looks familiar…’The second change with personalization is that it’s not just entertainers whose PR crews carefully hone an image of ordinariness. It is now much more apparent in politicians, Nigel Farage being an obvious example. Widely publicised photographs of Farage holding a pint of beer conform to an older tradition in election-time iconography. But more sinister is his tactic of appearing humbly and “amusingly” tongue-tied at least once in most of his filmed appearances (a habit proven winsome by Bush and, subsequently, Boris Johnson).’ from a critique of R.Hoggarts…’The Uses of Literacy’.
The Herald have been pimping this finance billionaire for a while.
Now we find out that Bill English has been helping make moment of of education in New Zealand.
‘An American equity fund manager who wants to open charter schools in New Zealand was introduced to Ngai Tahu leaders by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bill English.’
This country continues to slide further and further downhill.
And the NZ education system ends up as an. If you can pay, your child will be educated system. Free education killed off within 9 years by the NACTS. Really makes me want to meet an NACT Polly in a dark alley one night. Charter Schools what a nightmare. I really do worry about what sort of world my son will grow up in.
Not sure what the link is between ‘If you can pay, your child will be educated…’ and your reference to charter schools. Charter schools are not fee paying.
Your statement that ‘Free education killed off within 9 years by the NACT’ isn’t true either. Are you claiming that state education was free at the end of the last Labour government but is fee-paying now? Really.
You also seem to have a few personal issues with aggro if you are making threats about meeting ‘an NACT Polly in a dark alley one night.’
I think posters here on the Standard have been banned for far less than threatening fellow NZers with violence.
That’s a bit harsh. 😉 Charter Schools or Partnership Schools (CS/PS) are not the issue.
Poorly planned, poorly run Charter Schools and Partnership Schools certainly are.
CS/PS ;
;receiving per child funding of up to seven times that of State Schools are a problem.
;not answerable to the same education standards as State Schools are a problem.
;not answerable to the Official Information Act are a problem.
;not answerable to the Ombudsman are a problem.
;not having to report the same information as State Schools are a problem.
But Charter Schools or Partnership Schools as an idea are fine. They already exist throughout NZ and have done so for many years in many different forms and have regularly proven to be successful and popular. Those that existed before 2008 seem to have two major differences to the new bunch though. Firstly they are more closely aligned to the reporting, standards, accountability, protocols and the funding levels of State Schools. The other, more important difference would be those Schools were set up to help educate kids, not simply profit off them.
Doctors in NZ and Australia demand transparency over the TPPA.
‘But despite a letter published today in The Lancet — and signed by 27 health leaders in Australasia as well as the US, Canada, Malaysia and Chile — Trade Minister Tim Groser this afternoon reaffirmed the Government’s stance of not releasing controversial TPP negotiating documents.’
A government of the corporates, for the corporates, by the corporates.
@Paul. Dr Monasterio has explained very clearly the potential impact of TPPA on this country in the Herald article.
“Otago University senior clinical lecturer Dr Erik Monasterio, one of the co-lead authors of the letter, claimed the agreement threatened governmental ability to deliver affordable health care and legislate to protect public health and reduce health inequities.
“And all the while, the text is shrouded in secrecy,” he said.
“The negotiations are not about the way most of us think of trade — you and me buying and selling things.
“Instead they are protecting the massive investment profits of multinational companies that are bigger than the whole New Zealand economy.”
Dr Monasterio described the TPP as “an unprecedented expansion” of intellectual property rights that would “push up the cost of affordable and life-saving medicines, hitting hardest the already vulnerable households in New Zealand and other countries such as Vietnam and Malaysia”.
He also feared governments could be sued for protecting health — but governments cannot sue back.
NZ could be sued by mining corporations if we make laws that prevent them from exploiting our environment.
Here is an example of how Investor-State Dispute Settlements work from the Canadian NAFTA experience.
“Quebec Fracking Ban Lawsuit Shows Perils Of Free Trade Deals:
OTTAWA – Free trade critics say a $250-million damage suit being pursued as a result of Quebec’s moratorium on fracking is proof Canada needs to be careful in negotiating trade pacts around the world.
The Council of Canadians, the Sierra Club and Quebec-based Eau secours say the suit by Lone Pine Resources Inc. (TSX:LPR) shows that trade deals that include investor protection clauses are a bad idea because they can prevent governments from passing laws to protect the environment.
The groups are asking Lone Pine to drop the suit before a NAFTA panel, but company president Tim Granger says he is going ahead unless Quebec lifts its moratorium on fracking for natural gas under the St. Lawrence River.
If you, like me, are concerned about the loss of sovereignty if the TPPA contains an Investor-State Dispute Settlement clause, then the following article will show you are not alone.
The following link is to a scholarly study carried out to assess the impact of ISDS rules on environmental regulation with respect to the TTIP (a parallel Trade agreement to TPPA between US and EU.)
“Investor-state Dispute Settlement under TTIP – a Risk for Environmental Regulation?”
Rules on ISDS in TTIP could have a chiling effect on environmental regulation in the EU and the US”
“The authors conclude that rules on ISDS are not necessary in an agreement between two highly evolved, rule of law legal systems. By contrast, such rules create significant risks for environmental regulation, because of the broad wording of investment rules and the largely unpredictable manner in which they are interpreted by investment tribunals. States may have to compensate investors for taking legitimate environmental measures. The study recommends not to include such rules in TTIP”
Chomsky says the US was unhappy to lose control of China in 1949 when they became independent so the US felt that they no longer controlled all of the world and now US corporations want the TTPA established mainly to isolate China and minimize its influence in the world of commerce. China is apparently not included in the TPPA even though it is a major Pacific country.
Is Chomsky wrong?
Thanks, freedom. I might have been a bit harsh calling Bomber mindless. Thoughtless might have been better. That certainly applies to his misunderstanding about the diverse nature of the authors here and his apparent belief that TS the official blog of the NZLP.
I’ve left a comment correcting Pat’s misunderstanding about POAL, EDDIE and me.
That is because he has Winston Peters doing the moderating.
He only lets a comment show after he has checked that the “grey” in your curtains matches the “grey” in your carpet.
Takes time you know.
“i want to put a short, straight forward message on it, to act as a seed in the minds of those who read it.
ideally the message would be unifying, apolitical, and not a single issue (pollution, economy, food politics.”
What is the purpose of the billboard, gsays? If it’s not political and you want it to reach everyone in a way that brings them together, what is the intended result?
hi tracey,
as bill hicks says, if we realize we are all one, we will not keep building nuclear weapons.
to get folx to aspire to higher ideals.
to perhaps get them to throw off some of their self imposed chains (money, being left or right wing, sexuality).
when we realize and act as we are one, it will not matter what lying prime ministers say and do.
1) He who dies with the most toys…
2) A life of caring is a life of meaning
3) We are stronger working together.
4) Co-operation not competition.
5) Human freedom not market freedom.
cheers freedom, i am right with you ref wtc 7, however as i have found when you dip your toes in that pool, people seem real fixed in their thinking and are quick to pigeon hole you, (and therefore ‘know’ what you are about).
i was accused of being right wing last time i was involved in a 12/9 discussion here on t.s.
“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one” (Einstein)
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started” (Mark Twain)
“If you are going through hell, keep going” (Churchill)
Depending on your size. I’m thinking you need a series of signs, with a little bit of humour and pertinent points.
An easy theme is to do it in the style of upcoming television shows, and change the sign monthly. People – even if they don’t agree – will be watching for the next one.
Eg. coming soon:
Sabin’s Heroes – with a picture of Key as Sgt. Schulz – I know nuzzink!
Groucho Marx – with sign about not wanting to be a member of the club etc.
I’ve been out shopping, and am totally non creative at present but the book covers/posters being posted pre election would have a few good ideas.
I get where you are coming from… so perhaps the most pertinent for the Manawatu crowd would be –
A Tui kind of graphic along the lines of:
Government debt:
2008 $18 billion
2015 $100 billion
Good economic manager – Yeah, right!
On reflection, that approach could be used for highlighting a number of issues.
One hour a week counted as employed – Yeah, right
Legislation pass under urgency – yeah, right
Iraq because we care – …
Dirty Politics is OK because “everyone” does it …
TPPA is secret because it is so good – …
We do not collect data on ordinary NZers – ….
I don’t ackshully remember what my office was told – ….
Gay liberation and marxism on Redline. I’ve collected the articles we’ve had on the blog together. They’re mainly about gay marriage, because that’s been the dominant issue in the three years-plus since the Redline blog started, but there’s also a feature one on the 1986 law reform and there’s also one by an Irish gay activist questioning whether gay *liberation* is served by what he sees as mimicking straight, middle class values.
Thanks Phil. Amazing collection of very significant questions. I have been trying to imagine such questions addressed to John Key but really, I come up blank. A straight answer? Never!
-reply patiently awaiting moderation of course but I will say this here & now-
I for one am very confused by the ongoing actions of TDB host. He is apparently on some crusade to attack the vitality and diversity of discussion here at The Standard. For some reason, offering a common platform to people with differing points of view is a bad thing.
Is it really so damaging to the left to admit that within its ranks are those who think hitting people solves problems? This is not exactly news!
Bomber as a passionate man with a big ego that’s been publicly humiliated by the alpha male (Lynn) and reacting in kind (or trying to). Now O’Dea taking his ban from ts personally and spreading lies and conspiracy. Macho politics, it’s probably not a bad reflection of what happens further up the chain, and it shows us how far we still have to go in terms of basic human relations and power.
“it shows us how far we still have to go in terms of basic human relations and power.” this can not be said strongly enough right now
Yet to mention it is to invite pyromaniacs to light up the tumbleweeds of opportunity rolling through this ramshackle town we call Democracy.
-Have enjoyed watching the scifi show Defiance. The community of diverse species shows humanity is basically really lousy at resolving problems of power dynamics.
I have, and always have had, had a particular distaste for Bradbury. He’s an arrogant blowhard. While Lynn is also an arrogant blowhard he is far more reasonable, approachable and allows for someone to call him an arrogant blowhard without moderating the comments out.
The site is becoming an echo chamber and has driven away a lot of good authors. and as for those stupid thumbs -i used to bother, now I just hit them randomly
There is not too many who use the alternate address, maybe a dozen a post, but the more people the merrier. Being completely independent of PG means I can call Phil and co’s distaste as they see it. 🙂
shane if you post on his site you are not ‘completely independent’ imo. I’ve had a look at the facebook page – that is a good place to get your message out. If you keep posting on petes blog I won’t read your stuff, because no matter what you are saying, where you say it matters – at least to me.
Hence the alternative location I provide as per criticisms recieved here. I chose YourNZ as it was neither left nor right, no adds, and he was supportive of my position on Medpot, I also tried at the standard etc, but no reply…. I have never met PG personally, and didn’t follow blogs until I needed to get on one, so was not privy to the stirring that occurs over here at the standard. I also have total ownership of my own material that is never edited, and can reblog to my hearts content, unlike the restrictive conditions offered when I tried to Bombers blog……………….
I’m on record campaigning for it in the 2011 election, and one condition for standing for UF was to be able to promote a cannabis debate. See Cannabis deserves a decent debate
Since then I’ve discussed possible ways to address it with Greens and with ALCP.
Perhaps you should stop making things up based on ignorance and petty prejudice.
I sounded out a wide range of people last year for a social media campaign on it. But the timing wasn’t right due to things moving the wrong way with synthetics, and no party wanted to get into it before the election.
If things keep muddling along disjointedly then we’ll arrive at the 2017 election with neither Greens not Labour wanting to risk being too strongly associated with cannabis reform, If they don’t get into Government in 2011 then it could be six years at the earliest before anything could start to happen, and without public pressure Labour/Greens are no going to rush into anything either.
So something has to be generated outside the parties to compel them to at least address medical use.
