NZDF has now conceded its claim there were no photographs is contrary to three images it published itself and additional unpublished images taken during the NZSAS raid.”
Insightful article by David Fisher. Will the outgoing PM change his mind and now call for an enquiry or just bury it? I’m so sick of the gutless lack of leadership from English on this matter.
Been subjected to manipulation by those in question in order to create forgetfulness; obfuscation, denial, distraction, delay, misdirection.
“Don’t care”, James? Is that your position? You don’t care?
I’m sure when you wrote, “or don’t believe Hagar”, you meant “Hagar and Stevenson”. I’m mindful that the NZDF recently expressed disbelief in claims by Mr Stevenson, but that ended badly for them. You remember that, James, or do you also suffer “severe medium term memory loss”?
You don’t believe the accounts of Mr Stevenson and others described in “Hit and Run”?
Why not, James?
Which accounts do you disbelieve?
It would appear from today’s article, that the NZDF account regarding photographs, was incorrect and not to be believed.
Your thoughts?
You’re coming across as extremely callous, James; you “don’t care” about the reported actions, despite not knowing whether or not they are true. Are you not even reservedly concerned that what Stephenson and others in Afghanistan reported could be true? Where does you confidence that the accounts are false come from? (an anatomical feature suggests itself)
Robert, when someone like James calls you “sanctimonious”, or “a do-gooder” or “a bleeding heart” or “politically correct”, it’s nothing more than an admission of defeat on his part. He has nothing to offer, and shutting down the conversation is his only option.
It’s the same strategy as that used by talkback radio hosts on the extremely rare occasions someone with a clue happens to ring them up…
Robert – forget about James – he isn’t worth wasting your breath over. There are people in this life that we call acceptors – they soak up everything that is bandied about – never have the energy or intelligence to critique or research what is put out in cyber space. They trust everybody and are hypocrites when they dismiss a statement or person out of hand ,- because they have never researched the information or the person to be able to dismiss or accept it. I don’t think he has much going for him upstairs really.
Thanks for that Kate, I appreciate your views. I do agree that James lacks breadth and depth in his thinking, but I like to trade comments with him in order to tease out his position. At times I’m astonished by his restricted views, the limits to his imagination and the difficulty he has in assimilating new ideas, but all in all it’s instructive to hear where he and his ilk sit. Irksome, perhaps, but you’ve gotta keep tabs.
Bill English just has to stick to the information given to him by the Army Leadership. That way the responsibility is not his but in this case Keating’s.
Simple but effective.
I think the Labour/Green bloc will poll 45 (30/15, 31/14, 32/13, 33/12) against the Nats 40. Where Winston goes from there is anybody’s guess, I agree.
I think, old chep, you miss the “we are tired of this lot, time to give the others a go” factor. and the “English is not Key’ factor and the “there will be no KDC this time” factor.
To Andre,
Many people tell us that Trump is unpredictable and impulsive, however upon close scrutiny his behaviour is very much true to form, cunning and planned. The firing or “staged execution” of Comey sends a strong message to anyone who doesn’t serve Trump with blind obedience. Trump is defined as an authoritarian, honours power over reason, we have seen these flaws in Nixon, Mussolini, Hitler etc. The sooner the citizens of the USA gets rid of Trump the better for all concerned.
Ah, the multidimensional chess grandmaster theory of Trump.
It seems to me the flaw in that argument is every time Trump does something, there needs to be another dimension or three added to the game he’s playing for it to make sense.
Whereas the alternative explanation, that he’s simply acting on whatever impulse feels good to him at the moment, remains a coherent and plausible explanation for everything he’s done. (Except his televised apology for “grab them by the pussy”, but his body language during that showed every sign there were a bunch of aides just off camera armed with cattle-prods to make sure he read out his prepared message and nothing else)
Meanwhile, there remains the tiny comfort that all the time and and effort he and his team put into dealing with the brushfires he lights is taking away from the nasty shit the Republicans really want to do. Which they would actually be successfully getting on with if someone like Pence were president.
So far there don’t seem to be signs Trump’s shit is peeling away support from his base or Republicans in Congress. The senators and representatives that have criticised firing Comey have mostly been the ones that were critical about other issues. So I don’t see impeachment getting any closer.
That’s who he is: a disregulated bundle of impulses, being manipulated by a cast of crooks and incompetents, supported by a Republican Party willing to bet the stability of the country against upper-income tax cuts. We need to stop looking for a more complicated story.
True, that Vox article feels grounded and accurate. But Trump is manifestly not an idiot and everyone made a bad mistake in underestimating him from the very outset.
Scott Adams made himself unpopular by pointing out Trump’s master skills as persuader and manipulator of the nation’s subconscious motivations, well before most other commentators.
I suspect that the master manipulator angle is a case of mistaking luck with intent.
Did he consciously reflect and adapt to the mood of the nation, or was he simply the candidate most suited to the situation: the loudest one dominated the room with the crowd of republican contenders in the primaries, and the republicans have spent twenty years disenfranchising minorities and rigging the system against anyone with a brain. And then there’s the simple fact that their electoral college also means that the winner of the popular vote might still lose the presidency.
I don’t see any evidence of intelligence: ego, insecurity, paranoia, corruption, nepotism, and other traits more suited to a feudal thug than a democratically-elected leader, sure. But all evidence I’ve seen points to him being a lucky idiot.
Good questions Mc Flock. I didn’t suggest Trump is a genius either. But he most certainly is a gold-plated, 100% certifiable, high functioning narcissist. Absolutely the only thing important to Trump is himself. All his behaviour confirms this.
And because narcissists literally don’t care the slightest what other people think of them, it is very easy for them (and their related cousins the psychopaths) to instinctively read other people’s motivations, weaknesses, manipulate, lie, cheat and generally do whatever it takes to win … with absolutely no conscience, guilt, nor any of the emotional cost that inhibits most other people. .
