Exposing a deeply twisted and paranoid world view, and undermining his own case, police prosecutor Ross Burns defames the New Zealand Anti-Apartheid movement in court.
Burns compared the actions of the accused to the “violent protests against the Springbok tour”.
Mr Burns said by combining all the different bits of evidence against the accused including footage of people patrolling the bush, throwing molotov cocktails, a thermite bomb recipe found in the home of one of those formerly accused in the case, and conversations between some of the accused talking about war and killing people the jury would see what the group’s true motives were
He compared the camps to the violent protests against the Springbok tour in 1981 no-one wanted to believe it was happening in New Zealand, but it was..
All those who took part in the acts of civil disobedience and protest, honoured and celebrated across Africa and around the world, should be deeply offended at Burns comments.
It’s an interesting comparison, Jenny. Clearly there were incidents of organised protest that went beyond mere civil disobediance, the flour bombing of Eden Park being the most well known example. So perhaps there may be some thin grounds to say there are similarities.
For me, the most offensive comparison in court was saying Tama Iti was just like Nelson Mandela! An own goal in two aspects; one, Iti’s a buffoon and secondly, Mandela was convicted of trying to blow things up, hardly a link that a defence lawyer should be drawing attention to, I would have thought.
I might have believed their headline. If said Maori were sitting outside a bank, in a stolen car, with balaclava’s and guns. But people living in the back blocks need firearms to sustain them selves and their families.
A query: why is it that when looking at fairness and long-term viability of superannuation and welfare generally, people discuss age of eligibility and capital gains tax, but no mention is ever made of trusts which are set up to dodge tax, and to qualify for a range of government handouts.
Actually Arthur, I was at several demos in 81 when the violence came from all sides. As the Tour progressed it became very evident to some of us that the Police (Red Squad in particular) were deliberately inciting violence as were Police “agents provocateurs”. On the protester side it also became evident that some groups within the protest movement were becoming willing to mix it. You can only take so much violence before you respond, I saw it close up. Had the tour gone on any longer I think the most protesters would have all met fire with fire.
The petition originates from IUF, a collective of agricultural, food and hotel industry Unions based overseas. You don’t have to be a Union member to sign the petition.
Signed. It seems that the only way that the Owners/Boards want to negotiate, is from Locking out the work force. The old starve em out mentality, along with other prehistoric ideas.
Personal information emailed to an unauthorised person in August 2011.
ACC know of the error in December 2011.
New ACC minister in December 2011
Media reports the incompetence in March 2012
Without an independent inquiry, when ACC knew of the error may not be correct.
“…Cannabis and its active constituents appear to be safe and modestly effective treatments in patients suffering from a variety of chronic pain conditions –
– including neuropathy (pain due to nerve damage) –
– according to a literature review to be published in The Clinical Journal of Pain…”
Yesterday I commented upon the intellectual vacuity of ACT candidate Stephen Franks. Today I will comment upon the diatribe that passes for informed journalism in our MSM publications.
Have you ever noticed that when members of the status quo, and in particular the “successful” (aka wealthy and rich) have their comment published you invariably get given a line or two about them being “first class minds”?
Last night I had the misfortune to glance at the Listener (angst mag for the well healed classes). An article on Alan Gibbs described him as a “first class mind”. It went on to outline his career, from being a “communist” at university to being a “free market radical”, and an acknowledged business maestro. I have no doubt that Alan is extremely clever and successful, what gets to me is the blanket categorization of him as a “first class mind”.
Lets break it down a bit: he was a communist, he is now a free market radical…which says that he is a radical ideologist, both dogmas being the bastard off spring of mechanistic rationalism. That is a bit like being good at arithmetic, 1+2=3, yet you are not required to ascertain what 1,2 and 3 quantify or relate to. To me that does not signal a first class mind, merely the ability to think narrowly and act accordingly.
Gibbs was also extremely good at business: some people are extremely good at taking risk, which in itself is not a good basis for judging them a first class mind. This too is a narrow discipline, as is the ability to make radical decisions which impact on other peoples lives. This too indicates more about temperament. Ideological apparatchiks were extremely good at slinging people into the Gulag, ideological economic rationalists with MBAs excel at making others redundant whilst citing a narrow viewpoint that justifies exorbitant salaries. The pain caused is always “justifiable” within the bounds of the ideology as being for the greater good. These are both successful individual behaviors within an environment, they do not however indicate a “first class mind”.
I am sure Pravda used to promote “first class minds”, here in NZ the MSM needs a big kicking to dispel this lazy behavoir.
Gibbs was also extremely good at business: some people are extremely good at taking risk, which in itself is not a good basis for judging them a first class mind.
Last night, I watched the (old) detective series New Tricks on Prime. The episode was about a University lecturer who had been fired as the new chancellor wanted to concentrate on offering business degrees… to idiots, as shown in an hilarious scene where the retired detectives were given an assignment to hand in to a lecturer.
My point is that the new chancellor was one of those narrow business men. He’d shut the library (replacing it with a few dozen computers) and got rid of the History and philosophy of science faculty (for one example.) I think the series is about 2-3 years old (maybe 4, which is the norm for British programmes on NZ TV) but it was very relevant!
Found this on scoop. Well worth reading the real-life stories of those who are being made to pay for the deficit via cuts to public sector jobs. I’ll just post the author’s conclusion:
A couple of years ago, people getting in touch were worried about services disappearing under George Osborne’s scalpel. Now, as thousands lose their jobs, it’s fear about living off credit cards, and making ends meet until the end of the month. Many of these middle-aged workers being thrown out of work are watching their children becoming adults with little prospect of getting a secure job, too. One text was from a woman whose husband had just lost his job; their unemployed 20- and 24-year-old kids couldn’t afford to leave home. The lost and forgotten generations are increasingly living under the same roof.
This generation of unemployed is forgotten, but not accidentally so. Much of the media enthusiastically backs the biggest cuts since the 1920s. They have little interest in exposing the human reality: after all, if it is widely realised that the deficit is being paid off with people’s futures, then passive acquiescence to austerity can hardly be taken for granted. The Government is counting on the anger and despair of the forgotten generation to remain unseen, contained, confined to the dignified privacy of their homes. But if the forgotten and the lost organise, join forces, and make their voices heard, the Cameron Project could be sent hurtling into reverse.
This is, in my opinion, one of the major challenges Labour has – to be an inclusive party with broad appeal, rather than one where different opinions are seen as heresy – especially when you are in opposition.
