Obviously, the Labour caucus did not listen to their membership when they selected Mumblefuck as “leader” of the party. How then did that come about? Well, this audio transcript of the pivotal decision moment has just come to me:
Voice 1: I hereby convene this session of the Iron Spines Society.
Voices [chanting]: We are the ABC Warriors!
Voice [booming]: Bigjobs!!
Voice 1: Yes. Now that our colleague has completed his 3 year assignment; snatching the laurels of failure from the jaws of victory, we needs must select a replacement. Lest we be at risk of the Goff’s human appearance seducing the punters away from the true path before our associate’s tasks are complete.
Voices: [indistinct disgruntled murmuring]
Voice 2: If I may have the floor? [sound of chairs moving etc.] We must be honest with ourselves; the Goff was a mistake; his humulation programing was too successful, and his, well; robotic…
Voices: [chuckling]
Voice: Bigjobs!!
Voice 2: His robotic command of numbers created a dangerous perception of competance.
Voices: [indistinct disgruntled murmuring]
Voice 1: We know this already, Robertron.
Voice 2: Ah, but does not our problem suggest it’s own solution? If the punters are indeed just a insufficiently industrious bunch of losers, then what do we need to seduce them to the cause of steel?
Voice 1: You’re right! What we need is the greatest loser concievable…
Voice 2: But where can we find this paragon of ineptituide?
[sound of door knock, then hinge squeak as it opens]
Voice 3: Did you want some tea? I mean, it smells like; engine oil, but that can’t… It must be tea – it’s in ummm… Teaspoons? No; cups. Or is it coffee? I may have some mango skins on me somewhere I could squeeze out for you? Did I ever tell you about the time I was in Africa…
That was a cut and paste of an earlier comment (33.2.1 on Zetettic’s 7/6 “Gone” post), which is about to slip off the bottom of the page. It seems relevant again with the Sky City rugby box fiasco, and anyway; is the best bit of writing I’ve done since I’ve started commenting on this site – though I’d been a reader for years.
Just so no gets confused: “Well, this audio transcript of the pivotal decision moment has just come to me”, means; I made up this satire to help deal with my anger about Labour’s incompetence. The; ABC Warriors, were a recurring story, with varying writers, in the 2000AD comic which is most famous for; Judge Dredd. They were; an unpleasant band of robotic mercenaries, whose main pleasure in unlife was watching human/ chainsaw torture porn.
It’s been years since I’ve read the comic (is is still being done? Is 2000AD?). Yeah, OK; maybe Hammerstein wasn’t as bad as MekQuake – but that’s a pretty low bar!
I don’t watch TV since it’s gone digital, and rarely enough before then (why didn’t you say; “it looks like you read too many comics”? That’d at least be relevant, though a decade out of date). However, I view DVDs of series, where you get the fill without the content (terms that seem exactly the wrong way round to me). And do sometimes look up news footage online; but I’m not often interested enough. I will stream TV3’s; 7 days, if its on though.
Pasupial is a nom de clave to protect myself against offline retaliation. It refers to my wee Basupial’s tendency to; cling on like a koala to a tree, with myself & Masupial.
I know I say “its a non story” on here a bit but the best non story of the week is the Labour MP’s at the sky city corporate box. If it was business then can the emails and recorded conversations be tabled or leaked to Winston.
I am really concerned that 4 labour MP’s are soliciting corporate sponsorship or business deals.
@ Yes
I’m not so sure about the; “centre” part of “centre right”, but yeah; you’ve been tolerably upfront about your views. And yes; it was a stuff-up by Labour, or at least; one part of the Labour caucus, rather than the Labour party as a whole.
However, NAct’s reponse that; the scandal lay in the Labour MPs accepting the seats in the Sky City box and then not voting for their legislation, suggests that a seat at the rugby really is enough to buy your average NAct MP. Whereas the 4 Labour MPs (plus their 10 minute leader) were merely guilty of a miserable error in judgement, rather than systemic corruption.
But it’s an ill wind that blows no one any good: The Greens have come out of this looking like the only Party in Parliament who actually believe in any ethical principles.
Man, who is advising these idiots? They had it on a plate this week – the Dunne affair, the continuous erosion of labour rights – and then they go and mingle with the SkyCity crowd. And all of a sudden, the topic is not the corrupt ways of the Key government and the Sky City deal, but the blatant hypocrisy of Labour politicians.
It’s fucking embarrassing, because as we know, and the MSM are constantly reminding us of it – in politics, it’s all about perception.
Yep key is calling it “deep hypocrisy” and sadly another arrow in the quiver that could be used to stop these gnats has been broken.
” Phil Goff, Annette King, Kris Faafoi and Clayton Cosgrove accepted SkyCity’s invitation. Their leader David Shearer declined, but turned up for 10 minutes anyway.
Prime Minister John Key said the Labour MPs had displayed “deep hypocrisy” after accusing the Government of being too close to SkyCity over the casino company’s plans to build a $400 million convention centre in Auckland in return for concessions on gambling laws.
“These guys have been running around parading as if they’re holier than thou, telling everybody how terrible SkyCity is and how the sky was going to cave in because a convention centre was being built and the moment we turn our back they are taking their sausage rolls and free beers in their box watching the All Blacks play,” he said today.”
I couldnt agree more.
Labour is a shambles and these Labour MPs dont seem to care, seems they think their career is over at next election already so they should be booted out now along with their wetfish leader
King, Goff, Faaafoi and Cosgrove are dickheads. Are they that stupid that they do not realise how bad it looks? Next time there is a request for the good people of South Auckland and West Auckland to put their hands in their pockets to help fund the Labour Party they will be less likely to do so because of these dickheads.
They are representatives of a proud political movement that has achieved a great deal of good for many ordinary people over many decades. These other bastards, the National Party, are wrecking the country and have to be thrown out next election. To maximise the left’s chances there needs to be no stuff ups and no dickhead moments.
All Labour MPs should be told to not accept any invitations to corporate boxes, especially those sponsored by Sky City, just in case they are too dickheaded to realise how bad it looks.
Nah, it is just four stupid vain people with a big sense of entitlement.
This is the core Shearer cheerleader team.
They are the ones that pushed Charles Chauvel out of winning Ohariu.
Besides taking $1,000 worth of hospitality each from Sky City, three of them used Tax Payer Funded flights to get to Auckland.
Did Sky City pay fot their overnight accomodation?
Did they stay in The Grand at Sky City’s expense?
Did they get Sky City Limos or Tax Payer Funded Corporate Limos?
Did any of them play tables with gift chips?
Does the term “being compromised” mean anything to these selfish morons?
So it is becoming abundantly clear that Brownlee needs to pan pretty much everyone to do with the Christchurch central city rebuild (especially the Christchurch City Council) in order to take the prying eyes away from this government’s most massive failing in this arena….
… that of the failure of the central city rebuild to spark. There have been plenty of stories of local investors and developers and entrepreneurs cashing up and leaving for other pastures. Long time locals. And now we, as participants in this rebuild, have come to a similar decision – a decision to pull back significantly from our intended steps.
The reason for this failure of Brownlee and this government? Imo, it was their decision to abandon the free market approach to the central city rebuild and take an interventionist approach on a par with soviet era Russia and their 5-year plans. This heavy-handed interventionist big-government left-wing approach has heavily distorted the scene. It has distorted the landscape to such an extent that private enterprise in the central city is pretty much impossible and that is why there is pretty much none going on.
That is why Brownlee is creating a crisis at the Council where there is none – to take the heat away from their failings.
It is a serious shame because the donut city becomes more of a reality with every passing day.
Yep, was in there yesterday and told that they have been getting help from Southland and Hawke Bay, among others, for some time already. It is like I said – there really is no crisis. There is a problem, but it is a problem that is consistent right across the city now, namely that of insufficient capacity. Pretty much anything that you need or want has a waiting list now and it is simply due to excess demand that simply cannot be met due to a lack of suitable people to do everything. And that aint going to be resolved.
And as above, the central city rebuild really is in dire straits. Aside from the more important housing and repair delays in the east, it is the most serious issue.
If the government had left the central city rebuild to the marketplace (subject to a few public institutions and relatively minor planning changes) then land values were plummeting to levels that would have made rebuilding stack up. And rebuilding by private enterprise would have sparked by now – as it has in other outer parts of the city.
By stepping in and mandating a Blueprint, and buying up half the city for their special anchor projects, they have completely distorted things.
Why has this government abandoned its political philosophy of small government, no interference, pro-free market? It’s approach in Chch is the most far-left interventionist approach this country has probably ever seen. And it is not working. Idiots.
Why has this government abandoned its political philosophy of small government, no interference, pro-free market?
It hasn’t. The correct terminology is Two faced or Speaking with forked tongue. What National say is never what they mean. They want small, non-interventionist government for everyone but them and their rich mates, i.e, everyone is on their own except for them and their rich mates who will get government support and handouts.
About time too, this is why we (the people of NZ) voted National in: to repeal section 97 of the Employment Relations Act 2000. Section 97 prevents the use of volunteers, contractors, or other casual employees by an employer during a strike or lockout.
I hope Key goes through with this but he probably won’t, just so he can be seen to be center-right…
You righties are unbelievable. You get all frothy on it if a law that you agree with is breached but if a law you do not agree with is breached you do not care.
Being prepared to break a particular law can be a legitimate form of protest, and after all, there are consequences, but neither law breaking nor consequences would be possible were it not for the rule of law.
I said, “can be”, because if we’re talking about the routine flouting or selective application of the law by the state, well, at that point the rule of law ceases.
Yet another scabs’ charter from the people who bought us the ’51 lockout. This dovetails nicely with the ‘reasonable’ changes they are proposing to allow bosses to walk away from bargaining. The boss ends bargaining, says ‘what are you gonna do about it?’ to their workers and if the staff take action, the boss brings in scabs under police protection. How’s that brighter future looking people?
Exactly, now that scabbing is legal what more can the Nats do to the remaining workers in this country? Chain them to work stations? Lock fire doors?
The tory labour legislation is all about downward pressure on wages and management by fear in a high unemployment environment. Jamie–Lee Ross what a tosser, hopefully he will get a suitable reaction if ever spotted in public by unionists.
Sure because a union would never start talks during the busy season at a meatworks would they? And they’d never go on strike during the busy time when they have the business over a barrell…no never
Its about time National started doing what they were put in to do.
Why not?
Workers are held to ransom by employers the rest of the time.
Every employer I ever worked for has insisted on getting all the work out of me before I get the money out of them. I’m sure a few folk can insist on it being the other way around, though. But not most workers.
When is the last time the meatworkers have struck during the busy season or the interisland ferries been stopped at Christmas because of strike action Winston?
If this is the problem that you say it is then why is the solution being applied 20 years too late?
When the people of New Zealand voted for National Ltd™ they did so, partially, on the basis of what John Key said. Among the statements he made about the direction his government would take are these . . .
. . . he lied. Again. And again. And again. He’s still lying. If John Key told the truth about National Ltd™’s intentions it would never have been elected. The actions of National Ltd™ in the area of employment are being rammed down the throat of New Zealand workers without a mandate.
Um, moral high horse? I just said you ducked the question, there’s no horse about it.
Undoubtedly there are laws which should be changed or repealed and perhaps infrequently there might be a need for entirely new laws. It is manifestly so, or else why bother with elections?