When most people are criticised for something they’ve just done, they immediately start to defend themselves. Trump doesn’t care about the attack, he has zero regard for what anyone else thinks, and simply forges on to the next outrage/tweet. It works because he’s a constantly moving target. This is why narcissists should never be underestimated. Especially when they have money, power and status. (Which of course they crave.)
For example the ‘pussy grabbing’ thing would have ended any normal politician, with Trump it’s an almost forgotten niggle from the distant past, buried under a constant torrent of daily outrages. In a few months time this Comey thing will have been forgotten while the world is transfixed by his latest WTF.
A simple approach Andre, ” If you don’t play ball with me then, YOU’RE FIRED!
Sounds familiar? He merely replaces one person for a yes-man. To control the department of the FBI is a powerful weapon, towards Trump’s end-game.
Yeah, he can try for a yes-man. But the new FBI director will need to be confirmed by the Senate. While I’m not sure if the Dems can filibuster it, I’m fairly confident that whatever honeymoon Trump had with the Senate is over and there’s at least three Republicans who will require the nominee to be someone with a few principles that will stand up to Trump when needed. Even if those principles are recidivist conservative ones that horrify us liberals.
Oh, perhaps on a weekend when everything Labour is everything good. Coz that means that nothing fucked up can be anything other than good if it’s coming from Labour quarters, and calling out something good is, of course, fucked up.
Least, that’s the best I can do by way of helping you overcome your struggling. Hope it helped.
Noted RWNJ journalists Trevett, Watkins, and Young will be all over this Congress and Andrew Little, criticising Labour and Little, and framing them negatively at any and every opportunity.
Watkins does so here, unhappy Little is consistently communicating Labour’s message and unhappy he’s not John Key.
Just watched an interview between Andrew Little and Paddy Gower on the Nation. As a life long supporter of the left, this interview gave Jacinda Ardern a tremendous political boost.
I almost feel sorry for the guy, then I remember the nastiness simmering under his angry countenance. Labour is past it’s use by date. Winstone will be the leader of the opposition after the election.
New book “shattered” autopsy of failed clinton campaign, plenty of hits on google and coverage in MSM but funnily enough so for none of them seem to cover this
pic.twitter.com/NDUk90Jp5q
Leaked documents reveal serious concerns about KiwiRail’s decision to switch from electric trains to diesel
“KiwiRail announced the decision last year, and said diesel would improve reliability and efficiency.
But an external peer review by engineering consultants WorleyParsons warns diesel trains bought from China have “a very high failure rate”.
Seven to nine are out of service at any one time for maintenance, repair and asbestos removal. And their performance has been “extraordinarily poor”.
The review said KiwiRail should be switching its whole fleet to electric, but it said a paper from the company’s board was “biased towards the diesel option”.
And there are more concerns from a separate internal report, which says KiwiRail over-inflated expected savings – and upgrading electric trains was actually $230m cheaper than replacing them with diesel.
And Treasury also had concerns. Cabinet advice given to the Green Party under the Official Information Act shows officials weren’t convinced by the business case.
They warned KiwiRail “provided no basis for its cost estimate” that electrifying the whole main trunk line could be up to $1bn.”
yeah well it didn’t take leaked documents to see that was a dumb idea!
but yes very interesting to see that kiwirail bosses also realised that
SO…. What was the real reason for that decision. Kickback? , govt policy of discouraging renewals?, CIA??.. hmm i wonder if this info will come out too
I knew a few senior KiwiRail engineers socially; and while they never told me anything I shouldn’t know it was clear they believed the Minister has politically interfered with the Board on a number of occasions.
The DL loco deal was corrupt. That was well understood.
And because KiwiRail is so dependent on govt funding to re-build it’s shattered infrastructure the pressure and meddling continues on all manner of decision big and small.
No surprises here … except perhaps that WorleyParsons (who have specific expertise in this area) used such blunt language.
“Mothballing” the NIMT electrification is a dumb idea. Just dumb. Switching the locos at Te Rapa and Palmy only takes about 10-20 mins, and can be quite easily timed with the engineer’s breaks. The DL’s are bascially crap from what I have heard, spening half their time in the shop.
It is also very well to say that the catenary will be left in place, but who’s to say that it will not be allowed to deterioarate? A few stormy winters and KR will be removing parts of the traction equipment due to storm damage.
When Toll’s above rail assets were purchased 9 years ago (that long!) it was supposed to be a new era for rail in this country. When National came in, they realised that they couldnt just turn around and flog it off as a going concern, so they decided to instead run it down and sell it off bit by bit. the mothball/closure of various lines (some not even announced) the sale of railway land and buildings, scrapping of locomotive classes, etc and so on.
The DL’s are bascially crap from what I have heard, spening half their time in the shop.
Specifically the major components like the German MTU engines are ok. But the integration of all the elements into a reliable machine takes decades of experience and many design iterations to nail all the gremlins. And the Chinese simply did not have that history when these locos where purchased.
So is this Solid Energy all over again? Just make stupid business decisions until it can’t function? It’s hard not to see this as deliberate, mostly because I can’t conceive of people being so inept. But hey, National, bringing us inept *and greedy since 2008.
Certainly looks that way. The private sector costs more, is less efficient than government departments and provides worse service and so National has to undermine them to make the private sector look good.
Inequality – (look at this in the context of the passenger that was recently beaten by airport staff at United Airlines when they decided to forcefully take his seat.)
At LA airport’s new private terminal, the rich can watch normal people suffer
Bradbury had nothing to do with it, the information was emailed to him. He didn’t publish any details about how it was done, nor did he publish the files anywhere.
However he did publish one document in the public interest — because ACT want to suppress iwi consultation in RMA decisions
James, on a day when you have been revealed as callous and uncaring on this very thread, how can you pop up again with your puerile witterings and hope to be taken seriously? Just askin’
Example #1, OneTwo commented: “This is base level, even by your handles low standards. Whatever ‘you’ are…”
What a sad indictment of yourself.”
“If you’re an actual human being, take a good look at how you’re conducting yourself on this topic, and in general”
Ed added, “You don’t care how a 3 year old was killed by NZ soldiers in her own village.
