks around the NZ1 server for the last 30-40 minutes.
The universe of the Web-based marketplace allows you to sell just about anything online today—so why not your labor? The “help wanted” page has now upgraded itself for an Information Age economic crisis, with a new crop of services that link odd jobs to people looking to make a buck.
People bidding for casual work over the internet trademe/e-bay style but instead of the bids going up they go down. As the article points out, there are some downsides:-
There are crazier ways to earn a living, but that hungry pack of task gophers seems to be forming a physically and conceptually atomized workforce of people who, in some cases, could be less able to gauge the fair value of their labor, or to discern whether they’re being indirectly cheated or discriminated against.
When the race to fill an advertised job opening involves frantically underbidding the competition, eBay style, are there safeguards to ensure that standards don’t fall to exploitative depths? Is it easier to hire underage workers, arbitrarily withhold wages, or pressure people to take on extra hours or tasks they never bargained for at the outset?
Something that the government and other political parties need to think about and regulate. If it’s not regulated then we will see people being badly exploited and an explosion of poverty that makes the increase in poverty since neo-liberalism began seem small and insignificant with an accompanying increase of wealth by the few.
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 ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 2, 2025 thru Sat, February 8, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Today, I stumbled across a Twitter Meme: the ending of The Lord of the Rings as a Chess scenario: https://x.com/mellon_heads/status/1887983845917564991 It gets across the basic gist. Aragorn and Gandalf offering up ‘material’ at the Morannon allows Frodo and Samwise to catch Sauron unawares – fair enough. But there are a ...
Last week, Kieran McAnulty called out Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis for their claims that Kāinga Ora’s costs were too high.They had claimed Kāinga Ora’s cost were 12% higher than market i.e. private devlopersBut Kāinga Ora’s Chair had already explained why last year:"We're not building to sell, so we'll be ...
Stuff’s Political Editor Luke Malpass - A Fellow at New Zealand IniativeLast week I half-joked that Stuff / The Post’s Luke Malpass1 always sounded like he was auditioning for a job at the New Zealand Initiative.Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. For a limited time, subscriptions are 20% off. Thanks ...
At a funeral on Friday, there were A4-sized photos covering every wall of the Dil’s reception lounge. There must have been 200 of them, telling the story in the usual way of the video reel but also, by enlargement, making it more possible to linger and step in.Our friend Nicky ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is methane the ...
The Government’s idea is that the private sector and Community Housing Providers will fund, build and operate new affordable housing to address our housing crisis. Meanwhile, the Government does not know where almost half of the 1,700 children who left emergency housing actually went. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong ...
Oh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youOh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youSongwriters: Alexander Ebert / Jade Allyson CastrinosMorena,I’m on a tight time frame this morning. In about an hour and a half, I’ll need to pack up and hit the road ...
This is a post about the Mountain Tui substack, and small tweaks - further to the poll and request post the other day. Please don’t read if you aren’t interested in my personal matters. Thank you all.After oohing-and-aahing about how to structure the Substack model since November, including obtaining ...
This transcript of a recent conversation between the Prime Minister and his chief economic adviser has not been verified.We’ve announced we are the ‘Yes Government’. Do you like it?Yes, Prime Minister.Dreamed up by the PR team. It’s about being committed to growth. Not that the PR team know anything about ...
The other day, Australian Senator Nick McKim issued a warning in the Australian Parliement about the US’s descent into fascim.And of course it’s true, but I lament - that was true as soon as Trump won.What we see is now simply the reification of the intention, planning, and forces behind ...
Among the many other problems associated with Musk/DOGE sending a fleet of teenage and twenty-something cultists to remove, copy and appropriate federal records like social security, medicaid and other supposedly protected data is the fact that the youngsters doing the data-removal, copying and security protocol and filter code over-writing have ...
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tuneBird fly high by the light of the moonOh, oh, oh, JokermanSong by Bob Dylan.Morena folks, I hope this fine morning of the 7th of February finds you well. We're still close to Paihia, just a short drive out of town. Below is the view ...
It’s been an eventful week as always, so here’s a few things that we have found interesting. We also hope everyone had a happy and relaxing Waitangi Day! This week in Greater Auckland We’re still running on summer time, but provided two chewy posts: On Tuesday, a guest ...
Queuing on Queen St: the Government is set to announce another apparently splashy growth policy on Sunday of offering residence visas to wealthy migrants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, February 7:PM Christopher ...
The fact that Waitangi ended up being such a low-key affair may mark it out as one of the most significant Waitangi Days in recent years. A group of women draped in “Toitu Te Tiriti” banners who turned their backs on the politicians’ powhiri was about as rough as it ...
Hi,This week’s Flightless Bird episode was about “fake seizure guy” — a Melbourne man who fakes seizures in order to get members of the public to sit on him.The audio documentary (which I have included in this newsletter in case you don’t listen to Flightless Bird) built on reporting first ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The 119th Congress comes with a price tag. The oil and gas industry gave about $24 million in campaign contributions to the members of the U.S. House and Senate expected to be sworn in January 3, 2025, according to a ...
Early morning, the shadows still long, but you can already feel the warmth building. Our motel was across the road from the historic homestead where Henry Williams' family lived. The evening before, we wandered around the gardens, reading the plaques and enjoying the close proximity to the history of the ...
Thanks folks for your feedback, votes and comments this week. I’ll be making the changes soon. Appreciate all your emails, comments and subscriptions too. I know your time is valuable - muchas gracias.A lot is happening both here and around the world - so I want to provide a snippets ...
Data released today by Statistics NZ shows that unemployment rose to 5.1%, with 33,000 more people out of work than last year said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “The latest data shows that employment fell in Aotearoa at its fastest rate since the GFC. Unemployment rose in 8 ...
The December labour market statistics have been released, showing yet another increase in unemployment. There are now 156,000 unemployed - 34,000 more than when National took office. And having thrown all these people out of work, National is doubling down on cruelty. Because being vicious will somehow magically create the ...
Boarded up homes in Kilbirnie, where work on a planned development was halted. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 5 are;Housing Minister Chris Bishop yesterday announcedKāinga Ora would be stripped of ...
This week Kiwirail and Auckland Transport were celebrating the completion of the summer rail works that had the network shut or for over a month and the start of electric trains to Pukekohe. First up, here’s parts of the press release about the shutdown works. Passengers boarding trains in Auckland ...