Ah no. The problem with both you and David is that both of you seem to think that disagreements should be polite or silent (unless of course you’re the one doing the disagreeing). That arguments should be held behind closed doors.
That isn’t exactly how Labour or any left-wing party operates. I view that “polite” behaviour is almost the defining behaviour of the right (it vies with short-term thinking). It is in my view extremely hypocritical and usually evasive to try to pretend that disagreements don’t happen in public.
In Labour and just about every organisation I’ve ever been in, the disagreements tend to be aired in public or near public. But I guess you don’t particularly like that.
Josie understands that and is (and was) quite capable of defending herself. Like the young labour person that Farrar was ‘defending’, she doesn’t need the assistance of minor political figures who really seem have no frigging idea about how politics operates on the left.
I’d point out that I’ve spent decades in Labour with economic and social views that look like an old ACT manifesto, a non-unionist, and someone who views the government as primarily a infrastructural development system than anything else. I just happen to lack the ability to think only in the short-term like a true conservative and I’m not scared of verbal conflict in the way that you and Farrar appear to be. I get in regular disagreements both inside Labour and outside. It really isn’t an issue.
Quit moaning and just defend your ideas. In fact based on what I have seen you do recently, the first thing you should do is actually lay out some ideas that you will defend.
I don’t usually get criticised for my silence on blogs, I’ve been involved in more than a few disagreements “aired in public or near public” – and I’ve been prepared to be open about my identity which is more than many will do.
So trying to give me the silent treatment falls a bit flat.
Sometimes I pormote and defend my ideas – but I also like to test and explore other people’s ideas, sometimes a nudge helps that happen. There’s a lot less tolerance of that in some blogs than others, and that lack of tolerance seems to be more to the left. I get plenty disagreement elsewhere, but much less personal attacks.
testing and exploring other people’s ideas without offering specific ones of your own is pretty selfish at best.
At worst it is simply a guise for undeclared sophistry – ask for a proposition or “evidence”, when it is offered reduce it to absurdity or misinterpret it, ask for more propositions or evidence, reduce that to absurdity or misinterpret it, and so on. Meanwhile try as hard as possible to avoid providing your own propositions or evidence for all except the most patently obvious things, then crow about how smart you are (Gosman) or – when people finally get bored with “debating” with a propositional vacuum – complain that people refuse to engage in polite discussion (sound familiar, pg?).
It has been notable around here, and many have commentated on it, that you seldom present your ‘ideas’ in a form that can be discussed.
What you do instead is wave some vague aspirations around with no detail about how they’d be implemented and then try to tell everyone else off for not agreeing with something that is so vague that they make clouds look solid. In other words you don’t put up any ideas that are worth agreeing with, disagreeing with, or even discussing because they show no signs of being thought through. My great nephew at just over one year old, has ideas that have more substance than those I have seen from you. He at least has a observable tangible goal and a process when I see him figuring out his next bit of mischief…
In effect what you seem to call ideas, I view as being meaningless waffle. But I’m not really into ‘ideas’ that show no signs of being obtainable without a religious miracle.
But have a look around the comments you’ve left here. Point to an “idea” that shows any kind of plan of the process towards implementation.
Funny. That’s one of the weaker criticisms I’ve had. Was anyone not aware of who I was then for a few days?
I used a pseudonym on Redbaiter’s blog for about 10 days but then made it obvious who I was (he said he knew all along but banned me as soon as he actually knew). I used a pseudonym for my first month or two on KB. I got reporteed for telling someone who I was when they asked on Trademe.
But I might be any number of other identities, mightn’t we.
On another post PG was trying to say that controversial post titles cause changes in readership. It ain’t so…
The titles of posts don’t substantially change the numbers of people reading a particular post. Obviously we can test that pretty easily here because of the format we shifted to in 2010 with a drill down front page.
The rough order of effect is (from my testing)
1. How many people usually read your blog daily.
2. Topicality – ie is it really newsworthy.
3. How good the post is in it’s content
4. What is happening in comments (ie lively discussion)
5. The author (on multiauthor sites). There are authors who get more reads.
6. How many links and references you get from blogs, facebook etc (ie from people who read the post).
7. What the excerpt reads like where it is displayed (eg facebook).
8. What the graphic looks like (eg facebook).
9. What the title is (the main place that has an effect is on post rolls – minor).
I’ve tested this several times over the years as we keep shifting formats and social media (I’m due to do it again when I get some time to test the effect of the RSS feed changes – which saved 50GB of overseas traffic last month).
It is additive, so if you get everything right then you’ll get about 3-4 times the first one. There are a few post that go somewhat larger than that – they tend to be the ones that have a strong topicality.
I have a strong suspicion that your site fails on the first one, which impacts on most of the others. If it isn’t seen and spread then it drops into a bit of an abyss.
You’re comparing dissimilar things. The major blogs are first or a regular port of call for many people, so it can depend much more on what’s topical and whats on the main page. Small blogs work differently. There are obviously many factors but on lower volume blogs the title can make a big difference (at least quadruple with the one I tried today). I don’t expect many hits unless I do something to attract them.
4. What is happening in comments (ie lively discussion)
That’s an interesting one. Activity attracts activity, people like to go where it’s popular. I suspect that here you’ll get a lot of hits off the recent comment list.
And if you have a look at Whale’s latest interface which lists the topics with number of comments very clearly the topics with numbers attract more numbers.
I don’t expect big numbers because most of what I do is elsewhere to my blogs, they are just useful tools. If I wanted to attract a lot more hits I’d post regularly about abortion, aliens, global warming, religion, homosexuals, David Bain, John Key Sucks and Labour are Labouring. But I think there’s enough of that elsewhere.
I suspect that here you’ll get a lot of hits off the recent comment list.
I tend look at most of this statistically..
Less than 5% of post views come via the comments list (closer to 1-2% on a average day). However if you are talking about commentators then it is about 20-30%.
On most days, people who comment regularly are about 20% of the clicks to posts and usually less than 10% of the visitors. The majority of people are lurkers who read the posts. Some will then go on to read the comments (you can tell when they never or seldom leave comments, but do read a post several times). That been steadily increasing and looks like it is getting to be something like 20% of non-commenting regular readers.
Quite simply a lively debate isn’t that much interest to the vast majority of readers unless it is topical. Even then, you’ll get a flood of page views if you’re off first with it rapidly tailing off to the usual commentators plus the people interested in the topic.