The transcripts of the Standard show what you do care about.”
Answer a question from a callous RWNJ who doesn’t care?
Why?
“Ed 1.1.2.1.2
13 May 2017 at 9:24 am
You don’t care how a 3 year old was killed by NZ soldiers in her own village.
The transcripts of the Standard show what you do care about.
While the vulnerability might be similar, the actions of the blogging political opponents are completely different. And the bulk of the uproar was in regards to the actions of the blogger and his political paymasters in the first case.
To James,
Yes indeed, Theresa May will probably increase her popularity, as she plays the Them vs Us game (Britain vs Europe). Perhaps we should listen to the experts James and get a reality check;-))))
Labour needs to figure out how to win without Corbyn’s new hard left supporters blaming everyone except themselves. They need to figure out their political egos.
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As the Mayor of Auckland has announced a state of emergency, the Government, through NEMA, is able to step up support for those affected by flooding in Auckland. “I’d urge people to follow the advice of authorities and check Auckland Emergency Management for the latest information. As always, the Government ...
Ka papā te whatitiri, Hikohiko ana te uira, wāhi rua mai ana rā runga mai o Huruiki maunga Kua hinga te māreikura o te Nota, a Titewhai Harawira Nā reira, e te kahurangi, takoto, e moe Ka mōwai koa a Whakapara, kua uhia te Tai Tokerau e te kapua pōuri ...
Carmel Sepuloni, Minister for Social Development and Employment, has activated Enhanced Taskforce Green (ETFG) in response to flooding and damaged caused by Cyclone Hale in the Tairāwhiti region. Up to $500,000 will be made available to employ job seekers to support the clean-up. We are still investigating whether other parts ...
The 2023 General Election will be held on Saturday 14 October 2023, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. “Announcing the election date early in the year provides New Zealanders with certainty and has become the practice of this Government and the previous one, and I believe is best practice,” Jacinda ...
Jacinda Ardern has announced she will step down as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party. Her resignation will take effect on the appointment of a new Prime Minister. A caucus vote to elect a new Party Leader will occur in 3 days’ time on Sunday the 22nd of ...
The Government is maintaining its strong trade focus in 2023 with Trade and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor visiting Europe this week to discuss the role of agricultural trade in climate change and food security, WTO reform and New Zealand agricultural innovation. Damien O’Connor will travel tomorrow to Switzerland to attend the ...
The Government has extended its medium-scale classification of Cyclone Hale to the Wairarapa after assessing storm damage to the eastern coastline of the region. “We’re making up to $80,000 available to the East Coast Rural Support Trust to help farmers and growers recover from the significant damage in the region,” ...
The Government is making an initial contribution of $150,000 to the Mayoral Relief Fund to help communities in Tairāwhiti following ex-Tropical Cyclone Hale, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced. “While Cyclone Hale has caused widespread heavy rain, flooding and high winds across many parts of the North Island, Tairāwhiti ...
Rural Communities Minister Damien O’Connor has classified this week’s Cyclone Hale that caused significant flood damage across the Tairāwhiti/Gisborne District as a medium-scale adverse event, unlocking Government support for farmers and growers. “We’re making up to $100,000 available to help coordinate efforts as farmers and growers recover from the heavy ...
A vaccine for people at risk of mpox (Monkeypox) will be available if prescribed by a medical practitioner to people who meet eligibility criteria from Monday 16 January, says Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall. 5,000 vials of the vaccine have been obtained, enough for up to 20,000 ...
RNZ News Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has acknowledged the way Aucklanders have come together and opened their homes to those in need, with the New Zealand government focused on providing the resources needed to get the city back up and running. The new prime minister — just four days into ...
RNZ News Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty has asked for communication on support after the severe thunderstorm in Auckland to be stepped up. It comes after a Civil Defence warning text failed to be sent out, and Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown told RNZ they will be reviewing the response, ...
RNZ News Three people are dead and at least one person is missing following the flooding overnight in Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city. About 1000 people were still stranded today after Auckland Airport was closed last night because of flooding of the arrival and departure foyers. Flights were cancelled for ...
Wayne Brown has doubled down on his decision last night to shun the media until close to midnight and only order a state of emergency at 9.30pm. In a defensive display to the media this afternoon, the Auckland mayor was questioned on comments other councillors made last night, including some ...
Prime minister Chris Hipkins has confirmed there are three deaths linked to the extreme weather event in Auckland over the past 24 hours. There is also at least one person missing. Speaking at a press conference in Auckland, Hipkins said the priority was to make sure Aucklanders were safe, housed ...
*This story was first published on The Conversation and is republished with permission*Until New Zealand's stormwater drain system adapts to our rising climate, it will never be able to cope with the level of flooding seen in Auckland on Friday night, writes James Renwick The extraordinary flood event Auckland experienced ...
Due to the “unprecedented weather event” in Auckland, organisers have confirmed the “heartbreaking decision” to cancel this year’s Laneway Festival. “We were so excited to deliver this show to our biggest crowd ever in New Zealand, our team has been working around the clock to do everything they can to ...
Chris Hipkins has experienced his first major event as prime minister, just days into his tenure. He’s spent the day in Auckland alongside emergency services, surveying the damage and assessing next steps. He’s due to speak at 3.15pm alongside Auckland mayor Wayne Brown. Thanks to Stuff, here is a livestream. ...
With the rain easing for a moment, many will be beginning the arduous task of cleaning out their flooded property. Auckland council has release advice for cleaning up after a flood. Cleaning up after a flood It is important to clean and dry your house and everything in it. Floodwater ...
Air New Zealand Chief Operational Integrity and Safety Officer Captain David Morgan says the airline’s domestic flights in and out of Auckland resumed from 12pm today as Auckland Airport re-opens. But he said with a backlog of flights and customers, the priority is those who need to travel urgently. “Those ...
Festival-goers holding on hope for Laneway, set to take place at Western Springs on Monday, will have to wait a bit longer for an official update. A brief post on Facebook this afternoon stated: “Safety is Laneway Festival’s number one priority. With the large weather event Auckland is currently experiencing, ...