Through its austerity measures, the coalition government has engineered a rise in unemployment in order to reduce inflation while – simultaneously – cracking down harder and harder on the people thrown out of work by its own policies. To that end, Social Development Minister Louise Upston this week added two ...
This year, we've seen a radical, white supremacist government ignoring its Tiriti obligations, refusing to consult with Māori, and even trying to legislatively abrogate te Tiriti o Waitangi. When it was criticised by the Waitangi Tribunal, the government sabotaged that body, replacing its legal and historical experts with corporate shills, ...
Poor old democracy, it really is in a sorry state. It would be easy to put all the blame on the vandals and tyrants presently trashing the White House, but this has been years in the making. It begins with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan and the spirit of Gordon ...
The new school lunches came in this week, and they were absolutely scrumptious.I had some, and even though Connor said his tasted like “stodge” and gave him a sore tummy, I myself loved it!Look at the photos - I knew Mr Seymour wouldn’t lie when he told us last year:"It ...
The tighter sanctions are modelled on ones used in Britain, which did push people off ‘the dole’, but didn’t increase the number of workers, and which evidence has repeatedly shown don’t work. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, ...
Catching you up on the morning’s global news and a quick look at the parallels -GLOBALTariffs are backSharemarkets in the US, UK and Europe have “plunged” in response to Trump’s tariffs. And while Mexico has won a one month reprieve, Canada and China will see their respective 25% and 10% ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission. Gondolas are often in the news, with manufacturers of ropeway systems proposing them as a modern option for mass transit systems in New Zealand. However, like every next big thing in transport, it’s hard ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkBoth 2023 and 2024 were exceptionally warm years, at just below and above 1.5C relative to preindustrial in the WMO composite of surface temperature records, respectively. While we are still working to assess the full set of drivers of this warmth, it is clear that ...
Hi,I woke up feeling nervous this morning, realising that this weekend Flightless Bird is going to do it’s first ever live show. We’re heading to a sold out (!) show in Seattle to test the format out in front of an audience. If it works, we’ll do more. I want ...
From the United-For-Now States of America comes the thrilling news that a New Zealander may be at the very heart of the current coup. Punching above our weight on the world stage once more! Wait, you may be asking, what New Zealander? I speak of Peter Thiel, made street legal ...
Even Stevens: Over the 33 years between 1990 and 2023 (and allowing for the aberrant 2020 result) the average level of support enjoyed by the Left and Right blocs, at roughly 44.5 percent each, turns out to be, as near as dammit, identical.WORLDWIDE, THE PARTIES of the Left are presented ...
Back in 2023, a "prominent political figure" went on trial for historic sex offences. But we weren't allowed to know who they were or what political party they were "prominent" in, because it might affect the way we voted. At the time, I said that this was untenable; it was ...
I'm going, I'm goingWhere the water tastes like wineI'm going where the water tastes like wineWe can jump in the waterStay drunk all the timeI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayAll this fussing and fighting, man, you know I sure ...
Waitangi Day is a time to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and stand together for a just and fair Aotearoa. Across the motu, communities are gathering to reflect, kōrero, and take action for a future built on equity and tino rangatiratanga. From dawn ceremonies to whānau-friendly events, there are ...
Subscribe to Mountain Tūī ! Where you too can learn about exciting things from a flying bird! Tweet.Yes - I absolutely suck at marketing. It’s a fact.But first -My question to all readers is:How should I set up the Substack model?It’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask since November ...
Here’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s political economy on politics and in the week to Feb 3:PM Christopher Luxon began 2025’s first day of Parliament last Tuesday by carrying on where left off in 2024, letting National’s junior coalition partner set the political agenda and dragging ...
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. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
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 ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
A new monthly podiatry clinic has been launched today in Wairoa and will bring a much-needed service closer to home for the Wairoa community, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.“Health New Zealand has been successful in securing a podiatrist until the end of June this year to meet the needs of ...
The Judicial Conduct Commissioner has recommended a Judicial Conduct Panel be established to inquire into and report on the alleged conduct of acting District Court Judge Ema Aitken in an incident last November, Attorney-General Judith Collins said today. “I referred the matter of Judge Aitken’s alleged conduct during an incident ...
Students who need extra help with maths are set to benefit from a targeted acceleration programme that will give them more confidence in the classroom, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Last year, significant numbers of students did not meet the foundational literacy and numeracy level required to gain NCEA. To ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced three new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ...
Ki te kahore he whakakitenga, ka ngaro te Iwi – without a vision, the people will perish. The Government has achieved its target to reduce the number of households in emergency housing motels by 75 per cent five years early, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The number of households ...
The opening of Palmerston North’s biggest social housing development will have a significant impact for whānau in need of safe, warm, dry housing, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The minister visited the development today at North Street where a total of 50 two, three, and four-bedroom homes plus a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government has secured bipartisan support for a major new regime covering political donations and spending, after making significant concessions. The government agreed to increase the proposed threshold above which donations must be disclosed ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra With the election only months away, the Labor government finds itself suddenly battling with the Trump administration for an exemption from new US tariffs on steel and aluminium. The opposition has supported the effort, but ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julee McDonagh, Senior Research Fellow of Frailty Research, University of Wollongong PeopleImages.com – Yuri A/Shutterstock Ageing is a normal part of the life course. It doesn’t matter how many green smoothies you drink, or how many “anti-ageing” skin care products you ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bronwyn Carlson, Professor, Critical Indigenous Studies and Director of The Centre for Global Indigenous Futures, Macquarie University The Conversation, CC BY-SAAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and images of deceased people. Colonial commemorations ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Hazel, Associate Professor, School of Animal and Veterinary Science, University of Adelaide Masarik/Shutterstock In some overseas countries, pets can travel with their owners in a plane’s cabin, in a carrier under a seat. In Australia, pets must travel in the ...
A raft of proposed legislation changes to the media and screen industry have been announced this morning – we read through it all all so you don’t have to. What’s all this then? This morning the Ministry for Culture and Heritage released its draft proposed changes to media and screen ...