The rule of law also forms a significant part of the New Zealand constitution. The principles of the rule of law are not easily defined, but encompass ideas such as:
the powers exercised by parliamentarians and officials are based on legal authority;
there are minimum standards of justice to which the law must conform, eg laws affecting individual liberty should be reasonably certain and clear;
the law should have safeguards against the abuse of wide discretionary powers;
unfair discrimination should not be allowed by the law;
a person should not be deprived of his or her liberty, status or other substantial interest without the opportunity of a fair hearing before an impartial court or tribunal.
You need to wake up before you start typing, otherwise it just looks like a vague recollection of your disjointed R.E.M. sleep cycle.
Sadly, and astoundingly, that is our friend Dale when he is wide awake. You might think it resembles the semi-conscious outpourings of someone not fully awake, or even suffering from drug abuse, but I assure you, fender, the poor fellow won’t get any better.
You of course must be privy to details of the investigation before it is complete, whereas mere mortals will have to wait for official findings to be made public I suppose.
By the way, one of Bretts implications seemed to be that the NZ left would blame the “States” for making al Assad use chemical weapons on his own people.
The States has simply been itching to supply heavy weapons to the anti Assad brigade (even though half of them are foreign islamists from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and other nice places)
Syria uses chemical weapons on its own people, and not one word form the left wing parties of New Zealand.
Your witlessness never ceases to astound me. Those are allegations only; nothing has been proved. Where there WAS irrefutable proof of chemical weapon usage was in 2009-9, when Israel used Phosphorus bombs in its murderous assault on Gaza.
Far from condemning that use of chemical weapons, I remember you frequently expressing your endorsement of it.
The rest of your little rant is, as always, too incoherent and confused to justify any response.
Actaully the official statement says “The Assad regime could prove that its request for an investigation was not just a diversionary tactic by granting the U.N. fact-finding mission immediate and unfettered access to conduct on-site investigations to help reveal the truth about chemical weapons use in Syria. While pushing for a U.N. investigation, the United States has also been working urgently with our partners and allies as well as individuals inside Syria, including the Syrian opposition, to procure, share, and evaluate information associated with reports of chemical weapons use so that we can establish the facts and determine what took place.” http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/text-us-statement-syria-chemical-weapons-19396269
But congratuations on finding a way to use the horrible death of 100-150 people in Syria as an excuse to spray around some more of your fanatical Jew hate, Morrissey.
No, I just get bored with you constantly making everything about Israel
So I make “everything” about Israel, you say. Where in all of the debate about Edward Snowden, for instance, have I even mentioned Israel?
The only reason I mentioned Israel was because one (admittedly substandard) poster raised the question of chemical weapons usage. Now, of course, you will probably pretend otherwise, but the fact is that only two regimes have used chemical weapons, and they have in both cases been defended by their U.S. sponsor with the most aggressive and cynical “diplomacy” imaginable. The U.S. even concocted a fantastic story that attempted to pin the blame for the Halabja massacre on another official enemy, Iran.
There is no evidence that Syria has used chemical weapons—unlike Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and Israel.
I am sure you know that—but you keep on defending that halfwit Brett Dale if you want.
Probably because you haven’t thought of a way to connect Snowden and Israel. I wait with anticipation for the UN to confirm that Syria has used Sarin against it’s own people so I can flip you the middle finger and call you some choice names befitting the disgusting waste of protein you are.
Actually that’s not what I’d doing at all – not any more so than Annette Sykes celebrated 9/11 or Hone Harawera gave a moving eulogy of Osama bin Laden. You just enjoy attacking me in your limp fashion because you don’t agree with me – I’ve never known you to debate a point.
You are one of the most pointless commenters here.
Here’s what you said:
I wait with anticipation for the UN to confirm that Syria has used Sarin against it’s own people so I can flip you the middle finger and call you some choice names befitting the disgusting waste of protein you are.
Looking forward to confirmation of CW use, purely so that you can continue your petty little squabble with Morrissey, who you greatly resemble, although he does actually make points, wrongheaded as they often might be.
“Looking forward to confirmation of CW use, purely so that you can continue your petty little squabble with Morrissey, who you greatly resemble, although he does actually make points, wrongheaded as they often might be.”
You are such a martyr – do you get no enjoyment out of bickering you holier than thou prude?
I don’t. But yon Morrissey has a habit of lumping Jewish celebrities in with Likud at every available opportunity
Another lie. I do not “lump Jewish celebrities in with Likud”; some of the bravest, most outspoken critics of the outlaw Israeli regime have been, and are, Jewish celebrities.
A while ago you alleged, absurdly, that my pointing out the vile racism, the merciless lies and the brutal and possibly catastrophic defamation of a Palestinian Christian peace activist by Sacha Baron Cohen means that I was, ergo, attacking all Jews.
Over the last couple of years on this excellent forum, I have also expressed contempt for Barack Obama, Tau Henare, Winston Peters, the Japanese and Chinese governments, the Indonesian government, the American-backed Arab dictators, and many other criminals, con-men and impostors who have managed to get themselves into positions of inordinate and unjustified power.
Yet you, for some absolutely spurious reason, have consistently maintained that I am “fixated on Israel” and that by, say, reminding people that Israel used Phosphorus bombs on the civilians of Gaza, is to “spray around Jew hate”. Apparently, Israeli politicians and their hardline supporters, like Sacha Baron Cohen and Jerry Seinfeld and Maureen Lipman, are immune to criticism; to even point out their fanatical devotion to the Holy State is a crime.
You have no consistency, no integrity and no credibility.
Probably because you haven’t thought of a way to connect Snowden and Israel.
Unbelievable! I publicly keelhaul you for your lack of integrity, your dishonesty, and your irrationality—and you’re back at it almost immediately. As I mentioned before, I do feel a degree of compassion for you, but your idiotic maliciousness sorely tries my patience.
I wait with anticipation for the UN to confirm that Syria has used Sarin against it’s [sic] own people so I can flip you the middle finger and call you some choice names befitting the disgusting waste of protein you are.
We’ll skip the unimaginative and incompetent abuse and go straight to your one point: you are evidently trying to suggest I support the Syrian regime. I do not. Only a fool, i.e. you, would draw that inference from anything I have written here or anywhere else.
Where did I ever suggest you supported the Syrian regime? I was commenting on your adamant refusal to entertain the likelihood that nerve gas had been used simply because of an all too common anti-US knee jerk reflex. You’re projecting somewhat
Where did I ever suggest you supported the Syrian regime?
I thought it might have been one of your little jests, like calling me a “Jew-hater”.
I was commenting on your adamant refusal to entertain the likelihood that nerve gas had been used simply because of an all too common anti-US knee jerk reflex.
A thoroughly discredited regime, at present engaged in two overt wars, both of which it started, and two more undeclared wars, in Yemen and Pakistan, is now making claims similar to the false claims it made to start the 2003 Iraq war. Yet you choose to describe all those who do not accept the unproven allegations of that rogue state as “all too common anti-US knee jerk reflex.” That’s not only trivialization, that’s flagrant misrepresentation.
“A thoroughly discredited regime, at present engaged in two overt wars, both of which it started, and two more undeclared wars, in Yemen and Pakistan, is now making claims similar to the false claims it made to start the 2003 Iraq war. Yet you choose to describe all those who do not accept the unproven allegations of that rogue state as “all too common anti-US knee jerk reflex.” That’s not only trivialization, that’s flagrant misrepresentation.”
And correlation is not causation
“Projecting what?”
I wish I knew. That’s a question for your therapist.
I wait with anticipation for the UN to confirm that Syria has used Sarin against it’s [sic] own people so I can flip you the middle finger and call you some choice names befitting the disgusting waste of protein you are.
Now the US?UK is using the excuse of chemical weapons to validate the arming of Syrian rebel groups such as the Al Nusra Front an Al Qaeda affiliated organisation,
I made a link late last week, maybe from The Guardian, about the political entrepreneurship manipulating Shia / Sunni, and inter-sectarian oppositions, then there is always the memories of the mujahideen…
furthermore, there are the Iranian elections, all candidates competing in obedience to The Supreme Leader, seeking a more complicit Prez. from the single moderate, four conservative and one hardliner candidates.hmmm
In 2010, large amounts of information from numerous sources revealed the USA’s use of white phosphorus and depleted uranium shells in Iraq during various battles resulting from the USA’s illegal invasion in 2003. I don’t remember hearing any outrage about the illegal use of prohibited weapons from National. There was not a sound from their benches during or after the attacks, or later, when they were the Government and the truth became public. Coming to think of it they are still markedly reticent to comment on it.
A soldier’s body containing a live grenade and two bullets is brought back using three separate flights. Jonathan Coleman says Who could have imagined that this would happen. Well all of government really. Because they have fed us the story that our forces overseas are strictly there for reconstruction and to aid peace moves and then turned off their hearing aids off and pocketed their specs.
A major fall from grace gets 12 months home detention and 250 hours community service (what will he do I wonder) hen he was involved with others in losing $millions from hard-working taxpaying citizens. I want equal justice for beneficiaries who are found guilty of defrauding taxpayers.
Something odd happens every day. What’s odder is that nothing seems to be done to adjust the vision for a more practical and effective result.
Two democratic heroes;
Two very different treatments by Radio New Zealand
The Panel, Radio NZ National, Tuesday 11 June 2013
Jim Mora, Tony Doe, David Farrar
Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, I could not listen after 4 o’clock, but if the combination of inanity and insincere unctuousness in the preshow chat was anything to go by, I’m kind of glad I missed the main show.
This is what, according to Susan Baldacci and Jim Mora, the World is Talking About….
1.) Do i-Phones have a soul?
2.) Designated drivers are often just “less drunk” rather than sober.
3.) An exciting new coffee cup design that eliminates cup rings.
4.) Dogshit detectors in Spain.
5.) Nelson Mandela’s health.
This last topic supplied the unctuousness factor. Susan Baldacci announced that Mandela had rallied a little over the last twenty-four hours; Mora huffed and sighed: “That’s goodish news.” More huffing and sighing, then more unctuous expressions of goodwill for the Pope, who is also not in the best of health.
This contrasts brutally with Mora’s behaviour after Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez died…
The Panel, Radio NZ National, Friday 8 March 2013
JIM MORA: Okay, just a couple of minutes left. Should John Key go to Hugo Chávez’s funeral or not? I can see why he’s NOT going. Ha ha ha ha!
DAVID SLACK: Of course he should go. He’s been leaned on by the United States.
MORA: But he’d be seen to be endorsing a revolutionary left wing leader?
MARK INGALLS: I’m ashamed as a New Zealander that he’s not going.
I looked up Stanley the explorer in Wikipedia and was amazed at his great career and adaptability from very harsh beginnings. But others who hadn’t harsh or poor beginnings to overcome don’t always succeed in reaching their potential as civilised, well-rounded human beings. Note Jameson heir of a whiskey manufacturer below and don’t forget the truly awful Belgian King Leopold II. This is from Stanley’s entry in wikipedia.
In 1886, Stanley led the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition to “rescue” Emin Pasha, the governor of Equatoria in the southern Sudan.
King Leopold II demanded that Stanley take the longer route, via the Congo River, hoping to acquire more territory and perhaps even Equatoria.
