Irony-free NewstalkZB
“Do you see this as VILE, Jock?”
“The Huddle”, NewstalkZB, Wednesday 13 March 2013, 5:45 p.m.
Larry “Lackwit” Williams, Jock Anderson, Bill Ralston
LARRY “LACKWIT” WILLIAMS: Okay, umm, ahhh, uuuummm…. topic number one today is the Novopay situation. They’re sending in the debt collectors, Bill!
BILL RALSTON:[snarling and panting with indignation] Arrrrgghhhh, what a load of whining and moaning and mad whinging by these teachers! I mean, they might have a point with some issues but they shout everything at maximum volume. So you CAN’T TAKE THEM SERIOUSLY!
LARRY “LACKWIT” WILLIAMS: Jock?
JOCK ANDERSON: Bill’s dead right. These teachers have their lap-dogs in the media. This whole business is just an hysterical over-reaction.
BILL RALSTON:[frenzied] And how many of them were there that received these debt notices? Seven?
JOCK ANDERSON: That’s right! There were only seven of them!
LARRY “LACKWIT” WILLIAMS:[mockingly] Call 911!
BILL RALSTON:[apoplectic] There’s just this mad angel chorus! This whining and moaning and whinging! And I tell you what: NOBODY… TAKES…. THEM…. SERIOUSLY.
LARRY “LACKWIT” WILLIAMS: Yep!
JOCK ANDERSON: Exactly! There are no doubt many good, hard-working teachers out there.
LARRY “LACKWIT” WILLIAMS: Oh yes, yes, of course.
JOCK ANDERSON: I have yet to meet one, however.
LARRY “LACKWIT” WILLIAMS:[uneasily] Ah, ahhh, um.
BILL RALSTON: [softly, nervously] Ha ha ha.
BILL RALSTON: Okay, we’re back with The Huddle after the break.
……..COMMERCIALS…….
LARRY “LACKWIT” WILLIAMS: Topic No. 2 is this Comedy Central television show called The Jeselnik Offensive, which thought it would be a good idea to make jokes about the death of Adam Strange at Muriwai. Listen to this…..
AUDIO CLIP:[American comedian] “Last week, a man in New Zealand was attacked by a fourteen-foot shark. Was he killed? You bet your sweet ass he was killed! And he had a family and everything!” [AUDIENCE:] Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
LARRY “LACKWIT” WILLIAMS: Okay. Now…. [Pauses to indicate how troubled he is] Now, do you see this as VILE, Jock?
JOCK ANDERSON:[with utmost gravitas] I certainly do.
BILL RALSTON: Some of these people think they can say whatever they like.
…….CUT…….
At this point, I was unable to continue listening, as my companion in the car started swearing and shouting at the disembodied voices of Messrs Anderson, Ralston and Lackwit-Williams, denouncing them as “fucking hypocrites”, “racists”, “professional haters”, “boors”, and many other choice and mordantly accurate pejoratives.
FUN FACT: One of NewstalkZB’s advertising slogans is “Tune Your Mind”. Another one is “Fair and Balanced.”
You bet ya. Just count the stories with an inherent bias against teachers in the Herald. There always seems to be a tale about this or that that paints teachers in a bad light.
I do no longer believe such stories are coincidences, but part of a plan to set the ground to influence public opinion before radical changes.
As Malcolm X said.. “If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”
Yes well it is noticeable mickysavage that a majority of the principled, intelligent, competent and courageous MPs currently sit on Labour’s back benches.
And exactly what % of folk in NZ give a toss about the catholic church anyway, I’d have thought it’s way down the list now with the diverse range of faiths on display now and cults like the Destination Brian.
Nope, it’s the biggest religious thing in the world…
No, it’s not. Catholicism may be the biggest christian denomination (~17% of entire world) but Muslim is larger (~23% of entire world). Of course, Christianity as a whole is the largest religion.
…and way the biggest denomination of anything in the country.
It’s the AMOUNT of attention it gets. Sure I would expect some coverage. Al Jazeera had a live watch this morning, waiting for over half an hour for the new Pope to appear. Not needed.
Do other religions with similar numbers of followers get so much attention?
Karol, as a non religious agnostic even I find your lack of appreciation somewhat bewildering. This man represents the spiritual leadership of a quarter of the world…not very significant.
We don’t have to agree with him, his dogma, his “patriarchal” nature, his personal viewpoints etc, but to ignore his significance is somewhat of a limitation on somebodies world view.
So to give you and others a little hint at the significance of this one:
* Loyola is happy, this is the first Jesuit Pope. They are an evangelical order dedicated to evangelical preservation of the Catholic faith, working with the believers and converts. It points towards a more hands on approach between the church and the congregation.
* He is the first Francis. St Francis came to “rebuild a church”, he was a reformer. He was also a leader by example.
* This is the first South American Pope. If you want to do politics in South America you need the church onside.
* He is a man of the people, he moved out of his bishops palace into a small apartment and coos for himself, walks and catches buses.
Nope – still don’t get it. As I said, a report yes, by not as much attention as the media give him. His significance is bloated by the media – self-perpetuating cycle. Do we hear as much about key Muslim leaders? Or key protestant leaders?
PS: And how wealthy is the Catholic Church world wide – in terms of possessions, real estate etc? It seems to be denied by many but the stats they give are of the annual budgets of the Vatican, which often runs a deficit. It’s a matter of debate.
Lets look at another way…bloating by the media…there have been 3 changes of Pope in the last 30 years so the media turn up. As you would expect, and they are not getting paid or endorsed or able to turn the cash on it (like they do in the US presidential election). On that basis the coverage is less than that US election, which given most of the planet is part of the US imperial system figures….even so 20% of the planet is directly affected by the Pope so…voila huge media coverage.
More Papal media coverage? Yes there will be and should be heaps of it. Still you can always tune out and watch the temporal spiritual equivalent on the “News”, the “markets” followed by “sport”.
Muslim leaders dont get the coverage? Since the fall of the Caliphate there has been no Islamic equivalent of Pope but we do get plenty of media about hard line Islamic clerics…and associates like Al Quaeda. Then there is the Queen among-st Protestants…she is head of the C of E. Sells Womens mags as well. Then of course you can turn on the broadcast media any day an watch Protestant televangelists.
So back to your first point, the amount of coverage the Pope gets. Too much? Or perhaps are other things that are of significance to yourself and others getting too little?
Agree that sport and the Queen get too much coverage – ditto all kinds of celebs. Al Qaeda’s coverage is hardly equivalent as it’s usually very negative coverage.
Well, certainly, the plight of the less well off (including amongst rank and file, church going Catholics, Muslims, workers in diverse countries from China to South America through India, the US and Europe), get far to little coverage.
I’m just amazed at the number of people who still believe this nonsense here we are in 2013 and some still believe ghosts and angels and life after death..
Well there’s no real equivalent. The grand muftis would be the closest within Sunni Islam, but they are not at all comparable to a Pope in terms of religious authority.
EinR
Yes I have been thinking lately that kindness could be the major ameliorating emotion for all the destructive ones that we humans have. Too much kindness can be smothering, but then it can be argued that that is not true kindness, it’s passive aggression or controlling.
That seventies? slogan – ‘Aim to carry out daily random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty’ might be due for a revival.
Not sure whether it’s apples v apples putting Catholic v (Sunni + Shia + others).
new pope isn’t the most earth-shattering event, but it’s still pretty important to a lot of people in NZ. Might even be on the same level of public interest as a rugby match 🙂
Yes it’s the biggest religious thing in the world, and has very little to do with global share. Fortunately. Check out that media and crowd turnout for who got to lead the Anglicans. Love them as I do.
As for the NZ denominational size, wait for the census results. Catholics will be the largest.
Anyone who thinks leadership change in a major institution doesn’t really matter (because changing the culture is too hard) probably didn’t have a coherent view about the leadership of the Labour Party.
ad; submissions to the same-sex marriage bill committee by the Catholic Action network were amongst those deemed too offensive to be seen or considered… http://catholicaction.org/
Would Helen Clark have got another term if she had pushed through so many social reform Acts? I put it to you: yes. And we would likely be in an historic fifth term. So was it the right thing to do or not, at the time?
Clearly Labour have determined not to have a Reformation. Have they even whipped on the same-sex marriage bill? Let’s not paint white virtue over the team please.
For arguments sake lets say 1% of NZ give a toss about the catholic church. So what, it is still news worthy.
The spiritual leader for over a billion people in this world has been elected. Someone who takes on an instituion which has more problems than the National Government.
Don’t let your anti catholic prejudices get in the way of a very important news story.
IMO it’s not an important news story, I know plenty of catholics who think the vatican is as irrelevant as Justin Beiber or Michael Laws and the only thing a new Pope takes on is the robes.
You get the gig to sustain the insitution not change it.
See my comment above and examine the gig statement. This institution has been around two thousand years during which time a lot has changed and often. The lesson is that the RC church has also had to change. The change agent is normally the Pope. This one signifies a change. And that is how they sustain it. There are some lessons in this.
Behind the humble bus-rider of Vatican publicity; behind the warm grandfatherly smile; Francis I remains as much a prisoner of reactionary Catholic theology as John-Paul II and Benedict XVI.
And according to the research of Horacio Verbitsky, one of Argentina’s leading investigative journalists, Bergoglio’s reactionary beliefs are not confined to the issues of homosexuality, abortion and contraception. Francis I is also a political reactionary.
He was actively involved on the side of the nasty folks in Argentina’s “dirty war”
Hugh O’Shaughnessy has been reporting Latin American politics for 40 years. In the Guardian of 4 January 2011 he wrote:
“To the judicious and fair-minded outsider it has been clear for years that the upper reaches of the Argentine church contained many … [individuals] … who had communed and supported the unspeakably brutal Western-supported military dictatorship which seized power in that country in 1976 and battened on it for years.”
Reviewing Verbitsky’s book “El Silencio” (The Silence), O’Shaunghessy recounted how:
“The Argentine navy with the connivance of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, now the Jesuit archbishop of Buenos Aires, hid from a visiting delegation of the Inter-American Human Rights Commission the dictatorship’s political prisoners. Bergoglio was hiding them in nothing less than his holiday home in an island called El Silencio in the River Plate. The most shaming thing for the church is that in such circumstances Bergoglio’s name was allowed to go forward in the ballot to choose the successor of John Paul II. What scandal would not have ensued if the first pope ever to be elected from the continent of [South] America had been revealed as an accessory to murder and false imprisonment.”
I respect both Trotters view and OShaugnessys. For the latter, a Contra who was actively partisan, I would ask for hardnevidence, there appears from other sources to be a very different story, so judgment withheld.
From Trotter I hear loud and clear the objections of enlightenment liberal thinking: Chris is crazy if he ever thought the Pope would be doctrinally different and he is missing the real possibilities. These are based in the real human traditions that far out date our “modern”secular thought. Historic context is important and Chris has either missed it or ignored it.
By taking Francis the new Pope may be indicating that his Church move toward a Franciscan tradition of service and charity, and more importantly toward leadership by example. This goes to the heart of the Christian message, there has always been a tension between humility (and leadership by example) and demanding adherence from the pulpit. Franciscan versus Dominican.
PS: I am not religious. I just happen to think that if you limit your world view and thinking to post Voltaire rationalism you become very mechanistic and narrow in approach. It can lead you to political and personal absolutism on par with doctrinal absolutism.
Ennui, is the criticism of absolutism directed at me? I don’t recognise your description in myself.
The change to a more Franciscan approach is appealing. However, I have difficulty seeing that as being led by an institution/city state that incorporates a pomp and opulence within a rigid hierarchy.
Not personal K, however there is a strong streak of absolutism on this blog (and pretty much every other). Hell I do it too, but there’s inconsistency and duality for you.
On the Franciscan approach my viewpoint is extremely long term: since the time of the ancient Pontifex Maximi (yes the papacy predates JC) there has always been an adjustment to circumstances, the main issue being to preserve the institution and faith. Francis never succeeded in rebuilding the Church, he built his legacy in our minds and actions. But not all of us, some of us are Dominicans. I don’t expect the RC as an institution to do anything but adjust and survive, its an enviable track record regardless of how we regard the dogma etc. Francis might however change the immediate focus on what is a priority. Lets watch.
Only twelve percent of the population, and it’s only the world’s largest Christian church, with 1.2 billion members worldwide, obviously it’s totally irrelevant
Phew, that observation generated a bit of excitement amongst a few, but in passing I think comparisons with coverage of the Royal family are spurious.
FYI, there are not umpteen billion catholics in New Zealand and as far as I recall, the pope does not yet have the power to dismiss a democratically elected commonwealth government, say the New Zealand Parliament, which I understand HRH and her descendants currently still/will do. (Oh and to say that they never would, well ask the Australian people what happened in 1975).
The Govt is gunning for the Auckland Council. This is in today’s Herald –
“The Government is becoming increasingly heavy-handed over Auckland’s housing shortage, with talk of a new Crown agency to free up more land. Environment Minister Amy Adams has suggested stripping the Auckland Council of some planning powers for three years to allow a Crown agency to play a role increasing the city’s residential land supply.
New Housing Minister Nick Smith has also released a Government report which, he says, shows a worrying trend of reduced land availability and soaring section prices.
……… and this –
“……Department of Internal Affairs review of development contributions which considers options of capping or abolishing them”
IMO Auckland cannot afford to sprawl any more. It eats up fertile horticultural land, and costs too much for additional infrastructure and motorways. And there is a need for development contributions from the developers to help pay for some of the extra costs – more people require more council services – libraries, parks, recreation areas.
But this Govt is a developers’ friend – not an environmental friend, or – for that matter – a friend of the 99%. And its hell-bent on taking over the legal roles of local govt when it can’t get its own way, Aucklanders are in for a fight !
Auckland Council asked for the Unitary Plan to have effect from the time it is released (ie this year) and Government turned them down. Then it jumps up and down because Auckland is not doing anything …
And they’re getting really upset about higher density housing which must mean that their only concern is that the land bankers on the city fringe may not get their expected returns.
Remember that central control of the second city of ChCh has already been achieved, as well as the Kaipara Council, so it is hardly a surprise that AKL Council is under the microscope, why not!
One way or another central control will eventuate to some level, just take a look at the projected debt increase over the next ten years forecasted for AKL.