David Seymour's recent off-road parliamentary excursion led to a reprimand from the Speaker, who also said the rules didn't apply to this instance. What are the rules? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee Morgenbesser, Associate Professor, School of Government and International Relations, Griffith University, Griffith University Many Americans have watched in horror as Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, has been permitted to tear through various offices of the United States government in recent ...
By Patrick Decloitre,RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk French Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls has announced he will travel to New Caledonia later this month to pursue talks on the French territory’s political future. These discussions on February 22 follow preliminary talks held last week in Paris in “bilateral” mode ...
As Benjamin Netanyahu threatens to resume war, Hamas outlines widespread Israeli ceasefire violations in document sent to the mediators.By Jeremy Scahill and Sharif Abdel Kouddous of Dropsite News Hamas officials submitted a two-page report to mediators yesterday listing a wide range of Israeli violations of the Gaza ceasefire since ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Murray Print, Professor of Education, University of Sydney A federal parliamentary inquiry has just recommended civics and citizenship become a compulsory part of the Australian Curriculum, which covers the first year of school to Year 10. The committee also recommended a ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits of Aotearoa writers, and guests. This week: Claire Baylis, author of Dice and guest at the forthcoming HamLit programme at the Hamilton Arts Festival. The book I wish I’d writtenMy mind seems surprisingly unwilling ...
The courts should deal with illegal fishing, not the "court of public opinion", Shane Jones says, as he announces proposed changes to the Quota Management System. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Megan McElhone, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Monash University A London court has found Sam Kerr not guilty of the racially aggravated harassment of Metropolitan Police officer Stephen Lovell. As captain of the Australian women’s national soccer team, Kerr was widely condemned when ...
Could iwi and hapū be the unexpected solution to the government’s asset dilemma? David Seymour pressured the prime minister into an unwelcome conversation, and in the couple of weeks since the Act leader raised the issue in his state of the nation speech, privatisation has shifted from absent in the ...
Human rights advocates must uphold human dignity, rights and justice, while rejecting the discriminatory tactics we oppose, writes Taimor Hazou.Two weeks ago the Palestinian Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) launched a campaign inviting New Zealanders to call a hotline if they suspected an Israel Defence Force (IDF) soldier that had ...
Immigration New Zealand figures shows more people have been looking at the ETA and visitor visa pages on the website, however fewer people have applied to come or to extend their stay. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kirsten Banks, Lecturer, School of Science, Computing and Engineering Technologies, Swinburne University of Technology Debris on the surface of Mars from the Perseverance mission, captured on April 19 2022. NASA/JPL-Caltech In his inauguration speech in January, United States President Donald Trump ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alix Woolard, Senior Research Fellow, The Kids Research Institute Australia Stock Unit/Shutterstock Have you ever asked someone how their day was, or been chatting casually with a friend, only to have them tell you a horrific story that has left you ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Quentin Grafton, Australian Laureate Professor of Economics, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The Roper RiverChris Ison/Shutterstock Water is now a contested resource around the world. Nowhere is this more evident than in the fight playing out over the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Graeme Turner, Emeritus Professor of Cultural Studies, The University of Queensland Matej Kastellic/ Shutterstock As we head towards the federal election, both sides of politics are making a point of criticising universities and questioning their role in the community. ...
Alex Casey examines the perils of having your period at a music festival. It was right after Clairo’s swooning set that Sarah* knew it was time. She was on the second day of her period at Auckland’s Laneway festival, and braved the portaloos to empty her menstrual cup and change ...
A battle between health officials and local councils is heating up, as one government party seeks to change the rules. The Bulletin’s Stewart Sowman-Lund explains. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
A global consultancy will lead the government's review of electricity markets, with a local firm offering advice and two groups of experts providing quality assurance. ...
The new New Zealand, where a human being, an ill construction worker, dies like an abandoned cat under a hedge.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/6734401/Brain-tumour-victim-dies-after-being-evicted
I found his situation really upsetting – a man in poor health goes undiagnosed – and apparently everyone did everything properly. It seems like ticking the boxes to me, it doesn’t reflect well on the spirit of Wellington health services at all.
Rosy I agree its a sad day when all humanity has been lost
Rosy to say that the situation as described is a disgrace and has the appearance of a cover up of gross negligence would be an understatement.
“…Coroner Ian Smith said he was satisfied the health practitioners involved with Mr Leach met all acceptable standards.
“It is clear, however, that his health had badly deteriorated over the last weeks and that as a resident at the Capital & Coast District Health Board hostel, the issue of his diarrhoea should have highlighted that this man had a medical condition that needed attention.”
He was pleased that since Mr Leach’s death a corroborative inter-agency group had been set up to assist the homeless. …”
Dear oh dear. It is acceptable for health professionals to miss diarrhoea as symptom. I knew our health system was in a decline, but really? Oh well, make a donation to an associated cause and move on.
No, it’s not acceptable. It suggests a subjective assessment of the patient rather than objective assessment of the symptoms.
“…subjective assessment of the patient rather than objective assessment of the symptoms.”
I’m sorry to say that my experience of doctors, so far, supports this idea: skilled people trapped in either a comfortable and delusional world of their own; looking outwards to the patient as a victim they must help because they themselves are better, sometimes achieving good results despite the overuse of subjective measures; or trapped in a personal battle between their disgust of lower class people and their urge to be professional to whoever walks through the door. It is both sweet, amusing and sad to watch and if you are the patient, it is also extremely irritating and costly.
Some of that behaviour is theoretically a basis for an official complaint, but since the same system turns out these people, like the coroner in the above story, I think they would be unable or unwilling to address the issue. It is understandable that doctors in our society must live a life that limits their experience in the art of medicine in order to become technically experienced doctors, but the irreconcilable issues simply raise questions about our society that are too large to fix with a word or pen.
You must have a very limited experience of the medical profession as this certainly not reflective of the vast majority people I work with.
And your interaction with them was as a patient?
I don’t know whether you are stupid or you just don’t understand English or if you are plain contrary. Probably all of the above, because your comment supports my observations.
Your comment base comment, followed by a diatribe, was –
““…subjective assessment of the patient rather than objective assessment of the symptoms.”
I’m sorry to say that my experience of doctors, so far, supports this idea”
My comment that you must have a limited experience of medical professionals was a rebuttal from my experience of likely dealing with many more medical professionals than yourself.
I’m afraid how my comment supports your views on medical professionals is too obtuse for my poor grasp of english.