I know that all the main bloggers support change – Slater, Farrar, Brown, Bradbury and some if not most here.
Imagine what could be achieved by a non-partisan campaign being pushed across the social media spectrum.
However it’s likely too many would prefer petty personal battles rather than trying to achieve something.
To make something happen it needs concerted public pressure.
Yeah well if you don’t want to try anything different for three years and then hope something will suddenly and miraculously happen because there’s some stuff on some blogs then good luck with that.
all posts belong to TDB, no reblogging, and all must be original, so I couldnt use pre existing stuff, and seeing as the political right are the people who need there minds changed being stuck on a far left blog wouldnt suit my long term aims.
if ever the PM was simply encapsulated in his own words while showing why he his understanding of the world he lives in makes him the wrong person to lead a nation it was here
“… Key said there had been strong interest from iwi groups and he would be “amazed” if the likes of the Salvation Army were hesitant to get involved if they saw a way to make money off the investment…” stuff.co.nz 14 Feb 2015 article by hamish rutherford
note charities are legally forbidden from pursuing a profit motive. Read the Act…
Which of course none of the msm puppets pick up on and take him to task over as they lack both the knowledge and direction from their bosses to take him on.
hi tracey, “… Key said there had been strong interest from iwi groups and he would be “amazed” if the likes of the Salvation Army were hesitant to get involved if they saw a way to make money off the investment…”
this always makes me feel very uncomfortable, the kiwi build up a property portfolio and profit from being a landlord.
business wise you are discouraged from retrofitting insulation, dealing with damp rooms etc.
cue responses of ‘an insulated dry dwelling can attract a higher rental’ market driven drivel.
For rangers supporters that will always be the dream now, behind Celtic and Aberdeen if they’re lucky. Once mighty now a basket case with sharks circling.
My recent column about the growth of on-demand jobs like Uber making life less predictable and secure for workers unleashed a small barrage of criticism that workers get what they’re worth in the market.
A Forbes Magazine contributor, for example, writes that jobs exist only “when both employer and employee are happy with the deal being made.” So if the new jobs are low-paying and irregular, too bad.
Much the same argument was voiced in the late nineteenth century over alleged “freedom of contract.” Any deal between employees and workers was assumed to be fine if both sides voluntarily agreed to it.
look at what he is doing now on tdb – I’m embarrassed for him, I thought he was better than that but…
and i’m sad that a Mana spokesperson has such little idea of how to interact with this blog – it’s not that difficult really it’s not and now his personal and spokesperson ideas are not here because of what? ego? pride? fucked if I know but it is all self inflicted imo
Saying “what you do with this comment is up to you” does, however, come across as a bit of an “I dare you to ban me!!!!” given how your previous, far snider comment was, and remains, published.
[Stephanie: I’m assuming this is meant in a joking way, phil, but given our previous interactions I don’t think it’s appropriate or clear what you actually mean.]
This is utter, utter bullshit, phil. People – quite obviously given Penny’s multiple comments questioning Pat O’Dea’s ban – do not get banned merely “for disagreeing.”
And nobody would ever take your “silence” (please note, leaving snide comments is the opposite of silence) as agreeing with anything the moderators do here.
Thanks for confirming what I’ve always suspected: that you’re happy to make excuses for someone who was 100% vile, abusive, aggressive and persistent in posting abuse well past their ban date, as long as you can convince yourself and others that I ~provoked them~. Because that’s not a completely predictable method men have used for generations to shut a woman up. 🙄
My gender comes into it when there’s a clear pattern of my moderation (and other women mods, like karol) being questioned, second-guessed, and ignored while male moderators’ dictates get respected. My gender comes into it when people like you demand the publication of abusive, misogynist comments to “prove” that “justice was done” when bad12 was banned.
And my gender comes into it when there’s literally centuries’ worth of feminist thought outlining how men undermine women and blame them for men’s actions, and your comments fit all those phenomena to a T.
1.
complete absence of sound.
“sirens pierce the silence of the night”
synonyms: quietness, quiet, quietude, still, stillness, hush, tranquillity, noiselessness, soundlessness, peace, peacefulness, peace and quiet
“the sound of falling stones broke the silence of the night”
antonyms: sound, noise
the fact or state of abstaining from speech.
“Karen had withdrawn into sullen silence”
synonyms: speechlessness, wordlessness, voicelessness, dumbness, muteness; More
taciturnity, reticence, uncommunicativeness, unresponsiveness
“she was reduced to silence”
antonyms: speech, loquacity
the avoidance of mentioning or discussing something.
“politicians keep their silence on the big questions”
synonyms: secretiveness, secrecy, reticence, taciturnity, uncommunicativeness, concealment
“politicians keep their silence on the big issues”
antonyms: communication, communicativeness
a short appointed period of time during which people stand still and do not speak as a sign of respect for a dead person or group of people.
“the game was preceded by a two-minute silence in his memory”
verb
verb: silence; 3rd person present: silences; past tense: silenced; past participle: silenced; gerund or present participle: silencing
1.
cause to become silent; prohibit or prevent from speaking.
“she was silenced by the Inspector’s stern look”
synonyms: quieten, quiet, hush, shush, still; More
pedant
ˈpɛd(ə)nt/
noun
noun: pedant; plural noun: pedants
a person who is excessively concerned with minor details and rules or with displaying academic learning
Pointing out that ‘silent’ is the exact opposite of what you’ve been is not exactly a minor detail.
The “brouhaha” started with Pat making a comment in clear breach of TS policy.
Unless of course you mean I started it all by daring to publish a post which provoked the poor, innocent man into breaking the rules, and then persisting in breaking them after a moderator advised him not to. Given the tenor of every comment you’ve ever made on my moderation, I wouldn’t be surprised. 🙄
I think there is some confusion about why O’Dea got banned, and some of that confusion comes from how he got banned (the rest comes from people assuming he was banned for content, which is just daft).
Not that it matters (I don’t think it has to be visible to readers, nor that moderators have to justify decisions), and it won’t help in regards to people like phil, but it was one of the unclearer moderations I’ve seen and it took me a while to figure it out (the pattern of behaviour that prompted Lynn to ban).
Pat broke a number of rules and his tone was really offensive. And he has continued the blitzkrieg against TS over at TDB. He needs to become a bit more sensitive and discrete and needs to understand others …
I appreciate your comment, weka, but as we continue to see with clear, undeniably-breaking-the-rules-and-being-unpleasant bannings like bad12’s, some people are just determined to undermine the rules and moderation of The Standard.
They haven’t had to deal with this on the residential side yet, primarily because people can sell excess power back to the utilities at fairly high rates — a practice called net metering. But that’s hurting utilities, too, and some have tried to lower the price at which they buy back power, which has been met by furious protests from people leasing panels. If utilities lower the buyback rate too much, however, and batteries get cheap enough, people may just unplug from the grid altogether — or more likely, install systems that let them rely on it only rarely — prompting what those in the industry call “the utility death spiral.” It’s quite a bind: by fighting net metering, utilities would help make battery storage more economically viable, driving the transition to a distributed grid.
Electricity (and other network utilities) can only make a profit if they have a huge number of people paying into them decreasing the cost per customer of maintaining the generating and distributing equipment. As the utility operators try to boost or even just maintain profits they drive customers away killing their profits.
The problem though is that the community is better off with the entire population connected to the network with the ‘customers’ both feeding into the network and taking from it as it would make the network more diverse and thus more resilient. A single network also allows for better utilisation of the power generated. As a single network that is privately owned gets to set it’s own charges (monopoly power) and thus get super-profits the only option left for this single network is state owned and run as a government service. This gets the economies of scale that the network is great at providing while also protecting from the greed of the profiteers.
If the grid was Government owned and operated as a public utility, rather than a profit driven monopoly, then these developments would be applauded as they save us from building power stations, damming rivers and burning coal.
Yes and there’s billions in savings by eliminating 4 profit layers ( generator, transmission, lines, retailer) duplicated finance, maintenance, billing systems and all the management, audit, PR functions that are gorging themselves.
Do that, wave bye bye to Tiwai point encourage customer generation and we’d provide an essential utility at a much better end price.
Oz don’t think they’ll require extra gen capacity for decades and Germany has shut down 25% of its peak gas powered gen capacity as the customer generation has reduced demand that much.
You’d pay back the cost of buying back Nats flogged assets in no time at all relatively.
Thanks so much for this link. This is where people misunderstand Green policies. For example by labelling The greens loony hippies people overlook the very real advantages to themselves (if not the planet) by adopting Green technology. how hard a sell to middle NZ would the subsidising of Telsa batteries in conjunction with the solar panels? given the savings people can make, not hard at all. And installing into low income and State Homes? A no brainer, especially if we use the money from the sales of the electricity companies…
For example by labelling The greens loony hippies people overlook the very real advantages to themselves (if not the planet) by adopting Green technology.
IMO, the labeling of environmentalists as hippies and Taliban is solely to protect the old industries, especially fossil fuels, that are destroying our environment and heading us towards the extinction level event known as Climate Change.
hi draco, do you have any knowledge of how these tesla batteries differ from deep cycle batteries?
and can you explain it as you would to a 10 year old child?
ok cool, i live off grid and deep cycle battery tech hasnt moved for yonks.
the contrast between new lithium ion rechargable batteries and the last generation is remarkable. to have that appled to deep cycle batteries is exciting.
hi cr, true, true.
i have never been an early adapter (adopter?) of tech.
10 yrs time would be about time for us to change our battery bank.
no battery ever dies, they are murdered
By weakening our operating systems, encryption systems, firmware, network hardware etc for their own uses, the NSA makes all of us vulnerable to attack by hackers.
Now US cyber attacks on their enemies have taught countries like Iran how to attack the west back. As Bill Binney says – the NSA does not have a monopoly on smart people.
The Stuxnet story is worth reading… how some malware in off-the-shelf software wormed its way into Iran’s nuclear testing facilities and screwed up their research.
On “Patch Tuesday” this week, a fix was issued for an exploit that requires modifying only a single bit of the Windows operating system.
As part of our research, we revealed this privilege escalation vulnerability which, if exploited, enables a threat actor to complete control of a Windows machine. In other words, a threat actor that gains access to a Windows machine (say, through a phishing campaign) can exploit this vulnerability to bypass all Windows security measures, defeating mitigation measures such as sandboxing, kernel segregation and memory randomization.
We have verified this exploit against all supported Windows desktop versions, including Windows 10 Technical Preview.
Some very interesting trends emerging. As we become more connected we are more likely to be infected. As in the movie “The Imitation Game”, the spooks won’t let on how pwned we/they really are
Excellent article by Philip Matthews in the Dominion Post on the hazards in NZ for academics and intellectuals who speak out on issues.
Dame Anne Salmond
“This is partly because some groups with vested interests do not welcome public scrutiny of their activities and actively seek to suppress it. This happened in the Dirty Politics saga, for example.”
The following video discusses the same issue and illustrates the awesome courage of those who stand up and speak out for the public good despite knowing the dangers. Sadly David Carr died 3 hours after the interview was filmed. http://timestalks.com/laura-poitras-glenn-greenwald-edward-snowden.html
Yes across the ditch gillian triggs the human rights commmissioner has been attacked by abbotts mates at murdoch media in a cruel and personal manner, toady piers ackerman takes it down the odious route.
Her crime: putting on the agenda the torture of children by both parties when in government, which is her job.
Yep TC when I heard Abbott’s comments and I then found out what Triggs had actually said my first response was “Abbott is a complete and utter piece of doggie do and the world would be a better place if he was retired immediately and WTF was Labor doing …” [Edited before posting to remove all the swearing …]
Nothing that happens today compares with the pervasive climate of fear that we all endured during the Helengrad regime. Those were the days were you could be sacked from Government employment because of who your boyfriend voted for.