I suspect that the commenting behaviour here is a bit different on whale’s site. I’ve noted before that the people coming into this site from there are typical pack animals. Where one goes you find a pile of pack members following, a spate of quick piddling (ie rubbish comments) to mark territory, and then departure. Most of them have been banned from here in the past for trolling meaningless twaddle, but you can still observe their marking behaviours on whale’s site – short comments with a lack of content reflecting their high thought levels.
The pack behaviour is distinctive. We can get a hundred or even two hundred page views coming from whale’s site in an hour if whale is upset with something on our site. It then drops to nothing. But on average it is minimal compared to search (ie topicality) or facebook (ie references) or several other sites.
If I wanted to attract a lot more hits I’d post regularly about …. (no particular substance)
ie the Whale strategy (currently with more posts). It isn’t particularly useful. It is kind of hard to see with Whale artificially bumping his page views at present (which I’ll look at sometime when I have time). But what he doesn’t get from that strategy is the the first item on my list – numbers of regular readers. He has a pretty minimal (if ardent) regular audience and has to keep doing more and more and more frantic activity all of the time. Not a good technique for pacing yourself.
Whereas we’ve been slowly dropping the posts over the last few years back to sustainable rates and so people can comment before the posts disappear. It isn’t often that we have more than 10 posts in a day (whereas that was more common a year or two years ago) and the average is closer to 5 per day. But while that shift has been happening, the numbers of readers has kept climbing. Over xmas was pretty classic. The numbers of posts dropped like a stone (because authors out of network or constrained by family), but page views and comments merely dropped to last years usual weekend levels. People are coming to read and write the comments in OpenMike if nothing else.
I’m a little perplexed regarding the legislation for the selling of energy assets. Section 9 of the SOE Act gives Maori treaty rights under section 9. Key has compromised and will cover Maori concerning 51 % (government shares).
This morning on Nine to Noon (first slot) I learn that with the sale of energy assests that a person will no longer be able to access information OIA or go through the ombudsman. Auckland Airport info cannot be obtained through the OIA or the ombudsman. Private prison info will be able to be obtained through the OIA and the ombudsman.
What perplexes me is how will Maori be able to get info regarding their treaty rights being recognised in the governments 51 % energy shares?
The government is to focus its efforts on re-arranging the furniture in John Key’s Beehive office, the Prime Minister announced today, ending months of speculation about National’s plan to reduce the deficit and grow productivity during their second term.
In a speech that is expected to set the political and fiscal agenda for the next two years, Key made the announcement at a breakfast meeting of the Waitakere Business Club, who greeted the policy with sustained applause.
‘This government will form a high level committee to carry out this task, consisting of myself, Finance Minister Bill English, Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Northland electorate MP Mike Sabin who used to shift pianos when he was a student and is still in pretty good shape.’
May I suggest a Hawaiian theme, complete with sand, a few jelly fish and a hammock. The hammock is for Key to ponder on why he said in 2008 that he would not cut public service jobs or sell state assets during a speech.
… blah blah “a stay of execution” and ….blah blah “death sentence”
We don’execute people in NZ, and we don’t have the death sentence – to compare the financial difficulties of the ORU and decisions over its future to a human life is just bad taste churnalism.
The MSM has gone totally tabloid and its only Wednesday – sheesh.
Yeah especially since there hasn’t been another election since then and he never indicated at all that they were planning on cutting public service jobs or selling assets, oh wait…
I think it was Key’s arguments as to why selling assets was a bad idea that are significant…. the reasons still hold, and he doesn’t have a better argument for the asset sales..
As remarkably ironic as that video is, I recon Key will confidently shrug and tell us “we live in a dynamic world” and sadly most Nat supporters will accept that feeble excuse. The guy has had plenty of practice shrugging off previous broken promises. It’s what the teflon meister does best, making excuses and blagging his way out of things.
The amazing thing about that video is he could have been an opposition candidate campaigning rather effectively AGAINST Nationals policies. Amazing how fickle his policies and commitments are.
Agreed Ianmac, Duncan’s apologetic analysis was utterly pathetic, the guy added absolutely nothing to the story other than ‘I like National, and I’ll make excuses for them, that is all’.
Shame it wasn’t revealed before the election when it mattered, could have swayed a percent or 3 fence sitters. Will make excellent ammo for the opposition come next election though.
What is your beef with ACC burt, thats a couple of things today…All ok mate. or have we had a bad experience when your counsin the dodgy doctor was inspecting your pre season groin strain..
Couple of things today…. After my first comment of the day. Your credibility muzza – shot to shit.
Yeah, and that’s real funny about inspecting the groin strain… were you mailed my case file to try and help ACC find a way of wriggling out of their responsibilities ?
DePuy spokeswoman Melissa Tyndale-Biscoe said in January that the company regretted the impact the recall had on patients, their families and surgeons.
It was now providing support for more than 4000 patients in New Zealand and Australia.
It would pay “reasonable” costs for any patient who needed testing and treatment, including the full cost of any revision surgery required.
X-rays and other scans, travel, and temporary home care after surgery would also be covered for patients who needed them.
So, what was your actual problem? Because I can’t see any reason to sue.
The monopoly state provider wasn’t at fault and the company that was is paying the damages.
That said, not being able to sue is the most efficient system as most people can’t actually afford to sue and so being able to won’t achieve the desired result. Regulations keep things in check better than lawyers.
Right… so the monopoly state health and accident insurance systems completely fuck up and the best thing is that you take the one size fits all recourse they offer – yeah… that’s the most efficient for them.
Yep, it’s all about what’s efficient for them… ease of administration is so much more important than anything else.
Hey I hear if they send your private case details to other people they …. well they… umm, they give you a phone call to say sorry.
DEAKER-WATCH No. 2
Notorious race-baiting broadcaster Murray Deaker is in the news for yet again using racist language on air. The target this time was Muslims, but longtime Deaker-watchers know that he has been making brutal, demeaning comments about Māori and Polynesian athletes for more than twenty years.
The DEAKER-WATCH series is designed to bring Deaker’s bigotry to the notice of those people who are not bored enough, or sad enough, or dull enough to listen to one of his programmes. Here then, like a sulphurous blast from seven years past, is the first in the series…
Deaker still concerned about “dumb” Polynesian players
by MORRISSEY BREEN, Daisycutter Sports Inc.
Monday, August 29, 2005
Great test match on Saturday, in spite of it being played at night-time in Dunedin. A thrilling late try by Keven Mealamu means we beat the Springboks and are in line for the Tri-Nations title.
New Zealand fans and New Zealand media commentators would be elated at that, surely? Well, yes, they are… mostly.