Well said Higher Standard. Uturn needs to do just that and get off his head
Actually, here I agree with HS – and I’m both “allied professional” and feel like a frequent visitor to A&E/wards/GP, as patient (payback for a misspent youth 🙂 ) or support person.
Some doctors or other medical staff are cocks. Some are tired. Some are busy. In these cases, subjective assessment is a risk. But the vast majority of doctors, therapists, nurses, even porters and technicians are damned fine, well trained, and take the time to do a fair assessment, regular monitoring and patient communication. Hell, I can’t stop doctors etc bringing out models of the latest piece of my body to fall apart. Just gimme the pill and tell me if I can drink while taking it!
There is always the human factor in judgement, but I think you’re being very unfair in claiming that negligent and superficial diagnoses are the norm.
+1. I’ve been blown away by the dedication of just about everyone I’ve ever encountered in the medical profession at every station.
That’s true. The careless ones are, thankfully, a minority…
there are many awesome doctors out there, but some are too overworked / cynical / inexperienced / incompetent that their decision-making in complex cases goes out the window and a subjective assessment of patient character or personal situation comes in, sometimes with tragic outcomes. I know good doctors are aware that this happens all too often.
I think you’ve hit the nail on the head there rosy, the patients personal circumstances were diagnosed instead of his physical condition. Although the liberty was probably not available to Mr Leach… the best thing people can do is try a few different doctors to find a good one.
The sad truth of the matter is that John David Leach’s death looks like it was preventable. From his condition being undiagnosed, to being evicted while unwell and then being bailed by the police to homelessness, this is another sign that the system is failing.
The question regarding incompetency within the medical profession is best answered by the amount of treatment injuries that occur. Since 2003, treatment injuries more than quadrupled in New Zealand to approximately 8829 in 2011. With most of these being caused by GP’s, this is a clear indication that the skill level of our doctors is in decline.
If Mr Leach had died from a blood clot in the brain, you could understand why it had gone undiagnosed… but a large brain tumor he likely had for a long time should have been diagnosed and he should not have been evicted with obviously serious health conditions.
There should have been social/health services available as a backstop.
But most are gone and under-resourced now. The outfit which pushed him out to the street when he clearly had nowhere to go is also culpable.
But Frontline Staff have been left intact and even been Improved. Minister Riled said so.
As if we needed another clear example of the of how much of the doctrine we have swallowed here in NZ and, how far we have fallen here is “godszone”.
Upetting in an understatement, and I have to highlight the comment below to illustrate the sicknes that is now NZ.
“Coroner Ian Smith said he was satisfied the health practitioners involved with Mr Leach met all acceptable standards.
“It is clear, however, that his health had badly deteriorated over the last weeks and that as a resident at the Capital & Coast District Health Board hostel, the issue of his diarrhoea should have highlighted that this man had a medical condition that needed attention.”
– excuse me coroner, what is it, you are satisfied all acceptable standards were met, or is it that his deterioration should have been highlighted – read picked up by professionals – FAIL
Until these smears are outed for what they are then NOTHING can change,,
What hope really on the tract we are on…people still not prepared to stand up and be counted!
The misdiagnosis was bad but things like that will happen – we’re only human after all.
What’s more concerning was that he was turfed out when he was obviously mentally and physically unwell and getting worse:
and thus left to die alone.
Nothing was done adequately in this case.
Yeah – it does seem to be remarkably selfish to offload the problem even though the man is in obvious decline.
Yeah, the old ‘abide by house rules, no excuses’ meme. Personal responsibility and all that. The Downtown Community Mission is the only organisation that comes out of this with any respect.
Oh, and the police looked after him for a day, basically because he couldn’t keep his trousers up, does this suggest severe weight loss as well? That highlights another problem that’s been a concern since mental health services have been the responsibility of the community – the number of people with problems who end up in custody for being disruptive rather than criminal. Police aren’t trained for this, nor should they be.
Once I built a tower, up to the sun, brick, and rivet, and lime;
Once I built a tower, now it’s done. Brother, can you spare me a dime?
That’s both horrific and deeply sad..
+1 🙁
Very interesting from the Herald today
Why should the Union have authority over the operations of the companies they should have none .This strike is about the union losing control ,and the poor workers are merely pawns in the game being played by the Union
Affco spokesman Rowan Ogg said a “substantial number” of union members had moved to individual contracts since the lockouts began in February. (this is really interesting doesnt seem to be to much loyalty to the union)
Affco chief executive Hamish Simson said the company had been targeted by the Council of Trade Unions and the meat workers’ union because of dwindling union membership at Affco sites.
“The union has already stated the dispute is not about wages but about the authority the union has over the operations of the company and ability to influence or retain members.”
Ah the talleys troll, affco said, affco said, affco said….not surprising there’s no other side of the dispute and yes James union numbers tend to dwindle with a rabid anti union employer who takes every opportunity to ensure its workers are non union.
Even re-employing workers sacked for good reasons as long as they aren’t in a union so it can continue with dangerous practices and ignore its obligations under several acts.
Your posts are as predictable as they are enlightening as an example of RWNJ CT driven spin.
Do you want to ban unions and bring back slavery?
Unlike you I dont see the labour market of the antebellum southern US states as one that is worth emulating. In fact, I dont see any other nation copying it, apart from maybe China and Vietnam.
Millsy they should have no control over the operations unless they are investing money in the company thats simple. It would appear that the Meat Workers union might have a bit of unallocated cash laying around
And what if the company wants to make all their workers expendable by having them just queue outside the gate everyday with no guarantee of work?
going by that logic then surely the owners should have no control over the workers unless they themselves are doing the work? surely?
do you see how stupid such arguments get?
“It would appear that the Meat Workers union might have a bit of unallocated cash laying around”
well the SFO doesnt agree with you on that one
oh god – the one dimensional stupidity – it burns!
The unions should have full control, there should be no owners.
fify
What about the investment of opportunity cost that workers make to spend 15 or 20 years with a company? Counts for nothing in RWNJ world, obviously.
I reckon wee Jimmy wants to return to the good old days.
Lying, thieving, dishonourable treacherous scumbags.
Are there no depths to which they will not sink?
I admire your restraint KTH! Appalling indeed!