After immense hardships and great loss of life, Stanley met Emin in 1888, charted the Ruwenzori Range and Lake Edward, and emerged from the interior with Emin and his surviving followers at the end of 1890.[25]
But this expedition tarnished Stanley’s name because of the conduct of the other Europeans: British gentlemen and army officers. An army major was shot by a carrier, after behaving with extreme cruelty.
James Jameson, heir to an Irish whiskey manufacturer, bought an 11-year-old girl and offered her to cannibals to document and sketch how she was cooked and eaten.[26] Stanley only found out when Jameson had died of fever.
I’m not so sure that Stanley should be painted in such a good light. From the same Wikipedia article…
However, statements by contemporaries of Stanley, such as Sir Richard Francis Burton, who claimed “Stanley shoots negroes as if they were monkeys”, paint a very different picture
For those who haven’t yet bothered to base their ‘pro-fluoride’ / ‘not-so-considered’ opinions on FACTS and EVIDENCE – you may be interested in this statement, from a leading UK Professor of Public Health?
Statement by leading UK Professor of Public Health.
Professor Peckham can be quoted as follows:-
As a Professor and Health Researcher I find pro-fluoridationists’ characterisation of those opposed to fluoridation as “quacks” offensive.
My work is supported by the UK Department of Health, I am a member of the UK Faculty of Public Health and have a number of funded research projects from the National Institutes for Health Research in the UK.
I have consistently opposed fluoridation policy due to the poor evidence base on its effectiveness, genuine concerns about potential health problems (requiring further research) and, therefore, the fact that imposing fluoridation is unethical.
Professor Stephen Peckham BSc. MA(Econ)., HMFPH
Director, Centre for Health Services Studies
Professor of Health Policy
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Director, Policy Research Unit in Commissioning and the Healthcare System
University of Kent
______________________________________________________________________________
Hilarious that Booz Allen tried to discredit Snowden by saying that his salary was only $122,000 per year, and Snowden claimed that he earnt $200,000 per year.
But figure in the big annual bonuses and benefits that these private consultant types get…and $200,000 doesn’t sound unreasonable at all.
“Ha ha ha, ho ho ho, he he he! Get him a sun lamp!!!”
An unusually inane and depraved edition of The Panel
Radio NZ National, Friday 14 June 2013
Jim Mora, Lisa Scott, Chris Trotter
JIM MORA: It’s Susan Baldacci, with What the Wooooorld’s Talking About! What have you got for us today? SUSAN BALDACCI: First up, Jim, is this Perth radio host who has been suspended for saying Julia Gillard’s husband is gay, because he is a hairdresser. JIM MORA: This is bizarre, isn’t it! LISA SCOTT: They’re attacking her because she’s a woman! CHRIS TROTTER: The same thing went on with Helen Clark. There were some TERRIBLE things said about her husband too. MORA: Yeah but they were more subterranean, weren’t they? In Australia this kind of thing is much more out in the open. CHRIS TROTTER: Well, Ian Wishart’s Investigate magazine has a much larger readership than one might think. MORA: But surely no mainstream, reputable media outlets in this country would TOLERATE that sort of thing would they?
REALITY CHECK….
Mora is either dishonest or has a memory like John Banks, i.e., he is dishonest. A few years ago on The Panel, one DOCTOR MICHAEL BASSETT worked himself up into a state of preternatural malice and snarled, absurdly, that Nicky Hager was a Holocaust-denier. I can think of nothing more despicable or extreme than uttering such a brutal and offensive falsehood on public radio—but Jim Mora did not say a word. Far from not tolerating “that sort of thing”, Mora’s guests on the Panel have included, as well as Bassett, such extreme and irrational figures as Nevil Breivik Gibson, Christine Spankin’ Rankin, and Garth Gaga George—to name just three off the top of my head. He has also respectfully interviewed such outré figures as the Sensible Sentencing Trust’s Garth “The Knife” McVicar. So much for his contention that no mainstream media outlets in this country would tolerate “that sort of thing.”
MORA: What else have you got for us? SUSAN BALDACCI: Well, this latest study shows that we’re all a little bit paranoid. There are three kinds of paranoia, apparently— MORA: Three kinds of paranoia? SUSAN BALDACCI:[annoyed] Y-y-y-y-yes.
She gives a brief survey of an article about paranoia she has just downloaded from the internet, and then the program takes a sinister turn….
SUSAN BALDACCI: Julian Assange is a little bit paranoid. MORA: Oh yes? Hur, hur, hur, hur! SUSAN BALDACCI: Yeah, he claims that being holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy, he is deprived of his human right of getting enough sun. MORA: Is it a human right to get enough sun? SUSAN BALDACCI: That’s what he claims! He claims that being not allowed to leave London is violating his “human rights”. MORA: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! LISA SCOTT: Ha ha ha ha ha ha! CHRIS TROTTER: Haw haw haw haw haw! SUSAN BALDACCI: He thinks he should be allowed out of his Ecuador embassy hideout to sunbathe. MORA: He can get out on the balcony, where he gave that speech! LISA SCOTT: Yeah! Ha ha ha ha ha! CHRIS TROTTER: Yeah! Ha ha ha ha ha! Or get him a sun lamp! THAT’s what he needs! LISA SCOTT: Ha ha ha ha ha! SUSAN BALDACCI: He he he he he! TROTTER: I suspect the ambassador’s just sick of the sight of him! “Are you ever going to LEEEEAAAVE?” MORA: Sun lamp! Get him a sun lamp!!! LISA SCOTT: Ha ha ha ha ha! MORA: Back after the news!
……4 p.m. News……
WAYNE MOWAT: The time is nine minutes past four and due to circumstances beyond our control, we have some more music.
Plays George Harrison’s “Apple Scruffs”, then something by Fat Freddy’s Drop. Wayne Mowat tells us there’s been a fire alarm so everyone has had to leave the building for a short time.
They’re back in the studio at 4:15. Somebody—presumably not Mora himself—decides to ditch the discussion about fluoridation and the loons who have stampeded the Hamilton City Council into abandoning it. But they still go ahead with the entirely pointless, extended introductions of the guests. Trotter vapors on about Bloom’s Day, which is coming up in Auckland. “There’s a lot of laughing,” he promises, “and some weeping.”
Then it’s on to the big, in-depth discussions, “the news of the day in a different way”….
Topic No. 1:
Labour’s hypocritical MPs accepting “hospitality” from Sky City…. LISA SCOTT:giggles winsomely It just shows that politicians are people too. CHRIS TROTTER: When I heard David Shearer say he didn’t know they were there, I almost threw my cellphone at the wall. To say that you didn’t know just shows you have no control over your caucus. LISA SCOTT: Yeah, yeah, it’s not a good look. It’s a bad look, all right. I agree with you.
Topic No. 2:
Dunedin mayor Dave Cull’s email exchange about the Dalai Lama is to be released to the public…. CHRIS TROTTER: With our increasing closeness to and reliance on China, there will be increasing pressure on university chancellors, mayors and all public officials to not have ANYTHING to do with the Dalai Lama. LISA SCOTT: Isn’t that sad! CHRIS TROTTER: It is, really. He’s a lovely chap! LISA SCOTT: Ha ha ha ha ha!
….[4:30 News]….
Soapbox….
MORA: What have you been thinking about, Lisa Scott? LISA SCOTT: I’ve been thinking about something called UBF. Do you know what it is—Unintentional Bitch Face. CHRIS TROTTER: Ho ho ho ho ho ho ho! LISA SCOTT: It’s when you look grumpy without meaning to. Posh Spice has UBF. MORA: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! She does too! Ha ha ha ha ha!
Sellotape behind the ears! This is cheap cosmetic surgery! LISA SCOTT: I’ve got UGF—Unintentionally Gormless Face. MORA: Posh DOES have a look doesn’t she! Okay, Chris Trotter, what’s been on your mind?
CHRIS TROTTER: Oh, mine seems terribly worthy now, compared to that GREAT topic. But an interesting factoid I have just learned is that New Zealand now has more than one thousand people employed in security. Why do we need so many spooks? MORA: Do you remember when it was just the SIS? In those days you got the impression it was only fifty to a hundred people. CHRIS TROTTER: Yes, those were the trenchcoat days, trailing Dr. Bill Sutch. Now it’s all NCIS and MORA: We chortle, but if Big Data like Prism is going to conform and constrain and dominate our lives, then we NEED that expertise!
The program ends with Trotter taking up his guitar and singing a melancholy tribute to the legendary Dunedin student pub, the Captain Cook, which is closing after 150 years.
Unfortunately, this publicly funded yock-fest will continue on Monday…..
I saw no evil when I looked into your eyesI heard no evil while you told me all those liesI spoke no evil when I called out your nameLook at us now, babyWho’s to blame?Lyrics: Hemberger, Hemberger, Mayo, RaseroToday’s newsletter is a bit of a rant; some of you might ...
Hi,Today is a pretty heavy, weighty Webworm — so maybe get yourself a cup of tea or coffee before you settle in. It’s about, you know, the end of the world and stuff.Before we get to that, I’d like to say I thoroughly enjoyed the notes you left under my ...
Hi all,Apparently it’s the end of Summer, hope you enjoyed it. 🙂The rather Northern Hemisphere centric folks over at Substack have sent this out, I’m not sure what time period it covers, I guess the last three months. In any case you might like to give it a go yourself ...
Congestion pricing is easier said than done.The first seminar I attended in Britain – around sixty years ago – explained a scheme for road usage pricing which would eliminate traffic congestion and direct roading investment. It was impressive and elegant (as many such seminar propositions are) but proved impractical and ...
Tory Whanau has revealed that she’s struggling so much financially that she may have to part with her beloved mayoralty, that of New Zealand’s capital city, if she’s to fund her ever-diminishing lifestyle. Whanau was elected to lead Wellington in 2022, winning an overwhelming victory against the incumbent mayor: the ...
One of Labour's few achievements last term was to finally move on RMA reform. Following an independent review and a select committee review of an exposure draft, both aimed at ironing out bugs and producing a compromise most people could live with, Labour passed the Natural and Built Environments Act ...
National is planning to breach te Tiriti o Waitangi by amending the Marine and Coastal Area Act to effectively make it impossible for the courts to recognise Māori rights over the foreshore and seabed. But its also been playing dirty in other ways. Earlier in the year it announced changes ...
1/ Jobseeker numbers are going the opposite way of Luxon’s KPIs. Against a target of minus 50,000 by 2030, the new forecast shows the Government is looking at an increase of 24,000 jobseekers in its first term.In Thomas Coughlin’s report, Upton responds by blaming Labour: “We inherited an economy in ...
Long story short, I interviewed transport and energy activist Patrick Reynolds this week about the bid to run Entrust by a new campaign group he’s part of called More for you; better for Auckland. There’s a lot more detail in this GreaterAucklandpost and on ‘Better’s’ website.They’re campaigning to win ...
And although my eyes were openThey might just as well have been closedAnd so it was laterWhen the miller told this taleHe said that her face at first just ghostlyAnd then turned a whiter shade of paleSongwriters: Keith Reid / Gary BrookerI want to talk about two things today, subjects ...
Long stories short, here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer:Central Europe is reeling from the devastating effects of Storm Boris, which has so far caused 21 deaths and ...
Welcome to the end of the week, as we head towards the spring equinox. Let us brighten your week with links to stories about how to make our city a little greater. This roundup is brought to you by a largely volunteer crew. If you’d like to support our work ...
Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, September 20:New Zealand’s total GDP contracted less than expected in the June quarter, but per-capita GDP extended its three-year-long slump at a rate that is faster than ...
The gang patch legislation finally passed in the House after a long period of fanfare from National. Gangs won’t be allowed to publicly display gang insignia on the body or in vehicles, and if they’re very naughty i.e. caught thrice, police will be able to enter private homes to search.How ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-host talking about the week’s news with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on the latest climate news, including media coverage of extreme events and how big tech is gobbling up so much renewable power growth; ...
And alongside that, is the ultimate question for the public, and indeed Opposition Parties trying to appeal for enough of the public to support a change from this heinous direction of travel being imposed on us: how much of the damage here can even be stopped in time?Let us ...
There is a story I want to tell, but I'm not going to begin with it because it would be too abrupt. I'll start by telling you that I'm a big fan of the way Nicola Toki conveys her message. And Nicola Toki is a big fan of the way Jane ...
The lack of a capital gains tax means the richest Kiwis are sitting pretty compared to taxpayers overseas. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, September 19:New Zealand’s richest ...
Open article. Note the video of the Health Select Committee excerpts starts at 1:22 In watching the Health Select Committee yesterday, it became clear to me why Margie Apa remains Health NZ CEO.During Levy’s testimony, Apa sat like a rock next to her boss. She nodded supportively, scribbled notes to ...
Empty spaces, what are we living for?Abandoned places, I guess we know the score, on and onDoes anybody know what we are looking for?Another hero, another mindless crimeBehind the curtain, in the pantomimeHold the lineDoes anybody want to take it anymore?The show must go onSongwriters: Brian May / Freddie Mercury ...
This guest post by Malcolm McCracken originally appeared on his blog Better Things Are Possible, and is republished here by kind permission. The case for Parking Benefit Districts: managing on-street parking for local benefit Parking is often the centre of debate in our cities; particularly on-street car parks, who gets ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong story short, the Government’s myopia of only choosing transport policies that reduce travel times means we’re missing out on the health benefits of more cycling and walking, along with the health cost savings from fewer accidents, less pollution and mentally healthier ways of getting ...
The Health NZ rescue that seemed so simple back in July was presented to a Select Committee yesterday as a complex challenge that could take some years to sort out. In July, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said Health NZ was on track to record a deficit of $1.4 billion for ...
Let us consider the utterances of Shane Jones.Let us consider the derogatory terms of abuseNow is not the time for Green Wombles, it's black and white decision making.We will stand with the energy industry and ensure they are not monstered by Green Termites nibbling away at our economic capital.The Green ...
There’s been a major setback for one Ukrainian-backed militia on the Russian border, after the group ordered a large shipment of pagers to use as improvised explosive devices. The plan was to litter the pagers throughout abandoned homes and buildings in hopes of wounding Russian soldiers. But upon arrival of ...
This is a guest post from Sydney reader Nik Clement After 2 years in Auckland I moved back to Sydney just over a year ago. While in Auckland, I went to the opening of Puhinui station and used it a fair bit, living in Manukau Central and being able ...
Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, September 18:Locals gathered in Woodville last night to protest at the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s decision to toll the new road linking the Manawatu and Hawkes Bay, saying ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew DesslerIn his last post, Zeke discussed incredible warmth of 2023 and 2024 and its implications for future warming. A few readers looked at it and freaked out: This is terrifying and This update really put me in a ...
The coalition government has issued a directive to Te Puni Kōkiri, the Ministry of Māori Development, instructing them that – in the interests of clear communication – they are to conduct this year’s Māori Language Week primarily or exclusively in English. The directive is in line with the Government’s policy ...
At yesterday’s post-cabinet press conference, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, flanked by his Health Minister Shane Reti and someone we can’t independently verify was a real sign language interpreter, announced that he had some positive news for the country. “Alright team, I’m just going to hand over to uh, Dr. Shane, ...
It’s 4:10pm in the morning, and you’re in the middle lane heading north on the great southern motorway of our nation’s capital, Auckland. There are no cars directly in front of you, but quite a few in the lane to your left. Suddenly, without warning, a black ute enters your ...
Following decades of controversy, the governing body of New Zealand rugby, New Zealand Rugby, has ruled that the team currently holding the Ranfurly Shield may once again use it in play during the National Provincial Championship (NPC). The ruling restores the utility of a prize that for many years was ...
I arrived home with a head full of fresh ideas about mindfulness and curbing impulsive aspects in my character.On the second night home I grabbed a piece of ginger and began swiftly slicing it on our industrial strength mandolin, the one I have learned through painful experience to treat with ...
Good morning, folks. Another wee note from a chilly Rotorua morning that looks much clearer than yesterday. As I write, the pink glow in the east is slowly growing, and soon, the palest of blue skies should become a bit more royal.A couple of people mentioned yesterday that I should ...
Last week, Matt looked at how the government wants to pour a huge chunk of civic infrastructure funding for a generation into one mega-road up North, at huge cost and huge opportunity cost. A smaller but no less important feature of the National Land Transport Plan devised by Minister of Transport ...
An open letter by experts about plans to raise speed limits warns the “tragic consequence will be more New Zealanders losing their lives or suffering severe injury, along with a substantial burden on the nation's healthcare and rehabilitation services”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāKia ora. Long stories short, here’s ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkMy inaugural post on The Climate Brink 18 months ago looked at the year 2024, and found that it was likely to be the warmest year on record on the back of a (than forecast) El Nino event. I suggested “there is a real chance ...
Open for allYesterday, Luxon congratulated his government on a job well done with emergency housing numbers, but advocates have been saying it‘s likely many are on the streets and sleeping in cars.Q&A featured some of the folks this weekend - homeless and in cars. Yes.The government’s also confirmed they stopped ...
Hi,On most days I try to go on a walk through nature to clear my head from the horrors of life. Because as much as I like people, I also think it’s incredibly important to get very far away from them. To be reminded that there are also birds, lizards, ...
Declining trust in New Zealand politicians should be a warning to them to lift their game. Results from the New Zealand Election Study for the 2023 election show that the level of trust in politicians has once again declined. Perhaps it is not surprising that the results, shared as part ...
Police Commissioner Andrew Coster says that New Zealand’s police force will no longer respond to bomb threats, in an attempt to cut costs and redirect police resources to less boring activities. Coster said that threat response and bomb disposal was a “fairly obvious” area for downsizing, as bomb threats are ...
Since taking office, the climate-denier National government has gutted agricultural emissions pricing, ended the clean car discount, repealed water quality standards which would have reduced agricultural emissions, gutted the clean car standard, killed the GIDI scheme, and reversed efforts to reduce pollution subsidies in the ETS - basically every significant ...
Good morning, lovely people. Don’t worry. This isn’t really a newsletter, just a quick note. I’m sitting in our lounge, looking out over a gloomy sky. Although being Rotorua, the view is periodically interrupted by steam bursting from pipes and dispersing—like an Eastern European industrial hellscape during the Cold War.Drinking ...
I am part of a new team running in the Entrust election in October. Entrust is a community electricity trust representing a significant part of Auckland, set up to serve the community. It is governed by five trustees are elected every three years in an election the trust itself oversees. ...
In the UK, London is the latest of council groups to signal potential bankruptcy.That’s after Birmingham, Britain’s second largest city, went bankrupt in June, resulting in reduced sanitation services, libraries cut, and dimmed streetlights.Some in the city described things as “Dickens” like.Please, Sir, Can I have some more?For families with ...
The Government is considering how to shunt elderly people out of hospitals, and also how to cut their access to other support. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, ...
The so-called “Prince of the Provinces”, Shane Jones, went home last Friday. Perhaps not quite literally home, more like 20 kilometres down the road from his house on the outskirts of Kerikeri. With its airport, its rapidly growing (mostly retired) population, and a commercial centre with all the big retail ...
I have noted before that The Rings of Power has attracted its unfortunate share of culture war obsessives. Essentially, for a certain type of individual, railing on about the Wokery of Modern Media is a means of making themselves a online livelihood. Clicks and views and advertising revenue, and all ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, September 8, 2024 thru Sat, September 14, 2024. Story of the week From time to time we like to make our Story of the Week all about us— and ...
Yesterday, I ruminated about the effects of being a political follower.And, within politics, David Seymour was smart enough on Friday to divert attention from “race blind” policies [what about gender blind I thought - thinking of maternity wards] and cutting school lunches by throwing meat to the media. Teachers were ...
Far, far away from here lives our King. Some of his subjects can be quite the forelock tuggers, but plenty of us are not like that, and why don't I wheel out my favourite old story once more about Kiwi soldiers in the North African desert?Field Marshal Montgomery takes offence ...
These people are inept on every level. They’re inept to the detriment of our internal politics, cohesion and increasingly our international reputation.And they are reveling in the fact they are getting away with it. We cannot even have “respectful debate” with a government that clearly rejects the very ...
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 John Mason. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Does manmade CO2 have any ...
Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Matthew 7:1-2FOUR HUNDRED AND FORTY men and women professing the Christian faith would appear to have imperilled their immortal souls. ...
Uh-uh! Not So Fast, Citizens!The power to initiate systemic change remains where it has always been in New Zealand’s representative democracy – in Parliament. To order a binding referendum, the House of Representatives must first to be persuaded that, on the question proposed, sharing its decision-making power with the people ...
Flatlining: With no evidence of a genuine policy disruptor at work in Labour’s ranks, New Zealand’s wealthiest citizens can sleep easy.PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN has walked a picket-line. Presidential candidate Kamala Harris has threatened “price-gauging” grocery retailers with price control. The Democratic Party’s 2024 platform situates it well to the left of Sir ...
The Beginning of the End:Rogernomics became the short-hand descriptor for all the radical changes that swept away New Zealand’s social-democratic economy and society between 1984 and 1990. In the bitterest of ironies, those changes were introduced by the very same party which had entrenched New Zealand social-democracy 50 years earlier. ...
Good morning all you lovely people. 🙂I woke up this morning, and it felt a bit like the last day of school. You might recall from earlier in the week that I’m heading home to Rotorua to see an old friend who doesn’t have much time. A sad journey, but ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on anything you may have missed. Street architecture adjustment, KolkataShare Read more ...
Despite fears that Trump presidency would be disastrous for progress on climate change, the topic barely rated a mention in the Presidential debate. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories short, here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey ...
The abrupt cancellations and suspensions of Government spending also caused private sector hiring, spending, and investment to freeze up for the first six months of the year. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāThis week we learned:The new National/ACT/NZ First Coalition Government ignored advice from Treasury that it didn’t have to ...
Another week of The Rings of Power, season two, and another confirmation that things are definitely coming together for the show. The fifth Episode of season one represented the nadir of the series. Now? Amid the firmer footing of 2024, Episode Five represents further a further step towards excellent Tolkien ...
The background to In Open Seas: How the New Zealand Labour Government Went Wrong:2017-2023Not in Narrow Seas: The Economic History of Aotearoa New Zealand, published in 2020, proved more successful than either I or the publisher (VUP, now Te Herenga Waka University Press) expected. I had expected that it would ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts and talking about the week’s news with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on the latest climate science on rising temperatures and the climate implications of the US Presidential elections; and special guests Janet ...