You’ve been thinking the All Blacks have played brilliantly this season? Think again, buddy. Deeper, cleverer minds than you or I have been cogitating, and they are gravely concerned.
Minds like Murray Deaker’s, for instance. As ever, the man grandiosely billed on his radio station’s promos as “New Zealand’s number one sports broadcaster” is again giving voice to his perennial theme, viz., the All Blacks, being full of Polynesian and Maori players, are just too…. well, …. too dumb.
Tonight, in tones of deep seriousness, he informs his listeners that “our players are faster, stronger, better athletes — but they’re not BRIGHTER.”
A caller named Mark is in full agreement with the great man: “They’re BRAINLESS, Murray! Why are they so THICK?”
Deaker develops his theme: “Umaga — a GREAT player. But I question his judgement. If only he had somebody like Grant Fox inside him — a player with BRAINS. These guys play with fantastic athleticism but they don’t play with NOUS.”
Got it, New Zealand football fans? No matter how good they look, those darkies are just too st00000-pid to play rugby football at the top level. They are constantly being out-thought by smarter white players, as we saw demonstrated in Paris last November, and during the Lions series earlier this year.
When are the All Black selectors going to LISTEN to real, passionate, BRIGHT fans like Murray Deaker and “Mark”, and get rid of those darkies? Can’t they see how they are DESTROYING the All Blacks? Deaker and “Mark” can, for Chrissakes!!! What’s WRONG with Henry, Hansen and Smith? Are they blind?
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – DEAKER-WATCH is a series dedicated to highlighting the contributions of Murray Deaker to New Zealand public life.
Why is Obama’s regime persecuting whistle-blowers?
Democracy Now!, March 9, 2012
From corporate whistleblowers to Army refuseniks, a new book, “Beautiful Souls: Saying No, Breaking Ranks, and Heeding the Voice of Conscience in Dark Times,” explores what compels ordinary people to defy the sway of authority and convention for the greater good. “I feel like we have two very different discourses about whistleblowers in this country,” says the book’s author, Eyal Press. “On the one hand, when you see them cast in Hollywood movies, they’re invariably heroes, played by leading actors and actresses, and everybody salutes them… On the other hand, when we have whistleblowers actually speaking up in real time, the response is very different.” [includes rush transcript]
JUAN GONZALEZ: We turn now to whistleblowers and the unprecedented attack they’ve come under during the Obama administration. Evoking the Espionage Act of 1917, the administration has pressed criminal charges against no fewer than six government employees, exactly twice as many as all previous administrations combined. Their crime? Leaking classified information to reporters.
Last month Jake Tapper, the White House correspondent for ABC News, questioned the Obama administration for applauding truth-seekers abroad while simultaneously prosecuting them at home. Tapper raised his concerns shortly after White House Press Secretary Jay Carney lamented the deaths of journalists Marie Colvin and Anthony Shadid, saying they had given their lives “in order to bring truth” while reporting in Syria. This is Jake Tapper.
JAKE TAPPER: How does that square with the fact that this administration has been so aggressively trying to stop aggressive journalism in the United States by using the Espionage Act to take whistleblowers to court? You’re currently—I think that you’ve invoked it the sixth time. And before the Obama administration, it had only been used three times in history. This is the sixth time. You’re suing a CIA officer for allegedly providing information in 2009 about CIA torture. Certainly that’s something that’s in the public interest of the United States. This administration is taking this person to court. There just seems to be a disconnect here: you want aggressive journalism abroad; you just don’t want it in the United States.
PRESS SECRETARY JAY CARNEY: Well, I would hesitate to speak to any particular case, for obvious reasons, and I would refer you to….
Goldman Sachs executive director of European equity derivatives business grows a conscience and quits. Greg Smith writes a public letter as a farewell present to the bank’s management…
He said junior analysts are absorbing a culture in which the most important question is “how much money did we make off the client?”, and that hearing talk of “muppets,” “ripping eyeballs out” and “getting paid” will not turn them into “model citizens”.
…He claims the fast-track to a Goldman promotion involves persuading clients to invest in stocks or other products “that we are trying to get rid of because they are not seen as having a lot of potential profit”; getting clients to trade “whatever will bring the biggest profit to Goldman” – referred to internally as hunting elephants and securing a job trading “any illiquid, opaque product with a three-letter acronym”.
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
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Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
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On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
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This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University Shutterstock Following an emergency meeting of the National Cabinet this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a raft of measures to tackle the problem ...
Analysis - A poll showing the opposition is more popular than the government raises questions, politicians go through their 'trial by pay rise' and a Green MP loses her cool in the debating chamber. ...
The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Hall, Lecturer, Media & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University A longstanding feud between TikTok and Universal Music Group seems to have finally reached an end, with both parties signing a deal that will see Universal-backed music returned to the social media ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Siobhan O’Dean, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney After several highly publicised alleged murders of women in Australia, the Albanese government this week pledged more than A$925 million over five years ...
Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lennon Y.C. Chang, Associate Professor of Cyber Risk and Policy, Deakin University Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat. In recent years, China has used a variety ...
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A week that began in triumph ended in an all-too-familiar disaster for the Green Party. Duncan Greive asks if there’s something in the mission that breaks its best and brightest. A long, strange week for the Green party began with a fantastic poll result. On one level this is hardly ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Vanuatu’s former prime minister and opposition MP Ishmael Kalsakau has stepped down — just two days after he confirmed he was the rightful opposition leader. Kalsakau, MP for Port Vila, confirmed to ABC’s Pacific Beat, and the Vanuatu Daily Post on Thursday that he ...
What’s to blame for the coalition’s choppy start? Six months in, and the mojo meter is in the doldrums. A new poll would put National out of power and sees its leader, Chris Luxon, sliding in popularity. How much is it about policy, how much coalition management and a perception ...
The striking report goes far beyond the proposed repeal of the Oranga Tamariki Act’s Treaty of Waitangi provision, and its impact should be felt far beyond the unique circumstances of the claim it addresses. Earlier this week, the Waitangi Tribunal released an interim report on the government’s proposed repeal of ...
The world has been experiencing a productivity slowdown, from which New Zealand has not been exempt. COVID-19 temporarily boosted labour productivity, but more recently, productivity has retreated. The overall trend since 2007 has been one of slow productivity ...
What’s more wasteful than spending $315k on syrup and machine maintenance? Trying to drum up a controversy about it.Cast your mind back to the pre-pandemic idylls of 2019. A “rat” was a disgusting rodent and not a self-administered plague test; the sixth Labour government was in power; and the ...