Wayne Brown has defended the timing of a declaration of a state of emergency last night following record rainfall in Auckland. “The state of emergency is a prescribed process, it’s quite formal, and I had to wait until I had the official request from the emergency management centre. The moment ...
After the 11th hour cancellation last night, Elton John has cancelled the second concert of his farewell tour at Mt Smart, which had been scheduled for this evening. In a statement, John said: “Following the instruction of the emergency services, we have no option but to cancel tonight’s show in ...
The member of parliament for Mt Albert, Jacinda Ardern, has posted a message on Facebook following the flooding in Auckland. “I’m very conscious that it’s been a while since I posted, and there have been a few big things happening. But today the most important thing is everyone’s wellbeing and ...
Flooding of the runway, the check-in and arrivals areas on the ground floor and surrounding roads has disrupted operations at Auckland International, halting all departures until at least 5pm today, with no arrivals before 4:30am tomorrow. “People are asked not to come to the International Terminal at this time for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Renwick, Professor, Physical Geography (climate science), Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Victoria Park near the Auckland CBD on January 27.Getty Images The extraordinary flood event Auckland experienced on the night of January 27, the eve of the ...
New Zealand’s largest insurance group, IAG, says it is on track to receive more than 1,100 claims from Aucklanders by lunchtime after the city was deluged in the wettest day on record. Those claims, said the group which includes AMI, State and NZI Insurance, span property damage to homes and ...
The rampant flooding in Auckland didn’t just detonate its provincial public holiday weekend – it coincided with the biggest weekend of the year to date for live events. A pair of Elton John concerts at Mt Smart stadium had a combined capacity of over 80,000, while both Laneway at Western ...
Auckland is beginning a clean-up after its wettest day since records began. “Auckland was clobbered on Friday,” said emergency management duty controller Andrew Clark. “We won’t start to get a good idea of numbers affected until later today and, even then, this will take time, with information still coming in ...
The prime minister, Chris Hipkins, is travelling to Auckland after devastating floods hit the city overnight. With the airport out of operation until at least midday, he is landing at Whenuapai air base on a New Zealand Defence Force Hercules aircraft from Wellington. ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has arrived in Auckland for a daylong visit to the city following its catastrophic flood on Friday night. Flying in an Air Force Hercules to Whenuapai, Hipkins will spend roughly three hours on the ground assessing flood damage in the city before returning. He will receive ...
A quirk of timing left all Auckland’s institutions on the back foot. But social media, particularly TikTok, graphically showed just how bad the situation was. Late afternoon on a Friday is known as time to quietly drop bad news. You have the plausible deniability of it happening during work hours, ...
It’s a common sight during summer. It’s also a recipe for disaster.I recently drove with my family from New Plymouth to Tāmaki Makaurau and, just like how I lost count of how many cows I saw on the way, I lost count of how many cars had a passenger ...
Opinion - Election year has begun with a bang, and already the punditry and speculation are ramping up, but Grant Duncan warns not to treat polls as gospel. ...
New Zealand’s new prime minister, Chris Hipkins, is formally facing down an emergency just a few days after being sworn in, summoning the National Crisis Management Centre to the Beehive. The Beehive Bunker is being stood up to help with coordination of the emergency response in Auckland. I’ve asked ...
Analysis - Jacinda Ardern is one of New Zealand's most historically significant leaders. But she did not achieve the grand vision for Aotearoa her outsized rhetoric promised. ...
Brits abroad can be an asset to Aotearoa - but only if we make an effort to engage with te ao Māori, writes Scottish expat Fran Barclay Earlier this week, the UK High Commissioner signalled a promising intention to address the barriers facing young Māori and Pasifika who aspire to ...
"They want the Māoris out": provincial life in NZShe hadn’t learned to shut her mouth. Howard was tired of Councillor Kemp harping on and on and on. He pushed himself deeper into the boardroom chair and leaned back as far as he could force it. This woman had ranted ...
Positive affirmation quotes often aren’t helpful for tāngata whai ora. But taking the piss out of them can be. Early in January, on the first day of what would be a week of staying in bed with the curtains pulled, I put a disappointingaffirmations Instagram post up on my stories. ...
Ellen Rykers visits Mahakirau Forest Estate, ‘a crown jewel in the Coromandel Range’, where pest control is serious business.This is an excerpt from our weekly environment newsletter Future Proof – sign up here. The Mahakirau Forest Estate is not your average subdivision. Enter through its tall ...
As Auckland tackles severe floods and the city’s airport emerges from a deluge on both the runway and in terminals, Air New Zealand has confirmed that no flights will leave or arrive before noon on Saturday at the earliest. In a statement, the airline said anyone booked for a flight ...
RNZ News Mayor Wayne Brown has shut down criticism that he was too slow in declaring a state of emergency after severe flooding in Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city. In a media stand-up late on Friday evening, Brown said he was following advice from experts and as soon as they ...
The Prime Minister has gone down to the Beehive bunker to help coordinate the emergency response, as the Insurance Council warns some Aucklanders whose homes and business are flooded face very hard times ahead. Jonathan Milne reports.Comment: Standing by the south-western motorway, I watched in dismay as hundreds of cars ...
Auckland’s mayor Wayne Brown said he declared an emergency in Auckland as soon as he possibly could – and he made the decision without listening to the “clamour” of the public. There has been some criticism of the mayor for his relative silence today throughout the deadly flooding that’s hit ...
A state of emergency has been declared in Auckland as severe weather causes major flooding across much of the city. It’s expected the rain will continue into the morning. This post will be updated as more information is shared.What does a state of emergency mean? A state of emergency ...
Welcome to a special late night edition of The Spinoff’s live updates as Auckland enters a state of emergency. Stewart Sowman-Lund is on deck, with help from our news team.The top linesAuckland is in a state of emergency. It will remain in place for seven ...