1. Upon receiving evidence that school lunches were doing a marvellous job of improving outcomes for students, David Seymour did what?a. Declared we need much more of this sort of good news and poured extra resources and funding into them b. Emailed Atlas network to ask what to do next c. Cut ...
The Waitangi Tribunal has reported back on National's proposed changes to gut the Marine and Coastal Area Act and steal the foreshore and seabed for its greedy fishing-industry donors, and declared it to be another huge violation of ti Tiriti: The Waitangi Tribunal has found government changes to the ...
In 2016, the then-National government signed the Paris Agreement, committing Aotearoa to a 30 (later 50) percent reduction in emissions by 2030. When questioned about how they intended to meet that target with their complete absence of effective climate policy, they made a lot of noise about how it was ...
Treasury’s advice to Cabinet was that the new Government could actually prudently carry net core Crown debt of up to 50% of GDP. ButLuxon and Willis instead chose to portray the Government’s finances as in such a mess they had no choice but to carve 6.5% to 7.5% off ...
National continues to dismantle environmental protections in the interests of rushing through unsustainable development that will ultimately cost communities. ...
The economy has stagnated and the National Government is having to face the consequences of its atrocious lawmaking, as beneficiary numbers skyrocket past even Treasury’s predictions. ...
Today’s GDP figures combined with the injustice of our tax system will mean more pain for our lowest-income households while those at the top remain relatively unscathed. ...
Te Pāti Māori Member of Parliament for Tāmaki Makaurau is urging a full wraparound of services to intervene quickly with families affected by today's announced closure of the Penrose Mill. Seventy-five people are set to lose their jobs right on the eve of Christmas. "I want to extend my thoughts ...
Sentencing policy announced by Minister Paul Goldsmith today is anything but new, merely window dressing to make up for backwards violent crime statistics under the National Government. ...
Labour Leader Chris Hipkins will travel to the United Kingdom this week to attend the annual UK Labour Party conference in Liverpool and meet with members of the new Labour Government. ...
An imminent decision to increase the total allowable commercial catch (TACC) for snapper would be a direct violation of the first-ever Treaty Settlement and inevitably breach Te Tiriti o Waitangi, says Te Pāti Māori. Te Ohu Kaimoana has sought a High Court declaration to prevent the Minister of Oceans and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has cut grants helping overseas family of victims to attend the next phase of the Coronial Inquiry into the 15 March 2019 Christchurch Masjidain Attack. ...
The Waitangi Tribunal has released an Urgent Report on the Government’s proposed amendments to the Takutai Moana Act 2011. The report calls out Paul Goldsmith’s proposal for what it is: a “gross breach of the Treaty” and an “illegitimate exercise of kāwanatanga”. The Tribunal is recommending the Crown step down ...
The Government must abandon its Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act interventions after the Waitangi Tribunal found it was committing gross breaches of the Treaty. ...
The Government’s directive to the public service to ignore race is nothing more than a dog whistle and distraction from the structural racism we need to address. ...
Concerns have been raised that our spy arrangements may mean that intelligence is being shared between Aotearoa and Israel. An urgent inquiry must be launched in response to this. ...
Aotearoa’s Youngest Member of Parliament, and Te Pāti Māori MP, Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, will travel to Montreal to accept the One Young World Politician of the Year Award next week. The One Young World Politician of the Year Award was created in 2018 to recognise the most promising young politicians between ...
The Greens welcome today’s long-coming announcement by Pharmac of consultation to remove the special authority renewal criteria for methylphenidate, dexamfetamine and modafinil and to fund lisdexamfetamine. ...
Mema Paremata for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, has reflected on the decisions made by the councils of the North amidst the government’s push to remove Māori Wards and weaken mana whenua representation. “Actions taken by the Kaipara District Council to remove Māori Wards are the embodiment of the eradication ...
On one hand, the Prime Minister has assured Aotearoa that his party will not support the Treaty Principles Bill beyond first reading, but on the other, his Government has already sought advice on holding a referendum on our founding document. ...
New Zealanders needing aged care support and the people who care for them will be worse off if the Government pushes through a flawed and rushed redesign of dementia and aged care. ...
Hundreds of jobs lost as a result of pulp mill closures in the Ruapehu District are a consequence of government inaction in addressing the shortfalls of our electricity network. ...
Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader and MP for Te Tai Hauāuru is devastated for the Ruapehu community following today’s decision to close two Winstone Pulp mills. “My heart goes out to all the workers, their whānau, and the wider Ruapehu community affected by the closure of Winstone Pulp International,” said Ngarewa-Packer. ...
National Party Ministers have a majority in Cabinet and can stop David Seymour’s Treaty Principles Bill, which even the Prime Minister has described as “divisive and unhelpful.” ...
The National Government is so determined to hide the list of potential projects that will avoid environmental scrutiny it has gagged Ministry for the Environment staff from talking about it. ...
Labour has complained to the Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission about the high number of non-disclosure agreements that have effectively gagged staff at Te Whatu Ora Health NZ from talking about anything relating to their work. ...
The Green Party is once again urging the Prime Minister to abandon the Treaty Principles Bill as a letter from more than 400 Christian leaders calls for the proposed legislation to be dropped. ...
Councils across the country have now decided where they stand regarding Māori wards, with a resounding majority in favour of keeping them in what is a significant setback for the Government. ...
The National-led government has been given a clear message from the local government sector, as almost all councils reject the Government’s bid to treat Māori wards different to other wards. ...
Tourism and Hospitality Minister Matt Doocey will meet with Trade and Tourism Minister of Australia Don Farrell and Fiji Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica in Rotorua this weekend for a trilateral tourism discussion. “Like in New Zealand, tourism plays a significant role in Australia and Fiji’s economy, contributing massively to ...
The Te Puna Aonui Expert Advisory Group for Children and Young People has presented its report today on improving family and sexual violence outcomes for young people, to the Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence, Karen Chhour. The presentation at the Auckland event was an opportunity for ...
The Government is putting more than $18 million towards improving the experience of the criminal justice system for victims, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith and Minister for Children Karen Chhour say. “No one should experience crime, but for those who through no fault of their own become victims, they need to ...
For the first time, schools can use a purpose-built tool to check how a child is progressing in reading through te reo Māori. “Around 45 schools are trialling a New Zealand first te reo Māori phonics check, known as Hihira Weteoro. It will help kaiako (teachers) focus on what ākonga ...
Two new breakwater walls at Pākihikura (Ōpōtiki) Harbour will provide boats with safe harbour access to support the continued growth of aquaculture in Bay of Plenty, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones say. The Ministers and leaders from Tē Tāwharau o Te Whakatōhea and other ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced an online platform to optimise the use of New Zealand’s science and technology research infrastructure and to link the public and private sector. “This country is home to world-class science, technology, and engineering expertise. Kitmap is set to empower Kiwi innovators, ...
The Government has launched the Low Emissions Heavy Vehicle Fund (LEHVF) to promote innovation and offset the cost of hundreds of heavy vehicles powered by clean technologies, Energy Minister Simeon Brown and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts say. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan ...
Replacing the RMA Hon Chris Bishop: Good morning, it is great to be with you. Can I first acknowledge the Resource Management Law Association for hosting us here today. Can I also acknowledge my Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Simon Court, who is on stage with me. He has assisted me in establishing the ...
Two new laws will be developed to replace the Resource Management Act (RMA), with the enjoyment of property rights as their guiding principle, RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Parliamentary Under-Secretary Simon Court say. “The RMA was passed with good intentions in 1991 but has proved a failure in practice. ...
Legislation passed through Parliament today will provide police and the courts with additional tools to crack down on gangs that peddle misery and intimidation throughout New Zealand, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “From November 21, gang insignia will be banned in all public places, courts will be able to issue non-consorting orders, and ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government has agreed to the rates for the redesigned levy that will fund Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) from July 2026. “Earlier this year FENZ consulted publicly on a 5.2 percent increase to the levy. I was not convinced that ...
The Coalition Government welcomes Police’s announcement today to deploy more police on the beat and staff to Gang Disruption Units. An additional 70 officers will be allocated to Community Beat Teams across towns and regional centres. This builds on the deployment of beat officers in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch CBDs ...
Proposals to strengthen the country’s vital biosecurity system, including higher fines for passengers bringing in undeclared high-risk goods, greater flexibility around importing requirements, and fairer cost sharing for biosecurity responses have been released today for public consultation. Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says “The future is about resilience and the 30-year-old ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says an Overnight Acute Care Service opening in October will provide people in Wānaka and the surrounding area with the assurance of quality overnight care closer to home. “When I was in Wānaka earlier this year, I announced funding for an overnight health service – ...
The Government is rolling out data collection vans across the country to better understand the condition of our road network to prevent potholes from forming in the first place, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is a key priority for the Government and increasing ...
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data for the quarter to June 2024 reinforces how an extended period of high interest rates has meant tough times for families, businesses, and communities, but recent indications show the economy is starting to bounce back, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ data released today ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay will host Fijian Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica and Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell for trilateral trade talks in Rotorua this weekend. “Fiji is one of the largest economies in the Pacific and is a respected partner for Australia and New Zealand,” Mr McClay says. Australia and New Zealand ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay will meet with Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting in Rotorua this weekend. “CER is our most comprehensive agreement covering trade, labour mobility, harmonisation of standards and political cooperation. It underpins an important trading relationship worth $32 ...
The Government is seeking the public’s feedback on two major changes to jury trials in order to improve court timeliness, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “The first proposal would increase the offence threshold at which a defendant can decide to have their case heard by a jury. “The second is ...
Local businesses and industries need to be front and centre in conversations about how regions plan to grow their economies, Regional Development Shane Jones says. The nationwide series of summits aims to facilitate conversations about regional economic growth and opportunities to drive productivity, prosperity and resilience through the Coalition Government’s Regional ...
The Government is investing $16.8 million over the next four years to extend the Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) Longitudinal Study. GUiNZ is New Zealand’s largest longitudinal study of child health and wellbeing and has followed the lives of more than 6000 children born in 2009 and 2010, and ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says that Charter Schools will face a combination of minimum performance thresholds and stretch targets for achievement, attendance and financial sustainability. “Charter schools will be given greater freedom to respond to diverse student needs in innovative ways, but they will be held to a much ...
New Zealand has voted for a United Nations resolution on Israel’s presence in occupied Palestinian Territory with some caveats, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand’s yes vote is fundamentally a signal of our strong support for international law and the need for a two-state solution,” Mr Peters says. “The Israel-Palestine ...
Suffrage Day is an opportunity to reaffirm New Zealand’s commitment to ensuring we continue to be a world leader in gender equality, Minister for Women Nicola Grigg says. “On 19 September, 131 years ago, New Zealand became the first nation in the world where women gained the right to vote. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is travelling to New York next week to attend the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, followed by a visit to French Polynesia. “In the context of the myriad regional and global crises, our engagements in New York will demonstrate New Zealand’s strong support for ...
“Today, on Aotearoa New Zealand Social Workers’ Day, I would like to recognise the tremendous effort social workers make not just today, but every day,” Children’s Minister and Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour says. “I thank all those working on the front line for ...
Minister of State for Trade Nicola Grigg will travel to Laos this week to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Ministers’ Meetings in Vientiane. “The Government is committed to strengthening our relationship with ASEAN,” Ms Grigg says. “With next year marking 50 years since New Zealand became ...
