You say on your blog that vote switch polls may actually be designed to increase undecided voters? I guess everyone has an angle. Yours is pretty obscure though, it’s not even like an ad for ice cream that blinks so fast people go into epileptic shock. Most guys who support the incumbent party just shout something like, “You guys are losing there is no hope!” then leave. Your angle is far more subtle. I like it, but it appeals to a small fragment of the available voters who are unlikely to be reading this blog. Have you taken a poll on how effective it is to suggest people become undecided, from non-poll obsessed people, taking into account the likely no response rate to questions likely to result in no response? I am totally standing by my phone waiting for your call. Speak to you around 6pm then?
SCF should never have been let in, or kept in, and Bill English knows this. This is the bigger fraud – the biggest in NZ;s history, and carried out by Bill English and his cohort John Key. The Crown, in its case against the defendants, has gone to great lengths and efforts to thwart any investigation into the reasons for SCF being let in. They have actively avoided and diverted enquiries away from this very issue. Evidence for this is provided ….
“What we now know is that these people were never questioned by the SFO about their entrance into the Crown Deed of Guarantee”
and
“”The most alarming example of the deficiency of the SFO’s investigation concerns the charge concerning the Crown Deed of Guarantee”
and
“Equally disturbing is that when interviewed, none of the defendants was asked about the entry into the Crown Deed of Guarantee – they were simply charged with the biggest fraud in New Zealand’s history without ever being given the chance to explain what had in fact happened back in 2008 and the role they had played”
and
“Neither Treasury nor the Reserve Bank were asked to provide any of their analysis into SCF. It was left to defence to find three key documents, recording the reason why SCF was admitted into the scheme”
and
“Key witnesses were not interviewed, including Treasury secretary John Whitehead, who was the gateholder to the scheme.”
and finally
“The Crown’s case had shifted from causing the $1.58b payout by getting into the scheme using inaccurate information to getting into the scheme earlier than it otherwise would. “It is now said that the inaccurate information provided by SCF merely avoided a delay of an unspecified length.” ”
..
I tells ya – this is the shit that stinks. SCF should never had been let in but Bill English wanted to ensure his type of people were looked after.
It was fraud. These defence statements provide a great big whiff of the stench and fraud of this government.
Just hanging out the clothes after checking The Standard, and while doing so thought to myself – why didn’t we ever get any investigative articles into the bailout of SCF – considering they did not meet the criteria?
… came in and found your comment – and hope the MSM reading this pick up and run with it.
I agree with your “SCF should never had been let in but Bill English wanted to ensure his type of people were looked after.” comment. It is what I’ve always felt what the reasoning behind this bailout.
Going straight to the people is the way to proceed in this election, circumvent the machine wherever possible. Sometimes a bit of leadership is all it takes–it is OK to take action–FJK
Labour are getting out and about too with the big red bus, partner is doing a day on it as a volunteer. It will be ending up at Henderson nightmarkets on Friday around 7pm for any Westies in the area to come and support.
Jeepers – a few days ago my laptop began whineing – this was after it kept cutting out when trying to watch videos – I tried the old ignore and it will fix itself trick – nah – so I had to take some time out – I didn’t want to but it has been good although a bit shocked to see that bad is banned for life now – oh well.
As has already been mentioned, anyone lamenting bad’s banning should consider that there are a (growing) number of unpublished comments by him which are openly abusive. Phrases like “two bit gutter trash” are among the mildest of the crap bad has thrown at Standard moderators over the past two days.
I resent your statement that my actions “set him off”. bad was given multiple moderator warnings and deliberately chose to post personal abuse at me and was banned for doing so.
weka has linked to the relevant comments at 5.4 below. Read it yourself.
no..i went to that link..that doesn’t have what he said..there is only him saying he shouldn’t respond to you because he cd get banned..
..his response to your retraction-demand (in link)..that he got banned for..that has been redacted..
..are we able to know what that was..?
..as an object-lesson..?..if nothing else..
.and maybe a modicum of justice being seen to be done..?
[Stephanie: No, phillip. I’m not going to repeat the abusive, misogynist crap bad posted at me just to “prove” to you that “justice was done”. You can either accept that bad crossed a line, despite being warned multiple times and despite playing the martyr when he was warned about his behaviour, or you can not, but continuing to imply that I am to blame for bad’s wilful abusiveness is a seriously stupid move on your part.]
Bad calling Lynn, in his moderator role, an impotent little prick is still visible. Does that not tell you enough?
That link also shows bad12 referring to a couple of days ago when he was warned and he commented that he was aware of the implications of the warning. You can find that pretty easily along with the rest of the context that day.
It never ceases to amaze me that people on the internet don’t get moderation 101: my blog, my rules. Instead many people seem to think that blogs/forums etc should operate according to their own mores instead of the mores of the people that run the site. This despite the fact that the internet has always operated by moderation 101. Pretty much like everywhere else, when in Rome do as the Romans do.
I think that newbies can get caught out on ts sometimes by the moderation styles, but there is no way in hell that bad didn’t know what he was doing.
Hi Stephanie. I’m sorry that you have been abused, it’s uncalled for, and never ever excusable. I hope you’re feeling ok, I wouldn’t be if I had copped such abuse.
Knowing bad, I can only imagine the unpublish-able stuff would have been………..very bad.
I would like to see him back in the future, if he can temper that antagonism. He does have a keen eye for political manipulations and I have taken on board some of his wiser observations. Some “theory” I disagreed with wholeheartedly (like the Pike River non existent “insurance job” which I thought was an insulting suggestion that disrespected the dead and their loved ones), some I ignored but I did appreciate his quirky grumpy ways most of the time.
I am quite disappointed that bad12 has been banned for whatever reason. He is a brilliant writer, funny and with good analytical skills. Too bad that in his enthusiasm for politics and his dear causes, at times his abuse/swear words was too crass and over the top.
May be he is depressed, unwell, upset about something or something else is going on in his life.
We all make mistakes. Egos can cause chaos and destroy people.
Perhaps there could be an amicable privately conducted correspondence to settle the issue, forget and forgive, have this ban revoked and make a fresh start.
That is how I feel anyway.
[Stephanie: bad was not banned “for whatever reason”. He was openly and aggressively abusive to multiple moderators of this site. He threatened to continue to troll this site under new pseudonyms if banned. He posted at least a dozen further abusive comments after being banned and clearly has no desire for an “amicable” “fresh start”.
This conversation has been entirely played out and I must ask that no further comments be posted which question the decision of moderators to ban a clearly abusive troll.]
+1 Clem. I’ve never been overly offended to my knowledge by bad12’s stuff.
Time-soakers like Pete George, fisiani and srylands, with their multitude of posts irritate me more. Maybe a limit on the number of posts/day would be an idea, though probably impractical.
[Stephanie: It would really pay to read what the moderators have said on this matter. It is irrelevant if you, personally, were never “overly offended” by his comments because you, personally, weren’t being subjected to personal abuse.
bad12 was not banned because he was “irritating”. He was banned for being abusive, as detailed in many places on this thread.]
@Bearded Git 2.47
But bad did go in for a multitude of posts quite often. Just like the others you mention, and longer than them too. I don’t see TS as regarding itself as a place for someone to have bad tempered spats with other commenters. It’s lively but bad pushed the limits. I gave up when he was rude when I suggested something that I thought he would have been interested in.
It’s a pity that he can’t control his aggressive language but I don’t think he will ever do that and ends up as disruptive as any RW troll, yet with a left slant.
I’m not lamenting just noting that in a few days a lot can change. He knew the rules and abused a moderator and unpleasantly misrepresented their views so he got what was coming to him.
Stop playing such a bloody martyr, phillip. All the links are up there for you to make whatever guesses you like. Maybe bad can’t handle being told “no” by a woman. Certainly he was holding a grudge over our previous conversations about abortion rights.
Demanding proof of the “justification” for bad’s banning, and insisting that we talk about the “trigger” for his behaviour is nothing more than making excuses for abuse.