Prime minister Chris Hipkins is pleased the call was made to declare a state of emergency in Auckland. All government agencies were working “flat out” to help in what was an “extraordinary set of circumstances”, Hipkins said in a tweet. “The emergency response is underway and the government is ready ...
Auckland’s mayor Wayne Brown has released a statement following the decision to declare a state of emergency in Auckland. Brown has faced criticism this evening for his relative silence throughout today’s major flooding, with the first public pronouncement of the state of emergency coming from his deputy. Brown said the ...
Christopher Luxon has criticised the time it took for the state of emergency in Auckland to be declared. The National Party leader is currently in Southland, but told Today FM he intends to get back to Auckland as soon as possible. Earlier in the night, Luxon sent a tweet “urging” ...
Here is, verbatim, that latest information we have from Civil Defence on tonight’s state of emergency in Auckland: Auckland Emergency Management has opened a Civil Defence Centre to assist those that have been displaced or need assistance following today’s severe weather. The centre is open now and is based at ...
Severe flooding has ravaged Auckland today but the mayor of the city is barely visible. As I write, the airport has flooded, check-in areas looking like a public pool. Motorways are overflowing and cars have been seen floating down streets like a river. A person has died in floodwaters in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Treasurer Jim Chalmers has laid out an economic blueprint for pursuing “values-based capitalism”, involving public-private co-investment and collaboration and the renovation of key economic institutions and markets. In a 6000-word essay in The Monthly ...
This is live coverage of the developing situation in Auckland. We will continue to update this with photos and information as it comes to hand. After a day of torrential rain, and new reports of at least one death in the flood water, a state of emergency has been declared ...
Fans are describing Auckland Transport's plans to help them get to and from Elton John's concerts in the supercity this weekend as a fiasco with tonight's concert now cancelled due to the weather. Two concerts were due at Mt Smart Stadium before tonight's concert was called off in the face ...
A state of emergency has been declared in Auckland due to severe flooding that has caused people to evacuate their homes. It was officially declared at 9.54pm. Meanwhile, Auckland Airport has closed its international terminal check-in due to flooding inside the building. The airport says it is sincerely sorry to ...
RNZ News Residents in flood-prone areas of West Auckland are being asked to prepare to evacuate as bad weather causes power cuts and car crashes across Tāmaki Makaurau, with a severe thunderstorm watch in place for the north of Aotearoa New Zealand. Auckland Emergency Management said the severe weather across ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Ward, Postdoctoral research fellow, The University of Queensland Five years ago, bulldozers with chains cleared forests and woodlands almost triple the size of the Australian Capital Territory in a single year. Brazil? Indonesia? No – much closer: Queensland. In 2018-19, ...
Auckland Transport has apologised for confusing messaging that suggested attendees of tonight’s Elton John concert should drive. In a post on Facebook last night, AT said “driving to the concert is recommended” – a suggestion that prompted backlash due to the lack of parking options near the stadium. The announcement ...
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Is admitting you are wrong different from lying? I guess it depends which way you spin it or if you are the NZDF and need to bury/cover something up.
“After 20 days checking and then asserting there were no photographs, it has now had to admit it was wrong and there were photographs taken during Operation Burnham.
NZDF has now conceded its claim there were no photographs is contrary to three images it published itself and additional unpublished images taken during the NZSAS raid.”
Insightful article by David Fisher. Will the outgoing PM change his mind and now call for an enquiry or just bury it? I’m so sick of the gutless lack of leadership from English on this matter.
Truth is. While some in here thinks it’s a “big deal” in the real world – most people have forgotten this already.
Sad but true.
Killing civilians = “big deal” but it’s okay because “most people have forgotten.”.
That’s craven.
Forgotten, or don’t care, or don’t believe Hagar.
Been subjected to manipulation by those in question in order to create forgetfulness; obfuscation, denial, distraction, delay, misdirection.
“Don’t care”, James? Is that your position? You don’t care?
I’m sure when you wrote, “or don’t believe Hagar”, you meant “Hagar and Stevenson”. I’m mindful that the NZDF recently expressed disbelief in claims by Mr Stevenson, but that ended badly for them. You remember that, James, or do you also suffer “severe medium term memory loss”?
Correct. You can also put me in the don’t believe Hagar camp as well.
You don’t believe the accounts of Mr Stevenson and others described in “Hit and Run”?
Why not, James?
Which accounts do you disbelieve?
It would appear from today’s article, that the NZDF account regarding photographs, was incorrect and not to be believed.
Your thoughts?
That’s a foolish thing to write, James. On what basis would anyone choose to “not believe Hagar”?
Assuming you are correct and “most people” have severe medium term memory loss, The Herald just reminded them.
Diddums.
Perhaps don’t really care about it would have been a better wording.
James, everyone knows you are a callous piece of shit. Stop smearing your betters.
It hasn’t been proven as fact. So if Im callous I’ll go with you being gullible.
You’re coming across as extremely callous, James; you “don’t care” about the reported actions, despite not knowing whether or not they are true. Are you not even reservedly concerned that what Stephenson and others in Afghanistan reported could be true? Where does you confidence that the accounts are false come from? (an anatomical feature suggests itself)
And you are coming across all sanctimonious about the reported actions despite not knowing if they are true or not also.
“despite not knowing if they are true or not also.
AH so you would be is favour of an inquiry to sort out the truth James
Nope there was one already.
This is base level, even by your handles low standards. Whatever ‘you’ are…
If you’re an actual human being, take a good look at how you’re conducting yourself on this topic, and in general
Why can’t we vote James off this site ? He brings nothing but nastiness in every post.
That would be a bit yuk, plus
Quote my sanctimonious statements, James, if you can.
I’m happy to paste your callous ones in return.
Robert, when someone like James calls you “sanctimonious”, or “a do-gooder” or “a bleeding heart” or “politically correct”, it’s nothing more than an admission of defeat on his part. He has nothing to offer, and shutting down the conversation is his only option.