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Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 3 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
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The Urewera Trial
Are you a terrorist?
Exposing a deeply twisted and paranoid world view, and undermining his own case, police prosecutor Ross Burns defames the New Zealand Anti-Apartheid movement in court.
Burns compared the actions of the accused to the “violent protests against the Springbok tour”.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/6569723/Urewera-trial-Maori-people-plus-guns-equals-crime
All those who took part in the acts of civil disobedience and protest, honoured and celebrated across Africa and around the world, should be deeply offended at Burns comments.
It’s an interesting comparison, Jenny. Clearly there were incidents of organised protest that went beyond mere civil disobediance, the flour bombing of Eden Park being the most well known example. So perhaps there may be some thin grounds to say there are similarities.
For me, the most offensive comparison in court was saying Tama Iti was just like Nelson Mandela! An own goal in two aspects; one, Iti’s a buffoon and secondly, Mandela was convicted of trying to blow things up, hardly a link that a defence lawyer should be drawing attention to, I would have thought.
I might have believed their headline. If said Maori were sitting outside a bank, in a stolen car, with balaclava’s and guns. But people living in the back blocks need firearms to sustain them selves and their families.
A query: why is it that when looking at fairness and long-term viability of superannuation and welfare generally, people discuss age of eligibility and capital gains tax, but no mention is ever made of trusts which are set up to dodge tax, and to qualify for a range of government handouts.
Trusts = Elephants? So true but how likely would it be that MPs would pursue this as it would be a conflict of interest? 🙂
As I recall it the violence in 81 came almost exclusively from police and supporters.
Actually Arthur, I was at several demos in 81 when the violence came from all sides. As the Tour progressed it became very evident to some of us that the Police (Red Squad in particular) were deliberately inciting violence as were Police “agents provocateurs”. On the protester side it also became evident that some groups within the protest movement were becoming willing to mix it. You can only take so much violence before you respond, I saw it close up. Had the tour gone on any longer I think the most protesters would have all met fire with fire.
True – Jenny.
Just on another note I’m passing on a petition to support locked out Afco/Talleys workers, for those of you who are interested:
http://www.iuf.org/cgi-bin/campaigns/show_campaign.cgi?c=662
The petition originates from IUF, a collective of agricultural, food and hotel industry Unions based overseas. You don’t have to be a Union member to sign the petition.
Signed. It seems that the only way that the Owners/Boards want to negotiate, is from Locking out the work force. The old starve em out mentality, along with other prehistoric ideas.
I just signed, and shared it on Facebook! 🙂
Link please Vicky. For us lazy old buggers.
http://whoar.co.nz/2012/got-propaganda-why-all-of-the-milk-industrys-health-claims-have-been-proven-wrong/
“…Marketers have been trying desperately for over a decade to increase the public’s consumption of milk –
– but they keep failing.
Here’s why…”
(cont..)
phil-at-whoar.
ACC’s accident?
Clearly an independent inquiry is required…
The timeline is not a good look either.
Personal information emailed to an unauthorised person in August 2011.
ACC know of the error in December 2011.
New ACC minister in December 2011
Media reports the incompetence in March 2012
Without an independent inquiry, when ACC knew of the error may not be correct.
http://whoar.co.nz/2012/no-medical-value-27-studies-show-pot-kills-pain/
“…Cannabis and its active constituents appear to be safe and modestly effective treatments in patients suffering from a variety of chronic pain conditions –
– including neuropathy (pain due to nerve damage) –
– according to a literature review to be published in The Clinical Journal of Pain…”
(cont..)
phil-at-whoar.
Yesterday I commented upon the intellectual vacuity of ACT candidate Stephen Franks. Today I will comment upon the diatribe that passes for informed journalism in our MSM publications.
Have you ever noticed that when members of the status quo, and in particular the “successful” (aka wealthy and rich) have their comment published you invariably get given a line or two about them being “first class minds”?
Last night I had the misfortune to glance at the Listener (angst mag for the well healed classes). An article on Alan Gibbs described him as a “first class mind”. It went on to outline his career, from being a “communist” at university to being a “free market radical”, and an acknowledged business maestro. I have no doubt that Alan is extremely clever and successful, what gets to me is the blanket categorization of him as a “first class mind”.
Lets break it down a bit: he was a communist, he is now a free market radical…which says that he is a radical ideologist, both dogmas being the bastard off spring of mechanistic rationalism. That is a bit like being good at arithmetic, 1+2=3, yet you are not required to ascertain what 1,2 and 3 quantify or relate to. To me that does not signal a first class mind, merely the ability to think narrowly and act accordingly.
Gibbs was also extremely good at business: some people are extremely good at taking risk, which in itself is not a good basis for judging them a first class mind. This too is a narrow discipline, as is the ability to make radical decisions which impact on other peoples lives. This too indicates more about temperament. Ideological apparatchiks were extremely good at slinging people into the Gulag, ideological economic rationalists with MBAs excel at making others redundant whilst citing a narrow viewpoint that justifies exorbitant salaries. The pain caused is always “justifiable” within the bounds of the ideology as being for the greater good. These are both successful individual behaviors within an environment, they do not however indicate a “first class mind”.
I am sure Pravda used to promote “first class minds”, here in NZ the MSM needs a big kicking to dispel this lazy behavoir.
Succinct and true. Bravo.
Last night, I watched the (old) detective series New Tricks on Prime. The episode was about a University lecturer who had been fired as the new chancellor wanted to concentrate on offering business degrees… to idiots, as shown in an hilarious scene where the retired detectives were given an assignment to hand in to a lecturer.
My point is that the new chancellor was one of those narrow business men. He’d shut the library (replacing it with a few dozen computers) and got rid of the History and philosophy of science faculty (for one example.) I think the series is about 2-3 years old (maybe 4, which is the norm for British programmes on NZ TV) but it was very relevant!
given the increasingly proven cancer/premature-death etc.-causing properties of our main exports..
..(animal bits/bye-products..)
.(we really..as a country..are the merchants of death..eh..?..)
..hand in hand with the soon-to-be production of lab/warehouse grown meat..(with no animals/cruelties involved..in countries of consumption…)
..wouldn’t it make some sense to flog all the meat-farms off to foreigners..?
..and then to sit back and watch/wait for them to go (inevitably) broke..
..then we can buy the farms back cheap..
..and start growing real food on them..?
..(just saying..!