The thing that surprised me was that bad12 appears to banned from even reading the site (until he changes his ISP anyway). However it did seem to be richly deserved. Anyway, I imagine that he will be included in the post-election amnesty, so; “banned for life”, may not be as long as it sounds.
[lprent: He was banned for attacking authors in the crudest terms.
He got banned from reading the site to make the point. That was because he started channelling Gollum in the auto-spam like this. That puts him in the dad4justice league of people who get removed from the site.
You cannot tho patrol the site 24/7 and when the bad’s choose to give you another little lesson in just how impotent you really are, the bad’s will,
But I see that he leaked through a comment this morning. I’ll have a look at the logs and firewall shortly to see how that happened. ]
I noticed yesterday that when I tried to read TS from home I was redirected to a “lad’s mag” site (only for a couple of minutes).
Would that be a little bit of “banned from reading” collateral damage? 🙂
I figured it was probably a tory hacker until I read the self-immolation thread.
Bad12 has been building up to it. What surprises me isn’t the ban, but that he knowingly did the very specific things to get himself not just a short ban but a permanent one. I think the place would be better for him having some time off, he was getting less legible and more antagonistic recently, but am sad that he has gone permanently. He often brought in on to it perspectives.
I’m sad to see bad12 go. He said a lot of useful stuff, which I think will be missed. His personal attacks on people and over the top abuse won’t be missed by me at all.
As for the election – after Nicky Hager’s book, September 20 will tell us what sort of people we are as a whole. If we vote Key back in, that will mean that we think filth like Whalespew have an important place in our formal democracy. It will mean that we don’t care how a PM maintains power, as long as he looks after the material interests of the 1% and lets us all believe we have a chance to join them.
I never thought we were like that, and I still hope most of us aren’t.
Press Release from Jane Kelsey, on how the US redrafts legislation for other countries via trade agreements – and is likely to be able to do it for NZ’s leglislation via TPPA.
Similar communications might never be released under New Zealand’s Official Information Act, because they involveinformation entrusted to the government in confidence from another government.
‘In other words New Zealanders, including MPs, might never know that the US was involved in writing our laws and demanding the right to sign them off even before Parliament gets to see them’, Professor Kelsey warned.
Key distracts, first the teapot sideshow, now the drunks shouting f.j.k. But I was thinking, isn’t it a mistake for Key to highlight drinking problems. I mean he’s pro-alcohol industry. How does coming off as a prude about alcohol, how he’s no boozy. That might get out. That he doesn’t. He owns the wine company but doesn’t drink excessively. What has this got to do with TPP? Well big alcohol is a global businesses, even our local breweries have foreign investors. So here’s the risk, that Kiwis wake up one day to the extortion of a TPP and realize that not only would they not drink excessively anymore, but when they did they would buy locally owned brew.
All works of humans have risks, neo-liberalism caused the GFC, TPP will cause huge loses when the profits start flowing out due to hidden legal extortion’s in the legislation become public. So why do they keep producing bad law, bad practice, shit in the rivers. Because they make their money on the margin. Key was a money broker after all. The neo-liberalism produce his ilk. TPP does not serve the interests of free trade, or NZ, and should it become law as stated above, I believe many politicians should be prosecuted for treason.
Lucky Key will however be living in Hawaii in his mansion, in the boss-um of beast so to speak.
Its worse. People should realize he owns a wine company, or has a wine name after him, or something. Why would you drink more excessively than your politicians? Do they want us to be to drunk to notice what they get up to. Now Muldoon was straight up, straight boozed up and nobody could probably keep up. But why would breweries want the idea getting out that politicians aren’t drinking, least consumers start cutting back too. When did you last see Key, or Whyte, slurring their word, or having a little wobble as they made their way to the podium.
Its just wrong. I’m cutting back starting right now. Until I see my politicians getting legless again, its not going to happen to me or mine. Key wants us all drunk and stupefied.
“Key said he had drawn a “natural conclusion” when young people in the effigy-burning video were chanting the same thing as students at an Internet-Mana Party event. However, he was happy to accept he had been wrong.”
yep fuck john key is hardly ever heard in the streets, but wait there’s more
“”The picture of my face that was burnt as part of the effigy looked extremely similar to the one I saw in the previous Dotcom video,” Key said.”
umm it was off your election material I think there key
No point, the proof is some screen shots from the guys facebook account that whaleoil posted and as we all know the posters on here get an attack of the vapours and have to rush to their perfumed hankies whenever whaleoils mentioned
[lprent: The odour of untreated arsecrack is a bit overwhelming otherwise. ]
and he would never lie or deliberately break a law now would he, oh wait a minute…. you agree with hispolitical views so his behaviour is just fine by you, and you rely on him for some of your information upon which to form your vote
so let’s pop off the “but but vandalizing billboards is illegal” and “if an IMP supporter or 500 says fuck john key then a burning effigy must be by the same people” high horse shall we.
If your “connection” is that he went to a party, that’s pretty much the definition of “casual link”.
Also, what does it say about Key’s casual links? Guess he now has to be held to account for the actions of everyone who votes national, writes on blogs for them, or goes to all black games.
Also also, real nice of you to leap all over the guy’s mum for no reason at all. Nasty little Govt-sanctioned brownshirt fascist creeps.
So the links between Key and WO mean Key approves of WO’s crusade against muslims I suppose.
WO links to various neo-fascist stuff on Islam. I guess this is why National mouthpieces have been going hard calling people fascist then. Chilling stuff.
Umm,,, you do realise you can dislike Islam and not be a neo-fascist don’t you? You can also link to an article that may be hosted by someone with neo-fascist views but that does not make the article neo-fascist and nor by extension does that make you one. I would draw you a Venn diagram to illustrate this but I’m not sure you would comprehend even if I did.
Sure, but if you link to stuff about Islam being an existential threat to our way of life, and talking about the terribel effects of immigration and how Islam is a cancerous thing that western values can;t deal with blah blah, an how liberal elites just don’t get it blah blah…
…then the similarity between that stuff and how fascists used to talk about Jews kinda screams out. And when you link to Marine le Pen, then shit, it isn’t your opponents who have any explaining to do.
Except anti-Jewish views are based more on race. I have no problem with secular Arabs or even religious ones who accept their faith should not interfere with the wider public sphere. I do have an issue with the mainstream view of Islam where upon there is no separation of religion from governance and the unequal treatment of non Muslims as a result of attempting to implement this view.
Good to see you have used such stellar material, but you should really give credit for this comeback to the author who introduced you to it yesterday – take a bow Felix, for providing Gosman with a better turn of phrase than the usual.
People can ask what they like or they can make up their own minds about things whether they be right or wrong but it doesn’t mean I have to answer everything especially when I think its pointless and adds nothing to the thread
John Key says drunken students shouting f.j.k is part of
a loathsome dirty tricks campaign. I thought he was pro-alcohol,
why the turn around? Does he hate booze now? Are opposition using
booze to attack Key, how can Key stop them without coming across
as attack on big alcohol. Oh, the evil b*st***s
No wonder Hooten keeps promoting David Shearer as leader. Can you imagine how awful Shearer would have been in these interviews. Labour would have had no show.
Always curious about how our culture believes in a hierarchy of human pain, and presumably, if you’re further up the hierarchy, no one else’s pain counts. It’s like trading kid’s fantasy game cards. You got beat up? Well I got run over, twice, so shut up I win the attention!
Simonne Butler has written a book about her younger years and about knowing Antoine Dixon, just before he attacked her with a sword. She says of her book, “A lot of people would come across me who had way less crap in their lives and they’re letting it drag them down and nothing drags me down, nothing ever has, and that is very helpful to people…It’s full of violence. My hands getting chopped off was just one bad day in my life. I was getting beaten up every other day. For everyone else that was this really bad thing, but for me it was just one more day in my life.”
Where on the hierarchy of pain does defacing election signs lie? What about having to share your neighbourhood with poor people? What about having the grass on the city berms grow a bit too long? What about depression?