It’s the same strategy as that used by talkback radio hosts on the extremely rare occasions someone with a clue happens to ring them up…
Robert – forget about James – he isn’t worth wasting your breath over. There are people in this life that we call acceptors – they soak up everything that is bandied about – never have the energy or intelligence to critique or research what is put out in cyber space. They trust everybody and are hypocrites when they dismiss a statement or person out of hand ,- because they have never researched the information or the person to be able to dismiss or accept it. I don’t think he has much going for him upstairs really.
Thanks for that Kate, I appreciate your views. I do agree that James lacks breadth and depth in his thinking, but I like to trade comments with him in order to tease out his position. At times I’m astonished by his restricted views, the limits to his imagination and the difficulty he has in assimilating new ideas, but all in all it’s instructive to hear where he and his ilk sit. Irksome, perhaps, but you’ve gotta keep tabs.
You don’t care how a 3 year old was killed by NZ soldiers in her own village.
The transcripts of the Standard show what you do care about.
What a sad indictment of yourself.
If you wanted the right thing done then you wouldn’t be bringing out the false excuse that most people have forgotten about this.
So, why don’t you want the truth known?
Truth is your claim has no facts to back it up James, are your misconceptions a deliberate deception?
Maybe some people are numb to needless death and government cover ups? At least they are until it affects them, then things change rather rapidly.
Trump appears to be gagging many too, just like the outgoing government of NZ.
It’s a mad world
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W9kKhJd3zQ
Bill English just has to stick to the information given to him by the Army Leadership. That way the responsibility is not his but in this case Keating’s.
Simple but effective.
Do you mean identify someone else to blame? National? No, surely not…
Read on twitter that the latest UMR poll had labour at 28%.
I guess they are used to polling around there as their natural home now.
Wondering if labour will break 30 % in the election.
Edit the tweet didn’t link to actual results but it falls in line with the last several years results so sounds about right.
@ James
Labour have been polling around 30+ on average recently.
30+15+12=57….it’s MMP old bean. English can’t get more than 40%.
Well for starters English can get over 40 and has done in every poll to date. (Although lower 40’s at the moment).
And you keep believing in that magical unicor that allows you to think Winston will go with Labour and the greens.
James is just trying to undermine Labours weekend plans.
…still trolling James???
Else it is 52 v. 45 to confuse seats with percentages…… more accurate is 67 v.52 or 54 v. 52 with 13 plus not known.
Greens wont get fifteen and Winston will not be in your equation, old bean.
I think the Labour/Green bloc will poll 45 (30/15, 31/14, 32/13, 33/12) against the Nats 40. Where Winston goes from there is anybody’s guess, I agree.
I think, old chep, you miss the “we are tired of this lot, time to give the others a go” factor. and the “English is not Key’ factor and the “there will be no KDC this time” factor.
Colbert reviews Trump’s last 48 or so hours.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/stephen-colbert-donald-trump-mocks_us_5915d399e4b00f308cf4d1e5?g7q&ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
To Andre,
Many people tell us that Trump is unpredictable and impulsive, however upon close scrutiny his behaviour is very much true to form, cunning and planned. The firing or “staged execution” of Comey sends a strong message to anyone who doesn’t serve Trump with blind obedience. Trump is defined as an authoritarian, honours power over reason, we have seen these flaws in Nixon, Mussolini, Hitler etc. The sooner the citizens of the USA gets rid of Trump the better for all concerned.
Ah, the multidimensional chess grandmaster theory of Trump.
It seems to me the flaw in that argument is every time Trump does something, there needs to be another dimension or three added to the game he’s playing for it to make sense.
Whereas the alternative explanation, that he’s simply acting on whatever impulse feels good to him at the moment, remains a coherent and plausible explanation for everything he’s done. (Except his televised apology for “grab them by the pussy”, but his body language during that showed every sign there were a bunch of aides just off camera armed with cattle-prods to make sure he read out his prepared message and nothing else)
Meanwhile, there remains the tiny comfort that all the time and and effort he and his team put into dealing with the brushfires he lights is taking away from the nasty shit the Republicans really want to do. Which they would actually be successfully getting on with if someone like Pence were president.
So far there don’t seem to be signs Trump’s shit is peeling away support from his base or Republicans in Congress. The senators and representatives that have criticised firing Comey have mostly been the ones that were critical about other issues. So I don’t see impeachment getting any closer.
Best explanation so far –
That’s who he is: a disregulated bundle of impulses, being manipulated by a cast of crooks and incompetents, supported by a Republican Party willing to bet the stability of the country against upper-income tax cuts. We need to stop looking for a more complicated story.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/5/12/15621140/interpret-trump
True, that Vox article feels grounded and accurate. But Trump is manifestly not an idiot and everyone made a bad mistake in underestimating him from the very outset.
Scott Adams made himself unpopular by pointing out Trump’s master skills as persuader and manipulator of the nation’s subconscious motivations, well before most other commentators.
During the campaign he was a huckster salesman and showman, basically a (not-chilled-out) entertainer. Things he’s spent a lot of his life doing.
Now he’s in a totally different game that he doesn’t have the instinctive reactions for.
I suspect that the master manipulator angle is a case of mistaking luck with intent.
Did he consciously reflect and adapt to the mood of the nation, or was he simply the candidate most suited to the situation: the loudest one dominated the room with the crowd of republican contenders in the primaries, and the republicans have spent twenty years disenfranchising minorities and rigging the system against anyone with a brain. And then there’s the simple fact that their electoral college also means that the winner of the popular vote might still lose the presidency.
I don’t see any evidence of intelligence: ego, insecurity, paranoia, corruption, nepotism, and other traits more suited to a feudal thug than a democratically-elected leader, sure. But all evidence I’ve seen points to him being a lucky idiot.
“Being There” meets “The Godfather”.
Good questions Mc Flock. I didn’t suggest Trump is a genius either. But he most certainly is a gold-plated, 100% certifiable, high functioning narcissist. Absolutely the only thing important to Trump is himself. All his behaviour confirms this.