..it’s a plan..!..)
the alternative of course is to start switching to growing real food now..eh..?..)
phil-at-whoar.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/owen-jones-my-father-and-the-reality-of-losing-your-job-in-middle-age-7546015.html
Found this on scoop. Well worth reading the real-life stories of those who are being made to pay for the deficit via cuts to public sector jobs. I’ll just post the author’s conclusion:
A couple of years ago, people getting in touch were worried about services disappearing under George Osborne’s scalpel. Now, as thousands lose their jobs, it’s fear about living off credit cards, and making ends meet until the end of the month. Many of these middle-aged workers being thrown out of work are watching their children becoming adults with little prospect of getting a secure job, too. One text was from a woman whose husband had just lost his job; their unemployed 20- and 24-year-old kids couldn’t afford to leave home. The lost and forgotten generations are increasingly living under the same roof.
This generation of unemployed is forgotten, but not accidentally so. Much of the media enthusiastically backs the biggest cuts since the 1920s. They have little interest in exposing the human reality: after all, if it is widely realised that the deficit is being paid off with people’s futures, then passive acquiescence to austerity can hardly be taken for granted. The Government is counting on the anger and despair of the forgotten generation to remain unseen, contained, confined to the dignified privacy of their homes. But if the forgotten and the lost organise, join forces, and make their voices heard, the Cameron Project could be sent hurtling into reverse.
A certain blog has posted a very valid point about current Labour. The intolerance of diversity.
This can also apply to blogs.
Labour being accused of the intolerance of diversity – lolwut.
Ah no. The problem with both you and David is that both of you seem to think that disagreements should be polite or silent (unless of course you’re the one doing the disagreeing). That arguments should be held behind closed doors.
That isn’t exactly how Labour or any left-wing party operates. I view that “polite” behaviour is almost the defining behaviour of the right (it vies with short-term thinking). It is in my view extremely hypocritical and usually evasive to try to pretend that disagreements don’t happen in public.
In Labour and just about every organisation I’ve ever been in, the disagreements tend to be aired in public or near public. But I guess you don’t particularly like that.
Josie understands that and is (and was) quite capable of defending herself. Like the young labour person that Farrar was ‘defending’, she doesn’t need the assistance of minor political figures who really seem have no frigging idea about how politics operates on the left.
I’d point out that I’ve spent decades in Labour with economic and social views that look like an old ACT manifesto, a non-unionist, and someone who views the government as primarily a infrastructural development system than anything else. I just happen to lack the ability to think only in the short-term like a true conservative and I’m not scared of verbal conflict in the way that you and Farrar appear to be. I get in regular disagreements both inside Labour and outside. It really isn’t an issue.
Quit moaning and just defend your ideas. In fact based on what I have seen you do recently, the first thing you should do is actually lay out some ideas that you will defend.
I don’t usually get criticised for my silence on blogs, I’ve been involved in more than a few disagreements “aired in public or near public” – and I’ve been prepared to be open about my identity which is more than many will do.
So trying to give me the silent treatment falls a bit flat.
Sometimes I pormote and defend my ideas – but I also like to test and explore other people’s ideas, sometimes a nudge helps that happen. There’s a lot less tolerance of that in some blogs than others, and that lack of tolerance seems to be more to the left. I get plenty disagreement elsewhere, but much less personal attacks.
testing and exploring other people’s ideas without offering specific ones of your own is pretty selfish at best.
At worst it is simply a guise for undeclared sophistry – ask for a proposition or “evidence”, when it is offered reduce it to absurdity or misinterpret it, ask for more propositions or evidence, reduce that to absurdity or misinterpret it, and so on. Meanwhile try as hard as possible to avoid providing your own propositions or evidence for all except the most patently obvious things, then crow about how smart you are (Gosman) or – when people finally get bored with “debating” with a propositional vacuum – complain that people refuse to engage in polite discussion (sound familiar, pg?).
It has been notable around here, and many have commentated on it, that you seldom present your ‘ideas’ in a form that can be discussed.
What you do instead is wave some vague aspirations around with no detail about how they’d be implemented and then try to tell everyone else off for not agreeing with something that is so vague that they make clouds look solid. In other words you don’t put up any ideas that are worth agreeing with, disagreeing with, or even discussing because they show no signs of being thought through. My great nephew at just over one year old, has ideas that have more substance than those I have seen from you. He at least has a observable tangible goal and a process when I see him figuring out his next bit of mischief…
In effect what you seem to call ideas, I view as being meaningless waffle. But I’m not really into ‘ideas’ that show no signs of being obtainable without a religious miracle.
But have a look around the comments you’ve left here. Point to an “idea” that shows any kind of plan of the process towards implementation.
Lynn, was that to me or pete? Or possibly both (damn, that would have me meditating on self-reflection for longer than usual)?
edit – argh – just remembered to follow the comment numbers. it’s the little gravatar that throws me occasionally 🙂
and I’ve been prepared to be open about my identity which is more than many will do.
Oh really Pete?
Or should I say… Secret Squirrel…
Funny. That’s one of the weaker criticisms I’ve had. Was anyone not aware of who I was then for a few days?
I used a pseudonym on Redbaiter’s blog for about 10 days but then made it obvious who I was (he said he knew all along but banned me as soon as he actually knew). I used a pseudonym for my first month or two on KB. I got reporteed for telling someone who I was when they asked on Trademe.
But I might be any number of other identities, mightn’t we.
Unless the Kiwiblog post is actually applauding intolerance within Labour, the H-word seems painfully inadequate…
I give up Pete. Which blog are you trying to bolster visitor numbers for with your link?
Drilling for natural gas, take a look its a bit freaky
On another post PG was trying to say that controversial post titles cause changes in readership. It ain’t so…
The titles of posts don’t substantially change the numbers of people reading a particular post. Obviously we can test that pretty easily here because of the format we shifted to in 2010 with a drill down front page.
The rough order of effect is (from my testing)
1. How many people usually read your blog daily.
2. Topicality – ie is it really newsworthy.
3. How good the post is in it’s content
4. What is happening in comments (ie lively discussion)
5. The author (on multiauthor sites). There are authors who get more reads.
6. How many links and references you get from blogs, facebook etc (ie from people who read the post).
7. What the excerpt reads like where it is displayed (eg facebook).
8. What the graphic looks like (eg facebook).
9. What the title is (the main place that has an effect is on post rolls – minor).
I’ve tested this several times over the years as we keep shifting formats and social media (I’m due to do it again when I get some time to test the effect of the RSS feed changes – which saved 50GB of overseas traffic last month).