If general impressions are true, all those things are much further down the scale. I was just wondering what Ms. Butler would have said to Robin Williams a few weeks ago, had they met – would he be dead today? Would she point out the fantastic life he had despite his pain, compared to hers, and that would inspire him to buck up, harden up, grow a thick skin or whatever it is you’re meant to do to “get over yourself” and come to believe that everyone is exactly the same, mentally and emotionally, as the next person? Or would she say, “Hey Robin, you know if all indicators are correct, life isn’t the end. There could be better comedy material in death than in life. You’ll do what’s right for you.” And maybe he would have used the reply he once said his Father liked to use for stupid ideas, and said, “Hmmm. Interesting concept.” and then gone ahead and done whatever he was always going to do, as his own reality dictated.
Butler says she was young and dumb, a bit stupid. Life requires all types, and being able to think can drag a person down. Ms. Butler doesn’t let anything drag her down and hopefully for her she’ll continue along that path. She’s created quite the conundrum for me, though. If I buy her book it might encourage her to keep writing, but writing usually involves thinking and then she’ll lose the shield of ignorance and things will start to drag her down. If I don’t buy her book, she might wonder why and start to think and get all down about it, or she won’t, and she’ll move on with life. So possibly the problem isn’t the book, or the thinking. The problem might be that most people look for validation of their personal worth from outside circumstances or achievements.
So bear in mind today, if you have no food in the house, no money, are ill, jobless, about to be evicted; maybe you’re about to release your book, or someone just done wrote over John Key’s face; at least you still have your hands and no one has beaten you up. Quit your whining and think of the children in Africa. They don’t even have pictures of John Key.
Remember that despite your problems, right now, somewhere inside, somewhere deep deep inside, (and if you’re voting Right this Spring…) somewhere way way waaaay deep down near your hidden core, somewhere no one can see or know about, you’re good enough. Whatever it is that keeps your heart beating is the ultimate validation. Rich or poor, Dark or Light, man or woman, healthy or not, whether you acknowledge it or not, it’s the same unconditional power.
An interesting article from Bill English where he states that we don’t need to worry about Chinese buying our dairy farms because they are hopeless businesses, and sooner or later they will realise this and sell up.
Isn’t DAIRY FARMING at the centre of National’s economic development plan…must be some ammo in this. National really have no fuckin idea what they are doing, nor do the 46% people voting for them.
I’m no friend of David Clark; Labour electorate MP for Dunedin North, which is why I feel it important to note when he gets something right:
Nurse-to-patient ratios in Dunedin Hospital’s emergency department are being stretched to as many as one to 10… Dr Clark, who is Labour’s associate health spokesman, said nurses were carrying more than the standard accepted workload of one nurse to three patients in an ”increasingly desperate” situation.
I have talked to nurses over the past year who are utterly frustrated with the shortsighted costcutting of SDHB management. The long hours shift work make regular life very difficult, especially when you factor in the exhaustion from excessive workload. But the most telling sign of contempt for ED nurses, and wider community health, is this measure that is still being bitterly fought (despite what this article and the Nurse’s own union claim):
Some emergency department nurses fought a change that has them laundering their uniforms, Dunedin Hospital ED specialist John Chambers says… nurses felt ”very strongly” about the possible infection risk from washing their own uniform. They had appealed to management citing scientific evidence, but the change went ahead… North Dunedin MP David Clark said the problem of antibiotic resistance made hygiene practices more central to infection control, and he could understand the nurses’ concern.
Note that this is at one of the country’s leading teaching hospitals. So that these penny pinching measures will become the norm across the entire health system as University & Polytech graduates disperse throughout the country.
Dunedin North’s other leading electorate MP candidate; Woodhouse of the Nats, has no problem with any of this so long as the numbers look good on paper. But then, he is often seen as a parliamentary representative of the private-health industry, and shares responsibility in the long project of undermining the ACC:
National MP and Dunedin North candidate Michael Woodhouse yesterday dismissed Dr Clark’s claims as nothing more than ”desperate electioneering”.
”This Government has lifted Southern’s annual funding to a record $833 million – over $120 million more than in 2008 – and there are now 116 extra nurses and 62 extra doctors employed by Southern DHB compared to 2008.
One nurse to three patients seems like a low ratio for an emergency department. I was in a transplant ward in Brisbane for a while recently, and their ratio was one to two. In Emergency I assume it would be higher. One to ten is asking for disaster. It’s good to see the Labour guy taking a stand. I can’t see the Tories being interested in much more than the cut of the nurses’ uniforms.
This is fascinating if you are interested in peak oil, climate change or economics.
A highlight for me:
“The major companies are struggling to find viable reserves, forcing them take on ever more leverage to explore in marginal basins, often gambling that much higher prices in the future will come to the rescue. Global output of conventional oil peaked in 2005 despite huge investment…..The International Energy Agency in Paris says global investment in fossil fuel supply rose from $400bn to $900bn during the boom from 2000 and 2008, doubling in real terms. It has since levelled off, reaching $950bn last year. The returns have been meagre. Not a single large oil project has come on stream at a break-even cost below $80 a barrel for almost three years.”
I don’t think that was the real Dan Carter (why would he really bother following the internet party) but if it was then having a go at him will lose you more votes then you’ll gain
puck that is pretty confused – may be dan, may not be, and apart from that crucial information the actual content is uncontroversial. Come on fella surely there are better shit storms than this out there for the right or have you lot given up .
I think it’s more a dig at the states, and jk, being so tightly inserted into uncle sam’s corporate bum, is bound to cop it by arseociation (sic), and cop a share when the the sh!t goes down.
Edit:
Send that joke to a comedian and tell them they can use it for free as long as they donate a food basket to the sallies in Hamilton.
“Nearly 400,000 people may miss the chance for a quicker vote on election day if they don’t enrol in the next week.
The Electoral Commission says there are still 380,000 eligible New Zealanders who haven’t enrolled to vote on September 20”
There’s the 800,000 that didn’t vote last time, with half of them ready to go this time out, which will do nicely if they’re inclined to vote key out.
Getting more involved and participating would be nice, but even if only half of those 400k turnout on election day, that’ll see national gone before supper time.
“and over half of them are under 30.”
I was going to say it shows even 3 mil and celebrity rock ‘n roll can’t get reach kids, that or shows some kids can’t be bought by flashing lights and cult infamy smoke and mirrors, but to be fair, green or red hasn’t got them yet either, so no need for a dig for the sake of it. :halo:
Protest John Key, don’t drink, he’s the front man for big alcohol, or he thinks drunks are at the heart of a political conspiracy, whichever, its about time politicians got drunk on TV to show their do as they say not do as they do.
I will blog on it at length later, but after a speed read the big reveals are:
1. The Prime Minister’s office hacked into Labour’s servers, obtaining information about its donors and membership, passed the information onto Cameron Slater and then lied about it.
2. The Prime Minister’s office told Slater to OIA classified SIS documents, then had the SIS declassify them and released to Slater.
You can be sure that with this kind of intelligence services access, the Tories are running black lists of names in every part of NZ society.
[lprent: I have moved this to OpenMike as being a thread rapidly becoming unrelated to the post. ]
Peter Dunne, associate Minister of Health from 2005 to 2013? Say it ain’t so. Boy, has he got some big decisions to make tonight. Deny, bluster and threaten to sue or wave bye bye to Ohariu. Gone in a puff of smoke?
lol hacked. The website was left open by a bug, which promptly got fixed.
[lprent: A statement that isn’t related to either the post, nor to the comment you responded to. Why? Are you looking for a ban for trolling off-topic? ]
The Prime Minister’s office hacked into Labour’s servers, obtaining information about its donors and membership, passed the information onto Cameron Slater and then lied about it.
[lprent: Apologies. You are correct, I thought you were referring to Slaters system being hacked rather than the NZLP.
BTW: The NZLP site wasn’t left open by a “bug”. It was obviously left open by someone deleting the Document page that protected the site and leaving the default file indexing on, which left the sites files visible. It was just stupid and something that most people using apache have managed to do at some point in time.
Unfortunately that default configuration was a flaw (the old design docs for apache made the quite clear). However it was a deliberate flaw that took more than a decade to get corrected. ]
So if you leave your back door open one day – and I go inside and read all your mail and take copies in order to embarrass you at some point – that’s totally ok is it?