And because narcissists literally don’t care the slightest what other people think of them, it is very easy for them (and their related cousins the psychopaths) to instinctively read other people’s motivations, weaknesses, manipulate, lie, cheat and generally do whatever it takes to win … with absolutely no conscience, guilt, nor any of the emotional cost that inhibits most other people. .
When most people are criticised for something they’ve just done, they immediately start to defend themselves. Trump doesn’t care about the attack, he has zero regard for what anyone else thinks, and simply forges on to the next outrage/tweet. It works because he’s a constantly moving target. This is why narcissists should never be underestimated. Especially when they have money, power and status. (Which of course they crave.)
For example the ‘pussy grabbing’ thing would have ended any normal politician, with Trump it’s an almost forgotten niggle from the distant past, buried under a constant torrent of daily outrages. In a few months time this Comey thing will have been forgotten while the world is transfixed by his latest WTF.
A simple approach Andre, ” If you don’t play ball with me then, YOU’RE FIRED!
Sounds familiar? He merely replaces one person for a yes-man. To control the department of the FBI is a powerful weapon, towards Trump’s end-game.
Yeah, he can try for a yes-man. But the new FBI director will need to be confirmed by the Senate. While I’m not sure if the Dems can filibuster it, I’m fairly confident that whatever honeymoon Trump had with the Senate is over and there’s at least three Republicans who will require the nominee to be someone with a few principles that will stand up to Trump when needed. Even if those principles are recidivist conservative ones that horrify us liberals.
It’s a big weekend for Andrew Little and Labour. It’s critical that some solid policy is announced, and that Maori issues are properly addressed.
It’s sad to see this from the opening.
That’s awful.
Will you be OK?
Everyone take a moment to pity poor Peter.
I’m struggling to see a context where Lester’s comment would have been ok, given who he is and where he was speaking.
I’m more concerned about poor Peter.
Oh, perhaps on a weekend when everything Labour is everything good. Coz that means that nothing fucked up can be anything other than good if it’s coming from Labour quarters, and calling out something good is, of course, fucked up.
Least, that’s the best I can do by way of helping you overcome your struggling. Hope it helped.
These are politicians we’re talking about right? An allegedly ‘representative’ crowd.
I think Peter’s reaction is a little overblown. Demonstrative of obvious bias, possibly even a sort of blancmange malice.
As for Labour, I’m sure there’ll be plenty of ‘awful’ to go around once they start making policy announcements.
“reaction is a little overblown” – you really are a joker, aren’t you.
“possibly even a sort of blancmange malice” – more irony.
Are you aware that your overblown malice can be counterproductive to your agenda?
“These are politicians we’re talking about right? An allegedly ‘representative’ crowd.”
Making incest jokes is so the incestuous Labour voters don’t feel left out? Or maybe the incestuous Labour members and activists?
I get that you think having a go at PG is more important.
Good grief Pete lighten up.
“people are surprised you’re not married to your sister.”
The Invercargill people obviously mistook him for a member of ACT.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11210373
Noted RWNJ journalists Trevett, Watkins, and Young will be all over this Congress and Andrew Little, criticising Labour and Little, and framing them negatively at any and every opportunity.
Watkins does so here, unhappy Little is consistently communicating Labour’s message and unhappy he’s not John Key.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/92524621/andrew-little-stays-on-message-and-sounds-offkey
And Young here, using language like ‘sheer nightmare’.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11854696
Don’t forget Patrick “I am the story” Gower.
A good way to deal with the absurd and poisonous BHL
http://normanfinkelstein.com/2017/05/11/bhl-has-gotten-so-inured-to-the-cream-pies-that-it-might-be-time-to-leaven-them-with-dog-feces/
http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/92500123/could-french-intellectual-bernardhenri-levy-be-the-most-pied-man-in-europe
Just watched an interview between Andrew Little and Paddy Gower on the Nation. As a life long supporter of the left, this interview gave Jacinda Ardern a tremendous political boost.
Yeah I didn’t enjoy that, the tv performances are crucial.
Thanks Johan – just watched it.
I actually laughed out loud.
I encourage little to do more tv interviews.
Interviews are not his strong point are they – this and the charter school interview on radio Nz being good recent examples of train wrecks.
Edit link added for your viewing pleasure. http://bit.ly/2rbbUK9
I almost feel sorry for the guy, then I remember the nastiness simmering under his angry countenance. Labour is past it’s use by date. Winstone will be the leader of the opposition after the election.
🙄
Your borrowed astroturf is worn and tatty around the edges.
“Winstone will be the leader of the opposition after the election”
God, I hope so.
Not exactly Little’s worst performance.
New book “shattered” autopsy of failed clinton campaign, plenty of hits on google and coverage in MSM but funnily enough so for none of them seem to cover this
pic.twitter.com/NDUk90Jp5q
A NASA animation shows how much the Earth has warmed since 1880: the period 2012 to 2016 is the warmest on record
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/weather/news/video.cfm?c_id=1503080&gal_cid=1503080&gallery_id=175905
This is telling.
Leaked documents reveal serious concerns about KiwiRail’s decision to switch from electric trains to diesel
“KiwiRail announced the decision last year, and said diesel would improve reliability and efficiency.
But an external peer review by engineering consultants WorleyParsons warns diesel trains bought from China have “a very high failure rate”.
Seven to nine are out of service at any one time for maintenance, repair and asbestos removal. And their performance has been “extraordinarily poor”.
The review said KiwiRail should be switching its whole fleet to electric, but it said a paper from the company’s board was “biased towards the diesel option”.
And there are more concerns from a separate internal report, which says KiwiRail over-inflated expected savings – and upgrading electric trains was actually $230m cheaper than replacing them with diesel.
And Treasury also had concerns. Cabinet advice given to the Green Party under the Official Information Act shows officials weren’t convinced by the business case.
They warned KiwiRail “provided no basis for its cost estimate” that electrifying the whole main trunk line could be up to $1bn.”