[lprent: ?link I am sure that your lack of a link to support that was significant. Offhand I can think of only one oossible, and that was simply domr right wing nutters mythic incident. It relied on a pile of repeated unsupported lying from Nationals sockpuppets. Notably from their pollster.
In fact it looked exactly like what you are doing now. If you want to replay such myths, then link to some supporting credible report so others are able to look and judge for themselves.
You have been warned about this prior to the last time I banned you for it. If I see you do this type of smear again I will ban you for double the last time I caught you doing it. I suspect it will a long ban. ]
Was that in Nazi Germany fisi? The only time I can recall it being like this in Aotearoa (apart from the current government) was back in Muldoon’s time …
A link would be helpful to bolster your claim fisiani. As I recall, someone’s press secretary resigned because of a possible conflict of interest as her bf was working for the opposition.
This is one of the many times where “experts” in economics have it all wrong, and the general public’s gut feelings about banks, debt and money are closer to the truth. Bank lending is fundamentally important to the performance of the economy, and it is also fundamentally different to lending between individuals. But mainstream economics has convinced itself of the opposite propositions—that lending (most of the time) has trivial macroeconomic implications (the exception being during a “liquidity trap”), and that bank lending to individuals is really no different to lending between individuals.
Probably one of the simpler explanations of how money works in the real world as compared to how most economists believe it works.
Jeez John Key sounded like a twerp with his “serious” voice on over his calls for war. After 6 years of nothing but child-like smart-alecery and witless jokes he has no gravitas to get even remotely close to sounding grown up.
VTO…….slow down man……all is well…….John Armstrong’s long been reckoning that the GaucheKey’s got “gravitas”. That’s good enough for me – in my scary and sadly recurring Sarah Palin incarnations. Russia “just over there” is heavy.
Warning ! This next observation is not for the ears of fizzy, alwyn, goosie, the late and lamentable ss-lands…….”gravitas” in this instance must be read thus – sort of “not too sure about that fulla” dyed-hair insurance type guy, hangin’ around the rugby club round 4.45 pm winter Saturdays. Buzzed to the point of embarrassment in all listeners, tryin’ to grease up the ‘player-of-the-day’. Or Richie McCaw as the case might be. The lust to bathe in glory ? This makes God ?
We are run by a spoilt, nouveau-riche, not handsomely literate, child. With an apparently attractive gaucheness. It’s a fucking disgrace ! Go back down the years – Clark, Bolger, (omitted Shipley, Palmer, Moore), Lange, Muldoon (yes I know – spooky) , Rowling, Kirk , Marshall, Holyoake. History has not recdorded these as dishonourable people.
There are undeniable scenarios, indicators, fuck-ups, hubris-times, to have history record that the SelfieKey set about for the corruption of our national psyche, the decency in us. For the benefit of the few. That is an ugly and unforgiveable legacy.
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The Natural Choice: As a starter for ten percent of the Party Vote, “saving the planet” is a very respectable objective. Young voters, in particular, raised on the dire (if unheeded) warnings of climate scientists, and the irrefutable evidence of devastating weather events linked to global warming, vote Green. After ...
The Government cancelled 60% of Kāinga Ora’s new builds next year, even though the land for them was already bought, the consents were consented and there are builders unemployed all over the place. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political ...
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on UnsplashEvery morning I get up at 3am to go around the traps of news sites in Aotearoa and globally. I pick out the top ones from my point of view and have been putting them into my Dawn Chorus email, which goes out with a podcast. ...
Over on Kikorangi Newsroom's Marc Daalder has published his annual OIA stats. So I thought I'd do mine: 82 OIA requests sent in 2024 7 posts based on those requests 20 average working days to receive a response Ministry of Justice was my most-requested entity, ...
Welcome to the December 2024 Economic Bulletin. We have two monthly features in this edition. In the first, we discuss what the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update from Treasury and the Budget Policy Statement from the Minister of Finance tell us about the fiscal position and what to ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have submitted against the controversial Treaty Principles Bill, slamming the Bill as a breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and an attack on tino rangatiratanga and the collective rights of Tangata Whenua. “This Bill seeks to legislate for Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles that are ...
I don't knowHow to say what's got to be saidI don't know if it's black or whiteThere's others see it redI don't get the answers rightI'll leave that to youIs this love out of fashionOr is it the time of yearAre these words distraction?To the words you want to hearSongwriters: ...
Our economy has experienced its worst recession since 1991. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, December 20 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above and the daily Pick ‘n’ Mix below ...
Twas the Friday before Christmas and all through the week we’ve been collecting stories for our final roundup of the year. As we start to wind down for the year we hope you all have a safe and happy Christmas and new year. If you’re travelling please be safe on ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the year’s news with: on climate. Her book of the year was Tim Winton’s cli-fi novel Juice and she also mentioned Mike Joy’s memoir The Fight for Fresh Water. ...
The Government can head off to the holidays, entitled to assure itself that it has done more or less what it said it would do. The campaign last year promised to “get New Zealand back on track.” When you look at the basic promises—to trim back Government expenditure, toughen up ...
Open access notables An intensification of surface Earth’s energy imbalance since the late 20th century, Li et al., Communications Earth & Environment:Tracking the energy balance of the Earth system is a key method for studying the contribution of human activities to climate change. However, accurately estimating the surface energy balance ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guests and , ...
“Like you said, I’m an unreconstructed socialist. Everybody deserves to get something for Christmas.”“ONE OF THOSE had better be for me!” Hannah grinned, fascinated, as Laurie made his way, gingerly, to the bar, his arms full of gift-wrapped packages.“Of course!”, beamed Laurie. Depositing his armful on the bar-top and selecting ...
Data released by Statistics New Zealand today showed a significant slowdown in the economy over the past six months, with GDP falling by 1% in September, and 1.1% in June said CTU Economist Craig Renney. “The data shows that the size of the economy in GDP terms is now smaller ...
One last thing before I quitI never wanted any moreThan I could fit into my headI still remember every single word you saidAnd all the shit that somehow came along with itStill, there's one thing that comforts meSince I was always caged and now I'm freeSongwriters: David Grohl / Georg ...
Sparse offerings outside a Te Kauwhata church. Meanwhile, the Government is cutting spending in ways that make thousands of hungry children even hungrier, while also cutting funding for the charities that help them. It’s also doing that while winding back new building of affordable housing that would allow parents to ...
It is difficult to make sense of the Luxon Coalition Government’s economic management.This end-of-year review about the state of economic management – the state of the economy was last week – is not going to cover the National Party contribution. Frankly, like every other careful observer, I cannot make up ...
This morning I awoke to the lovely news that we are firmly back on track, that is if the scale was reversed.NZ ranks low in global economic comparisonsNew Zealand's economy has been ranked 33rd out of 37 in an international comparison of which have done best in 2024.Economies were ranked ...
Remember those silent movies where the heroine is tied to the railway tracks or going over the waterfall in a barrel? Finance Minister Nicola Willis seems intent on portraying herself as that damsel in distress. According to Willis, this country’s current economic problems have all been caused by the spending ...
Similar to the cuts and the austerity drive imposed by Ruth Richardson in the 1990’s, an era which to all intents and purposes we’ve largely fiddled around the edges with fixing in the time since – over, to be fair, several administrations – whilst trying our best it seems to ...
String-Pulling in the Dark: For the democratic process to be meaningful it must also be public. WITH TRUST AND CONFIDENCE in New Zealand’s politicians and journalists steadily declining, restoring those virtues poses a daunting challenge. Just how daunting is made clear by comparing the way politicians and journalists treated New Zealanders ...
Dear Nicola Willis, thank you for letting us know in so many words that the swingeing austerity hasn't worked.By in so many words I mean the bit where you said, Here is a sea of red ink in which we are drowning after twelve months of savage cost cutting and ...
The Open Government Partnership is a multilateral organisation committed to advancing open government. Countries which join are supposed to co-create regular action plans with civil society, committing to making verifiable improvements in transparency, accountability, participation, or technology and innovation for the above. And they're held to account through an Independent ...
Today I tuned into something strange: a press conference that didn’t make my stomach churn or the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Which was strange, because it was about the torture of children. It was the announcement by Erica Stanford — on her own, unusually ...
This is a must watch, and puts on brilliant and practical display the implications and mechanics of fast-track law corruption and weakness.CLICK HERE: LINK TO WATCH VIDEOOur news media as it is set up is simply not equipped to deal with the brazen disinformation and corruption under this right wing ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Acting Secretary Erin Polaczuk is welcoming the announcement from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden that she is opening consultation on engineered stone and is calling on her to listen to the evidence and implement a total ban of the product. “We need ...
The Government has announced a 1.5% increase in the minimum wage from 1 April 2025, well below forecast inflation of 2.5%. Unions have reacted strongly and denounced it as a real terms cut. PSA and the CTU are opposing a new round of staff cuts at WorkSafe, which they say ...
The decision to unilaterally repudiate the contract for new Cook Strait ferries is beginning to look like one of the stupidest decisions a New Zealand government ever made. While cancelling the ferries and their associated port infrastructure may have made this year's books look good, it means higher costs later, ...
Hi there! I’ve been overseas recently, looking after a situation with a family member. So apologies if there any less than focused posts! Vanuatu has just had a significant 7.3 earthquake. Two MFAT staff are unaccounted for with local fatalities.It’s always sad to hear of such things happening.I think of ...
Today is a special member's morning, scheduled to make up for the government's theft of member's days throughout the year. First up was the first reading of Greg Fleming's Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill, which was passed unanimously. Currently the House is debating the third reading of ...
We're going backwardsIgnoring the realitiesGoing backwardsAre you counting all the casualties?We are not there yetWhere we need to beWe are still in debtTo our insanitiesSongwriter: Martin Gore Read more ...
Willis blamed Treasury for changing its productivity assumptions and Labour’s spending increases since Covid for the worsening Budget outlook. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, December 18 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above ...
Today the Auckland Transport board meet for the last time this year. For those interested (and with time to spare), you can follow along via this MS Teams link from 10am. I’ve taken a quick look through the agenda items to see what I think the most interesting aspects are. ...
Hi,If you’re a New Zealander — you know who Mike King is. He is the face of New Zealand’s battle against mental health problems. He can be loud and brash. He raises, and is entrusted with, a lot of cash. Last year his “I Am Hope” charity reported a revenue ...
Probably about the only consolation available from yesterday’s unveiling of the Half-Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) is that it could have been worse. Though Finance Minister Nicola Willis has tightened the screws on future government spending, she has resisted the calls from hard-line academics, fiscal purists and fiscal hawks ...
The right have a stupid saying that is only occasionally true:When is democracy not democracy? When it hasn’t been voted on.While not true in regards to branches of government such as the judiciary, it’s a philosophy that probably should apply to recently-elected local government councillors. Nevertheless, this concept seemed to ...
Long story short: the Government’s austerity policy has driven the economy into a deeper and longer recession that means it will have to borrow $20 billion more over the next four years than it expected just six months ago. Treasury’s latest forecasts show the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s fiscal strategy of ...
Come and join myself and CTU Chief Economist for a pop-up ‘Hoon’ webinar on the Government’s Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) with paying subscribers to The Kākā for 30 minutes at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream to watch our chat. Don’t worry if ...
In 1998, in the wake of the Paremoremo Prison riot, the Department of Corrections established the "Behaviour Management Regime". Prisoners were locked in their cells for 22 or 23 hours a day, with no fresh air, no exercise, no social contact, no entertainment, and in some cases no clothes and ...
New data released by the Treasury shows that the economic policies of this Government have made things worse in the year since they took office, said NZCTU Economist Craig Renney. “Our fiscal indicators are all heading in the wrong direction – with higher levels of debt, a higher deficit, and ...
At the 2023 election, National basically ran on a platform of being better economic managers. So how'd that turn out for us? In just one year, they've fucked us for two full political terms: The government's books are set to remain deeply in the red for the near term ...