Suicide and political regime in New South Wales and Australia during the 20th century
Snip: “A nation’s suicide rate increases under right-wing governments according two studies that have looked at Australia and Britain over the past century.
Alienation and isolation may run higher in societies driven by competitive market forces, suggest the teams behind the findings. Left-wing rule, focusing more on equality, might put people under less pressure.
Governments should consider their role in public health beyond spending, says social scientist Mary Shaw of the University of Bristol, UK. “We need to look not just at the immediate biomedical factors affecting health, but also how we organize society,” she says.
In New South Wales, Australia, suicides soared when federal and state governments were Conservative, a team at the University of Sydney has found. They were lowest when the Labour Party ruled both.”
Do you know anything about the hacking of Labour’s computers, Lprent?
Not particularly. I asked a couple of non-tech people inside Labour afterwards. Their description of what happened is characteristic. I have set up a lot of IIS, nginx and apache2 servers including this one (many times).
Default Settings
This section explains configuration of the Apache2 server default settings. For example, if you add a virtual host, the settings you configure for the virtual host take precedence for that virtual host. For a directive not defined within the virtual host settings, the default value is used.
The DirectoryIndex is the default page served by the server when a user requests an index of a directory by specifying a forward slash (/) at the end of the directory name.
For example, when a user requests the page http://www.example.com/this_directory/, he or she will get either the DirectoryIndex page if it exists, a server-generated directory list if it does not and the Indexes option is specified, or a Permission Denied page if neither is true. The server will try to find one of the files listed in the DirectoryIndex directive and will return the first one it finds. If it does not find any of these files and if Options Indexes is set for that directory, the server will generate and return a list, in HTML format, of the subdirectories and files in the directory. The default value, found in /etc/apache2/mods-available/dir.conf is “index.html index.cgi index.pl index.php index.xhtml index.htm”. Thus, if Apache2 finds a file in a requested directory matching any of these names, the first will be displayed.
Cheers. I’m not super computer-literate, but I see how that would work. Also painfully evident from the extracts I’ve seen that National lied egregiously about what they did with it.
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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 ...
The PSA have released a survey of 4000 public service workers showing that budget cuts are taking a toll on the wellbeing of public servants and risking the delivery of essential services to New Zealanders. Economists predict that figures released this week will show continued increases in unemployment, potentially reaching ...
The Prime Minister’s speech 10 days or so ago kicked off a flurry of commentary. No one much anywhere near the mainstream (ie excluding Greens supporters) questioned the rhetoric. New Zealand has done woefully poorly on productivity for a long time and we really need better outcomes, and the sorts ...
President Trump on the day he announced tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China, unleashing a shock to supply chains globally that is expected to slow economic growth and increase inflation for most large economies. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 9 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 3Politics: New Zealand Government cabinet meeting usually held early afternoon with post-cabinet news conference possible at 4 pm, although they have not been ...
Trump being Trump, it won’t come as a shock to find that he regards a strong US currency (bolstered by high tariffs on everything made by foreigners) as a sign of America’s virility, and its ability to kick sand in the face of the world. Reality is a tad more ...
A listing of 24 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 26, 2025 thru Sat, February 1, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
What seems to be the common theme in the US, NZ, Argentina and places like Italy under their respective rightwing governments is what I think of as “the politics of cruelty.” Hate-mongering, callous indifference in social policy-making, corporate toadying, political bullying, intimidation and punching down on the most vulnerable with ...
If you are confused, check with the sunCarry a compass to help you alongYour feet are going to be on the groundYour head is there to move you aroundSo, stand in the place where you liveSongwriters: Bill Berry / Michael Mills / Michael Stipe / Peter Buck.Hot in the CityYesterday, ...
Shane Jones announced today he would be contracting out his thinking to a smarter younger person.Reclining on his chaise longue with a mouth full of oysters and Kina he told reporters:Clearly I have become a has-been, a palimpsest, an epigone, a bloviating fossil. I find myself saying such things as: ...
Warning: This post contains references to sexual assaultOn Saturday, I spent far too long editing a video on Tim Jago, the ACT Party President and criminal, who has given up his fight for name suppression after 2 years. He voluntarily gave up just in time for what will be a ...
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 global warming ...
Our low-investment, low-wage, migration-led and housing-market-driven political economy has delivered poorer productivity growth than the rest of the OECD, and our performance since Covid has been particularly poor. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty this ...
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.As far as major government announcements go, a Three Ministers Event is Big. It can signify a major policy development or something has gone Very Well, or an absolute Clusterf**k. When Three Ministers assemble ...
One of those blasts from the past. Peter Dunne – originally neoliberal Labour, then leader of various parties that sought to work with both big parties (generally National) – has taken to calling ...
Completed reads for January: I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson The Black Spider, by Jeremias Gotthelf The Spider and the Fly (poem), by Mary Howitt A Noiseless Patient Spider (poem), by Walt Whitman August Heat, by W.F. Harvey Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White The Shrinking Man, by Richard Matheson ...
Do its Property Right Provisions Make Sense?Last week I pointed out that it is uninformed to argue that the New Zealand’s apparently poor economic performance can be traced only to poor regulations. Even were there evidence they had some impact, there are other factors. Of course, we should seek to ...
Richard Wagstaff It was incredibly jarring to hear the hubris from the Prime Minister during his recent state of the nation address. I had just spent close to a week working though the stories and thoughts shared with us by nearly 2000 working people as part of our annual Mood ...
Odd fact about the Broadcasting Standards Authority: for the last few years, they’ve only been upholding about 5% of complaints. Why? I think there’s a range of reasons. Generally responsible broadcasters. Dumb complaints. Complaints brought under the wrong standard. Greater adherence to broadcasters’ rights to freedom of expression in the ...
And I said, "Mama, mama, mama, why am I so alone"'Cause I can't go outside, I'm scared I might not make it homeWell I'm alive, I'm alive, but I'm sinking inIf there's anyone at home at your place, darlingWhy don't you invite me in?Don't try to feed me'Cause I've been ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ star is on the rise, having just added the Energy, Local Government and Revenue portfolios to his responsibilities - but there is nothing ambitious about the Government’s new climate targets. Photo: SuppliedLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
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 ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the new membership of the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control (PACDAC), who will serve for a three-year term. “The Committee brings together wide-ranging expertise relevant to disarmament. We have made six new appointments to the Committee and reappointed two existing members ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora, good morning, talofa, malo e lelei, bula vinaka, da jia hao, namaste, sat sri akal, assalamu alaikum. It’s so great to be here and I’m ready and pumped for 2025. Can I start by acknowledging: Simon Bridges – CEO of the Auckland ...
The Government has unveiled a bold new initiative to position New Zealand as a premier destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) that will create higher paying jobs and grow the economy. “Invest New Zealand will streamline the investment process and provide tailored support to foreign investors, to increase capital investment ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced the largest reset of the New Zealand science system in more than 30 years with reforms which will boost the economy and benefit the sector. “The reforms will maximise the value of the $1.2 billion in government funding that goes into ...
Turbocharging New Zealand’s economic growth is the key to brighter days ahead for all Kiwis, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. In the Prime Minister’s State of the Nation Speech in Auckland today, Christopher Luxon laid out the path to the prosperity that will affect all aspects of New Zealanders’ lives. ...
The latest set of accounts show the Government has successfully checked the runaway growth of public spending, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. “In the previous government’s final five months in office, public spending was almost 10 per cent higher than for the same period the previous year. “That is completely ...
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A few people may be interested in this Vote Switching analysis.
http://www.colmarbrunton.co.nz/index.php/polls-and-surveys/political-polls/vote-switching-analysis-2014
Interesting where the undecideds are coming from.