It is additive, so if you get everything right then you’ll get about 3-4 times the first one. There are a few post that go somewhat larger than that – they tend to be the ones that have a strong topicality.
I have a strong suspicion that your site fails on the first one, which impacts on most of the others. If it isn’t seen and spread then it drops into a bit of an abyss.
You’re comparing dissimilar things. The major blogs are first or a regular port of call for many people, so it can depend much more on what’s topical and whats on the main page. Small blogs work differently. There are obviously many factors but on lower volume blogs the title can make a big difference (at least quadruple with the one I tried today). I don’t expect many hits unless I do something to attract them.
4. What is happening in comments (ie lively discussion)
That’s an interesting one. Activity attracts activity, people like to go where it’s popular. I suspect that here you’ll get a lot of hits off the recent comment list.
And if you have a look at Whale’s latest interface which lists the topics with number of comments very clearly the topics with numbers attract more numbers.
I don’t expect big numbers because most of what I do is elsewhere to my blogs, they are just useful tools. If I wanted to attract a lot more hits I’d post regularly about abortion, aliens, global warming, religion, homosexuals, David Bain, John Key Sucks and Labour are Labouring. But I think there’s enough of that elsewhere.
I suspect that here you’ll get a lot of hits off the recent comment list.
I tend look at most of this statistically..
Less than 5% of post views come via the comments list (closer to 1-2% on a average day). However if you are talking about commentators then it is about 20-30%.
On most days, people who comment regularly are about 20% of the clicks to posts and usually less than 10% of the visitors. The majority of people are lurkers who read the posts. Some will then go on to read the comments (you can tell when they never or seldom leave comments, but do read a post several times). That been steadily increasing and looks like it is getting to be something like 20% of non-commenting regular readers.
Quite simply a lively debate isn’t that much interest to the vast majority of readers unless it is topical. Even then, you’ll get a flood of page views if you’re off first with it rapidly tailing off to the usual commentators plus the people interested in the topic.
I suspect that the commenting behaviour here is a bit different on whale’s site. I’ve noted before that the people coming into this site from there are typical pack animals. Where one goes you find a pile of pack members following, a spate of quick piddling (ie rubbish comments) to mark territory, and then departure. Most of them have been banned from here in the past for trolling meaningless twaddle, but you can still observe their marking behaviours on whale’s site – short comments with a lack of content reflecting their high thought levels.
The pack behaviour is distinctive. We can get a hundred or even two hundred page views coming from whale’s site in an hour if whale is upset with something on our site. It then drops to nothing. But on average it is minimal compared to search (ie topicality) or facebook (ie references) or several other sites.
If I wanted to attract a lot more hits I’d post regularly about …. (no particular substance)
ie the Whale strategy (currently with more posts). It isn’t particularly useful. It is kind of hard to see with Whale artificially bumping his page views at present (which I’ll look at sometime when I have time). But what he doesn’t get from that strategy is the the first item on my list – numbers of regular readers. He has a pretty minimal (if ardent) regular audience and has to keep doing more and more and more frantic activity all of the time. Not a good technique for pacing yourself.
Whereas we’ve been slowly dropping the posts over the last few years back to sustainable rates and so people can comment before the posts disappear. It isn’t often that we have more than 10 posts in a day (whereas that was more common a year or two years ago) and the average is closer to 5 per day. But while that shift has been happening, the numbers of readers has kept climbing. Over xmas was pretty classic. The numbers of posts dropped like a stone (because authors out of network or constrained by family), but page views and comments merely dropped to last years usual weekend levels. People are coming to read and write the comments in OpenMike if nothing else.
I’m a little perplexed regarding the legislation for the selling of energy assets. Section 9 of the SOE Act gives Maori treaty rights under section 9. Key has compromised and will cover Maori concerning 51 % (government shares).
This morning on Nine to Noon (first slot) I learn that with the sale of energy assests that a person will no longer be able to access information OIA or go through the ombudsman. Auckland Airport info cannot be obtained through the OIA or the ombudsman. Private prison info will be able to be obtained through the OIA and the ombudsman.
What perplexes me is how will Maori be able to get info regarding their treaty rights being recognised in the governments 51 % energy shares?
Without transparency there will be skullduggery.
Prime Minister to re-organise office to boost economy
May I suggest a Hawaiian theme, complete with sand, a few jelly fish and a hammock. The hammock is for Key to ponder on why he said in 2008 that he would not cut public service jobs or sell state assets during a speech.
One news talking about Otago Rugby Union:
… blah blah “a stay of execution” and ….blah blah “death sentence”
We don’execute people in NZ, and we don’t have the death sentence – to compare the financial difficulties of the ORU and decisions over its future to a human life is just bad taste churnalism.
The MSM has gone totally tabloid and its only Wednesday – sheesh.
…talking about Otago Rugby Union
Actually, it’s the Otago Rugby Football Union.
…the financial difficulties of the ORU…
It’s the ORFU.
The MSM has gone totally tabloid and its only Wednesday
One News seems particularly poor at the moment—and that’s really concerning to anyone who cares about television.
TV3 news Has just shown The Donkey Saying he will not cut public service jobs,or sell our state assets. This going to take some deflecting on his part eh ?.
http://www.3news.co.nz/Labour-Key-promised-no-job-cuts-asset-sales-in-2008-speech/tabid/1607/articleID/246600/Default.aspx
Yeah especially since there hasn’t been another election since then and he never indicated at all that they were planning on cutting public service jobs or selling assets, oh wait…
I think it was Key’s arguments as to why selling assets was a bad idea that are significant…. the reasons still hold, and he doesn’t have a better argument for the asset sales..
Remakable broadcast Katy but unfortunately Duncan National apologist made excuses at the end to help let his mate Key down gently.
As remarkably ironic as that video is, I recon Key will confidently shrug and tell us “we live in a dynamic world” and sadly most Nat supporters will accept that feeble excuse. The guy has had plenty of practice shrugging off previous broken promises. It’s what the teflon meister does best, making excuses and blagging his way out of things.
The amazing thing about that video is he could have been an opposition candidate campaigning rather effectively AGAINST Nationals policies. Amazing how fickle his policies and commitments are.
Agreed Ianmac, Duncan’s apologetic analysis was utterly pathetic, the guy added absolutely nothing to the story other than ‘I like National, and I’ll make excuses for them, that is all’.
Shame it wasn’t revealed before the election when it mattered, could have swayed a percent or 3 fence sitters. Will make excellent ammo for the opposition come next election though.