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/leaked-documents-reveal-serious-concerns-kiwirails-decision-switch-electric-trains-diesel
yeah well it didn’t take leaked documents to see that was a dumb idea!
but yes very interesting to see that kiwirail bosses also realised that
SO…. What was the real reason for that decision. Kickback? , govt policy of discouraging renewals?, CIA??.. hmm i wonder if this info will come out too
Good hit Genter.
Was also important to see Braid from Mainfreight emphasising rail freight this week.
I’d prefer a Labour-Green govt committed to full grid electrification.
I knew a few senior KiwiRail engineers socially; and while they never told me anything I shouldn’t know it was clear they believed the Minister has politically interfered with the Board on a number of occasions.
The DL loco deal was corrupt. That was well understood.
And because KiwiRail is so dependent on govt funding to re-build it’s shattered infrastructure the pressure and meddling continues on all manner of decision big and small.
No surprises here … except perhaps that WorleyParsons (who have specific expertise in this area) used such blunt language.
“Mothballing” the NIMT electrification is a dumb idea. Just dumb. Switching the locos at Te Rapa and Palmy only takes about 10-20 mins, and can be quite easily timed with the engineer’s breaks. The DL’s are bascially crap from what I have heard, spening half their time in the shop.
It is also very well to say that the catenary will be left in place, but who’s to say that it will not be allowed to deterioarate? A few stormy winters and KR will be removing parts of the traction equipment due to storm damage.
When Toll’s above rail assets were purchased 9 years ago (that long!) it was supposed to be a new era for rail in this country. When National came in, they realised that they couldnt just turn around and flog it off as a going concern, so they decided to instead run it down and sell it off bit by bit. the mothball/closure of various lines (some not even announced) the sale of railway land and buildings, scrapping of locomotive classes, etc and so on.
The DL’s are bascially crap from what I have heard, spening half their time in the shop.
Specifically the major components like the German MTU engines are ok. But the integration of all the elements into a reliable machine takes decades of experience and many design iterations to nail all the gremlins. And the Chinese simply did not have that history when these locos where purchased.
Actual competition that reduces profits for National’s donors can’t be allowed.
So is this Solid Energy all over again? Just make stupid business decisions until it can’t function? It’s hard not to see this as deliberate, mostly because I can’t conceive of people being so inept. But hey, National, bringing us inept *and greedy since 2008.
Certainly looks that way. The private sector costs more, is less efficient than government departments and provides worse service and so National has to undermine them to make the private sector look good.
America has become so anti-innovation – it’s economic suicide
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/11/tech-innovation-silicon-valley-juicero
Inequality – (look at this in the context of the passenger that was recently beaten by airport staff at United Airlines when they decided to forcefully take his seat.)
At LA airport’s new private terminal, the rich can watch normal people suffer
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/12/lax-private-terminal-rich-people-celebrities
ACT got Hacked!
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2017/05/12/breaking-exclusive-massive-online-act-party-data-breach/
PG gets it wrong as usual —
https://yournz.org/2017/05/12/bradbury-does-dirty/
Bradbury had nothing to do with it, the information was emailed to him. He didn’t publish any details about how it was done, nor did he publish the files anywhere.
However he did publish one document in the public interest — because ACT want to suppress iwi consultation in RMA decisions
He went reading them when he knew he should not have. Then published stuff he thought could cause issues.
This is similar to the illegal actions of whale how ??
James, on a day when you have been revealed as callous and uncaring on this very thread, how can you pop up again with your puerile witterings and hope to be taken seriously? Just askin’
Example #1, OneTwo commented: “This is base level, even by your handles low standards. Whatever ‘you’ are…”
What a sad indictment of yourself.”
“If you’re an actual human being, take a good look at how you’re conducting yourself on this topic, and in general”
Ed added, “You don’t care how a 3 year old was killed by NZ soldiers in her own village.
The transcripts of the Standard show what you do care about.”
James? You okay?
I’m fine. Thanks for asking. You could just answer the question ….
Answer a question from a callous RWNJ who doesn’t care?
Why?
“Ed 1.1.2.1.2
13 May 2017 at 9:24 am
You don’t care how a 3 year old was killed by NZ soldiers in her own village.
The transcripts of the Standard show what you do care about.
What a sad indictment of yourself.”
All to complicated for me james. What happens now? -or could happen I probably should have said
It’s fucken strange how RWNJ’s don’t have a problem with Nacts endless lies and coverups but lose their shit when they are exposed.
Democracy requires transparency and honesty about what your party is doing or plans to do. Not lying to the public constantly .
““Don’t care”, James? Is that your position? You don’t care?”
James: “Correct”.
QFT
Act database left open online… mmm… smells like something that happened to Labour. I believe there was a massive uproar about that…
While the vulnerability might be similar, the actions of the blogging political opponents are completely different. And the bulk of the uproar was in regards to the actions of the blogger and his political paymasters in the first case.
+111
Standard please pay your power bill ,we miss you.
is TS hosted on windows?!? major worm outbreak. maybe lprent just patched it 😛
From memory I think he said it was a Linux OS.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/12/ukip-could-hand-theresa-may-landslide-victory-deciding-not-put/
The road for labour UK just got harder.
To James,
Yes indeed, Theresa May will probably increase her popularity, as she plays the Them vs Us game (Britain vs Europe). Perhaps we should listen to the experts James and get a reality check;-))))
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/may/11/bank-of-england-living-standards-interest-rates-inflation?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+main+NEW+H+categories&utm_term=225630&subid=19486408&CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2
perhaps you should listen to the votes and get a reality check.
Or are they all idiots for not agreeing with you and your chosen experts.
Labour needs to figure out how to win without Corbyn’s new hard left supporters blaming everyone except themselves. They need to figure out their political egos.
Some body turn off the main power switch again. james is back with vengeance, sorting out the poms now.
No need to sort them out. They seem to be doing very well by themselves.
Then maybe you should follow them and sort yourself out.
I’m all good thanks.
James your are a pet troll with some feelings . We can help.
James has feelings….what for….the act party website ???
A concise article about reframing: https://georgelakoff.com/2017/01/28/the-publics-viewpoint-regulations-are-protections/
‘regulations’ —> protections