You say on your blog that vote switch polls may actually be designed to increase undecided voters? I guess everyone has an angle. Yours is pretty obscure though, it’s not even like an ad for ice cream that blinks so fast people go into epileptic shock. Most guys who support the incumbent party just shout something like, “You guys are losing there is no hope!” then leave. Your angle is far more subtle. I like it, but it appeals to a small fragment of the available voters who are unlikely to be reading this blog. Have you taken a poll on how effective it is to suggest people become undecided, from non-poll obsessed people, taking into account the likely no response rate to questions likely to result in no response? I am totally standing by my phone waiting for your call. Speak to you around 6pm then?
Maybe you see my angle as ‘pretty obscure’ because I’m a Labour/Green supporter.
Aside from that, I have no idea what you’re talking about.
The defence for the South Canterbury Finance case has prised the lid a little on the reasons for Bill English allowing SCG into the Retail Deposit Guarantee Scheme… http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/10376937/Defence-slates-inept-SFO-inquiry-into-SCF
SCF should never have been let in, or kept in, and Bill English knows this. This is the bigger fraud – the biggest in NZ;s history, and carried out by Bill English and his cohort John Key. The Crown, in its case against the defendants, has gone to great lengths and efforts to thwart any investigation into the reasons for SCF being let in. They have actively avoided and diverted enquiries away from this very issue. Evidence for this is provided ….
“What we now know is that these people were never questioned by the SFO about their entrance into the Crown Deed of Guarantee”
and
“”The most alarming example of the deficiency of the SFO’s investigation concerns the charge concerning the Crown Deed of Guarantee”
and
“Equally disturbing is that when interviewed, none of the defendants was asked about the entry into the Crown Deed of Guarantee – they were simply charged with the biggest fraud in New Zealand’s history without ever being given the chance to explain what had in fact happened back in 2008 and the role they had played”
and
“Neither Treasury nor the Reserve Bank were asked to provide any of their analysis into SCF. It was left to defence to find three key documents, recording the reason why SCF was admitted into the scheme”
and
“Key witnesses were not interviewed, including Treasury secretary John Whitehead, who was the gateholder to the scheme.”
and finally
“The Crown’s case had shifted from causing the $1.58b payout by getting into the scheme using inaccurate information to getting into the scheme earlier than it otherwise would. “It is now said that the inaccurate information provided by SCF merely avoided a delay of an unspecified length.” ”
..
I tells ya – this is the shit that stinks. SCF should never had been let in but Bill English wanted to ensure his type of people were looked after.
It was fraud. These defence statements provide a great big whiff of the stench and fraud of this government.
When will it ever be investigated?
Just hanging out the clothes after checking The Standard, and while doing so thought to myself – why didn’t we ever get any investigative articles into the bailout of SCF – considering they did not meet the criteria?
… came in and found your comment – and hope the MSM reading this pick up and run with it.
I agree with your “SCF should never had been let in but Bill English wanted to ensure his type of people were looked after.” comment. It is what I’ve always felt what the reasoning behind this bailout.
I remember Bill English looking petrified when delivering the news to camera that day. And you’re right, just looking after his kind of people.
what was particularly puke-inducing was every financial-adviser in town..despite there being wide knowledge of how shaky/shonky s.c.f.was..
..them all advising their clients to pile into sth canterbury..
..’cos it didn’t matter about the rumours/impending-failure..
..’cos their investment was govt-guaranteed..
..it was money in the bank..
..so those snickering elites did just that..they took the taxpayers of nz outside for a good fucking..
..the other takeaway from that clusterfuck..
..is one to throw in the face of racist-ratbags..
..namely..that more money was paid out to those greedy/stealing investors..
..than had been paid out in all treaty settlements to date..
..that’s a fact that’s best not to forget..
..it does so put things into some perspective..i find..
+1 phillip
…Bad
…when he was good he was bad12
…when he was bad he was very bad indeed
…whatev you *#!%&! get those flyers out and lets win this election
…that would be very good
saw internet mana party last night in dunedin, great speakers, good crowd of people, smiles & laughter. am very encouraged.
Going straight to the people is the way to proceed in this election, circumvent the machine wherever possible. Sometimes a bit of leadership is all it takes–it is OK to take action–FJK
Labour are getting out and about too with the big red bus, partner is doing a day on it as a volunteer. It will be ending up at Henderson nightmarkets on Friday around 7pm for any Westies in the area to come and support.
Jeepers – a few days ago my laptop began whineing – this was after it kept cutting out when trying to watch videos – I tried the old ignore and it will fix itself trick – nah – so I had to take some time out – I didn’t want to but it has been good although a bit shocked to see that bad is banned for life now – oh well.
I am loving this election 🙂
Good that you are back. The machines try to rule us.
“.. a bit shocked to see that bad is banned for life now…”
..+ 1..
As has already been mentioned, anyone lamenting bad’s banning should consider that there are a (growing) number of unpublished comments by him which are openly abusive. Phrases like “two bit gutter trash” are among the mildest of the crap bad has thrown at Standard moderators over the past two days.
can we know what the original ban from you..which set him off..was for..?
I resent your statement that my actions “set him off”. bad was given multiple moderator warnings and deliberately chose to post personal abuse at me and was banned for doing so.
weka has linked to the relevant comments at 5.4 below. Read it yourself.
no..i went to that link..that doesn’t have what he said..there is only him saying he shouldn’t respond to you because he cd get banned..
..his response to your retraction-demand (in link)..that he got banned for..that has been redacted..
..are we able to know what that was..?
..as an object-lesson..?..if nothing else..
.and maybe a modicum of justice being seen to be done..?
[Stephanie: No, phillip. I’m not going to repeat the abusive, misogynist crap bad posted at me just to “prove” to you that “justice was done”. You can either accept that bad crossed a line, despite being warned multiple times and despite playing the martyr when he was warned about his behaviour, or you can not, but continuing to imply that I am to blame for bad’s wilful abusiveness is a seriously stupid move on your part.]
Bad calling Lynn, in his moderator role, an impotent little prick is still visible. Does that not tell you enough?
That link also shows bad12 referring to a couple of days ago when he was warned and he commented that he was aware of the implications of the warning. You can find that pretty easily along with the rest of the context that day.
It never ceases to amaze me that people on the internet don’t get moderation 101: my blog, my rules. Instead many people seem to think that blogs/forums etc should operate according to their own mores instead of the mores of the people that run the site. This despite the fact that the internet has always operated by moderation 101. Pretty much like everywhere else, when in Rome do as the Romans do.
I think that newbies can get caught out on ts sometimes by the moderation styles, but there is no way in hell that bad didn’t know what he was doing.
Hi Stephanie. I’m sorry that you have been abused, it’s uncalled for, and never ever excusable. I hope you’re feeling ok, I wouldn’t be if I had copped such abuse.
Knowing bad, I can only imagine the unpublish-able stuff would have been………..very bad.
I would like to see him back in the future, if he can temper that antagonism. He does have a keen eye for political manipulations and I have taken on board some of his wiser observations. Some “theory” I disagreed with wholeheartedly (like the Pike River non existent “insurance job” which I thought was an insulting suggestion that disrespected the dead and their loved ones), some I ignored but I did appreciate his quirky grumpy ways most of the time.
Kia Kaha
I am quite disappointed that bad12 has been banned for whatever reason. He is a brilliant writer, funny and with good analytical skills. Too bad that in his enthusiasm for politics and his dear causes, at times his abuse/swear words was too crass and over the top.
May be he is depressed, unwell, upset about something or something else is going on in his life.
We all make mistakes. Egos can cause chaos and destroy people.
Perhaps there could be an amicable privately conducted correspondence to settle the issue, forget and forgive, have this ban revoked and make a fresh start.
That is how I feel anyway.
[Stephanie: bad was not banned “for whatever reason”. He was openly and aggressively abusive to multiple moderators of this site. He threatened to continue to troll this site under new pseudonyms if banned. He posted at least a dozen further abusive comments after being banned and clearly has no desire for an “amicable” “fresh start”.
This conversation has been entirely played out and I must ask that no further comments be posted which question the decision of moderators to ban a clearly abusive troll.]
+1 Clem. I’ve never been overly offended to my knowledge by bad12’s stuff.
Time-soakers like Pete George, fisiani and srylands, with their multitude of posts irritate me more. Maybe a limit on the number of posts/day would be an idea, though probably impractical.