Why hasn’t the Security Intelligence Service prevented these agents of foreign corporations from betraying New Zealand?
You ssometimes have to just admire the utter disrespect/distain they have for people.
How will the NACT fans spin this…
Backlash anytime soon?
No, there isn’t. What we’re seeing is what happens when psychopaths are elected to parliament.
Hey middle nz. Ever get the feeling you’ve been had?
The potential of Red Alert keeps getting pushed under by MPs who seem to see it as a personal back pat generator and controlled message machine.
In a trivial post yesterday I’ve been banned for two weeks and threatened with more with an incorrect accusation. Social Media 101 seems to have been missed by some MPs. Mallard’s odd accusation.
Does a a parliamentary recess mean MPs don’t have to do anything about serious stuff?
Gosh did the naughty Labourites give you a spanking,diddums, We do tho like the way your knee immediately jerked, perhaps you should give more consideration to your on-going actions instead of harping on about their’s…
Pete, thanks for making your site a bit more readable. Now you have to work on what you’re writing about. You say in your rather long winded whinge fest about being banned from Red Alert:
You will note that the name used to make the comment that was blocked is Pete George. Somebody else has either used your name, for which you should contact Red Alert directly to get that email permanently banned, or you are lying and did in fact use another email address to try and bypass the two week banning!
Although Mallard can sometimes be a bit overgenerous with his moderation, I think he was perfectly justified in giving you a ban. You rattled on about spades and then called him a liar without any evidence to back up your assertion.
The defamation case is yet to be heard, which will hopefully shed more light on Judith Collins’ involvement in the ACC debacle. Personally I think it’s a bluff and the end result will be her credibility will be in tatters.
And the chiseling begins.
Cabinet has decided that the Crown has to retain 51% of the voting shares of the power companies, not 51% of the total shares. So while it can retain control its ownership share could be diluted right down so that its income from dividends could be minute.
Effectively the power companies could be pretty well completely privatised. The directors of the companies would be obliged to make decisions for the benefit of all shareholders, not only those that have voting rights.
Get the feeling we the public of New Zealand have been lied to?
I thought National could not top the bad month they had last month (ACC). Well they have this month with the Paid Parental Leave Bill and now the truth is coming out about dividends re energy asset sales.
Agreed Treetop. But when is it going to start penetrating skulls and being reflected in the polls?
I don’t like his politics, but thank God for Winston back in Parliament keeping things honest. To paraphrase him on the radio this morning about PPL: Such medieval arrogant thinking has no place in a modern democracy!
Hear hear.
when is it going to start penetrating skulls and being reflected in the polls?
Your average Kiwi has a skull as thick as a Neanderthal and a brain to match.
There is one particular Kiwi who definitely has the skull of a Neanderthal and whose skull is unlikely to be penetrated….and he holds the casting vote in this issue.
It’s NACT, I just assume that they’re lying and then I can be pleasantly surprised when I find out that they told a truth…
I haven’t been pleasantly surprised yet.
Too right, I always suspected the buggers would try and find a way around the 51% ownership issue. Mr Dung, is this the type of “honesty” your moral and upright persona will vote for?
I’m waiting for Pete George to start arguing that, although many people were left with the impression that Dunne was against asset sales, Dunne did actually express support for selling 99% of the ownership of SOEs as long as only 49% of the voting shares were sold.
Conspicuous by his absence. He must have just realised that the Follicle was going to sell NZ down the river, and is now having a good cry, or mental breakdown. So Petey, it’s not Your NZ. It’s Dunnes NZ to steal!! Go on defend this abomination Petey.
The difference between the current Neo-Liberal masters and the Fuedal overlords they replaced is that slaves were generally kept alive at subsistence levels so they could produce the goods that made the ruling class rich.
Our current bunch sees an excess of people as excuse to seek no minimum wage or conditions and actively degrades health and social services so that a labourer cannot even afford to survive to work.
You may have spotted the obvious end to our highly intelligent overlord’s plan. They are banking on people waiting for some time yet.
Actually, you’re wrong there. Slaves had to be well kept which why only the rich had them and tended to work them to work in the house. Having slaves was a status symbol. On the other hand, the slaves kept on the other side of the Atlantic were abused, underfed and worked to death under typical free-market dogma.
Feudal lords had clear responsibilities to care for their serfs, including the provision of sufficient land (and time) for a family to live off. Not these days of course.
Nice to have?
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/103225/unions-against-extra-funding-for-school
So we can’t find any extra funding for PPL, but no problem to prop up one of the most elite, expensive schools in the country. I grew up in Whanganui and believe me the kids who went to this school were from born-to-rule Tory families who wanted for nothing, while the rest of us in the city’s public schools were from families on Struggle Street.
The priorities of this Government make me so ANGRY.
And meanwhile, as it was when I was at school, public schools nationwide are being told to tighten their belts, make do with no extra funding etc etc.
I wonder if the extra funding will allow the very small class size to be retained?
And allow other privileges of such a school to be retained?
If the 250 privileged kids were to be integrated into the State schools they would be absorbed as just another kid scattered here and there and very little burden on the State.
But should Whanganui Collegiate close, I bet those elite kids would just transfer to another Private school. Lindisfarne for example.
ianmac – I believe Lindisfarne is already integrated.
Grew up there myself, Frida. Used to have a mate at Collegiate who was required to do rifle shooting on a Saturday morning. The sessions were nicknamed ‘pleb practice’. Bloody ringies, eh?
Te Reo – as a WHS girl, I wasn’t good enough to be spoken to by a Ringie 🙂
Took great pleasure in smashing them all in Debating Finals and Scholarship Results though!
The only reason why parents send their kids to private/Catholic schools is so their precious darlings cant catch poor people germs. They can carry on all they like, but that is the underlying fact.
If I had my way I would close every private, iwi and church run school in this country. This country will never heal its social and racial division unless their children all went to the same schools.
Hot on the heels of speculation of NZ adopting the Aussie dollar as our currency comes this
While there may similarities between our countries there is not a lot to like about the way the Aussies have treated and continue to treat their indigenous people, and nothing to respect in Australia’s unseemly enthusiasm for the immoral wars of the US or its’ treatment of refugees.