Books are not open of course, and the money simply *vanishing*, being replaced by debt with interest. Privatization of AKLs assets are a done deal, thats what the super city was all about!
What is more interesting to note is that the opposite policy applies in rural regions looking to expand irrigation and intensify agriculture. In these areas the government is pushing more power onto local councils, because they are dominated by farmer representatives.
This is a massive rebalancing of power within NZ.
But it will not last. This government in doing these things is going against the mid and long term grain. These things they are introducing are going to be reversed.
As has been said many times before – this is the last hurrah and grasp for goodies by greedies. And they aint holding back, the dirty c#&%s.
What high density redevelopment of all existing State housing sites in akl would look like BEFORE heatley started selling it to their developer mates. GI is relatively central as is the recent Sandringham issue.
Bullying and selling is easy, building and being collaborative requires effort and committment.
There’s plenty of companies who have lost a hundred jobs in the last few years.
But what makes this one different is that the great majority of those being made redundant:
– will not be managers or Chief Executives
– will be high end technicians and account managers earning well over $150,000 and
– are from New Zealand’s largest high-tech company
This is precisely the kind of company New Zealand needs to grow if it is to be less bulk commodity dependent and less dependent upon the weather.
These are highly mobile people who will of course be able to find adventure in other countries.
But with them go their expense accounts, research demand, service demand, spinoff capability, luxury goods buying capacity, school fees and t ravel budgets; cumulatively a huge dark ripple effect.
Aye! I’m watching. And it’ll be those managers and CE’s leading the charge out of self-preservation (as usual – even if it sinks the whole outfit). The more I see your posts (ad) I’m wondering whether the rest of the handle could be v d t – a mighty fine fellow, but then one shouldn’t speculate out loud
cool,
a little Kristeva on ice then?
-she, brought Marxist theory and Russian formalism together with structuralism and psychoanalysis to produce an eclectic inter-disciplinary approach to questions concerning subjectivity.
-initially worked with Derrida
-Some of her work has been in feminist philosophy, some in aesthetics, cultural studies, and psychoanalysis. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Kristeva
cool as
Welcome!!! full credit to TONZU for good employment practice and here’s hoping that more private employers begin to see the light,
AND,
The Labour Party brings forward an employment policy of raising the minimum wage by $1.50 an hour for every year that they are the Government,
That’s not only good for the lowest paid workers, it’s also a boost in income for the Capitalists themselves who are the ultimate beneficiaries of higher wages for those who earn the least as such monies are directly spent into the economy driving companies to compete creating yet more employment,
The Government’s coffers are also enriched by being a beneficiary of the rise in income from taxation as those reliant upon the lowest income as a majority always spend what they have earned into the local economy as they earn such monies…
Jessie Chalmers is also a respected member of the Waitemata Local Board and a Green party activist. Good to see that she is walking the walk in terms of her political beliefs.
That IS good news re Tonzu paying a living wage to its workers. They are a great example to other employers in the food manufacturing sector. Having dealt with them as suppliers back in the day I can say they were always on the level and walked the talk. No greenwash with that family. It’s been good to see their company grow over the years and it goes to show that business can be sustainable, ethical and profitable. There is no need for companies to be A-Holes (think Talleys, Sealord, Preston Taylor etc) to turn a profit.
Sadly there are also companies in NZ in the same category as the Chalmers – (Wholefoods/Organics) who aren’t such clean operators. The worst offenders for low pay rates, intimidation, poor staff moral, serious health and safety breaches (including unreported serious harm) and screwing down raw product suppliers as well as turning a blind eye to non compliance that I have ever seen, have been in this category.
We have such a very long way to go in terms of improving our business behaviour in NZ so bigs ups to Tonzu for demonstrating what a good employer and a good ethical business is. Lets hope it catches on.
More s**t journalism from RadioNZ National’s Morning Report today allowing State Owned enterprises Minister Tony Ryall to spew forth a trail of ‘modified truth’ over the airwaves about the Slippery National Government’s involvement in the financial knee-capping of the States coal miner Solid Energy,
Ryall is now claiming that they (National) only became concerned about the financial state of Solid Energy as the price of coal dropped sharply in the last six months,
The ‘facts’ which escaped both Ryall and those interviewing Him on RadioNZ this morning are that the price of coal has been remarkably stable since May 2012,
Ryall modifying the truth this morning on RadioNz is a direct contradiction of what Slippery the Prime Minister said in answer to a question from the Green Party’s Russell Norman last week in the Parliament where Slippery said that National had no previous concerns about Solid energy’s financial position because coal prices had remained ‘high’,
Bill from Dipton is now talking of ‘hindsight’ as an excuse for this National Governments financial gutting of Solid energy, obviously Bill was too busy elsewhere to notice that at the point of His election into the position of Finance Minister the bottom had fallen out of the price of coal…
That’s just bovine defecation from Bill from Dipton, the debt of Solid Energy at the point of the 2008 election was just 13 million dollars,
Now after being directly told by Tony Ryall and Bill English to take on more debt Solid Energy is staggering under a debt of 389 million dollars, not racked up while Labour was the Government, pushed into such unsustainable debt by this Slippery National Government who have in the past month tried to squirm out of their responsibility for the kneecapping of Solid Energy…
Well, if the progressive side isn’t dominating the airwaves right now when the rare convergence of the Solid Energy and Mighty River power stories are intersecting with the Assets Sales petition, and Key is distracted and off-message while overseas, it’s more a failure of opposition than a triumph of National Radio (!), or a triumph for Tony Ryall (!).
Anyone here wishing for a progressive leader that could cut through the flim flam, appear coherent on television, and send a shudder through National and indeed the polls?
Right now is the moment to make the left cohere. Anyone? Hello?
The Opposition are in my opinion ‘doing quite well’ on the Solid energy issue, it was highlighted on TV1 news last night portraying National’s handling of the finances surrounding Solid Energy in a very poor light after David Shearers questioning of Bill English in the Parliament yesterday where He had English having to admit that the National Government wrote to Solid Energy in 2009 as the price of coal fell dramatically telling Solid Energy to take on more debt,
English is at present answering these questions on behalf of Slippery the Prime Minister and while doing so is exposing previous answers by Slippery to questions in the House over Solid Energy’s Chairman at the Select Committee and information gleaned from that Committee will be used in coming weeks to beat upon Ryall,English, and Slippery the Prime Minister for their current first it was high coal prices then it was low coal prices attempts at deviating from the truth surrounding the financial knee-capping of the States coal miner Solid energy,
‘The Opposition’ only gets certain amounts of questions and supplementary questions it can ask in the Parliament on any given day so such ‘scandals’ as Solid energy’s abhorrent over-loading of 389 million dollars of debt while this National Government sucked 120+ million dollars of dividends out of the company can only be exposed brick by brick,
The collective news media do not help to give the full picture of such shonky business dealings by this National Government by conducting ill researched interviews with the likes of SOE Minister Tony Ryall when they allow Him to tell blatant lies about the price of coal and hardly afford the Opposition the right of reply,
It is bordering upon ‘fraud’ for this National Government to highlight as it has done the amount of dividends it has collected from Solid Energy in the past 3 years whilst attempting to hide the amount of debt that company has racked up and further attempting to hide this National Governments culpability in having Solid Energy take on that amount of debt in the first place,
My view is that the Opposition is scoring some good points off of the back of the lies so far told by Slippery, English, and Ryall over the Solid Energy debacle, that there is more yet to come from this issue and that the NZ news media should get up to speed on what actually took place vis a vis coal prices and debt loading along with the taking of dividends by this National Government…
Not really interested in how many excuses parliamentary questions or the media give the Opposition right now.
Tell you what, if your points get Labour a lift in the next polls – say just 2% – I will say I am wrong and there really was an effective leadership of the Opposition.
Yes of course ‘your’ not really interested in the mechanics of the slanted and biased treatment that the news media give to the Opposition party’s right now, much easier to just sit there and whine about the fact that the other David isn’t the leader of the opposition right???,
Will i what???, Labour could virtually assure it’self as the next major party of Government at the 2014 election by bringing forward a policy of increasing the minimum wage by $1.50 an hour for every year that it holds office,
i wont hold my breath waiting for such a policy release but i am ever the optimist…
You clearly don’t have any idea about how to hold people accountable. Time to start.
Change your mindset. When you invest in something, be it shares or membership, expect results, not woolly virtues like loyalty, to be rewarded. They never are.
The polls have not current rewarded your optimism for 5 years. Be cold with the reality of this. This is as good as Opposition gets. They either make a real move now, or they simply can’t.
The Stock Market Is a Debt-Fueled Bubble: Steve Keen
Oh dear, it seems that the US stock market has gone back into bubble territory financed by highly leveraged debt. Exactly as we saw in 2k and 2k6/7 – just before the whole artifice collapsed.
Yes the Banking Cartels have decided to play another game of Roulette with the bloated middle classes that have all got more monies than brains,
The US stock-markets are being pumped with with some of the trillions of dollars of printed monies used to ‘bail’ them out of the 2007-2008 fiasco which they directly created,
The Bankster’s ill gotten gains will be laundered through the inflation of stock-prices and the wealthy middle classes will be left holding the baby (again) when the bubble bursts,
i am not sure if people with very short memories ‘deserve’ to get continuously ripped by the banking cartels, but ripped they will be…
The fatal choice between food or heating in Modern Britain
HASSAN GHANI, TRNN CORRESPONDENT: Winters in the UK can be bitterly cold. In an economy where the cost of living is going up while average incomes are staying the same, a growing number of people are having to choose between food and heating. One recent survey found that up to 1 in 4 families in Britain was turning down the heating during the winter to be able to pay other bills. The cost of gas and electricity for consumers has more than doubled since 2004, and the energy industry is warning that heating bills are going to get even bigger in coming years.
The basic problem, say energy companies, is that there simply isn’t enough capacity anymore, because they’re having having to close down some of their older coal and oil power stations in order to meet green energy targets. They’re now building a series of natural gas power stations in order to bridge the gap. The bottom line is that energy companies are going to raise their prices even further, and they’re blaming it on the rising cost of wholesale gas and investment in renewable energy.
But more and more consumers are growing wise to the fact that the energy companies themselves are making vast and growing profits, despite their claims of simply passing on price rises. British Gas, for example, saw an 11percent increase in profits last year. It’s managing director, who’s tom moving on, will leave with a $15million departure package. And there’s very little transparency in the way the big energy companies buy their fuel, which is purchased in advance. An investigation is now underway into allegations of price-fixing by the power companies.
Ultimately, the rise in household bills is having a devastating effect on the most vulnerable members of society
The BBC maintained a strong a record of misleading reporting throughout the presidency of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who died on Tuesday, following a two year battle with cancer…
In discussing US-Venezuelan relations, Kelly does not mention probably the most seminal event of the last fourteen years: the US-backed coup in 2002. As an interesting aside, straight after the death of Hugo Chavez, in the BBC ‘look back’ at his life, the coup was also omitted by James Robbins, who instead described events as ‘a general strike’ when ‘Chavez was briefly pushed from office’.
Yeah right. For all its faults, the BBC is still the greatest broadcasting platform in the world and a force for good. Why else do you think Rupert Murdoch hates it so much and the Tories are trying to nobble it?
Don’t get me wrong, I still love the BBC, but there is no doubt that it has been curbed and controlled, especially since Alistair Campbell and Blair led the Government jihad against it when it briefly stepped out of line and went off-message about the Iraq invasion.
Why the seventies? It just seems remote and exotic now, and all Eastern European-style black and white.
Yes, indeed, a top decade. Nice to see Bowie back on form, eh?
I recall there was a joke in the USSR about the two papers, Izvestia (Spark) and Pravda (Truth) along the lines that there was no spark in Pravda and no truth in Izvestia.
Yes, I do include Savile. But one man’s crimes, and the incompetence or enabling behaviour of one department of an enormous, worldwide organisation does not diminish the overall good the BBC has done. They helped put that Austrian corporal to rights, for starters.
But its not just one mans crimes, or one department is it, JS was a UK mega star, he was the BBC entertainment arm, and much more to the BBC at the time, and its been covered up for decades. JS was also one of the largest fund raisers, and high profile charity types in UK history.
Appreciate the whole organisation is not likely to be dirty, and that they have done some fantastic work, I used to watch alot of the documentaries, but the organisation, has been eaten out!
So how about Dr David Kelly, different departmental attack, cover up etc…
Two isolated incidents, however bad, do not mean the organisation is rotten or that the good they have done and continue to do is worthless. They remain the closest thing to good, honest global media we have. Not perfect, but without peer.
Since the 1980s, however, incomes have diverged dramatically, with those at the top end soaring and those at the bottom end losing ground – the ‘Great Regression.’ This has been accompanied by financial turbulence and crashes.
What led to these changes? In the 1980s, neo-liberal doctrines were introduced in a number of countries. As the unfettered pursuit of profit took hold, along with the myth of the ‘cost-benefit calculating individual’, ideas of justice, integrity, generosity and freedom began to seem quaint.
Inspired by neo-liberal thinking, successive governments in New Zealand introduced policies concentrating influence and wealth in the hands of a few, disempowering the many.
Our society and economy is in trouble because we began to worship greed (the neo-liberal paradigm) and started to reward the rich for being rich. This government is making it worse as it continues these destructive policies.
How Money is Destroyed
And once you’ve finished watching that you’ll understand why this government is borrowing at an increasing rate while telling people to pay their debt and save.
The Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, has called for an ethical response to solve the problem of social debt, saying that, not only do terrorism, repression and murder violate human rights, but also extreme poverty and the “unjust economic structures that give rise to great inequalities.”
Social debt is “immoral, unjust and illegitimate,” the cardinal said, emphasizing that this is especially true when it occurs “in a nation that has the objective conditions for avoiding or correcting such harm.” “Unfortunately,” he noted, it seems that those same countries “opt for exacerbating inequalities even more.”
12 people have died in house fires in three months, compared to 13 for the entire 2012 (an elderly and disabled contribution to this demographic, along with poverty and intoxication?)
Campbell Live; 200 apply for seven jobs at CHH; this is very sad; “weak employment market”-Wheeler concurs with Deutsche Banke
The Wellington City Mission has become “risk averse” and placing “self-preservation” ahead of caring for the poor; now emphasizing older people and families before the youth and homeless.
-former (resigned City Missioner; subservient to the CEO)
“Going through the winter and coming out the other side, the price of meat is going to climb”.