The Government has appointed four members to the Ministerial Advisory Group for victims of retail crime, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith and Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee say. “I am delighted to appoint Michael Hill’s national retail manager Michael Bell to the group, as well as Waikato community advocate and business ...
It’s my pleasure to be here to join the opening of the NZNO AGM and Conference for 2024. First, I’d like to thank NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku, NZNO President, Anne Daniels, and Chief Execuitve Paul Gaulter for inviting me to speak today. Thank you also to all the NZNO members ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says changes to the Public Lending Right [PLR] scheme will help benefit both the National Library and authors who have books available in New Zealand libraries. “I am amending the regulations so that eligible authors will no longer have to reapply every year ...
Police Minister Mark Mitchell congratulates Police for the outstanding result of their most recent operation, targeting the Comancheros. “That Police have been able to round up the majority of the Comancheros leadership, and many of their patched members and prospects, shows not only the capability of Police, but also shows ...
Environment Minister Penny Simmonds has announced a major refresh of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) board with four new appointments and one reappointment. The new board members are Barry O’Neil, Jennifer Scoular, Alison Stewart and Nancy Tuaine, who have been appointed for a three-year term ending in August 2027. “I would ...
Cabinet has approved an Order in Council to enable severe weather recovery works to continue in the Hawke’s Bay, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds and Minister for Emergency Management and Recovery Mark Mitchell say. “Cyclone Gabrielle and the other severe weather events in early 2023 caused significant loss and damage to ...
From today, low-to-middle-income families with young children can register for the new FamilyBoost payment, to help them meet early childhood education (ECE) costs. The scheme was introduced as part of the Government’s tax relief plan to help Kiwis who are doing it tough. “FamilyBoost is one of the ways we ...
The Government has today agreed to introduce sentencing reforms to Parliament this week that will ensure criminals face real consequences for crime and victims are prioritised, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. "In recent years, there has been a concerning trend where the courts have imposed fewer and shorter prison sentences ...
The first quarterly report on progress against the nine public service targets show promising results in some areas and the scale of the challenge in others, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. “Our Government reinstated targets to focus our public sector on driving better results for New Zealanders in health, education, ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the appointments of Hone McGregor, Professor David Capie, and John Boswell to the Board of the Asia New Zealand Foundation. Bede Corry, Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade, has also been appointed as an ex-officio member. The new trustees join Dame Fran Wilde (Chair), ...
New Zealand’s largest contestable science fund is investing in 72 new projects to address challenges, develop new technology and support communities, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins says. “This Endeavour Fund round being funded is focused on economic growth and commercial outputs,” Ms Collins says. “It involves funding of more ...
Thank you for the introduction and the invitation to speak to you here today. I am honoured to be here in my capacity as Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence, and Minister for Children. Thank you for creating a space where we can all listen and learn, ...
The Government will provide a $5.8 million grant to improve water infrastructure at Parihaka in Taranaki, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones and Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka say. “This grant from the Regional Infrastructure Fund will have a multitude of benefits for this hugely significant cultural site, including keeping local ...
When Brian alerted Andy that an owl was caught in the netting, he had been puzzled, wondering how such a large bird could have got inside. Its talons had got caught on the outside. Andy guessed it was the morepork which he had heard most nights over the past year – ...
MONDAYMemo to all staff: Hope you all had wonderful weekends! Please send your encrypted messages with a detailed list of what you’re working on today and I’ll see you on an all-hands Zoom call at 0930.And just a reminder to please file your cash earnings in microwave ovens. There are ...
The first official copy books in te reo Māori; a map of Aotearoa labelled ‘New Munster’ and ‘New Ulster’; the original manuscripts capturing karakia and waiata for the first time; and a copy of The Cat in the Hat in te reo.All taonga that are part of a new exhibition, ...
Alex Casey visits the largest gemstone collection in the country, and meets the 85-year-old owner trying to Marie Kondo the lot. Despite its charming name, someone once warned me that Birdlings Flat was like a place from the Twilight Zone. Hang a right off the winding roads to Akaroa and ...
Local eateries using AI images may be at risk of duping their customers, but a lack of legislation means they’re not breaking the law. You notice something’s a bit off straight away. The macaroni looks too smooth, the miscellaneous herb is too miscellaneous and the sauce kinda looks like it’s ...
Madeleine Chapman reflects on the week that was. There’s something very funny about the word frick. Perhaps it’s the Christian undertones, popularised by kids who were too god-fearing to say the bad f-word (but probably just god-fearing enough to say the other bad f-word). It might sound like a milder version ...
Comedian Guy Montgomery takes us through his life in television, including a What Now nightmare and the comedic genius of Goldstein from the ASB ads. To the untrained eye, Guy Montgomery appears to be one of the busiest people in comedy right now. With both the local and Australian versions ...
Waiata Anthems singers Mohi and Chase Woods share their perfect weekend playlist. Mohi (Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa, Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngāti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa) and Chase Woods (Waikato) are both friends and collaborators. Having previously teamed up on Mohi’s single ‘Hoki Mai Rā’ in July, the two will now ...
In a candid chat on When the Facts Change, Kiwibank chief executive Steve Jurkovich lays out his vision for the bank’s future – one where it can step up and truly challenge the big four Aussie-owned banks. But while he has high hopes, Jurkovich is quick to warn it won’t ...
To celebrate International Hobbit Day on September 22 (Bilbo and Frodo Baggins’ birthdays), we’ve decided who of all the furry-footed creatures is best.Concerning Hobbits and Spinoff rankings, it really feels like there is not a lot left to be said or ranked. Well, on International Hobbit Day, boy do ...
Hundreds of years ago, a man named Tara founded the first permanent human settlement in Wellington. The city still bears his name: Te Whanganui a Tara. But what do we actually know about him?If you look out at the right angle from Ray Ahipene-Mercer’s house in Breaker Bay, you ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Korver-Glenn, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Families on bikes at a July Fourth parade in Houston’s Northside neighborhood.Jimmy Castillo, CC BY-ND Gentrification has become a familiar story in cities across the United States. The ...
Regional councillors have voted to continue work on the plan, despite ministers suggesting they hold off until the government confirms its policy direction. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Benny Zuse Rousso, Research Fellow, International Water Centre, Griffith University Pvince73/Shutterstock The Pacific Islands may evoke images of sprawling coastlines and picturesque scenery. But while this part of the world might look like paradise, many local residents are grappling with a ...
Censorship can be a natural impulse to things we don’t like, but it’s better to know when hateful or offensive ideas exist. Otherwise, they’re buried underground to fester and can crop up unexpectedly. We see this legislation no differently. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wenting He, PhD candidate of International Relations, Australian National University The skyline in Shenzhen, the city that is home to many of China’s largest tech companies.asharkyu/Shutterstock According to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Pony Ma, co-founder of Tencent Holdings, is once ...
RNZ Pacific The man behind the 2000 coup in Fiji, George Speight, and the head of the mutineers, former soldier Shane Stevens, have been granted presidential pardons. In a statement yesterday, the Fiji Correction Service said the pair were among seven prisoners who has been granted pardons by the President, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jack Wilson, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney JFontan/Shutterstock With the Paris Olympics and Paralympics wrapped up, and leading Australian sports codes coming to an end of their 2024 ...
The Courts have ruled the Crown must cover the costs of customary marine title claims, but where will the money come from? A landmark Supreme Court ruling could once again ensure Māori have adequate resourcing to pursue customary marine title claims, despite the government’s recent drastic raising of the threshold ...
Public broadcaster RNZ might be struggling to stem its falls in radio listenership, but the audience for its website rnz.co.nz is soaring.In the latest Nielsen online audience figures for August, RNZ hit 1.56 million unique readers for the month, up from under a million a year ago and less than ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Hutchinson, PhD Candidate, International Relations, Australian National University Last month, the Taliban passed a new “vice and virtue” law, making it illegal for women to speak in public. Under the law, women can also be punished if they are heard singing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Green, Research Fellow, Centre for Social and Cultural Research, Griffith University When tickets for Green Day’s 2025 Australian tour went on sale, fans joined a queue – a ritual that has been practised for decades on footpaths, on phones, and now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David T. Hill, Emeritus Professor of Southeast Asian Studies, Indo-Pacific Research Centre, Murdoch University David T. Hill You don’t have to be in India long to appreciate just how dramatic its electric vehicle revolution is. Whether it’s electric two-wheelers or trucks, ...
In a rare decision, heavy with judicial and political implications, the country’s top court has told the Crown it must give advance financial support to a group of hapū challenging it over the Marine and Coastal Areas Act.The Supreme Court’s intervention, ahead of seven appeals scheduled before it in November ...
A new poem by Freya Daly Sadgrove. ???where you wake is black and very far back behind your eyesback past your whipping branches and backerfar backer than bone and blood ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Greene Lyon by Alan Goodwin (Quentin Wilson Publishing, $38) An intriguing new local release. Here’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Henry, Physiotherapist and PhD candidate, Body in Mind Research Group, University of South Australia simona pilolla 2/Shutterstock One of the most common feelings associated with persisting pain is fatigue and this fatigue can become overwhelming. People with chronic pain can ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Uri Gal, Professor in Business Information Systems, University of Sydney Last month, OpenAI came out against a yet-to-be enacted Californian law that aims to set basic safety standards for developers of large artificial intelligence (AI) models. This was a change of posture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dan Fastnedge, Lecturer in Advertising and Brand Creativity, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Controversial advertising holds a mirror up to society. It can unite us in laughter or outrage, spark debates that shape our beliefs – and sometimes expose our ...
Obviously, the Labour caucus did not listen to their membership when they selected Mumblefuck as “leader” of the party. How then did that come about? Well, this audio transcript of the pivotal decision moment has just come to me:
Voice 1: I hereby convene this session of the Iron Spines Society.
Voices [chanting]: We are the ABC Warriors!
Voice [booming]: Bigjobs!!
Voice 1: Yes. Now that our colleague has completed his 3 year assignment; snatching the laurels of failure from the jaws of victory, we needs must select a replacement. Lest we be at risk of the Goff’s human appearance seducing the punters away from the true path before our associate’s tasks are complete.
Voices: [indistinct disgruntled murmuring]
Voice 2: If I may have the floor? [sound of chairs moving etc.] We must be honest with ourselves; the Goff was a mistake; his humulation programing was too successful, and his, well; robotic…
Voices: [chuckling]
Voice: Bigjobs!!
Voice 2: His robotic command of numbers created a dangerous perception of competance.
Voices: [indistinct disgruntled murmuring]
Voice 1: We know this already, Robertron.
Voice 2: Ah, but does not our problem suggest it’s own solution? If the punters are indeed just a insufficiently industrious bunch of losers, then what do we need to seduce them to the cause of steel?
Voice 1: You’re right! What we need is the greatest loser concievable…
Voice 2: But where can we find this paragon of ineptituide?
[sound of door knock, then hinge squeak as it opens]
Voice 3: Did you want some tea? I mean, it smells like; engine oil, but that can’t… It must be tea – it’s in ummm… Teaspoons? No; cups. Or is it coffee? I may have some mango skins on me somewhere I could squeeze out for you? Did I ever tell you about the time I was in Africa…
[Transcript ends]
That was a cut and paste of an earlier comment (33.2.1 on Zetettic’s 7/6 “Gone” post), which is about to slip off the bottom of the page. It seems relevant again with the Sky City rugby box fiasco, and anyway; is the best bit of writing I’ve done since I’ve started commenting on this site – though I’d been a reader for years.