The thing about being ‘good mates’ is that it is supposed to allow you to have a dialogue even when there is disagreement. Well when it counts, and on the issues that are most contentious I don’t see Australia listening to NZ at all. So Mr Moore can joke all he likes about “Australia becoming a state of NZ” – the real joke is believing that there is any respect shared between us beyond the superficial fondness to be found in the comradeliness of bad jokes and copious quantities of beer.
Police pursuits
Police are adrenaline junkies who love the thrill of the chase.
If only Blair, Bush and Cheney could be rendered to The Hague.
Special report: Rendition ordeal that raises new questions about secret trials.
Joe, have a read of the last two paragraphs on this weeks http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.co.nz/ sums up Britains “acquiescence” to the US very well.
The whole article is a great read Bored that’s left me wondering whether the contingent of US marines arriving here next week is the lead up to a continued presence.
“Welcoming the troops, Australia’s Defence Minister Stephen Smith said the decision to host them was a response to a changing global balance.
“The world needs to essentially come to grips with the rise of China, the rise of India, the move of strategic and political and economic influence to our part of the world,” he said”
– What a total load or garbage!
Yes I expect there to be a more permanent arrangement with NZ sometime, and the platform will either be laid by some “terror event”, or the TPPA enforcement as part of any FTA with the USA!
I rather desperately hope not!
Abdel Hakim Belhaj – There is some background reading for someone to do!
Christchurch City Council has declared the city a fracking-free zone, as concerns over the practice mount.
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/christchurch-declared-fracking-free-zone-4831402
Tim Groser – Asshole of the Week
Groser wants to prioritize our taxes on getting pissed and taking expensive and unnecessary trips to Paris. Only an A hole of the first order would put such priorities above the welfare of our children…
US attacks computer patents
So, our government prepares a law that bans software patents, it’s set to go through and then the USA gets involved in the TPPA talks and it gets held up…
Yeah, I can’t think of any other reason for the delay either especially when…
…we have businesses that want to locate here if the law goes ahead.
Slaters leaking backfires
There really wasn’t anywhere else that the detailed private information about Cecil Walker could have come from, and in releasing it, PoAL management have scored a very significant own goal…
Who has defied the international community? Only North Korea?
Radio New Zealand National news, 2:00 p.m., Friday 13 April 2012
Newsreader Chris Whitta gravely intones: “North Korea has defied the international community and launched a rocket…”
While North Korea has certainly done exactly that, it’s surely a matter of profound public interest that when Britain, the United States, Australia and Israel defy the international community, their actions are never described in such plain terms.
I cannot recall a mainstream news organization (such as Radio New Zealand) ever calling the Bush
regime’s flouting of international law as “defiance”. I cannot remember Israel’s scofflaw leaders ever being called “defiant”, even during the brutal 22-day massacre in Gaza in 2008-9 or after the pirate action in which it slaughtered nine peace activists in 2010.
But North Korea launches a rocket, which kills nobody, and the Korean leadership is described as having “defied” the “international community”.
The rocket didn’t even work properly, so what is the big deal? The duplicitous responses to crimes against humanity and gross breaches of law by those who are apparently a part of the international “community” compared to North Korea launching a satellite rocket that didn’t even work properly is blatant hypocrisy!
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/04/12/207313.html
Strange, I thought it was a rocket to launch a satellite so unless the UN and other states have hard proof that it was a missile test then there’s nothing wrong with the launch.
Personally, I see no problem with any country developing both space capability or the ability to defend itself. This demand that some countries not develop such ability seems to be solely to keep them as dependent countries, ie, to keep the US empire going.
There’s not much difference between a satellite lifter and a ballistic missile – and orbit is just a different type of target coordinate for the guidance system. Actually, ISTR reading that Sputnik was lifted by a converted missile (Ha – I freaking love wikipedia!).
If we were talking about Japan or Indonesia, I’d agree with you (like I’m not too worked up about Iran and it’s nuclear power plants). But North Korea is the geopolitical equivalent of the gun-nut loner in the shack with no electricity down in the bush.
Lots more.
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Main_Page
http://www.wikipaintings.org/
http://www.wikia.com/Wikia
http://keywiki.org/index.php/Main_Page
http://tfrwiki.midworld.co.uk/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
http://www.iep.utm.edu/
http://www.ancientweb.org/
http://eol.org/
.http://www.pantheon.org/
http://www.wolframalpha.com/
http://www.opensecrets.org/index.php
http://www.infoplease.com/
Well, if we want to get technical – there’s no difference.
That’s really not all that unique. Why design and build a new rocket when you’ve already got a few lying around that could do the job?
Well, they may become a little less belligerent with their new leader, too early to tell ATM of course.
The international community really doesn’t have the right to prevent them from developing rocketry. That said, they are alone and if they try to use those weapons aggressively the entire nation will get turned into a radioactive lunar landscape as Afghanistan and Iraq show.
North Korea is the geopolitical equivalent of the gun-nut loner in the shack with no electricity down in the bush.
Oh really?
How many Iraqi and Afghan and Pakistani civilians have been killed by North Korean drone strikes?
How many North Korean soldiers have dragged families out of their houses at night and machine-gunned them to death?
How many North Korean army squadrons compete amongst themselves to cut off and collect the most fingers of civilians they have killed?
How many North Korean secret service operatives have kidnapped civilians from other countries and transported them to secret locations to torture them, often to death?
True. But then US motivations are generally pretty understandable (if not likeable). NK has a history of kidnapping people from their homes in other countries and imprisoning them for years because the dear leader liked their movies.
Try accounting for that sort of thing in geopolitical models.
I wonder how many citizens were shot for laughing at the failure, no doubt they were required to openly grieve for their loss.
Exactly Morrissey!
“Foreign minister Murray McCully says despite the closed off country’s claim the launch is for peaceful purposes, it violates UN Security Council Resolutions, aggravates tensions and undermines attempts to build peace and stability”
Yeah ok, so when NATO bombs some poor country into oblivion for “humanitarian reasons”, when there is only an “internal problem”, which the UN charter does cover, as it only deals with external security threats between nations supposedly, what did NZ say.
Puppets and grandstanders!
The hypocrisy of the Viktor Bout case pisses me off too.
The “International community” of course meaning…..the United States.