-Terry McKee, Butcher.
(Kim Jong Un is “more bloodthirsty, however, like the NActs, who ignored Solid Energy Chairmans’ opposition to a larger dividend.
absolut 😉 (some morale) that certain kinds of actions are always wrong, or, are always obligatory, whatever the cosequences.
e.g, wrong to deliberately kill an *innocent* human being; contrasts with “consequentialism”
linked to, yet not synonymous with, a deontological position in ethics (the latter the view that certain kinds of actions are intrinsically right or wrong-independent of the consequences to which they lead.
A deontological position obviously? contrasts with a consequentialist one.
Nevertheless, when detached from appeals to religious (prefer spiritual) authority, Absolutism may appear to be vulnerable to rational criticism.
However, to be plausible, Absolutism may be supplemented with some further distinction between different ways in which consequences may come about, such as the distinction between acts and omissions or the doctrine of double effect.
see Anscombe, “War and Murder” in Collected Philosophical Papers : Oxford, 1981, or
Nagel, “War and Massacre” in Mortal Questions : Cambridge, 1979.
Nominalism, traditionally understood, is a doctrine which denies the real existence of universals, conceived as the supposed referents of general terms like “chair” or “blue’ (bayou). In order to explain how and why we classify different individual things alike as being “blue” (Peter), nominalists appeal to particular resemblances between those things. Realists object that such an account involves tacit reliance on universals because resemblance is always similarity in “some general respect”, pointing out that different things resemble each other in many different ways.
Yet nominalists reply, such objections are misconceived and question-begging…
Open Letter to Jim Mora:
You reverently praised Pope Francis, but snickered at the mere mention of Hugo Chávez. What gives?
“The Panel”, Radio New Zealand National, Thursday 14 March 2013
Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, who died last week, was famous for his choosing to favor the poor and dispossessed over the rich and powerful, and for his radical critique of social inequality. Anyone listening to Jim Mora’s show on Monday 11 March will have heard Mora snicker and giggle every time he used the words “Hugo Chávez”.
Therefore, listeners a few days later (14 March 2013) would no doubt have been astonished to hear Jim Mora adopt a serious and respectful tone when talking of the way that the new Pope prefers the poor and the dispossessed over the rich and powerful, and is a radical critic of social inequality. I flicked the following email to Mr Mora….
You reverently praised Pope Francis, but snickered at the mere mention of Hugo Chávez. What gives?
Dear Jim,
So the new Pope identifies with the poor and is a critic of the structural injustices that have led to grinding poverty in South America and many other parts of the world. So did another South American, Hugo Chávez, and he was regarded as a hero by the poor of South America for that reason.
On today’s show, during your words of praise for Pope Francis, you never sniggered once. By contrast, every time you even mentioned Hugo Chávez’s name on Monday, you sniggered.
Why the respect for the new Pope, but the attitude of levity and gross disrespect for Hugo Chávez?Was it because you had the right wing, trenchantly anti-Chávez Nevil Gibson in the studio with you, glowering at the mere mention of Chávez’s name?
I wonder how Lindsey Freer would have responded if you had snickered and giggled every time you mentioned the name of the new Pope.
I think he’s getting worse. Can barely listen to him now.
Keeps on inviting ACT supporters and other Ayn Rand devotees – they get less than 1% of the vote, but Jim and his director give them far more air time.
I think the people ultimately responsible for the selection of these extremely biased, right wing guests—or the “talent” as he likes to call them—are his producers.
But I don’t think his producers told Mora to guffaw every time he said “Hugo Chávez”; he indulged in that epic display of puerile contempt because he was nervous of the glowering Nevil “Breivik” Gibson. The giggles indicate not so much that Mora is anti-Chávez, but that he has a quite pathetic desire to win the approval of the likes of Breivik-Gibson.
Why do you think Mora is so in awe of these people? I note he also fawns over Bernard Hickey and is deseperate to get advice on mortgage rates, and other personal financial advice.
For all his faults, at least Bernard Hickey has an obvious deep knowledge of his subject. The same cannot be said for Nevil “Breivik” Gibson, who on Monday demonstrated that he knew next to nothing about either Venezuela or Hugo Chávez.
I don’t think Mora is in awe of most of his guests. I think he would (justly) rate his own intelligence above that of most of them. I think Mora’s behaviour, which I find to be increasingly frivolous and determinedly trivial-minded, is the result of both a pathological desire to please, which explains the nervous giggling, and a certain perversity: Mora doesn’t actually believe that Chávez has a “dubious legacy” (as he claimed on Monday) but he was quite prepared to say that if he figured it would win him favour, even with such a crazed and unpleasant ideologue as Nevil “Breivik” Gibson.
The Breivik moniker comes not from me, but from another appalled reader of one of Gibson’s hare-brained NBR editorials, where he made the Breivik-style assertion that all terrorism in the world was carried out by Muslims.
And anyone who has read or listened to his ranting for a reasonable amount of time will be aware that Nevil Gibson is far, far to the right of what any reasonable person would mean by “tory”.
Jim Mora’s emphasis on Papal concern for the poor in Latin America:
Let’s remember that, as head of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in the 80s and 90s, the last Pope (Ratso Ratzinger) launched a fundamental attack on those South and Central American bishops and priests pursuing Liberation Theology. The poor were to put up with murderous Far Right dictators and concentrate instead on having a good afterlife.
What’s odd about it? If the popular revolution wins, both US/Israel and Iran/China/Russia have to be in a position to influence the outcome. Having mercs on the ground is their way of shortening the odds.
This does not alter the basic struggle in Syria between the majority who happen to be Sunni and the al Assad regime. http://syriafreedomforever.wordpress.com/2013/03/14/prospects-for-syrias-revolution/#more-1808
Hmmmmm since English openly admits that droughts may become increasingly frequent in the foreseeable future, I suspect that he’s not a CCD’er. Although he’s never ever going to utter the actual words “climate change”.
It does now. Someone must have fixed it. Before it took me to today’s op ed piece by Dame Anne Salmond. I was puzzled about her connection to the Green Party.
Sent: Thursday, 14 March 2013 5:04 p.m.
To: Tau Henare
Subject: ‘Open Letter’ to all New Zealand Members of Parliament – re: the purchase of shares in Mighty River Power
14 March 2013
Dear New Zealand Member Of Parliament,
Please be reminded that the final vote on the Public Finance (Mixed Ownership Model) Amendment Act 2012, was 61 – 60
A party vote was called for on the question, That the Public Finance (Mixed Ownership Model) Amendment Bill be now read a third time.
Ayes 61
New Zealand National 59; ACT New Zealand 1; United Future 1.
Noes 60
New Zealand Labour 34; Green Party 14; New Zealand First 8; Maori Party 3; Mana 1.
1) For the public record, as a New Zealand Member of Parliament, can YOU please confirm – will YOU purchase shares in Mighty River Power, if they become available?
– YES or NO?
2) Is this the agreed position of the political party which you represent, as a New Zealand Member of Parliament?
– YES or NO?
Please be advised that your reply will be made available to both the media and the public.
Your prompt response would be much appreciated.
Yours sincerely,
Penny Bright
A Spokesperson for the Switch Off Mercury Energy group.
All I will say is that you are right, the vote was won by us, in fact the election was won by us. Whether I or any of my colleagues purchases shares is neither here nor there.
Hop you have a nice day.
Tau
____________________________________________________________________________
Hi Tau!
Perhaps you missed this?
” UF (United Future) did not specifically campaign for the ‘mixed ownership model for the electricity companies and Air New Zealand’ because it was not UF (United Future)policy”
[ Pete George (United Future Dunedin North candidate 2011) (16,292) Says: February 15th, 2013 at 10:28 pm]
So – upon what do you purport to have a ‘mandate’?
If MPs buy shares in Mighty River Power – how is that not a form of ‘corrupt practice’?
‘Misuse of public office for private gain’?
Voting for something from which you may personally profit?
Not a good look for New Zealand ‘perceived’ to be the ‘least corrupt country in the world’
(along with Finland and Denmark) according to the 2012 Transparency International ‘Corruption Perception Index’?
Well done, Penny. Be warned, however, that in trying to debate reasonably with Uncle Tau, you are battling against someone who possesses iron-plated complacency and the moral conscience of a sandfly.
Hi,It’s almost Christmas Day which means it is almost my birthday, where you will find me whimpering in the corner clutching a warm bottle of Baileys.If you’re out of ideas for presents (and truly desperate) then it is possible to gift a full Webworm subscription to a friend (or enemy) ...
This morning’s six standouts for me at 6.30am include:Rachel Helyer Donaldson’s scoop via RNZ last night of cuts to maternity jobs in the health system;Maddy Croad’s scoop via The Press-$ this morning on funding cuts for Christchurch’s biggest food rescue charity;Benedict Collins’ scoop last night via 1News on a last-minute ...
A listing of 25 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 15, 2024 thru Sat, December 21, 2024. Based on feedback we received, this week's roundup is the first one published soleley by category. We are still interested in ...
Well, I've been there, sitting in that same chairWhispering that same prayer half a million timesIt's a lie, though buried in disciplesOne page of the Bible isn't worth a lifeThere's nothing wrong with youIt's true, it's trueThere's something wrong with the villageWith the villageSomething wrong with the villageSongwriters: Andrew Jackson ...
ACT would like to dictate what universities can and can’t say. We knew it was coming. It was outlined in the coalition agreement and has become part of Seymour’s strategy of “emphasising public funding” to prevent people from opposing him and his views—something he also uses to try and de-platform ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Are we heading ...
So the Solstice has arrived – Summer in this part of the world, Winter for the Northern Hemisphere. And with it, the publication my new Norse dark-fantasy piece, As Our Power Lessens at Eternal Haunted Summer: https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/issues/winter-solstice-2024/as-our-power-lessens/ As previously noted, this one is very ‘wyrd’, and Northern Theory of Courage. ...
The Natural Choice: As a starter for ten percent of the Party Vote, “saving the planet” is a very respectable objective. Young voters, in particular, raised on the dire (if unheeded) warnings of climate scientists, and the irrefutable evidence of devastating weather events linked to global warming, vote Green. After ...
The Government cancelled 60% of Kāinga Ora’s new builds next year, even though the land for them was already bought, the consents were consented and there are builders unemployed all over the place. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political ...
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on UnsplashEvery morning I get up at 3am to go around the traps of news sites in Aotearoa and globally. I pick out the top ones from my point of view and have been putting them into my Dawn Chorus email, which goes out with a podcast. ...
Over on Kikorangi Newsroom's Marc Daalder has published his annual OIA stats. So I thought I'd do mine: 82 OIA requests sent in 2024 7 posts based on those requests 20 average working days to receive a response Ministry of Justice was my most-requested entity, ...
Welcome to the December 2024 Economic Bulletin. We have two monthly features in this edition. In the first, we discuss what the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update from Treasury and the Budget Policy Statement from the Minister of Finance tell us about the fiscal position and what to ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have submitted against the controversial Treaty Principles Bill, slamming the Bill as a breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and an attack on tino rangatiratanga and the collective rights of Tangata Whenua. “This Bill seeks to legislate for Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles that are ...
I don't knowHow to say what's got to be saidI don't know if it's black or whiteThere's others see it redI don't get the answers rightI'll leave that to youIs this love out of fashionOr is it the time of yearAre these words distraction?To the words you want to hearSongwriters: ...
Our economy has experienced its worst recession since 1991. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, December 20 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above and the daily Pick ‘n’ Mix below ...
Twas the Friday before Christmas and all through the week we’ve been collecting stories for our final roundup of the year. As we start to wind down for the year we hope you all have a safe and happy Christmas and new year. If you’re travelling please be safe on ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the year’s news with: on climate. Her book of the year was Tim Winton’s cli-fi novel Juice and she also mentioned Mike Joy’s memoir The Fight for Fresh Water. ...
The Government can head off to the holidays, entitled to assure itself that it has done more or less what it said it would do. The campaign last year promised to “get New Zealand back on track.” When you look at the basic promises—to trim back Government expenditure, toughen up ...
Open access notables An intensification of surface Earth’s energy imbalance since the late 20th century, Li et al., Communications Earth & Environment:Tracking the energy balance of the Earth system is a key method for studying the contribution of human activities to climate change. However, accurately estimating the surface energy balance ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guests and , ...
“Like you said, I’m an unreconstructed socialist. Everybody deserves to get something for Christmas.”“ONE OF THOSE had better be for me!” Hannah grinned, fascinated, as Laurie made his way, gingerly, to the bar, his arms full of gift-wrapped packages.“Of course!”, beamed Laurie. Depositing his armful on the bar-top and selecting ...
Data released by Statistics New Zealand today showed a significant slowdown in the economy over the past six months, with GDP falling by 1% in September, and 1.1% in June said CTU Economist Craig Renney. “The data shows that the size of the economy in GDP terms is now smaller ...
One last thing before I quitI never wanted any moreThan I could fit into my headI still remember every single word you saidAnd all the shit that somehow came along with itStill, there's one thing that comforts meSince I was always caged and now I'm freeSongwriters: David Grohl / Georg ...
Sparse offerings outside a Te Kauwhata church. Meanwhile, the Government is cutting spending in ways that make thousands of hungry children even hungrier, while also cutting funding for the charities that help them. It’s also doing that while winding back new building of affordable housing that would allow parents to ...
It is difficult to make sense of the Luxon Coalition Government’s economic management.This end-of-year review about the state of economic management – the state of the economy was last week – is not going to cover the National Party contribution. Frankly, like every other careful observer, I cannot make up ...
This morning I awoke to the lovely news that we are firmly back on track, that is if the scale was reversed.NZ ranks low in global economic comparisonsNew Zealand's economy has been ranked 33rd out of 37 in an international comparison of which have done best in 2024.Economies were ranked ...
Remember those silent movies where the heroine is tied to the railway tracks or going over the waterfall in a barrel? Finance Minister Nicola Willis seems intent on portraying herself as that damsel in distress. According to Willis, this country’s current economic problems have all been caused by the spending ...
Similar to the cuts and the austerity drive imposed by Ruth Richardson in the 1990’s, an era which to all intents and purposes we’ve largely fiddled around the edges with fixing in the time since – over, to be fair, several administrations – whilst trying our best it seems to ...