AUSTERITYText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedMy spreadsheet insists This pain leads straight to glory (File not found) Read more ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi are saying that the Government should do the right thing and deliver minimum wage increases that don’t see workers fall further behind, in response to today’s announcement that the minimum wage will only be increased by 1.5%, well short of forecast inflation. “With inflation forecast ...
Oh, I weptFor daysFilled my eyesWith silly tearsOh, yeaBut I don'tCare no moreI don't care ifMy eyes get soreSongwriters: Paul Rodgers / Paul Kossoff. Read more ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob HensonIn this aerial view, fingers of meltwater flow from the melting Isunnguata Sermia glacier descending from the Greenland Ice Sheet on July 11, 2024, near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. According to the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE), the ...
In August, I wrote an article about David Seymour1 with a video of his testimony, to warn that there were grave dangers to his Ministry of Regulation:David Seymour's Ministry of Slush Hides Far Greater RisksWhy Seymour's exorbitant waste of taxpayers' money could be the least of concernThe money for Seymour ...
Willis is expected to have to reveal the bitter fiscal fruits of her austerity strategy in the HYEFU later today. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/TheKakaMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, December 17 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast ...
On Friday the government announced it would double the number of toll roads in New Zealand as well as make a few other changes to how toll roads are used in the country. The real issue though is not that tolling is being used but the suggestion it will make ...
The Prime Minister yesterday engaged in what looked like a pre-emptive strike designed to counter what is likely to be a series of depressing economic statistics expected before the end of the week. He opened his weekly post-Cabinet press conference with a recitation of the Government’s achievements. “It certainly has ...
This whooping cough story from south Auckland is a good example of the coalition government’s approach to social need – spend money on urging people to get vaccinated but only after you’ve cut the funding to where they could get vaccinated. This has been the case all year with public ...
And if there is a GodI know he likes to rockHe likes his loud guitarsHis spiders from MarsAnd if there is a GodI know he's watching meHe likes what he seesBut there's trouble on the breezeSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan Read more ...
Here’s a quick round up of today’s political news:1. MORE FOOD BANKS, CHARITIES, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTERS AND YOUTH SOCIAL SERVICES SET TO CLOSE OR SCALE BACK AROUND THE COUNTRY AS GOVT CUTS FUNDINGSome of Auckland's largest foodbanks are warning they may need to close or significantly reduce food parcels after ...
Iain Rennie, CNZMSecretary and Chief Executive to the TreasuryDear Secretary, Undue restrictions on restricted briefings This week, the Treasury barred representatives from four organisations, including the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi, from attending the restricted briefing for the Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update. We had been ...
This is a guest post by Tim Adriaansen, a community, climate, and accessibility advocate.I won’t shut up about climate breakdown, and whenever possible I try to shift the focus of a climate conversation towards solutions. But you’ll almost never hear me give more than a passing nod to ...
A grassroots backlash has forced a backdown from Brown, but he is still eyeing up plenty of tolls for other new roads. And the pressure is on Willis to ramp up the Government’s austerity strategy. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
Hi all,I'm pretty overwhelmed by all your messages and emails today; thank you so very much.As much as my newsletter this morning was about money, and we all need to earn money, it was mostly about world domination if I'm honest. 😉I really hate what’s happening to our country, and ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 8, 2024 thru Sat, December 14, 2024. Listing by Category Like last week's summary this one contains the list of articles twice: based on categories and based on ...
I started writing this morning about Hobson’s Pledge, examining the claims they and their supporters make, basically ripping into them. But I kept getting notifications coming through, and not good ones.Each time I looked up, there was another un-subscription message, and I felt a bit sicker at the thought of ...
Once, long before there was Harry and Meghan and Dodi and all those episodes of The Crown, they came to spend some time with us, Charles and Diana. Was there anyone in the world more glamorous than the Princess of Wales?Dazzled as everyone was by their company, the leader of ...
The collective right have a problem.The entire foundation for their world view is antiscientific. Their preferred economic strategies have been disproven. Their whole neoliberal model faces accusations of corporate corruption and worsening inequality. Climate change not only definitely exists, its rapid progression demands an immediate and expensive response in order ...
Just ten days ago, South Korea's president attempted a self-coup, declaring martial law and attempting to have opposition MPs murdered or arrested in an effort to seize unconstrained power. The attempt was rapidly defeated by the national assembly voting it down and the people flooding the streets to defend democracy. ...
Hi,“What I love about New Zealanders is that sometimes you use these expressions that as Americans we have no idea what those things mean!"I am watching a 30-something year old American ramble on about how different New Zealanders are to Americans. It’s his podcast, and this man is doing a ...
What Chris Penk has granted holocaust-denier and equal-opportunity-bigot Candace Owens is not “freedom of speech”. It’s not even really freedom of movement, though that technically is the right she has been granted. What he has given her is permission to perform. Freedom of SpeechIn New Zealand, the right to freedom ...
All those tears on your cheeksJust like deja vu flow nowWhen grandmother speaksSo tell me a story (I'll tell you a story)Spell it out, I can't hear (What do you want to hear?)Why you wear black in the morning?Why there's smoke in the air? Songwriter: Greg Johnson.Mōrena all ☀️Something a ...
National has only been in power for a year, but everywhere you look, its choices are taking New Zealand a long way backwards. In no particular order, here are the National Government's Top 50 Greatest Misses of its first year in power. ...
The Government is quietly undertaking consultation on the dangerous Regulatory Standards Bill over the Christmas period to avoid too much attention. ...
The Government’s planned changes to the freedom of speech obligations of universities is little more than a front for stoking the political fires of disinformation and fear, placing teachers and students in the crosshairs. ...
The Ministry of Regulation’s report into Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Aotearoa raises serious concerns about the possibility of lowering qualification requirements, undermining quality and risking worse outcomes for tamariki, whānau, and kaiako. ...
A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...
Labour will continue to fight unsustainable and destructive projects that are able to leap-frog environment protection under National’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. ...
The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...
The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...
The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...
Te Pāti Māori has this morning issued a stern warning to Fast-Track applicants with interests in mining, pledging to hold them accountable through retrospective liability and to immediately revoke Fast-Track consents under a future Te Pāti Māori government. This warning comes ahead of today’s third reading of the Fast-Track Approvals ...
The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...
All the Government has achieved from its announcement today is to continue to push responsibility back on councils for its own lack of action to help bring down skyrocketing rates. ...
The Government has used its final post-Cabinet press conference of the year to punch down on local government without offering any credible solutions to the issues our councils are facing. ...
The Government has failed to keep its promise to ‘super charge’ the EV network, delivering just 292 chargers - less than half of the 670 chargers needed to meet its target. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop subsidising the largest user of the country’s gas supplies, Methanex, following a report highlighting the multi-national’s disproportionate influence on energy prices in Aotearoa. ...
The Green Party is appalled with the Government’s new child poverty targets that are based on a new ‘persistent poverty’ measure that could be met even with an increase in child poverty. ...
New independent analysis has revealed that the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) will reduce emissions by a measly 1 per cent by 2030, failing to set us up for the future and meeting upcoming targets. ...
The loss of 27 kaimahi at Whakaata Māori and the end of its daily news bulletin is a sad day for Māori media and another step backwards for Te Tiriti o Waitangi justice. ...
Yesterday the Government passed cruel legislation through first reading to establish a new beneficiary sanction regime that will ultimately mean more households cannot afford the basic essentials. ...
Today's passing of the Government's Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill–which allows landlords to end tenancies with no reason–ignores the voice of the people and leaves renters in limbo ahead of the festive season. ...
After wasting a year, Nicola Willis has delivered a worse deal for the Cook Strait ferries that will end up being more expensive and take longer to arrive. ...
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has today launched a Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the All Out For Gaza rally reaches Parliament. ...
After years of advocacy, the Green Party is very happy to hear the Government has listened to our collective voices and announced the closure of the greyhound racing industry, by 1 August 2026. ...
In response to a new report from ERO, the Government has acknowledged the urgent need for consistency across the curriculum for Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in schools. ...
The Green Party is appalled at the Government introducing legislation that will make it easier to penalise workers fighting for better pay and conditions. ...
Thank you for the invitation to speak with you tonight on behalf of the political party I belong to - which is New Zealand First. As we have heard before this evening the Kinleith Mill is proposing to reduce operations by focusing on pulp and discontinuing “lossmaking paper production”. They say that they are currently consulting on the plan to permanently shut ...
Auckland Central MP, Chlöe Swarbrick, has written to Mayor Wayne Brown requesting he stop the unnecessary delays on St James Theatre’s restoration. ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says Health New Zealand will move swiftly to support dozens of internationally-trained doctors already in New Zealand on their journey to employment here, after a tripling of sought-after examination places. “The Medical Council has delivered great news for hardworking overseas doctors who want to contribute ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has appointed Sarah Ottrey to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). “At my first APEC Summit in Lima, I experienced firsthand the role that ABAC plays in guaranteeing political leaders hear the voice of business,” Mr Luxon says. “New Zealand’s ABAC representatives are very well respected and ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced four appointments to New Zealand’s intelligence oversight functions. The Honourable Robert Dobson KC has been appointed Chief Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, and the Honourable Brendan Brown KC has been appointed as a Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants. The appointments of Hon Robert Dobson and Hon ...
Improvements in the average time it takes to process survey and title applications means housing developments can progress more quickly, Minister for Land Information Chris Penk says. “The government is resolutely focused on improving the building and construction pipeline,” Mr Penk says. “Applications to issue titles and subdivide land are ...
The Government’s measures to reduce airport wait times, and better transparency around flight disruptions is delivering encouraging early results for passengers ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Improving the efficiency of air travel is a priority for the Government to give passengers a smoother, more reliable ...
The Government today announced the intended closure of the Apollo Hotel as Contracted Emergency Housing (CEH) in Rotorua, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. This follows a 30 per cent reduction in the number of households in CEH in Rotorua since National came into Government. “Our focus is on ending CEH in the Whakarewarewa area starting ...
The Government will reshape vocational education and training to return decision making to regions and enable greater industry input into work-based learning Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds says. “The redesigned system will better meet the needs of learners, industry, and the economy. It includes re-establishing regional polytechnics that ...
The Government is taking action to better manage synthetic refrigerants and reduce emissions caused by greenhouse gases found in heating and cooling products, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds says. “Regulations will be drafted to support a product stewardship scheme for synthetic refrigerants, Ms. Simmonds says. “Synthetic refrigerants are found in a ...
People travelling on State Highway 1 north of Hamilton will be relieved that remedial works and safety improvements on the Ngāruawāhia section of the Waikato Expressway were finished today, with all lanes now open to traffic, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“I would like to acknowledge the patience of road users ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds, has announced a new appointment to the board of Education New Zealand (ENZ). Dr Erik Lithander has been appointed as a new member of the ENZ board for a three-year term until 30 January 2028. “I would like to welcome Dr Erik Lithander to the ...
The Government will have senior representatives at Waitangi Day events around the country, including at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, but next year Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has chosen to take part in celebrations elsewhere. “It has always been my intention to celebrate Waitangi Day around the country with different ...
Two more criminal gangs will be subject to the raft of laws passed by the Coalition Government that give Police more powers to disrupt gang activity, and the intimidation they impose in our communities, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. Following an Order passed by Cabinet, from 3 February 2025 the ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Justice Christian Whata as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Whata’s appointment as a Judge of the Court of Appeal will take effect on 1 August 2025 and fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Hon Justice David Goddard on ...
The latest economic figures highlight the importance of the steps the Government has taken to restore respect for taxpayers’ money and drive economic growth, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Data released today by Stats NZ shows Gross Domestic Product fell 1 per cent in the September quarter. “Treasury and most ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds and Associate Minister of Education David Seymour today announced legislation changes to strengthen freedom of speech obligations on universities. “Freedom of speech is fundamental to the concept of academic freedom and there is concern that universities seem to be taking a more risk-averse ...