Israelis can be angry with Gunter Grass, but they must listen to him
After we denounce the exaggeration, after we shake off the unjustified part of the charge, we must listen to the condemnation of these great people.
by GIDEON LEVY
The harsh, and in some parts infuriating, poem by Gunter Grass of course immediately sparked a wave of vilifications against it and mainly against its author. Grass indeed went a few steps too far (and too mendaciously) – Israel will not destroy the Iranian people – and for that he will be punished, in his own country and in Israel. But in precisely the same way the poem’s nine stanzas lost a sense of proportion in terms of their judgment of Israel, so too the angry responses to it suffer from exaggeration. Tom Segev wrote in Haaretz: “Unless Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad recently confided in him, his opinion is vacuous.” (“More pathetic than anti-Semitic,” April 5 ). Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned Grass’ Nazi past, and Israeli embassies in Germany went so far as to state, ridiculously, that the poem signified “anti-Semitism in the best European tradition of blood libels before Passover.”
It is doubtful that Grass intended his poem to be published on the eve of Passover. It contains no blood libel. In fact, it is the branding of it as anti-Semitic that is a matter of tradition – all criticism of Israel is immediately thus labeled. Grass’ Nazi past, his joining the Waffen SS as a youth, does not warrant shutting him up some 70 years later, and his opinion is far from vacuous. According to Segev, anyone who is not a nuclear scientist, an Israeli prime minister or an Iranian president must keep silent on the stormiest issue in Israel and the world today. That is a flawed approach.
Grass’ “What Must Be Said” does contain things that must be said. It can and should be said that Israel’s policy is endangering world peace. His position against Israeli nuclear power is also legitimate. He can also oppose supplying submarines to Israel without his past immediately being pulled out as a counterclaim. But Grass exaggerated, unnecessarily and in a way that damaged his own position. Perhaps it is his advanced age and his ambition to attract a last round of attention, and perhaps the words came forth all at once like a cascade, after decades during which it was almost impossible to criticize Israel in Germany.
That’s the way it is when all criticism of Israel is considered illegitimate and improper and is stopped up inside for years. In the end it erupts in an extreme form. Grass’ poem was published only a few weeks after another prominent German, the chairman of the Social Democratic Party, Sigmar Gabriel, wrote that there is an apartheid regime in Hebron. He also aroused angry responses. Therefore it is better to listen to the statements and, especially, finally, to lift the prohibition against criticizing Israel in Germany.
Israel has many friends in Germany, more than in most European countries. Some of them support us blindly, some have justified guilt feelings and some are true, critical friends of Israel. There are, of course, anti-Semites in Germany and the demand that Germany never forget is also justified. But a situation in which any German who dares criticize Israel is instantly accused of anti-Semitism is intolerable.
Some years ago, after a critical article of mine was published in the German daily Die Welt, one of its editors told me: “No journalist of ours could write an article like that.” I was never again invited to write for that paper. For years, any journalist who joined the huge German media outlet Axel Springer had to sign a pledge never to write anything that casts aspersions on Israel’s right to exist. That is an unhealthy situation that ended with an eruption of exaggerated criticism like Grass’.
Grass is not alone. No less of a major figure, the great author Jose de Sousa Saramago opened the floodgates in his later years when, after a visit to the occupied territories, he compared what was going on there to Auschwitz. Like Grass, Saramago went too far, but his remarks about the Israelis should have been heeded: “Living under the shadow of the Holocaust and expecting forgiveness for everything they will do in the name of their suffering seems coarse. They have learned nothing from the suffering of their parents and their grandparents.”
After we denounce the exaggeration, after we shake off the unjustified part of the charge, we must listen to these great people. They are not anti-Semites, they are expressing the opinion of many people. Instead of accusing them we should consider what we did that led them to express it..
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/israelis-can-be-angry-with-gunter-grass-but-they-must-listen-to-him-1.423194
Yeah, Norman Finkelstein has some interesting things to say about the Germans’ Philo-Semitism/ultra-Political Correctness on Israel. Astonishing how so many around the world take precisely the wrong (particularist rather than universalist) message from the nazi holocaust. Let’s all make up for the 6 million dead 70 years ago by cheerfully standing by and watching the slow torture and destruction of the Palestinian people now.
Do you ever think we’ll see even five seconds of Finkelstein speaking on television in New Zealand? I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen people like that loathsome reptile Mark Regev telling lies, and never once having them contested by the head-nodders back in the studio.
As for them going to someone who actually knows what he is talking about, and is scrupulously honest and even-handed, like Finkelstein? Forget it.
“Mental skills” coach Gilbert Enoka disappointing on radio this morning
National Radio, Friday 13 April 2012
Nine To Noon with Kathryn Ryan
Interview with the All Blacks’ “mental skills coach” GILBERT ENOKA
It wasn’t all bad. As you would expect, Gilbert Enoka does have a few interesting things to say about his twelve years with the All Blacks. After the 2007 quarter-final loss in Cardiff, Enoka spent most of his time in the changing room “trying to contain the distress” of the players. Important work, no doubt, although he obviously failed to contain the distress of one DOUG HOWLETT, who went on a drunken one-man car-bonnet-stomping rampage in the small hours of the morning after.
He had a couple of good one-liners, including this one: “Just because it’s common sense doesn’t mean it’s common practice.”
He also had some interesting things to say about the All Blacks’ change of attitude toward the RWC; in 2007 they had insisted that World Cup games were just like any other games, but in 2011 the focus changed: the World Cup became the focus of the entire year. The team decided to acknowledge that the RWC was a knock-out tournament, and teams could perform “heroically”, like Tonga did against France. The All Blacks acknowledged that they too had to perform at the Cup, and that if they did not, they would “choke”.
Here Kathryn Ryan decided to interject with an especially inane comment: “The All Blacks choked in the final and still won!” she blurted cheerily.
Enoka’s a nice guy, but he wasn’t going to dignify such an idiotic outburst by affirming it. Instead, he riffed on the theme of tension and pressure….
ENOKA: We acknowledged that there would be moments of great tension and pressure. Some people just can’t execute.
RYAN: And then there is the high-performing team that loses its bottle at the critical moment.
ENOKA: Yeah…
[And so on, and so forth…]
You would have been gravely disappointed if you’d expected to hear something interesting or revelatory or—God forbid—HONEST from Gilbert Enoka about the big question from last year, viz., Why did the referee in the final fail so gruesomely to do his job? But Enoka is a key member of the All Black camp, so the iron-clad code of silence applies to him as much as it does to Graham Henry or any of the players.