String-Pulling in the Dark: For the democratic process to be meaningful it must also be public. WITH TRUST AND CONFIDENCE in New Zealand’s politicians and journalists steadily declining, restoring those virtues poses a daunting challenge. Just how daunting is made clear by comparing the way politicians and journalists treated New Zealanders ...
Dear Nicola Willis, thank you for letting us know in so many words that the swingeing austerity hasn't worked.By in so many words I mean the bit where you said, Here is a sea of red ink in which we are drowning after twelve months of savage cost cutting and ...
The Open Government Partnership is a multilateral organisation committed to advancing open government. Countries which join are supposed to co-create regular action plans with civil society, committing to making verifiable improvements in transparency, accountability, participation, or technology and innovation for the above. And they're held to account through an Independent ...
Today I tuned into something strange: a press conference that didn’t make my stomach churn or the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Which was strange, because it was about the torture of children. It was the announcement by Erica Stanford — on her own, unusually ...
This is a must watch, and puts on brilliant and practical display the implications and mechanics of fast-track law corruption and weakness.CLICK HERE: LINK TO WATCH VIDEOOur news media as it is set up is simply not equipped to deal with the brazen disinformation and corruption under this right wing ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Acting Secretary Erin Polaczuk is welcoming the announcement from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden that she is opening consultation on engineered stone and is calling on her to listen to the evidence and implement a total ban of the product. “We need ...
The Government has announced a 1.5% increase in the minimum wage from 1 April 2025, well below forecast inflation of 2.5%. Unions have reacted strongly and denounced it as a real terms cut. PSA and the CTU are opposing a new round of staff cuts at WorkSafe, which they say ...
The decision to unilaterally repudiate the contract for new Cook Strait ferries is beginning to look like one of the stupidest decisions a New Zealand government ever made. While cancelling the ferries and their associated port infrastructure may have made this year's books look good, it means higher costs later, ...
Hi there! I’ve been overseas recently, looking after a situation with a family member. So apologies if there any less than focused posts! Vanuatu has just had a significant 7.3 earthquake. Two MFAT staff are unaccounted for with local fatalities.It’s always sad to hear of such things happening.I think of ...
Today is a special member's morning, scheduled to make up for the government's theft of member's days throughout the year. First up was the first reading of Greg Fleming's Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill, which was passed unanimously. Currently the House is debating the third reading of ...
We're going backwardsIgnoring the realitiesGoing backwardsAre you counting all the casualties?We are not there yetWhere we need to beWe are still in debtTo our insanitiesSongwriter: Martin Gore Read more ...
Willis blamed Treasury for changing its productivity assumptions and Labour’s spending increases since Covid for the worsening Budget outlook. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, December 18 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above ...
Today the Auckland Transport board meet for the last time this year. For those interested (and with time to spare), you can follow along via this MS Teams link from 10am. I’ve taken a quick look through the agenda items to see what I think the most interesting aspects are. ...
Hi,If you’re a New Zealander — you know who Mike King is. He is the face of New Zealand’s battle against mental health problems. He can be loud and brash. He raises, and is entrusted with, a lot of cash. Last year his “I Am Hope” charity reported a revenue ...
Probably about the only consolation available from yesterday’s unveiling of the Half-Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) is that it could have been worse. Though Finance Minister Nicola Willis has tightened the screws on future government spending, she has resisted the calls from hard-line academics, fiscal purists and fiscal hawks ...
The right have a stupid saying that is only occasionally true:When is democracy not democracy? When it hasn’t been voted on.While not true in regards to branches of government such as the judiciary, it’s a philosophy that probably should apply to recently-elected local government councillors. Nevertheless, this concept seemed to ...
Long story short: the Government’s austerity policy has driven the economy into a deeper and longer recession that means it will have to borrow $20 billion more over the next four years than it expected just six months ago. Treasury’s latest forecasts show the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s fiscal strategy of ...
Come and join myself and CTU Chief Economist for a pop-up ‘Hoon’ webinar on the Government’s Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) with paying subscribers to The Kākā for 30 minutes at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream to watch our chat. Don’t worry if ...
In 1998, in the wake of the Paremoremo Prison riot, the Department of Corrections established the "Behaviour Management Regime". Prisoners were locked in their cells for 22 or 23 hours a day, with no fresh air, no exercise, no social contact, no entertainment, and in some cases no clothes and ...
New data released by the Treasury shows that the economic policies of this Government have made things worse in the year since they took office, said NZCTU Economist Craig Renney. “Our fiscal indicators are all heading in the wrong direction – with higher levels of debt, a higher deficit, and ...
At the 2023 election, National basically ran on a platform of being better economic managers. So how'd that turn out for us? In just one year, they've fucked us for two full political terms: The government's books are set to remain deeply in the red for the near term ...
AUSTERITYText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedMy spreadsheet insists This pain leads straight to glory (File not found) Read more ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi are saying that the Government should do the right thing and deliver minimum wage increases that don’t see workers fall further behind, in response to today’s announcement that the minimum wage will only be increased by 1.5%, well short of forecast inflation. “With inflation forecast ...
Oh, I weptFor daysFilled my eyesWith silly tearsOh, yeaBut I don'tCare no moreI don't care ifMy eyes get soreSongwriters: Paul Rodgers / Paul Kossoff. Read more ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob HensonIn this aerial view, fingers of meltwater flow from the melting Isunnguata Sermia glacier descending from the Greenland Ice Sheet on July 11, 2024, near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. According to the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE), the ...
In August, I wrote an article about David Seymour1 with a video of his testimony, to warn that there were grave dangers to his Ministry of Regulation:David Seymour's Ministry of Slush Hides Far Greater RisksWhy Seymour's exorbitant waste of taxpayers' money could be the least of concernThe money for Seymour ...
Willis is expected to have to reveal the bitter fiscal fruits of her austerity strategy in the HYEFU later today. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/TheKakaMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, December 17 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast ...
On Friday the government announced it would double the number of toll roads in New Zealand as well as make a few other changes to how toll roads are used in the country. The real issue though is not that tolling is being used but the suggestion it will make ...
The Prime Minister yesterday engaged in what looked like a pre-emptive strike designed to counter what is likely to be a series of depressing economic statistics expected before the end of the week. He opened his weekly post-Cabinet press conference with a recitation of the Government’s achievements. “It certainly has ...
This whooping cough story from south Auckland is a good example of the coalition government’s approach to social need – spend money on urging people to get vaccinated but only after you’ve cut the funding to where they could get vaccinated. This has been the case all year with public ...
And if there is a GodI know he likes to rockHe likes his loud guitarsHis spiders from MarsAnd if there is a GodI know he's watching meHe likes what he seesBut there's trouble on the breezeSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan Read more ...
Here’s a quick round up of today’s political news:1. MORE FOOD BANKS, CHARITIES, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTERS AND YOUTH SOCIAL SERVICES SET TO CLOSE OR SCALE BACK AROUND THE COUNTRY AS GOVT CUTS FUNDINGSome of Auckland's largest foodbanks are warning they may need to close or significantly reduce food parcels after ...
Iain Rennie, CNZMSecretary and Chief Executive to the TreasuryDear Secretary, Undue restrictions on restricted briefings This week, the Treasury barred representatives from four organisations, including the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi, from attending the restricted briefing for the Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update. We had been ...
This is a guest post by Tim Adriaansen, a community, climate, and accessibility advocate.I won’t shut up about climate breakdown, and whenever possible I try to shift the focus of a climate conversation towards solutions. But you’ll almost never hear me give more than a passing nod to ...
A grassroots backlash has forced a backdown from Brown, but he is still eyeing up plenty of tolls for other new roads. And the pressure is on Willis to ramp up the Government’s austerity strategy. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
Hi all,I'm pretty overwhelmed by all your messages and emails today; thank you so very much.As much as my newsletter this morning was about money, and we all need to earn money, it was mostly about world domination if I'm honest. 😉I really hate what’s happening to our country, and ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 8, 2024 thru Sat, December 14, 2024. Listing by Category Like last week's summary this one contains the list of articles twice: based on categories and based on ...
I started writing this morning about Hobson’s Pledge, examining the claims they and their supporters make, basically ripping into them. But I kept getting notifications coming through, and not good ones.Each time I looked up, there was another un-subscription message, and I felt a bit sicker at the thought of ...
Once, long before there was Harry and Meghan and Dodi and all those episodes of The Crown, they came to spend some time with us, Charles and Diana. Was there anyone in the world more glamorous than the Princess of Wales?Dazzled as everyone was by their company, the leader of ...
The collective right have a problem.The entire foundation for their world view is antiscientific. Their preferred economic strategies have been disproven. Their whole neoliberal model faces accusations of corporate corruption and worsening inequality. Climate change not only definitely exists, its rapid progression demands an immediate and expensive response in order ...
Just ten days ago, South Korea's president attempted a self-coup, declaring martial law and attempting to have opposition MPs murdered or arrested in an effort to seize unconstrained power. The attempt was rapidly defeated by the national assembly voting it down and the people flooding the streets to defend democracy. ...
Hi,“What I love about New Zealanders is that sometimes you use these expressions that as Americans we have no idea what those things mean!"I am watching a 30-something year old American ramble on about how different New Zealanders are to Americans. It’s his podcast, and this man is doing a ...
National has only been in power for a year, but everywhere you look, its choices are taking New Zealand a long way backwards. In no particular order, here are the National Government's Top 50 Greatest Misses of its first year in power. ...
The Government is quietly undertaking consultation on the dangerous Regulatory Standards Bill over the Christmas period to avoid too much attention. ...
The Government’s planned changes to the freedom of speech obligations of universities is little more than a front for stoking the political fires of disinformation and fear, placing teachers and students in the crosshairs. ...
The Ministry of Regulation’s report into Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Aotearoa raises serious concerns about the possibility of lowering qualification requirements, undermining quality and risking worse outcomes for tamariki, whānau, and kaiako. ...
A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...
Labour will continue to fight unsustainable and destructive projects that are able to leap-frog environment protection under National’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. ...
The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...
The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...
The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...
Te Pāti Māori has this morning issued a stern warning to Fast-Track applicants with interests in mining, pledging to hold them accountable through retrospective liability and to immediately revoke Fast-Track consents under a future Te Pāti Māori government. This warning comes ahead of today’s third reading of the Fast-Track Approvals ...
The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...
All the Government has achieved from its announcement today is to continue to push responsibility back on councils for its own lack of action to help bring down skyrocketing rates. ...
The Government has used its final post-Cabinet press conference of the year to punch down on local government without offering any credible solutions to the issues our councils are facing. ...
The Government has failed to keep its promise to ‘super charge’ the EV network, delivering just 292 chargers - less than half of the 670 chargers needed to meet its target. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop subsidising the largest user of the country’s gas supplies, Methanex, following a report highlighting the multi-national’s disproportionate influence on energy prices in Aotearoa. ...
The Green Party is appalled with the Government’s new child poverty targets that are based on a new ‘persistent poverty’ measure that could be met even with an increase in child poverty. ...
New independent analysis has revealed that the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) will reduce emissions by a measly 1 per cent by 2030, failing to set us up for the future and meeting upcoming targets. ...
The loss of 27 kaimahi at Whakaata Māori and the end of its daily news bulletin is a sad day for Māori media and another step backwards for Te Tiriti o Waitangi justice. ...
Yesterday the Government passed cruel legislation through first reading to establish a new beneficiary sanction regime that will ultimately mean more households cannot afford the basic essentials. ...
Today's passing of the Government's Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill–which allows landlords to end tenancies with no reason–ignores the voice of the people and leaves renters in limbo ahead of the festive season. ...
After wasting a year, Nicola Willis has delivered a worse deal for the Cook Strait ferries that will end up being more expensive and take longer to arrive. ...
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has today launched a Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the All Out For Gaza rally reaches Parliament. ...
After years of advocacy, the Green Party is very happy to hear the Government has listened to our collective voices and announced the closure of the greyhound racing industry, by 1 August 2026. ...
In response to a new report from ERO, the Government has acknowledged the urgent need for consistency across the curriculum for Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in schools. ...
The Green Party is appalled at the Government introducing legislation that will make it easier to penalise workers fighting for better pay and conditions. ...
Thank you for the invitation to speak with you tonight on behalf of the political party I belong to - which is New Zealand First. As we have heard before this evening the Kinleith Mill is proposing to reduce operations by focusing on pulp and discontinuing “lossmaking paper production”. They say that they are currently consulting on the plan to permanently shut ...
Auckland Central MP, Chlöe Swarbrick, has written to Mayor Wayne Brown requesting he stop the unnecessary delays on St James Theatre’s restoration. ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says Health New Zealand will move swiftly to support dozens of internationally-trained doctors already in New Zealand on their journey to employment here, after a tripling of sought-after examination places. “The Medical Council has delivered great news for hardworking overseas doctors who want to contribute ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has appointed Sarah Ottrey to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). “At my first APEC Summit in Lima, I experienced firsthand the role that ABAC plays in guaranteeing political leaders hear the voice of business,” Mr Luxon says. “New Zealand’s ABAC representatives are very well respected and ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced four appointments to New Zealand’s intelligence oversight functions. The Honourable Robert Dobson KC has been appointed Chief Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, and the Honourable Brendan Brown KC has been appointed as a Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants. The appointments of Hon Robert Dobson and Hon ...
Improvements in the average time it takes to process survey and title applications means housing developments can progress more quickly, Minister for Land Information Chris Penk says. “The government is resolutely focused on improving the building and construction pipeline,” Mr Penk says. “Applications to issue titles and subdivide land are ...
The Government’s measures to reduce airport wait times, and better transparency around flight disruptions is delivering encouraging early results for passengers ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Improving the efficiency of air travel is a priority for the Government to give passengers a smoother, more reliable ...
The Government today announced the intended closure of the Apollo Hotel as Contracted Emergency Housing (CEH) in Rotorua, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. This follows a 30 per cent reduction in the number of households in CEH in Rotorua since National came into Government. “Our focus is on ending CEH in the Whakarewarewa area starting ...
The Government will reshape vocational education and training to return decision making to regions and enable greater industry input into work-based learning Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds says. “The redesigned system will better meet the needs of learners, industry, and the economy. It includes re-establishing regional polytechnics that ...
The Government is taking action to better manage synthetic refrigerants and reduce emissions caused by greenhouse gases found in heating and cooling products, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds says. “Regulations will be drafted to support a product stewardship scheme for synthetic refrigerants, Ms. Simmonds says. “Synthetic refrigerants are found in a ...