Police Minister, Mark Mitchell, and Internal Affairs Minister, Brooke van Velden, today launched a further Public Safety Network cellular service that alongside last year’s Cellular Roaming roll-out, puts globally-leading cellular communications capability into the hands of our emergency responders. The Public Safety Network’s new Cellular Priority service means Police, Wellington ...
State Highway 1 through the Mangamuka Gorge has officially reopened today, providing a critical link for Northlanders and offering much-needed relief ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“The Mangamuka Gorge is a vital route for Northland, carrying around 1,300 vehicles per day and connecting the Far ...
The Government has welcomed decisions by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) and Ashburton District Council confirming funding to boost resilience in the Canterbury region, with construction on a second Ashburton Bridge expected to begin in 2026, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Delivering a second Ashburton Bridge to improve resilience and ...
The Government is backing the response into high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Otago, Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says. “Cabinet has approved new funding of $20 million to enable MPI to meet unbudgeted ongoing expenses associated with the H7N6 response including rigorous scientific testing of samples at the enhanced PC3 ...
Legislation that will repeal all advertising restrictions for broadcasters on Sundays and public holidays has passed through first reading in Parliament today, Media Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “As a growing share of audiences get their news and entertainment from streaming services, these restrictions have become increasingly redundant. New Zealand on ...
Today the House agreed to Brendan Horsley being appointed Inspector-General of Defence, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Mr Horsley’s experience will be invaluable in overseeing the establishment of the new office and its support networks. “He is currently Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, having held that role since June 2020. ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government has agreed to the final regulations for the levy on insurance contracts that will fund Fire and Emergency New Zealand from July 2026. “Earlier this year the Government agreed to a 2.2 percent increase to the rate of levy. Fire ...
The Government is delivering regulatory relief for New Zealand businesses through changes to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act. “The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Amendment Bill, which was introduced today, is the second Bill – the other being the Statutes Amendment Bill - that ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed further progress on the Hawke’s Bay Expressway Road of National Significance (RoNS), with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) Board approving funding for the detailed design of Stage 1, paving the way for main works construction to begin in late 2025.“The Government is moving at ...
The Government today released a request for information (RFI) to seeking interest in partnerships to plant trees on Crown-owned land with low farming and conservation value (excluding National Parks) Forestry Minister Todd McClay announced. “Planting trees on Crown-owned land will drive economic growth by creating more forestry jobs in our regions, providing more wood ...
Court timeliness, access to justice, and improving the quality of existing regulation are the focus of a series of law changes introduced to Parliament today by Associate Minister of Justice Nicole McKee. The three Bills in the Regulatory Systems (Justice) Amendment Bill package each improve a different part of the ...
A total of 41 appointments and reappointments have been made to the 12 community trusts around New Zealand that serve their regions, Associate Finance Minister Shane Jones says. “These trusts, and the communities they serve from the Far North to the deep south, will benefit from the rich experience, knowledge, ...
The Government has confirmed how it will provide redress to survivors who were tortured at the Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital Child and Adolescent Unit (the Lake Alice Unit). “The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care found that many of the 362 children who went through the Lake Alice Unit between 1972 and ...
It has been a busy, productive year in the House as the coalition Government works hard to get New Zealand back on track, Leader of the House Chris Bishop says. “This Government promised to rebuild the economy, restore law and order and reduce the cost of living. Our record this ...
“Accelerated silicosis is an emerging occupational disease caused by unsafe work such as engineered stone benchtops. I am running a standalone consultation on engineered stone to understand what the industry is currently doing to manage the risks, and whether further regulatory intervention is needed,” says Workplace Relations and Safety Minister ...
Mehemea he pai mō te tangata, mahia – if it’s good for the people, get on with it. Enhanced reporting on the public sector’s delivery of Treaty settlement commitments will help improve outcomes for Māori and all New Zealanders, Māori Crown Relations Minister Tama Potaka says. Compiled together for the ...
Mr Roger Holmes Miller and Ms Tarita Hutchinson have been appointed to the Charities Registration Board, Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Louise Upston says. “I would like to welcome the new members joining the Charities Registration Board. “The appointment of Ms Hutchinson and Mr Miller will strengthen the Board’s capacity ...
More building consent and code compliance applications are being processed within the statutory timeframe since the Government required councils to submit quarterly data, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “In the midst of a housing shortage we need to look at every step of the build process for efficiencies ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey is proud to announce the first three recipients of the Government’s $10 million Mental Health and Addiction Community Sector Innovation Fund which will enable more Kiwis faster access to mental health and addiction support. “This fund is part of the Government’s commitment to investing in ...
New Zealand is providing Vanuatu assistance following yesterday's devastating earthquake, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. "Vanuatu is a member of our Pacific family and we are supporting it in this time of acute need," Mr Peters says. "Our thoughts are with the people of Vanuatu, and we will be ...
The Government welcomes the Commerce Commission’s plan to reduce card fees for Kiwis by an estimated $260 million a year, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says.“The Government is relentlessly focused on reducing the cost of living, so Kiwis can keep more of their hard-earned income and live a ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour has welcomed the Early Childhood Education (ECE) regulatory review report, the first major report from the Ministry for Regulation. The report makes 15 recommendations to modernise and simplify regulations across ECE so services can get on with what they do best – providing safe, high-quality care ...
The Government‘s Offshore Renewable Energy Bill to create a new regulatory regime that will enable firms to construct offshore wind generation has passed its first reading in Parliament, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says.“New Zealand currently does not have a regulatory regime for offshore renewable energy as the previous government failed ...
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happy valentines day – everyone..
..(aww!!!..)
looks familiar…’The second change with personalization is that it’s not just entertainers whose PR crews carefully hone an image of ordinariness. It is now much more apparent in politicians, Nigel Farage being an obvious example. Widely publicised photographs of Farage holding a pint of beer conform to an older tradition in election-time iconography. But more sinister is his tactic of appearing humbly and “amusingly” tongue-tied at least once in most of his filmed appearances (a habit proven winsome by Bush and, subsequently, Boris Johnson).’ from a critique of R.Hoggarts…’The Uses of Literacy’.
The Herald have been pimping this finance billionaire for a while.
Now we find out that Bill English has been helping make moment of of education in New Zealand.
‘An American equity fund manager who wants to open charter schools in New Zealand was introduced to Ngai Tahu leaders by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bill English.’
This country continues to slide further and further downhill.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11401799
And the NZ education system ends up as an. If you can pay, your child will be educated system. Free education killed off within 9 years by the NACTS. Really makes me want to meet an NACT Polly in a dark alley one night. Charter Schools what a nightmare. I really do worry about what sort of world my son will grow up in.
Not sure what the link is between ‘If you can pay, your child will be educated…’ and your reference to charter schools. Charter schools are not fee paying.
Your statement that ‘Free education killed off within 9 years by the NACT’ isn’t true either. Are you claiming that state education was free at the end of the last Labour government but is fee-paying now? Really.
You also seem to have a few personal issues with aggro if you are making threats about meeting ‘an NACT Polly in a dark alley one night.’
I think posters here on the Standard have been banned for far less than threatening fellow NZers with violence.
“Charter Schools what a nightmare. ”
That’s a bit harsh. 😉 Charter Schools or Partnership Schools (CS/PS) are not the issue.
Poorly planned, poorly run Charter Schools and Partnership Schools certainly are.
CS/PS ;
;receiving per child funding of up to seven times that of State Schools are a problem.
;not answerable to the same education standards as State Schools are a problem.
;not answerable to the Official Information Act are a problem.
;not answerable to the Ombudsman are a problem.
;not having to report the same information as State Schools are a problem.
But Charter Schools or Partnership Schools as an idea are fine. They already exist throughout NZ and have done so for many years in many different forms and have regularly proven to be successful and popular. Those that existed before 2008 seem to have two major differences to the new bunch though. Firstly they are more closely aligned to the reporting, standards, accountability, protocols and the funding levels of State Schools. The other, more important difference would be those Schools were set up to help educate kids, not simply profit off them.
Doctors in NZ and Australia demand transparency over the TPPA.
‘But despite a letter published today in The Lancet — and signed by 27 health leaders in Australasia as well as the US, Canada, Malaysia and Chile — Trade Minister Tim Groser this afternoon reaffirmed the Government’s stance of not releasing controversial TPP negotiating documents.’
A government of the corporates, for the corporates, by the corporates.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11401677
@Paul. Dr Monasterio has explained very clearly the potential impact of TPPA on this country in the Herald article.
“Otago University senior clinical lecturer Dr Erik Monasterio, one of the co-lead authors of the letter, claimed the agreement threatened governmental ability to deliver affordable health care and legislate to protect public health and reduce health inequities.
“And all the while, the text is shrouded in secrecy,” he said.
“The negotiations are not about the way most of us think of trade — you and me buying and selling things.
“Instead they are protecting the massive investment profits of multinational companies that are bigger than the whole New Zealand economy.”
Dr Monasterio described the TPP as “an unprecedented expansion” of intellectual property rights that would “push up the cost of affordable and life-saving medicines, hitting hardest the already vulnerable households in New Zealand and other countries such as Vietnam and Malaysia”.
He also feared governments could be sued for protecting health — but governments cannot sue back.
“This will stop important health initiatives on tobacco, alcohol, the obesity epidemic, climate change, antibiotic resistance, and other major future challenges,” he said.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11401677
And this, folks, is just one aspect of the TPPA.
NZ could be sued by mining corporations if we make laws that prevent them from exploiting our environment.
Here is an example of how Investor-State Dispute Settlements work from the Canadian NAFTA experience.
“Quebec Fracking Ban Lawsuit Shows Perils Of Free Trade Deals:
OTTAWA – Free trade critics say a $250-million damage suit being pursued as a result of Quebec’s moratorium on fracking is proof Canada needs to be careful in negotiating trade pacts around the world.
The Council of Canadians, the Sierra Club and Quebec-based Eau secours say the suit by Lone Pine Resources Inc. (TSX:LPR) shows that trade deals that include investor protection clauses are a bad idea because they can prevent governments from passing laws to protect the environment.
The groups are asking Lone Pine to drop the suit before a NAFTA panel, but company president Tim Granger says he is going ahead unless Quebec lifts its moratorium on fracking for natural gas under the St. Lawrence River.
“As an organization we, in good faith, purchased leases, we paid rentals and then to just have been stymied, that’s not acceptable,” he said in an interview.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/10/03/quebec-fracking-ban-lawsuit_n_4038173.html
Is this what we want for NZ? Wake up NZ!!
If you, like me, are concerned about the loss of sovereignty if the TPPA contains an Investor-State Dispute Settlement clause, then the following article will show you are not alone.
The following link is to a scholarly study carried out to assess the impact of ISDS rules on environmental regulation with respect to the TTIP (a parallel Trade agreement to TPPA between US and EU.)
“Investor-state Dispute Settlement under TTIP – a Risk for Environmental Regulation?”
Rules on ISDS in TTIP could have a chiling effect on environmental regulation in the EU and the US”
“The authors conclude that rules on ISDS are not necessary in an agreement between two highly evolved, rule of law legal systems. By contrast, such rules create significant risks for environmental regulation, because of the broad wording of investment rules and the largely unpredictable manner in which they are interpreted by investment tribunals. States may have to compensate investors for taking legitimate environmental measures. The study recommends not to include such rules in TTIP”
http://www.ecologic.eu/10402
It is well worth flicking through the full report.
http://www.ecologic.eu/sites/files/publication/2014/investor-state-dispute-settlement-under-ttip-hbs.pdf
Chomsky says the US was unhappy to lose control of China in 1949 when they became independent so the US felt that they no longer controlled all of the world and now US corporations want the TTPA established mainly to isolate China and minimize its influence in the world of commerce. China is apparently not included in the TPPA even though it is a major Pacific country.