[Stephanie: It would really pay to read what the moderators have said on this matter. It is irrelevant if you, personally, were never “overly offended” by his comments because you, personally, weren’t being subjected to personal abuse.
bad12 was not banned because he was “irritating”. He was banned for being abusive, as detailed in many places on this thread.]
@Bearded Git 2.47
But bad did go in for a multitude of posts quite often. Just like the others you mention, and longer than them too. I don’t see TS as regarding itself as a place for someone to have bad tempered spats with other commenters. It’s lively but bad pushed the limits. I gave up when he was rude when I suggested something that I thought he would have been interested in.
It’s a pity that he can’t control his aggressive language but I don’t think he will ever do that and ends up as disruptive as any RW troll, yet with a left slant.
I’m not lamenting just noting that in a few days a lot can change. He knew the rules and abused a moderator and unpleasantly misrepresented their views so he got what was coming to him.
As you can see from phillip’s comments above, there are people who refuse to accept that bad did anything that bad …
I’m sorry you received that abuse. Kia kaha.
could you plse stop putting words into my mouth..
..i said/inferred no such thing..
..i fully accept that he nutted off..and said all that shit..
..what puzzles me..and no doubt others..is that he is/was so practised at walking that fine line..
..so the puzzlement is about what was the trigger..
(it didn’t happn in a vaccuum..)
..not everything that came afterwards..
..that is all i was asking..
..but as asking draws threats of being banned..
.. the power-imbalance in this conversation is such i must withdraw..
..so forget i even asked…eh..?
Stop playing such a bloody martyr, phillip. All the links are up there for you to make whatever guesses you like. Maybe bad can’t handle being told “no” by a woman. Certainly he was holding a grudge over our previous conversations about abortion rights.
Demanding proof of the “justification” for bad’s banning, and insisting that we talk about the “trigger” for his behaviour is nothing more than making excuses for abuse.
He did and wrote stuff for which many that support the Right have suffered bans.
Not just the Right-wing but also those on the Left. Lprent uses Equal Opportunity Excessive Moderation 😈
I was t7rying to convey that
MM
The thing that surprised me was that bad12 appears to banned from even reading the site (until he changes his ISP anyway). However it did seem to be richly deserved. Anyway, I imagine that he will be included in the post-election amnesty, so; “banned for life”, may not be as long as it sounds.
[lprent: He was banned for attacking authors in the crudest terms.
He got banned from reading the site to make the point. That was because he started channelling Gollum in the auto-spam like this. That puts him in the dad4justice league of people who get removed from the site.
But I see that he leaked through a comment this morning. I’ll have a look at the logs and firewall shortly to see how that happened. ]
Lynn,
I noticed yesterday that when I tried to read TS from home I was redirected to a “lad’s mag” site (only for a couple of minutes).
Would that be a little bit of “banned from reading” collateral damage? 🙂
I figured it was probably a tory hacker until I read the self-immolation thread.
Bad12 has been building up to it. What surprises me isn’t the ban, but that he knowingly did the very specific things to get himself not just a short ban but a permanent one. I think the place would be better for him having some time off, he was getting less legible and more antagonistic recently, but am sad that he has gone permanently. He often brought in on to it perspectives.
Here’s the context if anyone wants to see it.
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-12082014/#comment-864456
yeah, I suspect he has other issues going on at the moment.
If so, I hope they get worked out ok.
My thoughts too, on both counts.
I’m sad to see bad12 go. He said a lot of useful stuff, which I think will be missed. His personal attacks on people and over the top abuse won’t be missed by me at all.
As for the election – after Nicky Hager’s book, September 20 will tell us what sort of people we are as a whole. If we vote Key back in, that will mean that we think filth like Whalespew have an important place in our formal democracy. It will mean that we don’t care how a PM maintains power, as long as he looks after the material interests of the 1% and lets us all believe we have a chance to join them.
I never thought we were like that, and I still hope most of us aren’t.
Press Release from Jane Kelsey, on how the US redrafts legislation for other countries via trade agreements – and is likely to be able to do it for NZ’s leglislation via TPPA.
TPPA’s dirty little secret:
Wayne says it’s okee dokke… the TPP, Jane just researches the TPP…
Key distracts, first the teapot sideshow, now the drunks shouting f.j.k. But I was thinking, isn’t it a mistake for Key to highlight drinking problems. I mean he’s pro-alcohol industry. How does coming off as a prude about alcohol, how he’s no boozy. That might get out. That he doesn’t. He owns the wine company but doesn’t drink excessively. What has this got to do with TPP? Well big alcohol is a global businesses, even our local breweries have foreign investors. So here’s the risk, that Kiwis wake up one day to the extortion of a TPP and realize that not only would they not drink excessively anymore, but when they did they would buy locally owned brew.
All works of humans have risks, neo-liberalism caused the GFC, TPP will cause huge loses when the profits start flowing out due to hidden legal extortion’s in the legislation become public. So why do they keep producing bad law, bad practice, shit in the rivers. Because they make their money on the margin. Key was a money broker after all. The neo-liberalism produce his ilk. TPP does not serve the interests of free trade, or NZ, and should it become law as stated above, I believe many politicians should be prosecuted for treason.
Lucky Key will however be living in Hawaii in his mansion, in the boss-um of beast so to speak.
you mean like when he pretended to vote to raise the drinking age…. but hadnt voted to increase.
sharp as a tack our john key. a bright mind… until he became a MP and he suddenly deteriorated.
Its worse. People should realize he owns a wine company, or has a wine name after him, or something. Why would you drink more excessively than your politicians? Do they want us to be to drunk to notice what they get up to. Now Muldoon was straight up, straight boozed up and nobody could probably keep up. But why would breweries want the idea getting out that politicians aren’t drinking, least consumers start cutting back too. When did you last see Key, or Whyte, slurring their word, or having a little wobble as they made their way to the podium.
Its just wrong. I’m cutting back starting right now. Until I see my politicians getting legless again, its not going to happen to me or mine. Key wants us all drunk and stupefied.
key is such a slimeball
“Key said he had drawn a “natural conclusion” when young people in the effigy-burning video were chanting the same thing as students at an Internet-Mana Party event. However, he was happy to accept he had been wrong.”
yep fuck john key is hardly ever heard in the streets, but wait there’s more
“”The picture of my face that was burnt as part of the effigy looked extremely similar to the one I saw in the previous Dotcom video,” Key said.”
umm it was off your election material I think there key
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10373743/Dotcom-effigy-video-links-logical-Key
Running scared, they will say and do anything to retain power – lying is the least of our worries.
The guy trying (and failing) to defend his actions helpfully put up pictures of his tickets to the party party so theres a decent link between them
But then no one ever suggested IMP supporters were intelligent
chuck the link up old chap there’s a good fellow
No point, the proof is some screen shots from the guys facebook account that whaleoil posted and as we all know the posters on here get an attack of the vapours and have to rush to their perfumed hankies whenever whaleoils mentioned
[lprent: The odour of untreated arsecrack is a bit overwhelming otherwise. ]
and he would never lie or deliberately break a law now would he, oh wait a minute…. you agree with hispolitical views so his behaviour is just fine by you, and you rely on him for some of your information upon which to form your vote
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/4127070/Whale-Oil-blogger-Cameron-Slater-guilty
so let’s pop off the “but but vandalizing billboards is illegal” and “if an IMP supporter or 500 says fuck john key then a burning effigy must be by the same people” high horse shall we.
Contempt of court, tracey? You don’t say.. That is certainly one of the more serious crimes in the land…. isn’t it.
And did you say he is decrying youthful amendments of election billboards with spraypaint?
Is he trying to equate the two? Surely not. For his own credibility of course……
I only know what slater is saying by those who come panting over here posting it as their latest piece of fact or gold
So he got charged, found guilty, convicted, paid his debt to society and now is vigilant about people breaking name suppression
This is a bad thing how exactly?
what is this thing you hu-mons call “hypocrisy”?
so you agree kdc criminal convictions are behind him now and irrelevant to current behaviour?
http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2014/08/explaining-really-losing-ethan-bryant/
Also
http://www.oninstagram.com/profile/esbmediaethan
So planned as well
That just proves he had nothing to do with the IMP so fail there you big puck.