People travelling on State Highway 1 north of Hamilton will be relieved that remedial works and safety improvements on the Ngāruawāhia section of the Waikato Expressway were finished today, with all lanes now open to traffic, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“I would like to acknowledge the patience of road users ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds, has announced a new appointment to the board of Education New Zealand (ENZ). Dr Erik Lithander has been appointed as a new member of the ENZ board for a three-year term until 30 January 2028. “I would like to welcome Dr Erik Lithander to the ...
The Government will have senior representatives at Waitangi Day events around the country, including at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, but next year Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has chosen to take part in celebrations elsewhere. “It has always been my intention to celebrate Waitangi Day around the country with different ...
Two more criminal gangs will be subject to the raft of laws passed by the Coalition Government that give Police more powers to disrupt gang activity, and the intimidation they impose in our communities, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. Following an Order passed by Cabinet, from 3 February 2025 the ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Justice Christian Whata as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Whata’s appointment as a Judge of the Court of Appeal will take effect on 1 August 2025 and fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Hon Justice David Goddard on ...
The latest economic figures highlight the importance of the steps the Government has taken to restore respect for taxpayers’ money and drive economic growth, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Data released today by Stats NZ shows Gross Domestic Product fell 1 per cent in the September quarter. “Treasury and most ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds and Associate Minister of Education David Seymour today announced legislation changes to strengthen freedom of speech obligations on universities. “Freedom of speech is fundamental to the concept of academic freedom and there is concern that universities seem to be taking a more risk-averse ...
Police Minister, Mark Mitchell, and Internal Affairs Minister, Brooke van Velden, today launched a further Public Safety Network cellular service that alongside last year’s Cellular Roaming roll-out, puts globally-leading cellular communications capability into the hands of our emergency responders. The Public Safety Network’s new Cellular Priority service means Police, Wellington ...
State Highway 1 through the Mangamuka Gorge has officially reopened today, providing a critical link for Northlanders and offering much-needed relief ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“The Mangamuka Gorge is a vital route for Northland, carrying around 1,300 vehicles per day and connecting the Far ...
The Government has welcomed decisions by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) and Ashburton District Council confirming funding to boost resilience in the Canterbury region, with construction on a second Ashburton Bridge expected to begin in 2026, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Delivering a second Ashburton Bridge to improve resilience and ...
The Government is backing the response into high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Otago, Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says. “Cabinet has approved new funding of $20 million to enable MPI to meet unbudgeted ongoing expenses associated with the H7N6 response including rigorous scientific testing of samples at the enhanced PC3 ...
Legislation that will repeal all advertising restrictions for broadcasters on Sundays and public holidays has passed through first reading in Parliament today, Media Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “As a growing share of audiences get their news and entertainment from streaming services, these restrictions have become increasingly redundant. New Zealand on ...
Today the House agreed to Brendan Horsley being appointed Inspector-General of Defence, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Mr Horsley’s experience will be invaluable in overseeing the establishment of the new office and its support networks. “He is currently Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, having held that role since June 2020. ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government has agreed to the final regulations for the levy on insurance contracts that will fund Fire and Emergency New Zealand from July 2026. “Earlier this year the Government agreed to a 2.2 percent increase to the rate of levy. Fire ...
The Government is delivering regulatory relief for New Zealand businesses through changes to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act. “The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Amendment Bill, which was introduced today, is the second Bill – the other being the Statutes Amendment Bill - that ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed further progress on the Hawke’s Bay Expressway Road of National Significance (RoNS), with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) Board approving funding for the detailed design of Stage 1, paving the way for main works construction to begin in late 2025.“The Government is moving at ...
The Government today released a request for information (RFI) to seeking interest in partnerships to plant trees on Crown-owned land with low farming and conservation value (excluding National Parks) Forestry Minister Todd McClay announced. “Planting trees on Crown-owned land will drive economic growth by creating more forestry jobs in our regions, providing more wood ...
Court timeliness, access to justice, and improving the quality of existing regulation are the focus of a series of law changes introduced to Parliament today by Associate Minister of Justice Nicole McKee. The three Bills in the Regulatory Systems (Justice) Amendment Bill package each improve a different part of the ...
A total of 41 appointments and reappointments have been made to the 12 community trusts around New Zealand that serve their regions, Associate Finance Minister Shane Jones says. “These trusts, and the communities they serve from the Far North to the deep south, will benefit from the rich experience, knowledge, ...
The Government has confirmed how it will provide redress to survivors who were tortured at the Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital Child and Adolescent Unit (the Lake Alice Unit). “The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care found that many of the 362 children who went through the Lake Alice Unit between 1972 and ...
It has been a busy, productive year in the House as the coalition Government works hard to get New Zealand back on track, Leader of the House Chris Bishop says. “This Government promised to rebuild the economy, restore law and order and reduce the cost of living. Our record this ...
“Accelerated silicosis is an emerging occupational disease caused by unsafe work such as engineered stone benchtops. I am running a standalone consultation on engineered stone to understand what the industry is currently doing to manage the risks, and whether further regulatory intervention is needed,” says Workplace Relations and Safety Minister ...
Mehemea he pai mō te tangata, mahia – if it’s good for the people, get on with it. Enhanced reporting on the public sector’s delivery of Treaty settlement commitments will help improve outcomes for Māori and all New Zealanders, Māori Crown Relations Minister Tama Potaka says. Compiled together for the ...
Mr Roger Holmes Miller and Ms Tarita Hutchinson have been appointed to the Charities Registration Board, Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Louise Upston says. “I would like to welcome the new members joining the Charities Registration Board. “The appointment of Ms Hutchinson and Mr Miller will strengthen the Board’s capacity ...
More building consent and code compliance applications are being processed within the statutory timeframe since the Government required councils to submit quarterly data, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “In the midst of a housing shortage we need to look at every step of the build process for efficiencies ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey is proud to announce the first three recipients of the Government’s $10 million Mental Health and Addiction Community Sector Innovation Fund which will enable more Kiwis faster access to mental health and addiction support. “This fund is part of the Government’s commitment to investing in ...
New Zealand is providing Vanuatu assistance following yesterday's devastating earthquake, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. "Vanuatu is a member of our Pacific family and we are supporting it in this time of acute need," Mr Peters says. "Our thoughts are with the people of Vanuatu, and we will be ...
The Government welcomes the Commerce Commission’s plan to reduce card fees for Kiwis by an estimated $260 million a year, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says.“The Government is relentlessly focused on reducing the cost of living, so Kiwis can keep more of their hard-earned income and live a ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour has welcomed the Early Childhood Education (ECE) regulatory review report, the first major report from the Ministry for Regulation. The report makes 15 recommendations to modernise and simplify regulations across ECE so services can get on with what they do best – providing safe, high-quality care ...
The Government‘s Offshore Renewable Energy Bill to create a new regulatory regime that will enable firms to construct offshore wind generation has passed its first reading in Parliament, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says.“New Zealand currently does not have a regulatory regime for offshore renewable energy as the previous government failed ...
Legislation to enable new water service delivery models that will drive critical investment in infrastructure has passed its first reading in Parliament, marking a significant step towards the delivery of Local Water Done Well, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly say.“Councils and voters ...
New Zealand is one step closer to reaping the benefits of gene technology with the passing of the first reading of the Gene Technology Bill, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins says. "This legislation will end New Zealand's near 30-year ban on gene technology outside the lab and is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kasey Symons, Lecturer of Communication, Sports Media, Deakin University We are well and truly in cricket season. The Australian men’s cricket team is taking centre stage against India in the Border Gavaskar Trophy series while the Big Bash League is underway, as ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Woods, Lecturer, Nursing, Faculty of Health, Southern Cross University FTiare/Shutterstock Summer is here and for many that means going to the beach. You grab your swimmers, beach towel and sunscreen then maybe check the weather forecast. Did you think to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Saman Khalesi, Senior Lecturer and Discipline Lead in Nutrition, School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences, CQUniversity Australia Dean Clarke/Shutterstock The holiday season can be a time of joy, celebration, and indulgence in delicious foods and meals. However, for many, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ari Mattes, Lecturer in Communications and Media, University of Notre Dame Australia Late Night With The Devil. Maslow Entertainment Marketing is critical to the success of commercial films, and companies will often spend half as much again on top of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Francisco Jose Testa, Lecturer in Earth Sciences (Mineralogy, Petrology & Geochemistry), University of Tasmania The Conversation As a kid, it was tough for me to grasp the massive time scale of Earth’s history. Now, with nearly two decades of experience as ...
Te Pāti Māori has had to adopt a new way of debating, operating and even thinking in Parliament in response to the Government’s “onslaught” against te ao Māori, co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer says.In an end-of-year interview with Newsroom, the Te Tai Hauauru MP reflected on how 2024 has differed from her ...
Opinion: The latest Trends in International Mathematics and Science report was announced earlier this month, yet it didn’t get the flurry of media attention and political hand-wringing that typically accompanies these announcements. This might be because it presented good news, or you could argue, no news; the results paint a ...
NewsroomBy Dr Lisa Darragh, Dr Raewyn Eden and Dr David Pomeroy
At long last, The Spinoff shells out for a nut ranking. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today.It recently came to The Spinoff’s attention ...
I was one of hundreds of people who lost my government job this week. Here’s exactly how it played out. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a ...
Summer reissue: One anxiously attentive passenger pays attention to an in-flight safety video, and wonders ‘Why can’t I pick up my own phone?’ The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up ...
Summer reissue: Why do those Lange-Douglas years cast such a long shadow 40 years on? The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today. First published June ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('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, Monday 23 December appeared first on Newsroom. ...
The Government’s social housing agency has backed out of a billion-dollar infrastructure alliance that would have built about 6000 new homes in Auckland – less than 18 months after signing a five-year extension.Labour says the decision to rip up the contract and sell off existing state houses could lead to ...
ByKoroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor New Zealand’s Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) says impending bad weather for Port Vila is now the most significant post-quake hazard. A tropical low in the Coral Sea is expected to move into Vanuatu waters, bringing heavy rainfall. Authorities have issued warnings to people ...
Cosmic CatastropheThe year draws to a close.King Luxon has grown tired of the long eveningsListening to the dreary squabbling of his Triumvirate.He strolls up to the top floor of the PalaceTo consult with his Astronomer Royal.The Royal Telescope scans the skies,And King Luxon stares up into the heavensFrom the terrestrial ...
Spinoff editor Mad Chapman and books editor Claire Mabey debate Carl Shuker’s new novel about… an editor. Claire: Hello Mad, you just finished The Royal Free – overall impressions? Mad: Hi Claire, I literally just put the book down and I would have to say my immediate impression is ...
Christmas and its buildup are often lonely, hard and full of unreasonable expectations. Here’s how to make it to Jesus’s birthday and find the little bit of joy we all deserve. Have you found this year relentless? Has the latest Apple update “fucked up your life”? Have you lost two ...
Despite overwhelming public and corporate support, the government has stalled progress on a modern day slavery law. That puts us behind other countries – and makes Christmas a time of tragedy rather than joy, argues Shanti Mathias. Picture the scene on Christmas Day. Everyone replete with nice things to eat, ...
Asia Pacific Report “It looks like Hiroshima. It looks like Germany at the end of World War Two,” says an Israeli-American historian and professor of holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University about the horrifying reality of Gaza. Professor Omer Bartov, has described Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza as an ...
The New Zealand government coalition is tweaking university regulations to curb what it says is an increasingly “risk-averse approach” to free speech. The proposed changes will set clear expectations on how universities should approach freedom of speech issues. Each university will then have to adopt a “freedom of speech statement” ...
Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. – COMMENTARY: By Caitlin Johnstone New York prosecutors have charged Luigi Mangione with “murder as an act of terrorism” in his alleged shooting of health insurance CEO Brian Thompson earlier this month. This news comes out at the same time as ...
Pacific Media Watch The union for Australian journalists has welcomed the delivery by the federal government of more than $150 million to support the sustainability of public interest journalism over the next four years. Combined with the announcement of the revamped News Bargaining Initiative, this could result in up to ...
MONDAY“Merry Xmas, and praise the Lord,” said Sheriff Luxon, and smiled for the camera. There was a flash of smoke when the shutter pressed down on the magnesium powder. The sheriff had arranged for a photographer from the Dodge Gazette to attend a ceremony where he handed out food parcels to ...
It’s a little under two months since the White Ferns shocked the cricketing world, deservedly taking home the T20 World Cup. Since then the trophy has had a tour around the country, five of the squad have played in the WBBL in Australia while most others have returned to domestic ...
Comment: If we say the word ‘dementia’, many will picture an older person struggling to remember the names of their loved ones, maybe a grandparent living out their final years in an aged care facility. Dementia can also occur in people younger than 65, but it can take time before ...
Piracy is a reality of modern life – but copyright law has struggled to play catch-up for as long as the entertainment industry has existed. As far back as 1988, the House of Lords criticised copyright law’s conflict with the reality of human behaviour in the context of burning cassette ...
As he makes a surprise return to Shortland Street, actor Craig Parker takes us through his life in television. Craig Parker has been a fixture on television in Aotearoa for nearly four decades. He had starring roles in iconic local series like Gloss, Mercy Peak and Diplomatic Immunity, featured in ...
The Ōtautahi musician shares the 10 tracks he loves to spin, including the folk classic that cured him of a ‘case of the give-ups’. When singer-songwriter Adam McGrath returns to Kumeu’s Auckland Folk Festival from January 24-27, he’s not planning on simply idling his way through – he wants the late ...
Alex Casey spends an afternoon on the job with River, the rescue dog on a mission to spread joy to Ōtautahi rest homes.Almost everyone says it is never enough time. But River the rescue dog, a jet black huntaway border collie cross, has to keep a tight pace to ...
Asia Pacific Report Fiji activists have recreated the nativity scene at a solidarity for Palestine gathering in Fiji’s capital Suva just days before Christmas. The Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre and Fijians for Palestine Solidarity Network recreated the scene at the FWCC compound — a baby Jesus figurine lies amidst the ...
By 1News Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver and 1News reporters A number of Kiwis have been successfully evacuated from Vanuatu after a devastating earthquake shook the Pacific island nation earlier this week. The death toll was still unclear, though at least 14 people were killed according to an earlier statement from ...