Just so no gets confused: “Well, this audio transcript of the pivotal decision moment has just come to me”, means; I made up this satire to help deal with my anger about Labour’s incompetence. The; ABC Warriors, were a recurring story, with varying writers, in the 2000AD comic which is most famous for; Judge Dredd. They were; an unpleasant band of robotic mercenaries, whose main pleasure in unlife was watching human/ chainsaw torture porn.
Not all the ABC warriors (in particular Hammerstein) were like that especially when they hooked up with Nemesis the Warlock
It’s been years since I’ve read the comic (is is still being done? Is 2000AD?). Yeah, OK; maybe Hammerstein wasn’t as bad as MekQuake – but that’s a pretty low bar!
2000AD is still going strong, in fact the Dredd movie that recently came out was pretty good (even though it bombed at the box office)
+1, and every Dredd fan I know agrees, and wants more from Karl and the gang
Yes please. Still amazes me that they thought to age Dredd in real time in the comics.
Well rejuv drugs help
Pasupial, it looks as if you have been watching too much television. Are you aware of the difference between official fiction and reality ?
“Earthquake ? What earthquake ?” said the Mayor as he brushed off a few crumbs and some debris and passed the tea to Alice.
“.. and what is a Pasupial ?” asked the March Hare as he studied an old map of Australia.
@ Tom
You do understand the term; satire?
I don’t watch TV since it’s gone digital, and rarely enough before then (why didn’t you say; “it looks like you read too many comics”? That’d at least be relevant, though a decade out of date). However, I view DVDs of series, where you get the fill without the content (terms that seem exactly the wrong way round to me). And do sometimes look up news footage online; but I’m not often interested enough. I will stream TV3’s; 7 days, if its on though.
Pasupial is a nom de clave to protect myself against offline retaliation. It refers to my wee Basupial’s tendency to; cling on like a koala to a tree, with myself & Masupial.
7 Days is back on again. About the only thing worth watching on a Friday night until the Cricket comes on.
I know I say “its a non story” on here a bit but the best non story of the week is the Labour MP’s at the sky city corporate box. If it was business then can the emails and recorded conversations be tabled or leaked to Winston.
I am really concerned that 4 labour MP’s are soliciting corporate sponsorship or business deals.
Can anyone help?
You know you’re stirring……..
Not stirring – always declared my position on here. im centre right and enjoy the dialogue. It is a stuff up by labour isn’t it?
@ Yes
I’m not so sure about the; “centre” part of “centre right”, but yeah; you’ve been tolerably upfront about your views. And yes; it was a stuff-up by Labour, or at least; one part of the Labour caucus, rather than the Labour party as a whole.
However, NAct’s reponse that; the scandal lay in the Labour MPs accepting the seats in the Sky City box and then not voting for their legislation, suggests that a seat at the rugby really is enough to buy your average NAct MP. Whereas the 4 Labour MPs (plus their 10 minute leader) were merely guilty of a miserable error in judgement, rather than systemic corruption.
But it’s an ill wind that blows no one any good: The Greens have come out of this looking like the only Party in Parliament who actually believe in any ethical principles.
Yes a stuff up for sure.
Yes a stuff up for sure.
Yes a stuff up for sure.
Man, who is advising these idiots? They had it on a plate this week – the Dunne affair, the continuous erosion of labour rights – and then they go and mingle with the SkyCity crowd. And all of a sudden, the topic is not the corrupt ways of the Key government and the Sky City deal, but the blatant hypocrisy of Labour politicians.
It’s fucking embarrassing, because as we know, and the MSM are constantly reminding us of it – in politics, it’s all about perception.
Yep key is calling it “deep hypocrisy” and sadly another arrow in the quiver that could be used to stop these gnats has been broken.
” Phil Goff, Annette King, Kris Faafoi and Clayton Cosgrove accepted SkyCity’s invitation. Their leader David Shearer declined, but turned up for 10 minutes anyway.
Prime Minister John Key said the Labour MPs had displayed “deep hypocrisy” after accusing the Government of being too close to SkyCity over the casino company’s plans to build a $400 million convention centre in Auckland in return for concessions on gambling laws.
“These guys have been running around parading as if they’re holier than thou, telling everybody how terrible SkyCity is and how the sky was going to cave in because a convention centre was being built and the moment we turn our back they are taking their sausage rolls and free beers in their box watching the All Blacks play,” he said today.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10890361
What a fucken joke this labour opposition is.
I couldnt agree more.
Labour is a shambles and these Labour MPs dont seem to care, seems they think their career is over at next election already so they should be booted out now along with their wetfish leader
Just as well there is also a Greens opposition.
These arrogant clowns were being mollycuddled by Sky City hostesses while we were collecting Asset signatures .
Aye.
King, Goff, Faaafoi and Cosgrove are dickheads. Are they that stupid that they do not realise how bad it looks? Next time there is a request for the good people of South Auckland and West Auckland to put their hands in their pockets to help fund the Labour Party they will be less likely to do so because of these dickheads.
They are representatives of a proud political movement that has achieved a great deal of good for many ordinary people over many decades. These other bastards, the National Party, are wrecking the country and have to be thrown out next election. To maximise the left’s chances there needs to be no stuff ups and no dickhead moments.
All Labour MPs should be told to not accept any invitations to corporate boxes, especially those sponsored by Sky City, just in case they are too dickheaded to realise how bad it looks.
Dickheads, dickheads, dickheads.
Did I mention that I think they are dickheads?
Yeah, pretty fundamentally stupid eh? I really want to like Labour but they sure make it fucking difficult.
At this stage I don’t want to vote for any party.
Try the Vote Them Out party TC.
The only true alternative.
Maybe I’ll vote ALCP just because they are the only ones with a principle they actually stand behind.
Meh, party vote National and a tick for a local liberal to make yourself feel better.
Nah, it is just four stupid vain people with a big sense of entitlement.
This is the core Shearer cheerleader team.
They are the ones that pushed Charles Chauvel out of winning Ohariu.
Besides taking $1,000 worth of hospitality each from Sky City, three of them used Tax Payer Funded flights to get to Auckland.
Did Sky City pay fot their overnight accomodation?
Did they stay in The Grand at Sky City’s expense?
Did they get Sky City Limos or Tax Payer Funded Corporate Limos?
Did any of them play tables with gift chips?
Does the term “being compromised” mean anything to these selfish morons?
They are National lite this crew
The Lite Right.
Did Phil Goff, Annette King, Kris Faafoi and Clayton Cosgrove not think how this may be perceived?
Did they? Or not?
What do they have to say to this fubar? Have they answered the allegation?
So it is becoming abundantly clear that Brownlee needs to pan pretty much everyone to do with the Christchurch central city rebuild (especially the Christchurch City Council) in order to take the prying eyes away from this government’s most massive failing in this arena….
… that of the failure of the central city rebuild to spark. There have been plenty of stories of local investors and developers and entrepreneurs cashing up and leaving for other pastures. Long time locals. And now we, as participants in this rebuild, have come to a similar decision – a decision to pull back significantly from our intended steps.
The reason for this failure of Brownlee and this government? Imo, it was their decision to abandon the free market approach to the central city rebuild and take an interventionist approach on a par with soviet era Russia and their 5-year plans. This heavy-handed interventionist big-government left-wing approach has heavily distorted the scene. It has distorted the landscape to such an extent that private enterprise in the central city is pretty much impossible and that is why there is pretty much none going on.
That is why Brownlee is creating a crisis at the Council where there is none – to take the heat away from their failings.
It is a serious shame because the donut city becomes more of a reality with every passing day.
Brownlee should stick to his knitting.
Agreed VTO.
Interesting that offers of support are flooding in from other Councils. They obviously realise that if Christchurch gets beaten up they may be next.
http://www.ccc.govt.nz/thecouncil/newsmedia/mediareleases/2013/201306135.aspx
Yep, was in there yesterday and told that they have been getting help from Southland and Hawke Bay, among others, for some time already. It is like I said – there really is no crisis. There is a problem, but it is a problem that is consistent right across the city now, namely that of insufficient capacity. Pretty much anything that you need or want has a waiting list now and it is simply due to excess demand that simply cannot be met due to a lack of suitable people to do everything. And that aint going to be resolved.
And as above, the central city rebuild really is in dire straits. Aside from the more important housing and repair delays in the east, it is the most serious issue.
If the government had left the central city rebuild to the marketplace (subject to a few public institutions and relatively minor planning changes) then land values were plummeting to levels that would have made rebuilding stack up. And rebuilding by private enterprise would have sparked by now – as it has in other outer parts of the city.
By stepping in and mandating a Blueprint, and buying up half the city for their special anchor projects, they have completely distorted things.
Why has this government abandoned its political philosophy of small government, no interference, pro-free market? It’s approach in Chch is the most far-left interventionist approach this country has probably ever seen. And it is not working. Idiots.
square pegs and round holes, National’s policies and New Zealand’s needs
It hasn’t. The correct terminology is Two faced or Speaking with forked tongue. What National say is never what they mean. They want small, non-interventionist government for everyone but them and their rich mates, i.e, everyone is on their own except for them and their rich mates who will get government support and handouts.
Knitting??? More like eating everything in sight. Reminds me of Billy Bunter, the “Fat Owl of the Remove”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Bunter
Prisoners to refurbish houses for HNZ
About time too, this is why we (the people of NZ) voted National in: to repeal section 97 of the Employment Relations Act 2000. Section 97 prevents the use of volunteers, contractors, or other casual employees by an employer during a strike or lockout.
I hope Key goes through with this but he probably won’t, just so he can be seen to be center-right…
Do you believe in the rule of law Winston?
Not always, depends on the law.
You righties are unbelievable. You get all frothy on it if a law that you agree with is breached but if a law you do not agree with is breached you do not care.
Good Answer some laws are just plain stupid.
WS ducks the question.
Being prepared to break a particular law can be a legitimate form of protest, and after all, there are consequences, but neither law breaking nor consequences would be possible were it not for the rule of law.
I said, “can be”, because if we’re talking about the routine flouting or selective application of the law by the state, well, at that point the rule of law ceases.
Yet another scabs’ charter from the people who bought us the ’51 lockout. This dovetails nicely with the ‘reasonable’ changes they are proposing to allow bosses to walk away from bargaining. The boss ends bargaining, says ‘what are you gonna do about it?’ to their workers and if the staff take action, the boss brings in scabs under police protection. How’s that brighter future looking people?
“I’d love to see wages drop”. John Key.
Exactly, now that scabbing is legal what more can the Nats do to the remaining workers in this country? Chain them to work stations? Lock fire doors?
The tory labour legislation is all about downward pressure on wages and management by fear in a high unemployment environment. Jamie–Lee Ross what a tosser, hopefully he will get a suitable reaction if ever spotted in public by unionists.
Sure because a union would never start talks during the busy season at a meatworks would they? And they’d never go on strike during the busy time when they have the business over a barrell…no never
Its about time National started doing what they were put in to do.
What, collective action timed to be as effective as possible?
Why are you so afraid of the freedoms of speech and assembly? Why are you whining about people exercising their freedoms?