Lets hope that Mallard’s not the campaign manager or that excellent ammo will only be used to shot himself in the foot.
Stuff: Kiwis to sue over faulty hip replacements
So let me guess, they couldn’t sue under NZ law because we have ACC….. .
What is your beef with ACC burt, thats a couple of things today…All ok mate. or have we had a bad experience when your counsin the dodgy doctor was inspecting your pre season groin strain..
Couple of things today…. After my first comment of the day. Your credibility muzza – shot to shit.
Yeah, and that’s real funny about inspecting the groin strain… were you mailed my case file to try and help ACC find a way of wriggling out of their responsibilities ?
So, what was your actual problem? Because I can’t see any reason to sue.
Yeah, not having the right to sue completely works for a monopoly state provider… of course we shouldn’t have that right.
The monopoly state provider wasn’t at fault and the company that was is paying the damages.
That said, not being able to sue is the most efficient system as most people can’t actually afford to sue and so being able to won’t achieve the desired result. Regulations keep things in check better than lawyers.
Right… so the monopoly state health and accident insurance systems completely fuck up and the best thing is that you take the one size fits all recourse they offer – yeah… that’s the most efficient for them.
Yep, it’s all about what’s efficient for them… ease of administration is so much more important than anything else.
Hey I hear if they send your private case details to other people they …. well they… umm, they give you a phone call to say sorry.
DEAKER-WATCH No. 2
Notorious race-baiting broadcaster Murray Deaker is in the news for yet again using racist language on air. The target this time was Muslims, but longtime Deaker-watchers know that he has been making brutal, demeaning comments about Māori and Polynesian athletes for more than twenty years.
The DEAKER-WATCH series is designed to bring Deaker’s bigotry to the notice of those people who are not bored enough, or sad enough, or dull enough to listen to one of his programmes. Here then, like a sulphurous blast from seven years past, is the first in the series…
Deaker still concerned about “dumb” Polynesian players
by MORRISSEY BREEN, Daisycutter Sports Inc.
Monday, August 29, 2005
Great test match on Saturday, in spite of it being played at night-time in Dunedin. A thrilling late try by Keven Mealamu means we beat the Springboks and are in line for the Tri-Nations title.
New Zealand fans and New Zealand media commentators would be elated at that, surely? Well, yes, they are… mostly.
You’ve been thinking the All Blacks have played brilliantly this season? Think again, buddy. Deeper, cleverer minds than you or I have been cogitating, and they are gravely concerned.
Minds like Murray Deaker’s, for instance. As ever, the man grandiosely billed on his radio station’s promos as “New Zealand’s number one sports broadcaster” is again giving voice to his perennial theme, viz., the All Blacks, being full of Polynesian and Maori players, are just too…. well, …. too dumb.
Tonight, in tones of deep seriousness, he informs his listeners that “our players are faster, stronger, better athletes — but they’re not BRIGHTER.”
A caller named Mark is in full agreement with the great man: “They’re BRAINLESS, Murray! Why are they so THICK?”
Deaker develops his theme: “Umaga — a GREAT player. But I question his judgement. If only he had somebody like Grant Fox inside him — a player with BRAINS. These guys play with fantastic athleticism but they don’t play with NOUS.”
Got it, New Zealand football fans? No matter how good they look, those darkies are just too st00000-pid to play rugby football at the top level. They are constantly being out-thought by smarter white players, as we saw demonstrated in Paris last November, and during the Lions series earlier this year.
When are the All Black selectors going to LISTEN to real, passionate, BRIGHT fans like Murray Deaker and “Mark”, and get rid of those darkies? Can’t they see how they are DESTROYING the All Blacks? Deaker and “Mark” can, for Chrissakes!!! What’s WRONG with Henry, Hansen and Smith? Are they blind?
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
DEAKER-WATCH is a series dedicated to highlighting the contributions of Murray Deaker to New Zealand public life.
DEAKER-WATCH No.1…
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-13032012/#comment-446445
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/3/9/beautiful_souls_eyal_press_on_the
Why is Obama’s regime persecuting whistle-blowers?
Democracy Now!, March 9, 2012
From corporate whistleblowers to Army refuseniks, a new book, “Beautiful Souls: Saying No, Breaking Ranks, and Heeding the Voice of Conscience in Dark Times,” explores what compels ordinary people to defy the sway of authority and convention for the greater good. “I feel like we have two very different discourses about whistleblowers in this country,” says the book’s author, Eyal Press. “On the one hand, when you see them cast in Hollywood movies, they’re invariably heroes, played by leading actors and actresses, and everybody salutes them… On the other hand, when we have whistleblowers actually speaking up in real time, the response is very different.” [includes rush transcript]
JUAN GONZALEZ: We turn now to whistleblowers and the unprecedented attack they’ve come under during the Obama administration. Evoking the Espionage Act of 1917, the administration has pressed criminal charges against no fewer than six government employees, exactly twice as many as all previous administrations combined. Their crime? Leaking classified information to reporters.
Last month Jake Tapper, the White House correspondent for ABC News, questioned the Obama administration for applauding truth-seekers abroad while simultaneously prosecuting them at home. Tapper raised his concerns shortly after White House Press Secretary Jay Carney lamented the deaths of journalists Marie Colvin and Anthony Shadid, saying they had given their lives “in order to bring truth” while reporting in Syria. This is Jake Tapper.
JAKE TAPPER: How does that square with the fact that this administration has been so aggressively trying to stop aggressive journalism in the United States by using the Espionage Act to take whistleblowers to court? You’re currently—I think that you’ve invoked it the sixth time. And before the Obama administration, it had only been used three times in history. This is the sixth time. You’re suing a CIA officer for allegedly providing information in 2009 about CIA torture. Certainly that’s something that’s in the public interest of the United States. This administration is taking this person to court. There just seems to be a disconnect here: you want aggressive journalism abroad; you just don’t want it in the United States.
PRESS SECRETARY JAY CARNEY: Well, I would hesitate to speak to any particular case, for obvious reasons, and I would refer you to….
Read more by clicking on this link….
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/3/9/beautiful_souls_eyal_press_on_the
National’s purpose for DoC is “Conservation leadership for a prosperous New Zealand”. Protecting our natural heritage for perpetuity no longer features. http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/neoliberalism-infiltrates-doc.html
Goldman Sachs executive director of European equity derivatives business grows a conscience and quits. Greg Smith writes a public letter as a farewell present to the bank’s management…