Irony-free NewstalkZB
“Do you see this as VILE, Jock?”
“The Huddle”, NewstalkZB, Wednesday 13 March 2013, 5:45 p.m.
Larry “Lackwit” Williams, Jock Anderson, Bill Ralston
LARRY “LACKWIT” WILLIAMS: Okay, umm, ahhh, uuuummm…. topic number one today is the Novopay situation. They’re sending in the debt collectors, Bill!
BILL RALSTON: [snarling and panting with indignation] Arrrrgghhhh, what a load of whining and moaning and mad whinging by these teachers! I mean, they might have a point with some issues but they shout everything at maximum volume. So you CAN’T TAKE THEM SERIOUSLY!
LARRY “LACKWIT” WILLIAMS: Jock?
JOCK ANDERSON: Bill’s dead right. These teachers have their lap-dogs in the media. This whole business is just an hysterical over-reaction.
BILL RALSTON: [frenzied] And how many of them were there that received these debt notices? Seven?
JOCK ANDERSON: That’s right! There were only seven of them!
LARRY “LACKWIT” WILLIAMS: [mockingly] Call 911!
BILL RALSTON: [apoplectic] There’s just this mad angel chorus! This whining and moaning and whinging! And I tell you what: NOBODY… TAKES…. THEM…. SERIOUSLY.
LARRY “LACKWIT” WILLIAMS: Yep!
JOCK ANDERSON: Exactly! There are no doubt many good, hard-working teachers out there.
LARRY “LACKWIT” WILLIAMS: Oh yes, yes, of course.
JOCK ANDERSON: I have yet to meet one, however.
LARRY “LACKWIT” WILLIAMS: [uneasily] Ah, ahhh, um.
BILL RALSTON: [softly, nervously] Ha ha ha.
BILL RALSTON: Okay, we’re back with The Huddle after the break.
……..COMMERCIALS…….
LARRY “LACKWIT” WILLIAMS: Topic No. 2 is this Comedy Central television show called The Jeselnik Offensive, which thought it would be a good idea to make jokes about the death of Adam Strange at Muriwai. Listen to this…..
AUDIO CLIP: [American comedian] “Last week, a man in New Zealand was attacked by a fourteen-foot shark. Was he killed? You bet your sweet ass he was killed! And he had a family and everything!” [AUDIENCE:] Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
LARRY “LACKWIT” WILLIAMS: Okay. Now…. [Pauses to indicate how troubled he is] Now, do you see this as VILE, Jock?
JOCK ANDERSON: [with utmost gravitas] I certainly do.
BILL RALSTON: Some of these people think they can say whatever they like.
…….CUT…….
At this point, I was unable to continue listening, as my companion in the car started swearing and shouting at the disembodied voices of Messrs Anderson, Ralston and Lackwit-Williams, denouncing them as “fucking hypocrites”, “racists”, “professional haters”, “boors”, and many other choice and mordantly accurate pejoratives.
FUN FACT: One of NewstalkZB’s advertising slogans is “Tune Your Mind”. Another one is “Fair and Balanced.”
Hate radio is in full cry. The government and the state must be gearing up for even more attacks on education.
You bet ya. Just count the stories with an inherent bias against teachers in the Herald. There always seems to be a tale about this or that that paints teachers in a bad light.
I do no longer believe such stories are coincidences, but part of a plan to set the ground to influence public opinion before radical changes.
As Malcolm X said.. “If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”
“all of the above”
Nice work Morrissey.
Even Monty Python couldn’t come up with that.
In which I learn that “What do you think of Jennifer Lawrence?” is a fantastic question.
http://www.vice.com/read/what-do-hate-groups-think-of-jennifer-lawrence
That was funny and a nice round up of some hate groups too.
Louisa Wall take a bow. And Labour this what an effective principled MP looks like. If anyone deserves a promotion it is her.
Yes well it is noticeable mickysavage that a majority of the principled, intelligent, competent and courageous MPs currently sit on Labour’s back benches.
+1
…thank goodness Rome has found how to make white smoke. Perhaps Radio New Zealand can move on now.
And exactly what % of folk in NZ give a toss about the catholic church anyway, I’d have thought it’s way down the list now with the diverse range of faiths on display now and cults like the Destination Brian.
Nope, it’s the biggest religious thing in the world, and way the biggest denomination of anything in the country.
Some of us even vote Labour.
No, it’s not. Catholicism may be the biggest christian denomination (~17% of entire world) but Muslim is larger (~23% of entire world). Of course, Christianity as a whole is the largest religion.
and that’s not true either.
Thanks, DTB. I am always bewildered at the unwarranted amount of media attention given the patriarchal personage of the pope.
You think the media attention for the election of the spiritual leader of over one billion people is unwarranted?
It’s the AMOUNT of attention it gets. Sure I would expect some coverage. Al Jazeera had a live watch this morning, waiting for over half an hour for the new Pope to appear. Not needed.
Do other religions with similar numbers of followers get so much attention?
Karol, as a non religious agnostic even I find your lack of appreciation somewhat bewildering. This man represents the spiritual leadership of a quarter of the world…not very significant.
We don’t have to agree with him, his dogma, his “patriarchal” nature, his personal viewpoints etc, but to ignore his significance is somewhat of a limitation on somebodies world view.
So to give you and others a little hint at the significance of this one:
* Loyola is happy, this is the first Jesuit Pope. They are an evangelical order dedicated to evangelical preservation of the Catholic faith, working with the believers and converts. It points towards a more hands on approach between the church and the congregation.
* He is the first Francis. St Francis came to “rebuild a church”, he was a reformer. He was also a leader by example.
* This is the first South American Pope. If you want to do politics in South America you need the church onside.
* He is a man of the people, he moved out of his bishops palace into a small apartment and coos for himself, walks and catches buses.
Might tell you something.
Nope – still don’t get it. As I said, a report yes, by not as much attention as the media give him. His significance is bloated by the media – self-perpetuating cycle. Do we hear as much about key Muslim leaders? Or key protestant leaders?
PS: And how wealthy is the Catholic Church world wide – in terms of possessions, real estate etc? It seems to be denied by many but the stats they give are of the annual budgets of the Vatican, which often runs a deficit. It’s a matter of debate.
Which is why somebody named after Francis (Assisi) who eschewed worldly wealth and promoted charity may be significant.
Only if he took the name Francis from St Francis. There are plenty of Francises.
Confirmed by the Vatican that they name was chosen to acknowledge <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/03/13/174237155/pope-francis-a-saintly-name-hold-the-i"<St. Francis of Assisi
Also he is Pope Francis not Francis I – he would only be Francis I if a subsequent Pope chose that Regnal/Papal name.
(Reply to Karol – but too many levels down)
Lets look at another way…bloating by the media…there have been 3 changes of Pope in the last 30 years so the media turn up. As you would expect, and they are not getting paid or endorsed or able to turn the cash on it (like they do in the US presidential election). On that basis the coverage is less than that US election, which given most of the planet is part of the US imperial system figures….even so 20% of the planet is directly affected by the Pope so…voila huge media coverage.
More Papal media coverage? Yes there will be and should be heaps of it. Still you can always tune out and watch the temporal spiritual equivalent on the “News”, the “markets” followed by “sport”.
Muslim leaders dont get the coverage? Since the fall of the Caliphate there has been no Islamic equivalent of Pope but we do get plenty of media about hard line Islamic clerics…and associates like Al Quaeda. Then there is the Queen among-st Protestants…she is head of the C of E. Sells Womens mags as well. Then of course you can turn on the broadcast media any day an watch Protestant televangelists.
So back to your first point, the amount of coverage the Pope gets. Too much? Or perhaps are other things that are of significance to yourself and others getting too little?
Agree that sport and the Queen get too much coverage – ditto all kinds of celebs. Al Qaeda’s coverage is hardly equivalent as it’s usually very negative coverage.
Well, certainly, the plight of the less well off (including amongst rank and file, church going Catholics, Muslims, workers in diverse countries from China to South America through India, the US and Europe), get far to little coverage.
“key protestant leaders”…like um the head of the Anglican Church…
There will be blanket coverage when Elizabeth dies and is replaced by Charles. There will bo no other news for a week
[sorry you had already responded to that point]
I’m just amazed at the number of people who still believe this nonsense here we are in 2013 and some still believe ghosts and angels and life after death..
Do we hear as much about key Muslim leaders?
Well there’s no real equivalent. The grand muftis would be the closest within Sunni Islam, but they are not at all comparable to a Pope in terms of religious authority.
You’re a dove of peace Ennui.
Thanks Prism, kindness a rule number one always.
EinR
Yes I have been thinking lately that kindness could be the major ameliorating emotion for all the destructive ones that we humans have. Too much kindness can be smothering, but then it can be argued that that is not true kindness, it’s passive aggression or controlling.
That seventies? slogan – ‘Aim to carry out daily random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty’ might be due for a revival.
Not sure whether it’s apples v apples putting Catholic v (Sunni + Shia + others).
new pope isn’t the most earth-shattering event, but it’s still pretty important to a lot of people in NZ. Might even be on the same level of public interest as a rugby match 🙂
😉 (btw, revelatory knowledge not as bitter as rhubarb)
Yes it’s the biggest religious thing in the world, and has very little to do with global share. Fortunately. Check out that media and crowd turnout for who got to lead the Anglicans. Love them as I do.
As for the NZ denominational size, wait for the census results. Catholics will be the largest.
Anyone who thinks leadership change in a major institution doesn’t really matter (because changing the culture is too hard) probably didn’t have a coherent view about the leadership of the Labour Party.
Canon reference D.
ad; submissions to the same-sex marriage bill committee by the Catholic Action network were amongst those deemed too offensive to be seen or considered…
http://catholicaction.org/
Agreed.
Would Helen Clark have got another term if she had pushed through so many social reform Acts? I put it to you: yes. And we would likely be in an historic fifth term. So was it the right thing to do or not, at the time?
Clearly Labour have determined not to have a Reformation. Have they even whipped on the same-sex marriage bill? Let’s not paint white virtue over the team please.
tc
For arguments sake lets say 1% of NZ give a toss about the catholic church. So what, it is still news worthy.
The spiritual leader for over a billion people in this world has been elected. Someone who takes on an instituion which has more problems than the National Government.
Don’t let your anti catholic prejudices get in the way of a very important news story.
IMO it’s not an important news story, I know plenty of catholics who think the vatican is as irrelevant as Justin Beiber or Michael Laws and the only thing a new Pope takes on is the robes.
You get the gig to sustain the insitution not change it.
See my comment above and examine the gig statement. This institution has been around two thousand years during which time a lot has changed and often. The lesson is that the RC church has also had to change. The change agent is normally the Pope. This one signifies a change. And that is how they sustain it. There are some lessons in this.
What one fascist followed by another is a change. You must be joking.
http://www.latinorebels.com/2013/03/13/pope-francis-i-and-argentinas-dirty-war/
Chris Trotter is not very impressed by The new Pope’s past either. As well as being actively homophobic and anti-abortion,
He was actively involved on the side of the nasty folks in Argentina’s “dirty war”
I respect both Trotters view and OShaugnessys. For the latter, a Contra who was actively partisan, I would ask for hardnevidence, there appears from other sources to be a very different story, so judgment withheld.
From Trotter I hear loud and clear the objections of enlightenment liberal thinking: Chris is crazy if he ever thought the Pope would be doctrinally different and he is missing the real possibilities. These are based in the real human traditions that far out date our “modern”secular thought. Historic context is important and Chris has either missed it or ignored it.
By taking Francis the new Pope may be indicating that his Church move toward a Franciscan tradition of service and charity, and more importantly toward leadership by example. This goes to the heart of the Christian message, there has always been a tension between humility (and leadership by example) and demanding adherence from the pulpit. Franciscan versus Dominican.
PS: I am not religious. I just happen to think that if you limit your world view and thinking to post Voltaire rationalism you become very mechanistic and narrow in approach. It can lead you to political and personal absolutism on par with doctrinal absolutism.
Ennui, is the criticism of absolutism directed at me? I don’t recognise your description in myself.
The change to a more Franciscan approach is appealing. However, I have difficulty seeing that as being led by an institution/city state that incorporates a pomp and opulence within a rigid hierarchy.
Not personal K, however there is a strong streak of absolutism on this blog (and pretty much every other). Hell I do it too, but there’s inconsistency and duality for you.
On the Franciscan approach my viewpoint is extremely long term: since the time of the ancient Pontifex Maximi (yes the papacy predates JC) there has always been an adjustment to circumstances, the main issue being to preserve the institution and faith. Francis never succeeded in rebuilding the Church, he built his legacy in our minds and actions. But not all of us, some of us are Dominicans. I don’t expect the RC as an institution to do anything but adjust and survive, its an enviable track record regardless of how we regard the dogma etc. Francis might however change the immediate focus on what is a priority. Lets watch.
Only twelve percent of the population, and it’s only the world’s largest Christian church, with 1.2 billion members worldwide, obviously it’s totally irrelevant
Phew, that observation generated a bit of excitement amongst a few, but in passing I think comparisons with coverage of the Royal family are spurious.
FYI, there are not umpteen billion catholics in New Zealand and as far as I recall, the pope does not yet have the power to dismiss a democratically elected commonwealth government, say the New Zealand Parliament, which I understand HRH and her descendants currently still/will do. (Oh and to say that they never would, well ask the Australian people what happened in 1975).
The Govt is gunning for the Auckland Council. This is in today’s Herald –
IMO Auckland cannot afford to sprawl any more. It eats up fertile horticultural land, and costs too much for additional infrastructure and motorways. And there is a need for development contributions from the developers to help pay for some of the extra costs – more people require more council services – libraries, parks, recreation areas.
But this Govt is a developers’ friend – not an environmental friend, or – for that matter – a friend of the 99%. And its hell-bent on taking over the legal roles of local govt when it can’t get its own way,
Aucklanders are in for a fight !
Typical Government.
Auckland Council asked for the Unitary Plan to have effect from the time it is released (ie this year) and Government turned them down. Then it jumps up and down because Auckland is not doing anything …
Talk about Nanny State.