No but it proves theres more then a casual link
No it doesn’t prove that at all – lol – or is it because he went to a party? Seriously, that is weak.
If your “connection” is that he went to a party, that’s pretty much the definition of “casual link”.
Also, what does it say about Key’s casual links? Guess he now has to be held to account for the actions of everyone who votes national, writes on blogs for them, or goes to all black games.
Also also, real nice of you to leap all over the guy’s mum for no reason at all. Nasty little Govt-sanctioned brownshirt fascist creeps.
Well imitation is the greatest form of flattery.
http://www.burningman.com/
So the links between Key and WO mean Key approves of WO’s crusade against muslims I suppose.
WO links to various neo-fascist stuff on Islam. I guess this is why National mouthpieces have been going hard calling people fascist then. Chilling stuff.
He may do but fortunately thats not the line being pushed in the msm
You like fascists then huh. Rightio.
Nope but I do like John Key as leader of the country
Umm,,, you do realise you can dislike Islam and not be a neo-fascist don’t you? You can also link to an article that may be hosted by someone with neo-fascist views but that does not make the article neo-fascist and nor by extension does that make you one. I would draw you a Venn diagram to illustrate this but I’m not sure you would comprehend even if I did.
Go ahead and draw it up. Slater, Lusk, and Ede go in the middle section.
Sure, but if you link to stuff about Islam being an existential threat to our way of life, and talking about the terribel effects of immigration and how Islam is a cancerous thing that western values can;t deal with blah blah, an how liberal elites just don’t get it blah blah…
…then the similarity between that stuff and how fascists used to talk about Jews kinda screams out. And when you link to Marine le Pen, then shit, it isn’t your opponents who have any explaining to do.
Except anti-Jewish views are based more on race. I have no problem with secular Arabs or even religious ones who accept their faith should not interfere with the wider public sphere. I do have an issue with the mainstream view of Islam where upon there is no separation of religion from governance and the unequal treatment of non Muslims as a result of attempting to implement this view.
Cool story bro.
Most religions take that view Gossipman the Elusive Brethren especially!
” I would draw you a Venn diagram to illustrate this but I’m not sure you would comprehend even if I did.”
… I’m guessing Felix’s comment to you yesterday re Venn diagrams hit a sensitive nerve.
Good to see you have used such stellar material, but you should really give credit for this comeback to the author who introduced you to it yesterday – take a bow Felix, for providing Gosman with a better turn of phrase than the usual.
People can ask what they like or they can make up their own minds about things whether they be right or wrong but it doesn’t mean I have to answer everything especially when I think its pointless and adds nothing to the thread
Odd. You don’t normally offer anything to the thread so I struggle to see why you’d start being concerned about it now?
that’s the thing about tories – they steal the language of the left and use it to continue their oppression 🙂
John Key says drunken students shouting f.j.k is part of
a loathsome dirty tricks campaign. I thought he was pro-alcohol,
why the turn around? Does he hate booze now? Are opposition using
booze to attack Key, how can Key stop them without coming across
as attack on big alcohol. Oh, the evil b*st***s
Wow. Just watched a replay of David Cunliffe this morning on TV3. He is so good.
http://www.3news.co.nz/Govts-education-plans-privatisation-by-stealth—Cunliffe/tabid/1607/articleID/356624/Default.aspx
No wonder Hooten keeps promoting David Shearer as leader. Can you imagine how awful Shearer would have been in these interviews. Labour would have had no show.
that is a good interview..
..and i have shared that thought re shearer over recent days..
..labour/the progressive cause missed a bullet there..
..he will be fine as a minister..but as party leader..?.
no..no…no….no..
Yep it was a very good interview, and not the only one.
It’d be nice if Labour could capitalise on his talents by putting his face on the billboards.
Nice! Like!
Good stuff!
Agreed karen-this is why NZ Herald, DomPost, Hooton, Gower etc ad infinitum tried to destroy Cunliffe before the campaign.
They failed, and even Chris Trotter has come round to the fact that Cunliffe might now win this. See his latest at:
http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz/2014/08/we-have-lift-off-some-thoughts-on.html
Karen
Thanks for the link. He’s good! Very good.
James Allan’s Democracy in Decline is now available in Auckland Libraries (Well, it will be as soon as I finish reading it 😀 )
To tide you over here’s a video of his NZ tour.
Always curious about how our culture believes in a hierarchy of human pain, and presumably, if you’re further up the hierarchy, no one else’s pain counts. It’s like trading kid’s fantasy game cards. You got beat up? Well I got run over, twice, so shut up I win the attention!
Simonne Butler has written a book about her younger years and about knowing Antoine Dixon, just before he attacked her with a sword. She says of her book, “A lot of people would come across me who had way less crap in their lives and they’re letting it drag them down and nothing drags me down, nothing ever has, and that is very helpful to people…It’s full of violence. My hands getting chopped off was just one bad day in my life. I was getting beaten up every other day. For everyone else that was this really bad thing, but for me it was just one more day in my life.”
Where on the hierarchy of pain does defacing election signs lie? What about having to share your neighbourhood with poor people? What about having the grass on the city berms grow a bit too long? What about depression?
If general impressions are true, all those things are much further down the scale. I was just wondering what Ms. Butler would have said to Robin Williams a few weeks ago, had they met – would he be dead today? Would she point out the fantastic life he had despite his pain, compared to hers, and that would inspire him to buck up, harden up, grow a thick skin or whatever it is you’re meant to do to “get over yourself” and come to believe that everyone is exactly the same, mentally and emotionally, as the next person? Or would she say, “Hey Robin, you know if all indicators are correct, life isn’t the end. There could be better comedy material in death than in life. You’ll do what’s right for you.” And maybe he would have used the reply he once said his Father liked to use for stupid ideas, and said, “Hmmm. Interesting concept.” and then gone ahead and done whatever he was always going to do, as his own reality dictated.
Butler says she was young and dumb, a bit stupid. Life requires all types, and being able to think can drag a person down. Ms. Butler doesn’t let anything drag her down and hopefully for her she’ll continue along that path. She’s created quite the conundrum for me, though. If I buy her book it might encourage her to keep writing, but writing usually involves thinking and then she’ll lose the shield of ignorance and things will start to drag her down. If I don’t buy her book, she might wonder why and start to think and get all down about it, or she won’t, and she’ll move on with life. So possibly the problem isn’t the book, or the thinking. The problem might be that most people look for validation of their personal worth from outside circumstances or achievements.
So bear in mind today, if you have no food in the house, no money, are ill, jobless, about to be evicted; maybe you’re about to release your book, or someone just done wrote over John Key’s face; at least you still have your hands and no one has beaten you up. Quit your whining and think of the children in Africa. They don’t even have pictures of John Key.
Remember that despite your problems, right now, somewhere inside, somewhere deep deep inside, (and if you’re voting Right this Spring…) somewhere way way waaaay deep down near your hidden core, somewhere no one can see or know about, you’re good enough. Whatever it is that keeps your heart beating is the ultimate validation. Rich or poor, Dark or Light, man or woman, healthy or not, whether you acknowledge it or not, it’s the same unconditional power.
An interesting article from Bill English where he states that we don’t need to worry about Chinese buying our dairy farms because they are hopeless businesses, and sooner or later they will realise this and sell up.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/dairy/10372225/Pengxin-may-not-survive-Bill-English.
Amazingly it goes completely against what Fonterra is saying about the future of the Dairy industry.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/dairy/10373405/Marginal-return-on-milk-solids-argument-flawed
Isn’t DAIRY FARMING at the centre of National’s economic development plan…must be some ammo in this. National really have no fuckin idea what they are doing, nor do the 46% people voting for them.