Is Chomsky wrong?
http://rt.com/news/203055-us-russia-war-chomsky/
morena all,
i have a request of the standard community.
i have a frame for a hoarding on a busy rural road in the “armpit of the manawatu”
i want to put a short, straight forward message on it, to act as a seed in the minds of those who read it.
ideally the message would be unifying, apolitical, and not a single issue (pollution, economy, food politics.
for example bill hicks “it’s just a ride” is spot on but too abstract and needs context.
youtube.com/watch?v=YWCOJ3CBlGQ
thanx in advance for any suggestions.
Change, please.
Who Do You Love?
Future Now
@ trp..
a).. beggars’-pitch..
b)..ad for dating site..
c)..exemplar of tired political-cliche..(with disturbing tinges of dun(ne)..
..of course i wd go with ‘stop eating animals- why doncha..?’..
..or..’end poverty/inequality – now..!’
..of course dunne has polluted both of those words – as stirring calls to action – for the forseeable future..
..both ‘future’ and ‘united’..
..it’s a shame..’cos they were good words..
..before he beiged all over them..
a) Could be, but it’s deeper than a request for money (think about it, maaan)
b) Or a question that goes to the heart of each of us
c) Shorter Devo
an aside: TRP you may want to go visit TDB …
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/02/13/blogwatch-the-standard-put-the-case-for-re-invading-iraq/
Thanks, freedom. I might have been a bit harsh calling Bomber mindless. Thoughtless might have been better. That certainly applies to his misunderstanding about the diverse nature of the authors here and his apparent belief that TS the official blog of the NZLP.
I’ve left a comment correcting Pat’s misunderstanding about POAL, EDDIE and me.
PS, pasupial’s on to it!
wierd, completely missed your reply, sorry if i wasted your time 🙂
Visiting NZ’s second, sorry, third most popular left blog is never a waste of time 😉
but we sure grow grey waiting to come out of moderation 😉
That is because he has Winston Peters doing the moderating.
He only lets a comment show after he has checked that the “grey” in your curtains matches the “grey” in your carpet.
Takes time you know.
“i want to put a short, straight forward message on it, to act as a seed in the minds of those who read it.
ideally the message would be unifying, apolitical, and not a single issue (pollution, economy, food politics.”
What is the purpose of the billboard, gsays? If it’s not political and you want it to reach everyone in a way that brings them together, what is the intended result?
hi tracey,
as bill hicks says, if we realize we are all one, we will not keep building nuclear weapons.
to get folx to aspire to higher ideals.
to perhaps get them to throw off some of their self imposed chains (money, being left or right wing, sexuality).
when we realize and act as we are one, it will not matter what lying prime ministers say and do.
1) He who dies with the most toys…
2) A life of caring is a life of meaning
3) We are stronger working together.
4) Co-operation not competition.
5) Human freedom not market freedom.
One grass seed does not make a field.
One grass seed can make a field.
IS THAT A FACT,
or JUST MORE SPIN ?
WHO GOT THE $$$ ??
and it would be remiss of me not to add the message now appearing on billboards and buildings and highway signs in many parts of the world
GOOGLE WTC 7
🙂
LOLOLOLOL very nice haha!
@ freedom..
..’wtc 7′..
..heh..!
cheers freedom, i am right with you ref wtc 7, however as i have found when you dip your toes in that pool, people seem real fixed in their thinking and are quick to pigeon hole you, (and therefore ‘know’ what you are about).
i was accused of being right wing last time i was involved in a 12/9 discussion here on t.s.
*Who do you belong to?
*He tangata, he tangata, he tangata
*Who do you trust?
Something like this perhaps?
http://i.imgur.com/vp6rQap.png
hi freedom, that does resonate.
ironically i have been quoting dame whina cooper a lot recently.
“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one” (Einstein)
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started” (Mark Twain)
“If you are going through hell, keep going” (Churchill)
“If you are going through hell, keep going”
I’ve never been to the Manawatu but that seems a bit harsh
i think it’s about people trapped in ‘the tron’..
very good puddle.
Lolz puddleglum 😆
Community must exist for NZ to thrive
The common wealth of this country needs to benefit us all
8 hour working day, 40 hour working week
Depending on your size. I’m thinking you need a series of signs, with a little bit of humour and pertinent points.
An easy theme is to do it in the style of upcoming television shows, and change the sign monthly. People – even if they don’t agree – will be watching for the next one.
Eg. coming soon:
Sabin’s Heroes – with a picture of Key as Sgt. Schulz – I know nuzzink!
Groucho Marx – with sign about not wanting to be a member of the club etc.
I’ve been out shopping, and am totally non creative at present but the book covers/posters being posted pre election would have a few good ideas.
cheers molly,
that gave me a good chuckle.
nothing wrong with being current.
in my heart of hearts i know, being the character i am, i will do this once and that will be it.
after all i am talking about a big bit of plywood, painting it white, putting on slogan and (as they say on tv) walk away.
love the images you have put in my mind.
hi gsays,
I get where you are coming from… so perhaps the most pertinent for the Manawatu crowd would be –
A Tui kind of graphic along the lines of:
Government debt:
2008 $18 billion
2015 $100 billion
Good economic manager – Yeah, right!
On reflection, that approach could be used for highlighting a number of issues.
One hour a week counted as employed – Yeah, right
Legislation pass under urgency – yeah, right
Iraq because we care – …
Dirty Politics is OK because “everyone” does it …
TPPA is secret because it is so good – …
We do not collect data on ordinary NZers – ….
I don’t ackshully remember what my office was told – ….
Gay liberation and marxism on Redline. I’ve collected the articles we’ve had on the blog together. They’re mainly about gay marriage, because that’s been the dominant issue in the three years-plus since the Redline blog started, but there’s also a feature one on the 1986 law reform and there’s also one by an Irish gay activist questioning whether gay *liberation* is served by what he sees as mimicking straight, middle class values.
The collection of articles is here: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/02/14/marxism-and-gay-liberation-on-redline/
Phil
Very good piece by Otago University professor Richard Jackson on war propaganda, ‘terrorism’ and minimal journalistic standards in NZ:
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2014/11/19/otago-professor-challenges-mainstream-media-on-terrorism-threat-minimal-standards-of-journalism/
Phil
Thanks Phil. Amazing collection of very significant questions. I have been trying to imagine such questions addressed to John Key but really, I come up blank. A straight answer? Never!
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????
WTF ??? WTF ??? WTF ??? WTF ??? WTF ??? WTF ???
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/02/13/blogwatch-the-standard-put-the-case-for-re-invading-iraq/
-reply patiently awaiting moderation of course but I will say this here & now-
I for one am very confused by the ongoing actions of TDB host. He is apparently on some crusade to attack the vitality and diversity of discussion here at The Standard. For some reason, offering a common platform to people with differing points of view is a bad thing.
Is it really so damaging to the left to admit that within its ranks are those who think hitting people solves problems? This is not exactly news!
Somebody help them find the plot because they seem to have lost it.
Bomber as a passionate man with a big ego that’s been publicly humiliated by the alpha male (Lynn) and reacting in kind (or trying to). Now O’Dea taking his ban from ts personally and spreading lies and conspiracy. Macho politics, it’s probably not a bad reflection of what happens further up the chain, and it shows us how far we still have to go in terms of basic human relations and power.
both of them are just ego-wanking themselves into frenzy – i’ve got very little respect for their lines or motivation now
“it shows us how far we still have to go in terms of basic human relations and power.” this can not be said strongly enough right now
Yet to mention it is to invite pyromaniacs to light up the tumbleweeds of opportunity rolling through this ramshackle town we call Democracy.
-Have enjoyed watching the scifi show Defiance. The community of diverse species shows humanity is basically really lousy at resolving problems of power dynamics.
And Bradbury has misidentified The Standard as “Labour’s online voice”. As he must know better I assume he’s done that on purpose.
+1. Which makes him not to be trusted 🙁
i find it quite strange that bradbury labels the standard as ‘labour’..(with the underlying-sneer they are more ‘conservative’ than radical him..)
..yet i am allowed to comment here..and i (and others) are very far from ‘labour’..
..and my comments wd be radical/challenging to many labour people..(worshipping clark as many do..as just one example.)..
..yet they are allowed/discussed..
..whereas any time i have attempted to post a comment @ the daily blog..that criticises the ‘voice’ there..
..it is censored out…
..funny that..!
..and/but actually i wd like the main-combatants to ‘get a room together’..
..and sort it all out..
..it is all far too much like that palestinian-schism scene in monty python..
..it is far too close to that for comfort..
..to my mind..
..and all just a bit silly…
…we are all..after all..pretty much marching in the same direction..eh..?
I have, and always have had, had a particular distaste for Bradbury. He’s an arrogant blowhard. While Lynn is also an arrogant blowhard he is far more reasonable, approachable and allows for someone to call him an arrogant blowhard without moderating the comments out.
Martyn can fuck right off.
The site is becoming an echo chamber and has driven away a lot of good authors.
and as for those stupid thumbs -i used to bother, now I just hit them randomly
So time for my weekly Medpot blog post, this time as a rebuttal to the templated response email received from my Nelson Electorate MP on the issue.
http://yournz.org/2015/02/14/nationals-stance-another-rebuttal-on-medicinal-cannabis/
Alternate address for the beige haters. 🙂
https://mmj4chronicpain.wordpress.com/2015/02/14/a-rebuttal-to-nationals-stance-on-cannabis-as-a-medicine/
“beige haters”? Not a good way to encourage people to read your blog 🙁
@ weka..
..wd u like any attempts @ humour leeched out of this place..?
..and ‘beige-hater’ is an accurate description of those who recoil in horror @ the beige-one…
..surely..?
There is not too many who use the alternate address, maybe a dozen a post, but the more people the merrier. Being completely independent of PG means I can call Phil and co’s distaste as they see it. 🙂
shane if you post on his site you are not ‘completely independent’ imo. I’ve had a look at the facebook page – that is a good place to get your message out. If you keep posting on petes blog I won’t read your stuff, because no matter what you are saying, where you say it matters – at least to me.
Hence the alternative location I provide as per criticisms recieved here. I chose YourNZ as it was neither left nor right, no adds, and he was supportive of my position on Medpot, I also tried at the standard etc, but no reply…. I have never met PG personally, and didn’t follow blogs until I needed to get on one, so was not privy to the stirring that occurs over here at the standard. I also have total ownership of my own material that is never edited, and can reblog to my hearts content, unlike the restrictive conditions offered when I tried to Bombers blog……………….
@ shane..
“..I chose YourNZ as it was neither left nor right..’
um..!..heads up..!
..part of the reason the beige-one wears so much vitriol..
..is because he attempts that canard…
..the beige-one is right..be quite clear about that..
..i mean..he was a dunne-disciple..(just that is ‘enough’..)
..and while i welcome as many voices as possible speaking up on this issue..
..from left or right…
..tying yrslf to the s.s. beige..
..must paint you in that camp..
..and that compounded by being under that tatty/shabby-beige-flag..
..so your call..
..b.t.w..it has crossed my mind you are him..
..but he doesn’t have the intelligence to create yr backstory..
..and he has no history of pushing the green..
…(the colour is probably too bright/jarring for him..)
“and he has no history of pushing the green”
Showing your ignorance Phil. Or making things up.
I’m on record campaigning for it in the 2011 election, and one condition for standing for UF was to be able to promote a cannabis debate. See Cannabis deserves a decent debate
Since then I’ve discussed possible ways to address it with Greens and with ALCP.
Perhaps you should stop making things up based on ignorance and petty prejudice.
yeah that’s right..yr a drug-warrior..
..i forgot..
..there was that article back in 2011..
I sounded out a wide range of people last year for a social media campaign on it. But the timing wasn’t right due to things moving the wrong way with synthetics, and no party wanted to get into it before the election.