And they’re getting really upset about higher density housing which must mean that their only concern is that the land bankers on the city fringe may not get their expected returns.
yep, there was an article supporting this analysis on TDB, DTB 🙂
‘ere ’tis
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/03/13/the-problem-the-politics-the-solutions-why-aucklands-hot-housing-market-is-nick-smiths-cart/
Remember that central control of the second city of ChCh has already been achieved, as well as the Kaipara Council, so it is hardly a surprise that AKL Council is under the microscope, why not!
One way or another central control will eventuate to some level, just take a look at the projected debt increase over the next ten years forecasted for AKL.
Books are not open of course, and the money simply *vanishing*, being replaced by debt with interest. Privatization of AKLs assets are a done deal, thats what the super city was all about!
What is more interesting to note is that the opposite policy applies in rural regions looking to expand irrigation and intensify agriculture. In these areas the government is pushing more power onto local councils, because they are dominated by farmer representatives.
This is a massive rebalancing of power within NZ.
But it will not last. This government in doing these things is going against the mid and long term grain. These things they are introducing are going to be reversed.
As has been said many times before – this is the last hurrah and grasp for goodies by greedies. And they aint holding back, the dirty c#&%s.
Govt piles on pressure for housing land
Ah, this government – taking away democracy in favour of its rich mates – again.
What high density redevelopment of all existing State housing sites in akl would look like BEFORE heatley started selling it to their developer mates. GI is relatively central as is the recent Sandringham issue.
Bullying and selling is easy, building and being collaborative requires effort and committment.
the cost of fuel, the cost of fuel, the cost of fuel
Watch out for that Gen-I restructure.
There’s plenty of companies who have lost a hundred jobs in the last few years.
But what makes this one different is that the great majority of those being made redundant:
– will not be managers or Chief Executives
– will be high end technicians and account managers earning well over $150,000 and
– are from New Zealand’s largest high-tech company
This is precisely the kind of company New Zealand needs to grow if it is to be less bulk commodity dependent and less dependent upon the weather.
These are highly mobile people who will of course be able to find adventure in other countries.
But with them go their expense accounts, research demand, service demand, spinoff capability, luxury goods buying capacity, school fees and t ravel budgets; cumulatively a huge dark ripple effect.
A very dark moment.
Aye! I’m watching. And it’ll be those managers and CE’s leading the charge out of self-preservation (as usual – even if it sinks the whole outfit). The more I see your posts (ad) I’m wondering whether the rest of the handle could be v d t – a mighty fine fellow, but then one shouldn’t speculate out loud
Bad luck with the guess.
Ad stands for Anno Domini, and also for Adorno (for those who like obscure Critical Theorists).
cool,
a little Kristeva on ice then?
-she, brought Marxist theory and Russian formalism together with structuralism and psychoanalysis to produce an eclectic inter-disciplinary approach to questions concerning subjectivity.
-initially worked with Derrida
-Some of her work has been in feminist philosophy, some in aesthetics, cultural studies, and psychoanalysis.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Kristeva
cool as
Checkl out her little pamphlet on the intersection of religion and psychoanalysis:
“In The beginning Was Love”
have Google, will do.
lets Paint It Black (and purple)
http://www.cddc.vt.edu/feminism/kristeva.html
😯
“as within, so without”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abjection
now, back to the news.
auckland.scoop.co.nz/…west-auckland-company-champions-living-…
Round of applause to this Auckland tofu manufacturer for agreeing to pay it’s workers ‘the living wage’…
Bugger, that link isn’t going to work, Google the above and it will take you to the page…
Thanks for the tip, bad. TONZU + respect for unions and collective bargaining.
Welcome!!! full credit to TONZU for good employment practice and here’s hoping that more private employers begin to see the light,
AND,
The Labour Party brings forward an employment policy of raising the minimum wage by $1.50 an hour for every year that they are the Government,
That’s not only good for the lowest paid workers, it’s also a boost in income for the Capitalists themselves who are the ultimate beneficiaries of higher wages for those who earn the least as such monies are directly spent into the economy driving companies to compete creating yet more employment,
The Government’s coffers are also enriched by being a beneficiary of the rise in income from taxation as those reliant upon the lowest income as a majority always spend what they have earned into the local economy as they earn such monies…
Jessie Chalmers is also a respected member of the Waitemata Local Board and a Green party activist. Good to see that she is walking the walk in terms of her political beliefs.
That IS good news re Tonzu paying a living wage to its workers. They are a great example to other employers in the food manufacturing sector. Having dealt with them as suppliers back in the day I can say they were always on the level and walked the talk. No greenwash with that family. It’s been good to see their company grow over the years and it goes to show that business can be sustainable, ethical and profitable. There is no need for companies to be A-Holes (think Talleys, Sealord, Preston Taylor etc) to turn a profit.
Sadly there are also companies in NZ in the same category as the Chalmers – (Wholefoods/Organics) who aren’t such clean operators. The worst offenders for low pay rates, intimidation, poor staff moral, serious health and safety breaches (including unreported serious harm) and screwing down raw product suppliers as well as turning a blind eye to non compliance that I have ever seen, have been in this category.
We have such a very long way to go in terms of improving our business behaviour in NZ so bigs ups to Tonzu for demonstrating what a good employer and a good ethical business is. Lets hope it catches on.
More s**t journalism from RadioNZ National’s Morning Report today allowing State Owned enterprises Minister Tony Ryall to spew forth a trail of ‘modified truth’ over the airwaves about the Slippery National Government’s involvement in the financial knee-capping of the States coal miner Solid Energy,
Ryall is now claiming that they (National) only became concerned about the financial state of Solid Energy as the price of coal dropped sharply in the last six months,
The ‘facts’ which escaped both Ryall and those interviewing Him on RadioNZ this morning are that the price of coal has been remarkably stable since May 2012,
May 2012= $102.68,
February 2013= $101.72,
http://www.worldcoal.org/coal/market-amp-transportation/coal-price/
Ryall modifying the truth this morning on RadioNz is a direct contradiction of what Slippery the Prime Minister said in answer to a question from the Green Party’s Russell Norman last week in the Parliament where Slippery said that National had no previous concerns about Solid energy’s financial position because coal prices had remained ‘high’,
Bill from Dipton is now talking of ‘hindsight’ as an excuse for this National Governments financial gutting of Solid energy, obviously Bill was too busy elsewhere to notice that at the point of His election into the position of Finance Minister the bottom had fallen out of the price of coal…
Blinglish’s also rolled out the ‘Blame Labour’ line on SE also.
Don’t worry, the people see through that bullshit. This is another doozy of a knock to the current govt.
Time for them to be whacked with the next one. Then the next one. Then th next one. Then the next one.
That’s just bovine defecation from Bill from Dipton, the debt of Solid Energy at the point of the 2008 election was just 13 million dollars,
Now after being directly told by Tony Ryall and Bill English to take on more debt Solid Energy is staggering under a debt of 389 million dollars, not racked up while Labour was the Government, pushed into such unsustainable debt by this Slippery National Government who have in the past month tried to squirm out of their responsibility for the kneecapping of Solid Energy…
Well, if the progressive side isn’t dominating the airwaves right now when the rare convergence of the Solid Energy and Mighty River power stories are intersecting with the Assets Sales petition, and Key is distracted and off-message while overseas, it’s more a failure of opposition than a triumph of National Radio (!), or a triumph for Tony Ryall (!).
Anyone here wishing for a progressive leader that could cut through the flim flam, appear coherent on television, and send a shudder through National and indeed the polls?
Right now is the moment to make the left cohere. Anyone? Hello?
The Opposition are in my opinion ‘doing quite well’ on the Solid energy issue, it was highlighted on TV1 news last night portraying National’s handling of the finances surrounding Solid Energy in a very poor light after David Shearers questioning of Bill English in the Parliament yesterday where He had English having to admit that the National Government wrote to Solid Energy in 2009 as the price of coal fell dramatically telling Solid Energy to take on more debt,
English is at present answering these questions on behalf of Slippery the Prime Minister and while doing so is exposing previous answers by Slippery to questions in the House over Solid Energy’s Chairman at the Select Committee and information gleaned from that Committee will be used in coming weeks to beat upon Ryall,English, and Slippery the Prime Minister for their current first it was high coal prices then it was low coal prices attempts at deviating from the truth surrounding the financial knee-capping of the States coal miner Solid energy,
‘The Opposition’ only gets certain amounts of questions and supplementary questions it can ask in the Parliament on any given day so such ‘scandals’ as Solid energy’s abhorrent over-loading of 389 million dollars of debt while this National Government sucked 120+ million dollars of dividends out of the company can only be exposed brick by brick,
The collective news media do not help to give the full picture of such shonky business dealings by this National Government by conducting ill researched interviews with the likes of SOE Minister Tony Ryall when they allow Him to tell blatant lies about the price of coal and hardly afford the Opposition the right of reply,
It is bordering upon ‘fraud’ for this National Government to highlight as it has done the amount of dividends it has collected from Solid Energy in the past 3 years whilst attempting to hide the amount of debt that company has racked up and further attempting to hide this National Governments culpability in having Solid Energy take on that amount of debt in the first place,
My view is that the Opposition is scoring some good points off of the back of the lies so far told by Slippery, English, and Ryall over the Solid Energy debacle, that there is more yet to come from this issue and that the NZ news media should get up to speed on what actually took place vis a vis coal prices and debt loading along with the taking of dividends by this National Government…
Not really interested in how many excuses parliamentary questions or the media give the Opposition right now.
Tell you what, if your points get Labour a lift in the next polls – say just 2% – I will say I am wrong and there really was an effective leadership of the Opposition.
Will you?
Yes of course ‘your’ not really interested in the mechanics of the slanted and biased treatment that the news media give to the Opposition party’s right now, much easier to just sit there and whine about the fact that the other David isn’t the leader of the opposition right???,
Will i what???, Labour could virtually assure it’self as the next major party of Government at the 2014 election by bringing forward a policy of increasing the minimum wage by $1.50 an hour for every year that it holds office,
i wont hold my breath waiting for such a policy release but i am ever the optimist…
You clearly don’t have any idea about how to hold people accountable. Time to start.
Change your mindset. When you invest in something, be it shares or membership, expect results, not woolly virtues like loyalty, to be rewarded. They never are.
The polls have not current rewarded your optimism for 5 years. Be cold with the reality of this. This is as good as Opposition gets. They either make a real move now, or they simply can’t.
“pamphlet” was interesting, although a little “wordy” for a semiotic
The Stock Market Is a Debt-Fueled Bubble: Steve Keen
Oh dear, it seems that the US stock market has gone back into bubble territory financed by highly leveraged debt. Exactly as we saw in 2k and 2k6/7 – just before the whole artifice collapsed.
Yes the Banking Cartels have decided to play another game of Roulette with the bloated middle classes that have all got more monies than brains,
The US stock-markets are being pumped with with some of the trillions of dollars of printed monies used to ‘bail’ them out of the 2007-2008 fiasco which they directly created,
The Bankster’s ill gotten gains will be laundered through the inflation of stock-prices and the wealthy middle classes will be left holding the baby (again) when the bubble bursts,
i am not sure if people with very short memories ‘deserve’ to get continuously ripped by the banking cartels, but ripped they will be…
Yep
Another dispatch from the U$K class war, courtesy of the people’s artist taxi driver.
“BBC Propaganda; pitting poor against poorer ”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1YUo_tjqb4&list=UUGThM-ZZBba1Zl9rU-XeR-A&index=2
beneficiaries existing on pittances are being attacked with propaganda that they’re scroungers.
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=9800#.UUFM0zfPJkg
The fatal choice between food or heating in Modern Britain
HASSAN GHANI, TRNN CORRESPONDENT: Winters in the UK can be bitterly cold. In an economy where the cost of living is going up while average incomes are staying the same, a growing number of people are having to choose between food and heating. One recent survey found that up to 1 in 4 families in Britain was turning down the heating during the winter to be able to pay other bills. The cost of gas and electricity for consumers has more than doubled since 2004, and the energy industry is warning that heating bills are going to get even bigger in coming years.
The basic problem, say energy companies, is that there simply isn’t enough capacity anymore, because they’re having having to close down some of their older coal and oil power stations in order to meet green energy targets. They’re now building a series of natural gas power stations in order to bridge the gap. The bottom line is that energy companies are going to raise their prices even further, and they’re blaming it on the rising cost of wholesale gas and investment in renewable energy.
But more and more consumers are growing wise to the fact that the energy companies themselves are making vast and growing profits, despite their claims of simply passing on price rises. British Gas, for example, saw an 11percent increase in profits last year. It’s managing director, who’s tom moving on, will leave with a $15million departure package. And there’s very little transparency in the way the big energy companies buy their fuel, which is purchased in advance. An investigation is now underway into allegations of price-fixing by the power companies.
Ultimately, the rise in household bills is having a devastating effect on the most vulnerable members of society
Future for us under John Yankee!? :-9
http://www.newsunspun.org/article/the-bbcs-bogeyman-narrative-on-hugo-chavez
The BBC maintained a strong a record of misleading reporting throughout the presidency of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who died on Tuesday, following a two year battle with cancer…
In discussing US-Venezuelan relations, Kelly does not mention probably the most seminal event of the last fourteen years: the US-backed coup in 2002. As an interesting aside, straight after the death of Hugo Chavez, in the BBC ‘look back’ at his life, the coup was also omitted by James Robbins, who instead described events as ‘a general strike’ when ‘Chavez was briefly pushed from office’.
The BBC, or British State Radio. It’s a propaganda arm of the British state, about as reliable and trustworthy as Pravda was in the 1970s.
Yeah right. For all its faults, the BBC is still the greatest broadcasting platform in the world and a force for good. Why else do you think Rupert Murdoch hates it so much and the Tories are trying to nobble it?
Why just the 70’s, btw?
Don’t get me wrong, I still love the BBC, but there is no doubt that it has been curbed and controlled, especially since Alistair Campbell and Blair led the Government jihad against it when it briefly stepped out of line and went off-message about the Iraq invasion.
Why the seventies? It just seems remote and exotic now, and all Eastern European-style black and white.
What a great decade it was…
Yes, indeed, a top decade. Nice to see Bowie back on form, eh?
I recall there was a joke in the USSR about the two papers, Izvestia (Spark) and Pravda (Truth) along the lines that there was no spark in Pravda and no truth in Izvestia.
You include the Jummy Saville cover up in that do you!
Force for good, yeah, nah!