I’m no friend of David Clark; Labour electorate MP for Dunedin North, which is why I feel it important to note when he gets something right:
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/312430/too-few-nurses-mp
I have talked to nurses over the past year who are utterly frustrated with the shortsighted costcutting of SDHB management. The long hours shift work make regular life very difficult, especially when you factor in the exhaustion from excessive workload. But the most telling sign of contempt for ED nurses, and wider community health, is this measure that is still being bitterly fought (despite what this article and the Nurse’s own union claim):
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/309610/some-nurses-unwilling-wash-uniforms
Note that this is at one of the country’s leading teaching hospitals. So that these penny pinching measures will become the norm across the entire health system as University & Polytech graduates disperse throughout the country.
Dunedin North’s other leading electorate MP candidate; Woodhouse of the Nats, has no problem with any of this so long as the numbers look good on paper. But then, he is often seen as a parliamentary representative of the private-health industry, and shares responsibility in the long project of undermining the ACC:
One nurse to three patients seems like a low ratio for an emergency department. I was in a transplant ward in Brisbane for a while recently, and their ratio was one to two. In Emergency I assume it would be higher. One to ten is asking for disaster. It’s good to see the Labour guy taking a stand. I can’t see the Tories being interested in much more than the cut of the nurses’ uniforms.
This is fascinating if you are interested in peak oil, climate change or economics.
A highlight for me:
“The major companies are struggling to find viable reserves, forcing them take on ever more leverage to explore in marginal basins, often gambling that much higher prices in the future will come to the rescue. Global output of conventional oil peaked in 2005 despite huge investment…..The International Energy Agency in Paris says global investment in fossil fuel supply rose from $400bn to $900bn during the boom from 2000 and 2008, doubling in real terms. It has since levelled off, reaching $950bn last year. The returns have been meagre. Not a single large oil project has come on stream at a break-even cost below $80 a barrel for almost three years.”
It’s all here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/11024845/Oil-and-gas-company-debt-soars-to-danger-levels-to-cover-shortfall-in-cash.html
http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2014/08/internet-party-vote-winning-strategy-harassing-blacks/
puck that is pretty confused – may be dan, may not be, and apart from that crucial information the actual content is uncontroversial. Come on fella surely there are better shit storms than this out there for the right or have you lot given up .
Vote positive
http://i1.wp.com/www.whaleoil.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Mallard-Nazi.png
What’s your problem with the tweet? Seems fairly uncontroversial to me.
I’m sure you think its uncontroversial an MP linking John Key to Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini
Yep, if the comparison is appropriate.
You don’t get to go around boasting that you’ve hated unions since you were 15 and expect no-one will ever link you to others with the same views.
I think it’s more a dig at the states, and jk, being so tightly inserted into uncle sam’s corporate bum, is bound to cop it by arseociation (sic), and cop a share when the the sh!t goes down.
Edit:
Send that joke to a comedian and tell them they can use it for free as long as they donate a food basket to the sallies in Hamilton.
it isn’t funny allen sorry bub
Everyone’s a critic an all, but worry not, like the subject matter of the joke, it’s just a wise crack from a smarter arse 😉 🙂
PR get’s paid per click through for WO, so any old thing works, doesn’t matter if its relevant or making sense.
Ah of course.
Everytime you click on whaleoil I get more shares in NZs power companies
Why would anyone here want to click on waloil? We wouldn’t want to waste one grey matter cell.
Thousands still not enrolled to vote a week before deadline
http://tvnz.co.nz/politics-news/thousands-still-not-enrolled-vote-week-before-deadline-6055519
“Nearly 400,000 people may miss the chance for a quicker vote on election day if they don’t enrol in the next week.
The Electoral Commission says there are still 380,000 eligible New Zealanders who haven’t enrolled to vote on September 20”
There’s the 800,000 that didn’t vote last time, with half of them ready to go this time out, which will do nicely if they’re inclined to vote key out.
Getting more involved and participating would be nice, but even if only half of those 400k turnout on election day, that’ll see national gone before supper time.
“and over half of them are under 30.”
I was going to say it shows even 3 mil and celebrity rock ‘n roll can’t get reach kids, that or shows some kids can’t be bought by flashing lights and cult infamy smoke and mirrors, but to be fair, green or red hasn’t got them yet either, so no need for a dig for the sake of it. :halo:
at least IMP are trying – all you do is moan and spin like a trade me washing machine
When in Rome, Obelix.
Protest John Key, don’t drink, he’s the front man for big alcohol, or he thinks drunks are at the heart of a political conspiracy, whichever, its about time politicians got drunk on TV to show their do as they say not do as they do.
From the Dim-Post:
You can be sure that with this kind of intelligence services access, the Tories are running black lists of names in every part of NZ society.
[lprent: I have moved this to OpenMike as being a thread rapidly becoming unrelated to the post. ]
The book also claims they planned to attack Peter Dunne through his (alleged) secret donors from the tobacco industry.
Peter Dunne, associate Minister of Health from 2005 to 2013? Say it ain’t so. Boy, has he got some big decisions to make tonight. Deny, bluster and threaten to sue or wave bye bye to Ohariu. Gone in a puff of smoke?
lol hacked. The website was left open by a bug, which promptly got fixed.
[lprent: A statement that isn’t related to either the post, nor to the comment you responded to. Why? Are you looking for a ban for trolling off-topic? ]
Might be time to see spec savers lprent.
[lprent: Apologies. You are correct, I thought you were referring to Slaters system being hacked rather than the NZLP.
BTW: The NZLP site wasn’t left open by a “bug”. It was obviously left open by someone deleting the Document page that protected the site and leaving the default file indexing on, which left the sites files visible. It was just stupid and something that most people using apache have managed to do at some point in time.
Unfortunately that default configuration was a flaw (the old design docs for apache made the quite clear). However it was a deliberate flaw that took more than a decade to get corrected. ]
I guess them saying the website was left open (and not hacked) was the lie.
Here is what I am referring to, which is what I suspect the book is referring to.
http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2011/06/labour-leaks-how-i-did-it/
and
Hence my reference to lol hacked.
So if you leave your back door open one day – and I go inside and read all your mail and take copies in order to embarrass you at some point – that’s totally ok is it?
You really want us to take Slater’s word for something at this point, lol?
“Hence my reference to lol hacked.”
So could Joe and Joelene Blogs have accessed the data? (I assume not). Or did it need specialist knowledge? Where’s the line between hacking and not?
arrrg, comments disappearing all over the place.
Thanks lprent.
Just seen this (troll warning I guess!)
http://www.nature.com/news/2002/020920/full/news020916-17.html
Suicide and political regime in New South Wales and Australia during the 20th century
Snip: “A nation’s suicide rate increases under right-wing governments according two studies that have looked at Australia and Britain over the past century.
Alienation and isolation may run higher in societies driven by competitive market forces, suggest the teams behind the findings. Left-wing rule, focusing more on equality, might put people under less pressure.
Governments should consider their role in public health beyond spending, says social scientist Mary Shaw of the University of Bristol, UK. “We need to look not just at the immediate biomedical factors affecting health, but also how we organize society,” she says.
In New South Wales, Australia, suicides soared when federal and state governments were Conservative, a team at the University of Sydney has found. They were lowest when the Labour Party ruled both.”
In reply to http://thestandard.org.nz/cameron-slater-dirties-john-key-or-vice-versa/#comment-865694
Not particularly. I asked a couple of non-tech people inside Labour afterwards. Their description of what happened is characteristic. I have set up a lot of IIS, nginx and apache2 servers including this one (many times).
This is from the ubuntu 10.04 guide about apache2. My bold
Cheers. I’m not super computer-literate, but I see how that would work. Also painfully evident from the extracts I’ve seen that National lied egregiously about what they did with it.
Back Benches tonight.
Wednesday 10:45PM
Wallace and Damian ignite debate over Labour’s $280M plan to provide free GP visits for some. Plus, are burning effigies and racial slurs just a glimpse at the future of campaigning? PGR
Funny, no-one on your blog seems to be talking about the latest Stuff Poll.
National
55.1%
Change +0.3 pts
Labour
22.5%
Change -2.4 pts
Greens
11.3%
Change -1.1 pts
NZ First
3.4%
Change +0.8 pts