But without any doubt Enoka would have been highly alert to the irony (intended or not) in Ryan’s comment about a team “losing its bottle at the critical moment” and failing to perform. Enoka, the expert in human motivation and performance management, knows that if ever there was an example of losing one’s bottle and grievously failing to perform, it was not either of the teams in the final. It was, of course, the referee (or as he is called in France, the non-referee) Craig Joubert.
Conclusion: It’s just too much to expect Gilbert Enoka, or anyone in the All Blacks’ camp, to break ranks and admit to the presence of that hideous South African elephant in the room.
Bloody hell Morrissey, we disagreed yesterday, now today. I have watched it 10 times, and the ref got it right. It is very dark at the bottom of those rucks and mauls, trust me I have spent a lot of time there. And the ref can only be on one side of them at a time. You would have needed two refs with night vision goggles to get a mere smidgen of what both sides were doing. (OK if I was honest I have spotted about 5 “penalty” offenses both ways..neither side benefited).
I will contend with all confidence that if need be that Beaver would have dropped a goal, honest. Actually, the winning of the game which Enoka and Henry never mention was the direction of the replacement halfback (Ellis) who refused to kick long despite being told to in the last 4 minutes. He insisted the forwards take it up, hold onto it. A hard head when others looked decidedly panicked (especially Henry).
I have watched it 10 times
Watch it an eleventh time, but this time make sure you’re sober.
I will lay on the floor in front of the TV and ask all parties (cat, dog, any local humans) to jump on top of me, don the night vision goggles and re appraise in slow motion. I promise not to earn the French a penalty by being on the wrong side of the carpet or by refusing to roll away, and I will definitley not hang on to the dog. We will still win. Promise.
I suggest you watch this for a start….
Well that is a couple of very partisan gents would you not say? And they definitely dont appear to like the ABs do they? And yes, the clips showed some seriously bad reffing…indeed.
Some of us watched the whole game and saw all sorts of things that the ref missed like eye gouging players who should not have remained on the pitch. We saw Piri miss 4 penalties (another stupidly bad Henry move to pick a goal kicker with a stuffed ankle), we saw the ABs bomb a couple of tries.
Its all too late to complain, bit like the Suzie incident. Yes the ABs were lucky, but the ref ultimately, like in the quarter in Cardiff did not dictate the result. All up a very average French team played well above themselves and still managed to lose to a very beatable NZ team. Self inflicted wounds perhaps. I wont impugn Joubert or Barnes, their optometrists may bear some responsibility however.
I am curious Morrissey, did you want the ABs to lose?
Would’ve lost Key the elections.
Well that is a couple of very partisan gents would you not say?
Actually, it’s a couple of neutral commentators. They were, like anyone who watched the game in a fair-minded way, appalled by the referee’s refusal to do his job.
And they definitely dont appear to like the ABs do they?
Not true. They were critical of the referee’s failure to do his job. They acknowledged that the All Blacks cheated blatantly throughout the second half, but they did not blame them; they blamed the man who let them cheat.
All up a very average French team played well above themselves
Do you actually know anything about French rugby? The fact is that the Tricolors had not only played well BELOW their true ability, but in their first round games against NZ and Tonga, they didn’t even try to play. What you’ve written makes no sense—unless you’re trying to be condescending toward a team which has more talent to draw on than any other team in the world.
I wont impugn Joubert
Well, that’s a pity. I’m sure you actually have more integrity than that. If you continue to indulge Joubert’s outrageous non-performance, then you’re choosing to turn a blind eye to it.
or Barnes
And nor should you. There is no comparison between Barnes’ honest mistakes in 2007, and Joubert’s determined refusal to do his job in 2011.
I am curious Morrissey, did you want the ABs to lose?
No, of course not. I wanted to see a good game of football. Unfortunately, the referee (or more accurately, the non-referee) was determined to allow one team to kill the ball illegally and persistently.
Bloody hell Morrissey you are a belligerent bugger. Never ever wrong, can only see it your way. No one else could possibly be right or have their own opinion.
For that you get to play in my front row, your job is to question and badger the ref to death. My job as an aged flanker is to get away with whatever I can.
…you are a belligerent bugger.
“Belligerent?” Oh hell, I’ll accept that. But go easy on the “bugger” allegation, please.
Never ever wrong, can only see it your way.
Not so. I’m often wrong, and I am prepared to reconsider my opinions.
No one else could possibly be right or have their own opinion.
Not true. I accept people will disagree over many things. But facts are not like opinions. The fact is: Craig Joubert failed to do his job in the RWC final. There are many opinions about why he failed to do his job, and I am prepared to be convinced that it was due to a failure of nerve, and not due to corruption on his part.
But that will require some skilled advocacy. I’m sure you’re up to the job, though, my friend.
Goodo. We probably agree on the French. If they selected their best and played to their ability, ref or no ref we would have been dog tucker.
If they selected their best and played to their ability, ref or no ref we would have been dog tucker.
Well, possibly. But quite possibly we (New Zealand) would still have won. I am just disappointed that we never got the chance to really find out.
I bid you good night, Bored. You have worked hard today, and done exceedingly well.
Guys, I hope I am not being rude in saying this, but could you please not talk about rugby so much here? I think it’s going to be interesting, so i start to read, but … no… it’s just sport!
Sorry, Vicky…
Akismet is having some (presumed black friday) problems today. There have been some quite extensive timeouts on checking comments. But I think it may have been some network outages on the local networks around the NZ1 server for the last 30-40 minutes.
Just looking around it seems ok right now…
Hoping for a trifecta
So that’s a couple of the most lunatic rightwing bloggers out of the picture… who will be the third?
This is something we need to be aware is coming.
People bidding for casual work over the internet trademe/e-bay style but instead of the bids going up they go down. As the article points out, there are some downsides:-
Something that the government and other political parties need to think about and regulate. If it’s not regulated then we will see people being badly exploited and an explosion of poverty that makes the increase in poverty since neo-liberalism began seem small and insignificant with an accompanying increase of wealth by the few.
I can’t reply directly Morrissey, so I’ll say here “S’okay!” 😀