Yes, I do include Savile. But one man’s crimes, and the incompetence or enabling behaviour of one department of an enormous, worldwide organisation does not diminish the overall good the BBC has done. They helped put that Austrian corporal to rights, for starters.
But its not just one mans crimes, or one department is it, JS was a UK mega star, he was the BBC entertainment arm, and much more to the BBC at the time, and its been covered up for decades. JS was also one of the largest fund raisers, and high profile charity types in UK history.
Appreciate the whole organisation is not likely to be dirty, and that they have done some fantastic work, I used to watch alot of the documentaries, but the organisation, has been eaten out!
So how about Dr David Kelly, different departmental attack, cover up etc…
Two isolated incidents, however bad, do not mean the organisation is rotten or that the good they have done and continue to do is worthless. They remain the closest thing to good, honest global media we have. Not perfect, but without peer.
Sadly, Te Reo, it is not just “two isolated incidents”. The rot is systemic.
The BBC is not good or honest; you must have it confused with Al-Jazeera or Democracy Now!
“They remain the closest thing to good, honest global media we have.”
A good argument for avoiding corporate media altogether.
Dame Anne Salmond: Time to defend democratic rights
Our society and economy is in trouble because we began to worship greed (the neo-liberal paradigm) and started to reward the rich for being rich. This government is making it worse as it continues these destructive policies.
How Money is Destroyed
And once you’ve finished watching that you’ll understand why this government is borrowing at an increasing rate while telling people to pay their debt and save.
sigh…Benny the pope…questionable past and now… Frankie the pope..questionable past..
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2011/jan/04/argenitina-videla-bergoglio-repentance
Frank does seem to be an interesting man though.
The Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, has called for an ethical response to solve the problem of social debt, saying that, not only do terrorism, repression and murder violate human rights, but also extreme poverty and the “unjust economic structures that give rise to great inequalities.”
Social debt is “immoral, unjust and illegitimate,” the cardinal said, emphasizing that this is especially true when it occurs “in a nation that has the objective conditions for avoiding or correcting such harm.” “Unfortunately,” he noted, it seems that those same countries “opt for exacerbating inequalities even more.”
http://m.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=17285
12 people have died in house fires in three months, compared to 13 for the entire 2012 (an elderly and disabled contribution to this demographic, along with poverty and intoxication?)
Campbell Live; 200 apply for seven jobs at CHH; this is very sad; “weak employment market”-Wheeler concurs with Deutsche Banke
2M children affected by the Syrian conflict
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxYsi5Y-xOQ
Hell Is For Children
Youth Unemployment rate
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8316799/Youth-unemployment-no-surprise
The Wellington City Mission has become “risk averse” and placing “self-preservation” ahead of caring for the poor; now emphasizing older people and families before the youth and homeless.
-former (resigned City Missioner; subservient to the CEO)
“Going through the winter and coming out the other side, the price of meat is going to climb”.
-Terry McKee, Butcher.
(Kim Jong Un is “more bloodthirsty, however, like the NActs, who ignored Solid Energy Chairmans’ opposition to a larger dividend.
absolut 😉 (some morale) that certain kinds of actions are always wrong, or, are always obligatory, whatever the cosequences.
e.g, wrong to deliberately kill an *innocent* human being; contrasts with “consequentialism”
linked to, yet not synonymous with, a deontological position in ethics (the latter the view that certain kinds of actions are intrinsically right or wrong-independent of the consequences to which they lead.
A deontological position obviously? contrasts with a consequentialist one.
Nevertheless, when detached from appeals to religious (prefer spiritual) authority, Absolutism may appear to be vulnerable to rational criticism.
However, to be plausible, Absolutism may be supplemented with some further distinction between different ways in which consequences may come about, such as the distinction between acts and omissions or the doctrine of double effect.
see Anscombe, “War and Murder” in Collected Philosophical Papers : Oxford, 1981, or
Nagel, “War and Massacre” in Mortal Questions : Cambridge, 1979.
Nominalism, traditionally understood, is a doctrine which denies the real existence of universals, conceived as the supposed referents of general terms like “chair” or “blue’ (bayou). In order to explain how and why we classify different individual things alike as being “blue” (Peter), nominalists appeal to particular resemblances between those things. Realists object that such an account involves tacit reliance on universals because resemblance is always similarity in “some general respect”, pointing out that different things resemble each other in many different ways.
Yet nominalists reply, such objections are misconceived and question-begging…
Plan 9 Channel 7
Just for you ad,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8m2JyiggwAU (no Ant-Poe , or leaving remainders in the library) 🙂
Some of you facebook sorts might enjoy the ‘Arrest John Key’ page. I’m guessing the aim is to pull all the dodgy threads together in one place.
http://www.facebook.com/ArrestJohnKey
Open Letter to Jim Mora:
You reverently praised Pope Francis, but snickered at the mere mention of Hugo Chávez. What gives?
“The Panel”, Radio New Zealand National, Thursday 14 March 2013
Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, who died last week, was famous for his choosing to favor the poor and dispossessed over the rich and powerful, and for his radical critique of social inequality. Anyone listening to Jim Mora’s show on Monday 11 March will have heard Mora snicker and giggle every time he used the words “Hugo Chávez”.
Therefore, listeners a few days later (14 March 2013) would no doubt have been astonished to hear Jim Mora adopt a serious and respectful tone when talking of the way that the new Pope prefers the poor and the dispossessed over the rich and powerful, and is a radical critic of social inequality. I flicked the following email to Mr Mora….
You reverently praised Pope Francis, but snickered at the mere mention of Hugo Chávez. What gives?
Dear Jim,
So the new Pope identifies with the poor and is a critic of the structural injustices that have led to grinding poverty in South America and many other parts of the world. So did another South American, Hugo Chávez, and he was regarded as a hero by the poor of South America for that reason.
On today’s show, during your words of praise for Pope Francis, you never sniggered once. By contrast, every time you even mentioned Hugo Chávez’s name on Monday, you sniggered.
Why the respect for the new Pope, but the attitude of levity and gross disrespect for Hugo Chávez?Was it because you had the right wing, trenchantly anti-Chávez Nevil Gibson in the studio with you, glowering at the mere mention of Chávez’s name?
I wonder how Lindsey Freer would have responded if you had snickered and giggled every time you mentioned the name of the new Pope.
Yours sincerely,
Morrissey Breen
Northcote Point
I think he’s getting worse. Can barely listen to him now.
Keeps on inviting ACT supporters and other Ayn Rand devotees – they get less than 1% of the vote, but Jim and his director give them far more air time.
I think the people ultimately responsible for the selection of these extremely biased, right wing guests—or the “talent” as he likes to call them—are his producers.
But I don’t think his producers told Mora to guffaw every time he said “Hugo Chávez”; he indulged in that epic display of puerile contempt because he was nervous of the glowering Nevil “Breivik” Gibson. The giggles indicate not so much that Mora is anti-Chávez, but that he has a quite pathetic desire to win the approval of the likes of Breivik-Gibson.
Why do you think Mora is so in awe of these people? I note he also fawns over Bernard Hickey and is deseperate to get advice on mortgage rates, and other personal financial advice.
For all his faults, at least Bernard Hickey has an obvious deep knowledge of his subject. The same cannot be said for Nevil “Breivik” Gibson, who on Monday demonstrated that he knew next to nothing about either Venezuela or Hugo Chávez.
I don’t think Mora is in awe of most of his guests. I think he would (justly) rate his own intelligence above that of most of them. I think Mora’s behaviour, which I find to be increasingly frivolous and determinedly trivial-minded, is the result of both a pathological desire to please, which explains the nervous giggling, and a certain perversity: Mora doesn’t actually believe that Chávez has a “dubious legacy” (as he claimed on Monday) but he was quite prepared to say that if he figured it would win him favour, even with such a crazed and unpleasant ideologue as Nevil “Breivik” Gibson.
Did you just equate a tory editor and commentator with a psycho mass-murderer?
Classy.
The Breivik moniker comes not from me, but from another appalled reader of one of Gibson’s hare-brained NBR editorials, where he made the Breivik-style assertion that all terrorism in the world was carried out by Muslims.
And anyone who has read or listened to his ranting for a reasonable amount of time will be aware that Nevil Gibson is far, far to the right of what any reasonable person would mean by “tory”.
So he pulled a Prosser. Big gap between that and killing almost a hundred people.
And don’t blame other people for the imagery you use.
Birds of a feather and all of that (whether higher or lower or simply near by). Thought you of all people would understand such pigeon holing McFlock.
“near by” is the bit I’m not sure is at all valid, in this case. From an astronomical perspective, may it might be.
There are light years between merely being a third-rate tory propagandist, and looking dozens of people in the eye before shooting them.
Jim Mora’s emphasis on Papal concern for the poor in Latin America:
Let’s remember that, as head of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in the 80s and 90s, the last Pope (Ratso Ratzinger) launched a fundamental attack on those South and Central American bishops and priests pursuing Liberation Theology. The poor were to put up with murderous Far Right dictators and concentrate instead on having a good afterlife.
Ah, Joe the Rat. Popes don’t resign unless there is a internal political reason for it.
Upping the Arms to Syria
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/exclusive-iran-steps-up-weapons-lifeline-to-syrias-assad–envoys
Paul Krugman: “The Eurobeatings will continue”
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/12/the-eurobeatings-will-continue/
Britain faces “Stagflation”
http://www.theweek.co.uk/business/51956/britain-faces-stagflation-threat-what-grim-prognosis-means
Aussie “jobless numbers to grow” (new jobs not keeping pace with Pop. growth)
http://www.smh.com.au/business/jobless-numbers-to-grow-despite-new-surge-in-confidence-20130313-2g0r9.html
Sustained retreat for Aussie iron ore
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1303/S00538/australia-miners-under-attack.htm
Lots of foreign fighters too.
http://stratrisks.com/geostrat/11111?utm
Hmmmm according to Jenny the war in Syria is about oppressed Syrians trying to overthrow a brutal dictator via a popular rebellion.
Odd how all these Russian Islamists and Saudi’s and Bahranians have been popping up. With US financing and Turkish logistical support, of all things.
What’s odd about it? If the popular revolution wins, both US/Israel and Iran/China/Russia have to be in a position to influence the outcome. Having mercs on the ground is their way of shortening the odds.
This does not alter the basic struggle in Syria between the majority who happen to be Sunni and the al Assad regime.
http://syriafreedomforever.wordpress.com/2013/03/14/prospects-for-syrias-revolution/#more-1808
yes, but well, no
LOOK! The Green Party shamelessly pandering to their secret overlords’ plans to downplay climate change!!!!
QoT, I think the post you were trying to link to is this one: http://www.greens.org.nz/node/30839
Is Bill English a CCDer?
Hmmmmm since English openly admits that droughts may become increasingly frequent in the foreseeable future, I suspect that he’s not a CCD’er. Although he’s never ever going to utter the actual words “climate change”.
And Hot Topic nails English, as well: http://hot-topic.co.nz/bill-englishs-weasel-words-on-weather-climate-and-drought/
It is indeed. The link in my comment works for me though … *puzzled*
It does now. Someone must have fixed it. Before it took me to today’s op ed piece by Dame Anne Salmond. I was puzzled about her connection to the Green Party.
Works for me too, now. But I tried it in a couple of browsers earlier and … nothing. A great post though, well worth the effort.
When I first tried to access that link Chrome told me the server was down.
How many of all the above posters do you think aren’t known beyond their anonymity lprent?
Unexpected earthquake observation no. 212: the unusual experience of being rubber necker fodder
Sent: Thursday, 14 March 2013 5:04 p.m.
To: Tau Henare
Subject: ‘Open Letter’ to all New Zealand Members of Parliament – re: the purchase of shares in Mighty River Power
14 March 2013
Dear New Zealand Member Of Parliament,
Please be reminded that the final vote on the Public Finance (Mixed Ownership Model) Amendment Act 2012, was 61 – 60
http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/Debates/Debates/e/8/e/50HansD_20120626_00000012-State-Owned-Enterprises-Amendment-Bill-Public.htm
A party vote was called for on the question, That the Public Finance (Mixed Ownership Model) Amendment Bill be now read a third time.
Ayes 61
New Zealand National 59; ACT New Zealand 1; United Future 1.
Noes 60
New Zealand Labour 34; Green Party 14; New Zealand First 8; Maori Party 3; Mana 1.
_____________________________________________________________________________
1) For the public record, as a New Zealand Member of Parliament, can YOU please confirm – will YOU purchase shares in Mighty River Power, if they become available?
– YES or NO?
2) Is this the agreed position of the political party which you represent, as a New Zealand Member of Parliament?
– YES or NO?
Please be advised that your reply will be made available to both the media and the public.
Your prompt response would be much appreciated.
Yours sincerely,
Penny Bright
A Spokesperson for the Switch Off Mercury Energy group.
‘Anti-corruption campaigner’.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Tau Henare
date: Thu, Mar 14, 2013 at 5:05 PM
Kia ora Penny
All I will say is that you are right, the vote was won by us, in fact the election was won by us. Whether I or any of my colleagues purchases shares is neither here nor there.
Hop you have a nice day.
Tau
____________________________________________________________________________
Hi Tau!
Perhaps you missed this?
” UF (United Future) did not specifically campaign for the ‘mixed ownership model for the electricity companies and Air New Zealand’ because it was not UF (United Future)policy”
[ Pete George (United Future Dunedin North candidate 2011) (16,292) Says: February 15th, 2013 at 10:28 pm]
So – upon what do you purport to have a ‘mandate’?
If MPs buy shares in Mighty River Power – how is that not a form of ‘corrupt practice’?
‘Misuse of public office for private gain’?
Voting for something from which you may personally profit?
Not a good look for New Zealand ‘perceived’ to be the ‘least corrupt country in the world’
(along with Finland and Denmark) according to the 2012 Transparency International ‘Corruption Perception Index’?
http://www.transparency.org/cpi2012/results#myAnchor1
How many other countries allow MP’s to purchase shares in companies whilst they’re in public office?
Oh – that’s right.
NZ MPs don’t even have an enforceable ‘Code of Conduct’.
Kind regards,
Penny Bright
Well done, Penny. Be warned, however, that in trying to debate reasonably with Uncle Tau, you are battling against someone who possesses iron-plated complacency and the moral conscience of a sandfly.
While Labour doesn’t appear to be able to state such things without ummming and ahhing, other parties can:
State Assets to be renationalised