If things keep muddling along disjointedly then we’ll arrive at the 2017 election with neither Greens not Labour wanting to risk being too strongly associated with cannabis reform, If they don’t get into Government in 2011 then it could be six years at the earliest before anything could start to happen, and without public pressure Labour/Greens are no going to rush into anything either.
So something has to be generated outside the parties to compel them to at least address medical use.
I know that all the main bloggers support change – Slater, Farrar, Brown, Bradbury and some if not most here.
Imagine what could be achieved by a non-partisan campaign being pushed across the social media spectrum.
However it’s likely too many would prefer petty personal battles rather than trying to achieve something.
To make something happen it needs concerted public pressure.
Would you work with me on it?
The timing wasn’t right due to widespread contempt for me, because everyone knows I’m the way to make your project fail. FIFY, Wormtongue.
Ah, yeah OAB, about the only thing you’ve managed here is irony. What you actually hope to achieve isn’t apparent?
You must have some sort of end result in mind. Or is it just ongoing attempts of futility, but it’s not just your nest you keep shitting in?
Did you suddenly become a moderator here, Wormtongue? Who’s nest are you a guest in?
The job of countering racist liars is never done, more’s the pity.
“..Would you work with me on it?..?
..i already do..’work on it’..
..have been for quite some time
http://whoar.co.nz/?s=cannabis..
since january last yr i have posted 215 stories/links/evidence on this issue..
Isolated blog bubbles of activity aren’t achieving anything significant.
Would you work with others on a wider campaign?
f.f.s…p.g..
..u said u want to get sites to work on this issue..
..i am just saying you can cross me off yr list of people u need to talk to..
..as i am already doing just that..
..if anyone wants to trawl thru my massive archive/cache on this subject for material to use..
..anyone is welcome to do that..
..i can’t see what else i can do..
..and the fact is the winds of change are already blowing..
..but these arseholes (the nats) won’t do anything about it..
..it will need a change of govt. to achieve any change..
..it ain’t gonna happen until that happens..
Yeah well if you don’t want to try anything different for three years and then hope something will suddenly and miraculously happen because there’s some stuff on some blogs then good luck with that.
“..the restrictive conditions offered when I tried to Bombers blog..”
what were those ‘conditions’..?
all posts belong to TDB, no reblogging, and all must be original, so I couldnt use pre existing stuff, and seeing as the political right are the people who need there minds changed being stuck on a far left blog wouldnt suit my long term aims.
ta for that..
if ever the PM was simply encapsulated in his own words while showing why he his understanding of the world he lives in makes him the wrong person to lead a nation it was here
“… Key said there had been strong interest from iwi groups and he would be “amazed” if the likes of the Salvation Army were hesitant to get involved if they saw a way to make money off the investment…” stuff.co.nz 14 Feb 2015 article by hamish rutherford
note charities are legally forbidden from pursuing a profit motive. Read the Act…
Which of course none of the msm puppets pick up on and take him to task over as they lack both the knowledge and direction from their bosses to take him on.
More of those higher standards.
hi tracey, “… Key said there had been strong interest from iwi groups and he would be “amazed” if the likes of the Salvation Army were hesitant to get involved if they saw a way to make money off the investment…”
this always makes me feel very uncomfortable, the kiwi build up a property portfolio and profit from being a landlord.
business wise you are discouraged from retrofitting insulation, dealing with damp rooms etc.
cue responses of ‘an insulated dry dwelling can attract a higher rental’ market driven drivel.
whats happened to the “feeds”? 4 days old now.
In Scotland there is an acronym in football, WATP.
Some say it means We Are The People, but actually it means We Are Third Place.
@ the standard there is an acronym..
..it is..i.f.a.f..(pronounced ‘eye-faff’..)
..which stands for ‘isn’t fisi a fuckwit’..
For rangers supporters that will always be the dream now, behind Celtic and Aberdeen if they’re lucky. Once mighty now a basket case with sharks circling.
Robert Reich follows up on the sharing economy.
My recent column about the growth of on-demand jobs like Uber making life less predictable and secure for workers unleashed a small barrage of criticism that workers get what they’re worth in the market.
A Forbes Magazine contributor, for example, writes that jobs exist only “when both employer and employee are happy with the deal being made.” So if the new jobs are low-paying and irregular, too bad.
Much the same argument was voiced in the late nineteenth century over alleged “freedom of contract.” Any deal between employees and workers was assumed to be fine if both sides voluntarily agreed to it.
http://www.salon.com/2015/02/10/robert_reich_america_is_heading_full_speed_back_to_the_19th_century_partner/
In my considered opinion, Pat O’Dea should not have been banned from The Standard.
What you do with this comment is up to you – but I will call it as I see it.
You don’t have to like it
So be it.
Penny Bright
look at what he is doing now on tdb – I’m embarrassed for him, I thought he was better than that but…
and i’m sad that a Mana spokesperson has such little idea of how to interact with this blog – it’s not that difficult really it’s not and now his personal and spokesperson ideas are not here because of what? ego? pride? fucked if I know but it is all self inflicted imo
You left much the same comment two weeks ago, Penny, but it’s nice to see you’ve lightened up on the passive-aggressive digs at my employer.
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-02012015-2/#comment-961952
Saying “what you do with this comment is up to you” does, however, come across as a bit of an “I dare you to ban me!!!!” given how your previous, far snider comment was, and remains, published.
sshhh!!!..phillip..!..ssshhh!!!!
..bite that tongue harder..!
[Stephanie: I’m assuming this is meant in a joking way, phil, but given our previous interactions I don’t think it’s appropriate or clear what you actually mean.]
get over it tiger and put your energy into more productive stuff ffs
(seeing as you asked..)
it means that i have quite a strong opinion on this..(the initial banning..)
..but the power imbalance means if i voice it..you will ban me..
..hence i am ‘biting my tongue’..
..so i guess it is my version of a silent-protest..a turning of the back..
..signifying that my silence does not mean agreement..
.(hope that clarifies that..)
This is utter, utter bullshit, phil. People – quite obviously given Penny’s multiple comments questioning Pat O’Dea’s ban – do not get banned merely “for disagreeing.”
And nobody would ever take your “silence” (please note, leaving snide comments is the opposite of silence) as agreeing with anything the moderators do here.
“..do not get banned merely “for disagreeing.”..”
oh..good..!
..i think the initial banning of pat o’dea was unjustified..
..i think you interpreted what he said incorrectly..
..and it escalated from there..
..i think he was/is a dick in his reaction..
..and to my mind this one follows the pattern of the banning of bad..
..(even tho’ i battled with him..i wd like him back..he had much intelligent comment to make..)
..yes..he also over-reacted as it escalated..
..but i see that largely his reaction to what he felt was a totally unjustified initial censure/miss-reading of his words/intent..
..much as what pat has done…is doing..
..that is why i oppose the initial banning of pat..
Thanks for confirming what I’ve always suspected: that you’re happy to make excuses for someone who was 100% vile, abusive, aggressive and persistent in posting abuse well past their ban date, as long as you can convince yourself and others that I ~provoked them~. Because that’s not a completely predictable method men have used for generations to shut a woman up. 🙄
“..Because that’s not a completely predictable method men have used for generations to shut a woman up..”
..why bring gender into it..?..where did that come from..?
..yr gender is irrelevant in this case..it the moderating-decisions that are being discussed..
..i made clear that i did not agree with the escalation of both bad and pat..
..i was talking about the initial-misunderstanding that is common to both..
..and you see absolutely no possibility that you ‘got it wrong’ in either of those cases..?
..(‘wrong’ in yr initial-assesment..i am not talking about the escalations..)
..you see no chance of that having happened..?
My gender comes into it when there’s a clear pattern of my moderation (and other women mods, like karol) being questioned, second-guessed, and ignored while male moderators’ dictates get respected. My gender comes into it when people like you demand the publication of abusive, misogynist comments to “prove” that “justice was done” when bad12 was banned.
And my gender comes into it when there’s literally centuries’ worth of feminist thought outlining how men undermine women and blame them for men’s actions, and your comments fit all those phenomena to a T.
right ho..!
..throws hands in air..
..and walks off..
factcheck:..i did not ask for the ‘publication’ of anything..let alone ‘demand it’..
..where on earth did you get that from..?
(and how can this not be an example of ‘getting it wrong’..
..you have accused me of something that is a total fiction..)
..i asked you if there was any chance you misunderstood what was initially said..that was all..
..i made the point repeatedly i was not talking about the escalations..from either..
..and that i think/thought they were both dicks in that escalation..(i think this is the third time i have said that..)
..and you will note how polite i am..
..and is penny also questioning for ‘gender-reasons’..is she..?
..i mean..c;mon..!
..she feels an injustice was done..in the initial judgement of what was said..and i agree with her..
..gender does not come within a bulls-roar of this..
..and i think i will/shd now return to my previous biting-tongue mode..
..there is so much more i wd like to say..but shouldn’t..
..and y’know..!..if you are constantly looking for seagulls..
..you’ll probably get to see quite a few..
.
and f.w.i.w..
..i don’t know pat o’dea well..
..but from what i have seen of him..i do not doubt he is a man of integrity/sincerity..
..and his long history of political actions on.for ‘our’ side..confirms that..
noun
noun: silence; plural noun: silences
1.
complete absence of sound.
“sirens pierce the silence of the night”
synonyms: quietness, quiet, quietude, still, stillness, hush, tranquillity, noiselessness, soundlessness, peace, peacefulness, peace and quiet
“the sound of falling stones broke the silence of the night”
antonyms: sound, noise
the fact or state of abstaining from speech.
“Karen had withdrawn into sullen silence”
synonyms: speechlessness, wordlessness, voicelessness, dumbness, muteness; More
taciturnity, reticence, uncommunicativeness, unresponsiveness
“she was reduced to silence”
antonyms: speech, loquacity
the avoidance of mentioning or discussing something.
“politicians keep their silence on the big questions”
synonyms: secretiveness, secrecy, reticence, taciturnity, uncommunicativeness, concealment
“politicians keep their silence on the big issues”
antonyms: communication, communicativeness
a short appointed period of time during which people stand still and do not speak as a sign of respect for a dead person or group of people.
“the game was preceded by a two-minute silence in his memory”
verb
verb: silence; 3rd person present: silences; past tense: silenced; past participle: silenced; gerund or present participle: silencing
1.
cause to become silent; prohibit or prevent from speaking.
“she was silenced by the Inspector’s stern look”
synonyms: quieten, quiet, hush, shush, still; More
all hail the pedant..!
Pointing out that ‘silent’ is the exact opposite of what you’ve been is not exactly a minor detail.
all hail the pedants’ assistant..!
lol
Nope. See above for why.
“..but the power imbalance means if i voice it..you will ban me..”
go and check the link out again and see who did the banning phil
You are smarting about the comments made on the thread re weka/shane.
ffs at least be honest with yourself
“..You are smarting about the comments made on the thread re weka/shane…”
sorry..i haven’t a clue what u r talking about..
..cd u point at what i am meant to be ‘smarting’ about..?
..heh..!
.at the moment..i am ‘smarting’-free..eh..?
..should i ‘steel’ myself..?
“.. and see who did the banning phil..”..yes..someone else banned after the escalation..
..but the brouhaha started with that misunderstanding with stephanie..to my memory..
..if i am incorrect..i will withdraw that..but i am pretty sure i am right..
The “brouhaha” started with Pat making a comment in clear breach of TS policy.
Unless of course you mean I started it all by daring to publish a post which provoked the poor, innocent man into breaking the rules, and then persisting in breaking them after a moderator advised him not to. Given the tenor of every comment you’ve ever made on my moderation, I wouldn’t be surprised. 🙄
as an aside to this conversation, Stephanie, can you please clarify if this comment was moved from another thread to OM?
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-02012015-2/#comment-961389
I think there is some confusion about why O’Dea got banned, and some of that confusion comes from how he got banned (the rest comes from people assuming he was banned for content, which is just daft).
Not that it matters (I don’t think it has to be visible to readers, nor that moderators have to justify decisions), and it won’t help in regards to people like phil, but it was one of the unclearer moderations I’ve seen and it took me a while to figure it out (the pattern of behaviour that prompted Lynn to ban).
I’m pretty sure the genesis of the ban of pat stemmed from this thread and series of comments
http://thestandard.org.nz/the-northland-by-election/#comment-960219
sure new commenters need latitude but the onus is on them to learn the rules – end of story.
Thanks marty. That’s what I was thinking, having followed some other links today. It reads like someone commenting who hasn’t read the Policy.
Pat broke a number of rules and his tone was really offensive. And he has continued the blitzkrieg against TS over at TDB. He needs to become a bit more sensitive and discrete and needs to understand others …
He only impressed me as being a gormless egotistical dickhead who knew very little about either his topic, or how to behave on the net.
That could just be because he was a newbie.
But I’d prefer that he does his learning in other sites. Damaging TDB is preferable to him damaging anything that I am responsible for.
It ius however disappointing that Mana lets them damage their name. But they do seem to a bit moribund – which is disappointing.
Thanks marty, that’s where it comes from.
I appreciate your comment, weka, but as we continue to see with clear, undeniably-breaking-the-rules-and-being-unpleasant bannings like bad12’s, some people are just determined to undermine the rules and moderation of The Standard.
thanks Stephanie and micky. This subthread probably wasn’t the best timing or place for me to bring it up.
No problem. I think the left need to clear the air on this issue and anticipate this will happen soon!
@lprent..
“..But they do seem to a bit moribund – which is disappointing…”
um..!..no…i am going to a meeting this week…
Why Tesla’s battery for your home should terrify utilities
Electricity (and other network utilities) can only make a profit if they have a huge number of people paying into them decreasing the cost per customer of maintaining the generating and distributing equipment. As the utility operators try to boost or even just maintain profits they drive customers away killing their profits.
The problem though is that the community is better off with the entire population connected to the network with the ‘customers’ both feeding into the network and taking from it as it would make the network more diverse and thus more resilient. A single network also allows for better utilisation of the power generated. As a single network that is privately owned gets to set it’s own charges (monopoly power) and thus get super-profits the only option left for this single network is state owned and run as a government service. This gets the economies of scale that the network is great at providing while also protecting from the greed of the profiteers.
If the grid was Government owned and operated as a public utility, rather than a profit driven monopoly, then these developments would be applauded as they save us from building power stations, damming rivers and burning coal.
Which means we could easily start divesting ourselves from the use of fossil fuels.
and that won’t happen..(the power companies working in/for the common-good..)
..until they are re-nationalisd..
..thinking otherwise is just blowing smoke..
..and the more the environmental-consequences kick in/hurt us..
..the stronger will become that imperative..
..it isn’t a matter of ‘if’..it’s ‘when’..
..so..the sooner the better..eh..?
Which should tell you why they were sold.
i dunno if they are that machiavellian/intelligent..thinking that far ahead..
..i think that was just good old-fashioned rightwing dismantling/privatising all/any common-good initiatives..
..using greed/personal-enrichment as their carrot..
..and if they thought they wd get away with totally privatising them..they wd have done that..
..they are just thieving-bastards..
..who steal from the common-pool..
..and this crew is becoming more obviously naked to all..
..by the day..
Yes and there’s billions in savings by eliminating 4 profit layers ( generator, transmission, lines, retailer) duplicated finance, maintenance, billing systems and all the management, audit, PR functions that are gorging themselves.
Do that, wave bye bye to Tiwai point encourage customer generation and we’d provide an essential utility at a much better end price.
Oz don’t think they’ll require extra gen capacity for decades and Germany has shut down 25% of its peak gas powered gen capacity as the customer generation has reduced demand that much.
You’d pay back the cost of buying back Nats flogged assets in no time at all relatively.
Draco
Thanks so much for this link. This is where people misunderstand Green policies. For example by labelling The greens loony hippies people overlook the very real advantages to themselves (if not the planet) by adopting Green technology. how hard a sell to middle NZ would the subsidising of Telsa batteries in conjunction with the solar panels? given the savings people can make, not hard at all. And installing into low income and State Homes? A no brainer, especially if we use the money from the sales of the electricity companies…
IMO, the labeling of environmentalists as hippies and Taliban is solely to protect the old industries, especially fossil fuels, that are destroying our environment and heading us towards the extinction level event known as Climate Change.
the thing is..that ‘hippie/taliban’ bullshit sure has legs…
..how much more information/warnings do people/the-dumb-masses need..?
..i can understand that latest result snapping normans’ will to continue..
..ten fucken percent..all those years..and ten fucken percent..
..even most republicans in america are now ‘green/climate-change believers..
..to norman/the greens..the nz populace must seem to be an iceberg of ignorance..
..and it’s not hard to see why..
..all around them are flashing neon signs going ‘pull-up!..pull-up..!’
..but they still support vote for drill baby drill!/mine baby mine..! key..
..how can they not be as dumb as fucken doorknobs..?
hi draco, do you have any knowledge of how these tesla batteries differ from deep cycle batteries?
and can you explain it as you would to a 10 year old child?
Besides the fact that they’re probably lithium ion batteries, Nope.
ok cool, i live off grid and deep cycle battery tech hasnt moved for yonks.
the contrast between new lithium ion rechargable batteries and the last generation is remarkable. to have that appled to deep cycle batteries is exciting.
Thing is, you will want to see installations of this new tech prove themselves over 5-10 years of real life use before swapping over to the new tech.
hi cr, true, true.
i have never been an early adapter (adopter?) of tech.
10 yrs time would be about time for us to change our battery bank.
no battery ever dies, they are murdered
Apparently they are a variation or extension of the Li-ion battery set up that they use for their vehicles, described here:
http://my.teslamotors.com/roadster/technology/battery
By weakening our operating systems, encryption systems, firmware, network hardware etc for their own uses, the NSA makes all of us vulnerable to attack by hackers.
Now US cyber attacks on their enemies have taught countries like Iran how to attack the west back. As Bill Binney says – the NSA does not have a monopoly on smart people.
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/02/10/nsa-iran-developing-sophisticated-cyber-attacks-learning-attacks/
The Stuxnet story is worth reading… how some malware in off-the-shelf software wormed its way into Iran’s nuclear testing facilities and screwed up their research.
On “Patch Tuesday” this week, a fix was issued for an exploit that requires modifying only a single bit of the Windows operating system.
A top hacker shows how it’s done in this TED talk.
Some very interesting trends emerging. As we become more connected we are more likely to be infected. As in the movie “The Imitation Game”, the spooks won’t let on how pwned we/they really are
omg. what a convenient little bug. thx r:r.
Excellent article by Philip Matthews in the Dominion Post on the hazards in NZ for academics and intellectuals who speak out on issues.
Dame Anne Salmond
“This is partly because some groups with vested interests do not welcome public scrutiny of their activities and actively seek to suppress it. This happened in the Dirty Politics saga, for example.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/culture/66191857/School-of-thought-On-the-dangers-of-intellectualism
The following video discusses the same issue and illustrates the awesome courage of those who stand up and speak out for the public good despite knowing the dangers. Sadly David Carr died 3 hours after the interview was filmed.
http://timestalks.com/laura-poitras-glenn-greenwald-edward-snowden.html
Yes across the ditch gillian triggs the human rights commmissioner has been attacked by abbotts mates at murdoch media in a cruel and personal manner, toady piers ackerman takes it down the odious route.
Her crime: putting on the agenda the torture of children by both parties when in government, which is her job.
Yep TC when I heard Abbott’s comments and I then found out what Triggs had actually said my first response was “Abbott is a complete and utter piece of doggie do and the world would be a better place if he was retired immediately and WTF was Labor doing …” [Edited before posting to remove all the swearing …]
Nothing that happens today compares with the pervasive climate of fear that we all endured during the Helengrad regime. Those were the days were you could be sacked from Government employment because of who your boyfriend voted for.
[lprent: ?link I am sure that your lack of a link to support that was significant. Offhand I can think of only one oossible, and that was simply domr right wing nutters mythic incident. It relied on a pile of repeated unsupported lying from Nationals sockpuppets. Notably from their pollster.
In fact it looked exactly like what you are doing now. If you want to replay such myths, then link to some supporting credible report so others are able to look and judge for themselves.
You have been warned about this prior to the last time I banned you for it. If I see you do this type of smear again I will ban you for double the last time I caught you doing it. I suspect it will a long ban. ]
Was that in Nazi Germany fisi? The only time I can recall it being like this in Aotearoa (apart from the current government) was back in Muldoon’s time …
comparing clark to stalin is worse than comparing key to hitler.
discuss
in this govt you get hired cos of who your sisters are and who you are friends with.
A link would be helpful to bolster your claim fisiani. As I recall, someone’s press secretary resigned because of a possible conflict of interest as her bf was working for the opposition.
Meanwhile there are very real reports of the NACTUM smear machine intimidating academics, principals, beneficiaries, and siccing the Police on to reporters.
The delusion is strong in this one.
“.. the pervasive climate of fear that we all endured during the Helengrad regime..”
..if you are talking about the poor…yes..
The documentation clearly shows that the cronyism is all on National’s side. And cronyism is just another form of corruption.
Hooten and Odgers published Hager’s address hoping that the Triads would rough him up, or worse. Is that normal behaviour for people like you fisi ?
Fizzy Anus – Kia Ora dog. “Honest John !” You’re a noisy gargoyle Fiz’. Fuck off to Cheaplands where you belong if not welcomed.
Tweet of the day (shame we can’t embed images…this is a good one)
Nobody Understands Debt — Including Paul Krugman
Probably one of the simpler explanations of how money works in the real world as compared to how most economists believe it works.
John Key never fails to stick up for the ‘big end’ of town. Here he is in this article patting the back of the Foodstuff-Progressive duopoly cartel .. http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/66179219/hub-raises-stakes-in-battle-for-mainland-market-share conveniently forgetting the history and Australian cities of the same population.
And here “That’s sort of been quite standard in a lot of New Zealand industries.”
So wrong in so many ways
e.g ever heard him sticking up for the poor like this?
Jeez John Key sounded like a twerp with his “serious” voice on over his calls for war. After 6 years of nothing but child-like smart-alecery and witless jokes he has no gravitas to get even remotely close to sounding grown up.
What a dick
VTO…….slow down man……all is well…….John Armstrong’s long been reckoning that the GaucheKey’s got “gravitas”. That’s good enough for me – in my scary and sadly recurring Sarah Palin incarnations. Russia “just over there” is heavy.
Warning ! This next observation is not for the ears of fizzy, alwyn, goosie, the late and lamentable ss-lands…….”gravitas” in this instance must be read thus – sort of “not too sure about that fulla” dyed-hair insurance type guy, hangin’ around the rugby club round 4.45 pm winter Saturdays. Buzzed to the point of embarrassment in all listeners, tryin’ to grease up the ‘player-of-the-day’. Or Richie McCaw as the case might be. The lust to bathe in glory ? This makes God ?
We are run by a spoilt, nouveau-riche, not handsomely literate, child. With an apparently attractive gaucheness. It’s a fucking disgrace ! Go back down the years – Clark, Bolger, (omitted Shipley, Palmer, Moore), Lange, Muldoon (yes I know – spooky) , Rowling, Kirk , Marshall, Holyoake. History has not recdorded these as dishonourable people.
There are undeniable scenarios, indicators, fuck-ups, hubris-times, to have history record that the SelfieKey set about for the corruption of our national psyche, the decency in us. For the benefit of the few. That is an ugly and unforgiveable legacy.