Are you a cry-baby as well as a scab?
Scab…lol, sorry I seem to have misplaced my cloth cap as I trudge off down t’ mill
I’m not saying people can’t strike, if they want to strike then good on them but employers shouldn’t be held to ransom by some union delegates
Why not?
Workers are held to ransom by employers the rest of the time.
Every employer I ever worked for has insisted on getting all the work out of me before I get the money out of them. I’m sure a few folk can insist on it being the other way around, though. But not most workers.
@ O’Brien
I see you remembered your arse-hat though.
When is the last time the meatworkers have struck during the busy season or the interisland ferries been stopped at Christmas because of strike action Winston?
If this is the problem that you say it is then why is the solution being applied 20 years too late?
Hey Winston Smith, take your attitude to workers and shove it as hard as you can right up until your eyes water, arsehole.
Aint no trouble finding you in this you ignorant evil prick … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyUagbsg-HI
I appreciate that you have sexual feelings towards me but, alas, I’m happily married but don’t worry theres someone for everyone.
🙂
Once again you prove comprehension is not your forte.
It sounded like he/she wanted to have sexy times with me so I thought I’d let them down easy, don’t want to lead anyone on 🙂
Maybe you place too much importance in having your arsehole giving you “sexy times”.
I don’t discriminate about where people have sexy times
Good on you, though your discrimination towards workers makes you look rather discriminaTory.
W Smith I see you have turned up again to encourage the inhabitants to tease you with bananas and peanuts. Clever old you.
‘
When the people of New Zealand voted for National Ltd™ they did so, partially, on the basis of what John Key said. Among the statements he made about the direction his government would take are these . . .
. . . he lied. Again. And again. And again. He’s still lying. If John Key told the truth about National Ltd™’s intentions it would never have been elected. The actions of National Ltd™ in the area of employment are being rammed down the throat of New Zealand workers without a mandate.
Um, moral high horse? I just said you ducked the question, there’s no horse about it.
Undoubtedly there are laws which should be changed or repealed and perhaps infrequently there might be a need for entirely new laws. It is manifestly so, or else why bother with elections?
Comment apparently orphaned?
Syria uses chemical weapons on its own people, and not one word form the left wing parties of New Zealand.
But if a farmer from Otago, sprays chemicals on his apples, Russell Norman will be screaming from the roof tops.
Im sure the standard and the left wing parties will mention the syria story, of course they will blame the states though.
You need to wake up before you start typing, otherwise it just looks like a vague recollection of your disjointed R.E.M. sleep cycle.
You need to wake up before you start typing, otherwise it just looks like a vague recollection of your disjointed R.E.M. sleep cycle.
Sadly, and astoundingly, that is our friend Dale when he is wide awake. You might think it resembles the semi-conscious outpourings of someone not fully awake, or even suffering from drug abuse, but I assure you, fender, the poor fellow won’t get any better.
Fender
Oh Please, your ideology is stopping you from condemning a crime,
Yeah the “States” made Bashar al-Assad use chemical weapons did they?
Those Hobbit boxer shorts must be too tight, they seem to be restricting a supply of blood to your brain.
I rather think the implication was that the left wing parties whould be condemning Al-Assad. Your mind is fascinating.
You of course must be privy to details of the investigation before it is complete, whereas mere mortals will have to wait for official findings to be made public I suppose.
By the way, one of Bretts implications seemed to be that the NZ left would blame the “States” for making al Assad use chemical weapons on his own people.
The States has simply been itching to supply heavy weapons to the anti Assad brigade (even though half of them are foreign islamists from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and other nice places)
Nothing to go wrong here.
Syria uses chemical weapons on its own people, and not one word form the left wing parties of New Zealand.
Your witlessness never ceases to astound me. Those are allegations only; nothing has been proved. Where there WAS irrefutable proof of chemical weapon usage was in 2009-9, when Israel used Phosphorus bombs in its murderous assault on Gaza.
Far from condemning that use of chemical weapons, I remember you frequently expressing your endorsement of it.
The rest of your little rant is, as always, too incoherent and confused to justify any response.
Actaully the official statement says “The Assad regime could prove that its request for an investigation was not just a diversionary tactic by granting the U.N. fact-finding mission immediate and unfettered access to conduct on-site investigations to help reveal the truth about chemical weapons use in Syria. While pushing for a U.N. investigation, the United States has also been working urgently with our partners and allies as well as individuals inside Syria, including the Syrian opposition, to procure, share, and evaluate information associated with reports of chemical weapons use so that we can establish the facts and determine what took place.” http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/text-us-statement-syria-chemical-weapons-19396269
But congratuations on finding a way to use the horrible death of 100-150 people in Syria as an excuse to spray around some more of your fanatical Jew hate, Morrissey.
… your fanatical Jew hate, Morrissey.
What a deliriously funny example of desperation. You just can’t argue in good faith, can you?
A word to the wise, my friend: when you are unable to formulate a coherent and civilized response, silence is the better option.
That kind of mad rhetoric only makes you look bad. In fact, it’s so crazed that I’m not even offended, and I actually feel pity for you.
No, I just get bored with you constantly making everything about Israel
No, I just get bored with you constantly making everything about Israel
So I make “everything” about Israel, you say. Where in all of the debate about Edward Snowden, for instance, have I even mentioned Israel?
The only reason I mentioned Israel was because one (admittedly substandard) poster raised the question of chemical weapons usage. Now, of course, you will probably pretend otherwise, but the fact is that only two regimes have used chemical weapons, and they have in both cases been defended by their U.S. sponsor with the most aggressive and cynical “diplomacy” imaginable. The U.S. even concocted a fantastic story that attempted to pin the blame for the Halabja massacre on another official enemy, Iran.
There is no evidence that Syria has used chemical weapons—unlike Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and Israel.
I am sure you know that—but you keep on defending that halfwit Brett Dale if you want.
Probably because you haven’t thought of a way to connect Snowden and Israel. I wait with anticipation for the UN to confirm that Syria has used Sarin against it’s own people so I can flip you the middle finger and call you some choice names befitting the disgusting waste of protein you are.
I have no doubt you will.
Pretty much sums up your interest in things as far as I can see.
Ironic thopugh that you so look forward to using the deaths in syria as an excuse to indulge your, what was it, ‘semi-fictional persona’?
Actually that’s not what I’d doing at all – not any more so than Annette Sykes celebrated 9/11 or Hone Harawera gave a moving eulogy of Osama bin Laden. You just enjoy attacking me in your limp fashion because you don’t agree with me – I’ve never known you to debate a point.
That’s hilarious Pop.
You are one of the most pointless commenters here.
Here’s what you said:
I wait with anticipation for the UN to confirm that Syria has used Sarin against it’s own people so I can flip you the middle finger and call you some choice names befitting the disgusting waste of protein you are.
Looking forward to confirmation of CW use, purely so that you can continue your petty little squabble with Morrissey, who you greatly resemble, although he does actually make points, wrongheaded as they often might be.
“Looking forward to confirmation of CW use, purely so that you can continue your petty little squabble with Morrissey, who you greatly resemble, although he does actually make points, wrongheaded as they often might be.”
You are such a martyr – do you get no enjoyment out of bickering you holier than thou prude?
I’m not claiming any sort of martyr status Pop. That would be you having a big old cry because the mean old bookie calls you on your contentless shit.
And pointless bickering for the sake of it is, obviously, pointless.
But at least you’ve confirmed that’s what you come here for, which is obvious enough given the way you (t)roll.
@Populuxe1
Please don’t confuse the actions of the Israeli government with Judaism.
@Populuxe1
Please don’t confuse the actions of the Israeli government with Judaism.
He’s not confused, richard, he’s just dishonest.
I don’t. But yon Morrissey has a habit of lumping Jewish celebrities in with Likud at every available opportunity
I don’t. But yon Morrissey has a habit of lumping Jewish celebrities in with Likud at every available opportunity
Another lie. I do not “lump Jewish celebrities in with Likud”; some of the bravest, most outspoken critics of the outlaw Israeli regime have been, and are, Jewish celebrities.
A while ago you alleged, absurdly, that my pointing out the vile racism, the merciless lies and the brutal and possibly catastrophic defamation of a Palestinian Christian peace activist by Sacha Baron Cohen means that I was, ergo, attacking all Jews.
Over the last couple of years on this excellent forum, I have also expressed contempt for Barack Obama, Tau Henare, Winston Peters, the Japanese and Chinese governments, the Indonesian government, the American-backed Arab dictators, and many other criminals, con-men and impostors who have managed to get themselves into positions of inordinate and unjustified power.
Yet you, for some absolutely spurious reason, have consistently maintained that I am “fixated on Israel” and that by, say, reminding people that Israel used Phosphorus bombs on the civilians of Gaza, is to “spray around Jew hate”. Apparently, Israeli politicians and their hardline supporters, like Sacha Baron Cohen and Jerry Seinfeld and Maureen Lipman, are immune to criticism; to even point out their fanatical devotion to the Holy State is a crime.
You have no consistency, no integrity and no credibility.
Probably because you haven’t thought of a way to connect Snowden and Israel.
Unbelievable! I publicly keelhaul you for your lack of integrity, your dishonesty, and your irrationality—and you’re back at it almost immediately. As I mentioned before, I do feel a degree of compassion for you, but your idiotic maliciousness sorely tries my patience.
I wait with anticipation for the UN to confirm that Syria has used Sarin against it’s [sic] own people so I can flip you the middle finger and call you some choice names befitting the disgusting waste of protein you are.
We’ll skip the unimaginative and incompetent abuse and go straight to your one point: you are evidently trying to suggest I support the Syrian regime. I do not. Only a fool, i.e. you, would draw that inference from anything I have written here or anywhere else.
Where did I ever suggest you supported the Syrian regime? I was commenting on your adamant refusal to entertain the likelihood that nerve gas had been used simply because of an all too common anti-US knee jerk reflex. You’re projecting somewhat
Where did I ever suggest you supported the Syrian regime?
I thought it might have been one of your little jests, like calling me a “Jew-hater”.
I was commenting on your adamant refusal to entertain the likelihood that nerve gas had been used simply because of an all too common anti-US knee jerk reflex.
A thoroughly discredited regime, at present engaged in two overt wars, both of which it started, and two more undeclared wars, in Yemen and Pakistan, is now making claims similar to the false claims it made to start the 2003 Iraq war. Yet you choose to describe all those who do not accept the unproven allegations of that rogue state as “all too common anti-US knee jerk reflex.” That’s not only trivialization, that’s flagrant misrepresentation.
You’re projecting somewhat
Projecting what?
“A thoroughly discredited regime, at present engaged in two overt wars, both of which it started, and two more undeclared wars, in Yemen and Pakistan, is now making claims similar to the false claims it made to start the 2003 Iraq war. Yet you choose to describe all those who do not accept the unproven allegations of that rogue state as “all too common anti-US knee jerk reflex.” That’s not only trivialization, that’s flagrant misrepresentation.”
And correlation is not causation
“Projecting what?”
I wish I knew. That’s a question for your therapist.
I wait with anticipation for the UN to confirm that Syria has used Sarin against it’s [sic] own people so I can flip you the middle finger and call you some choice names befitting the disgusting waste of protein you are.
Oops
Ok, Syrian rebels used it against Syrians. They’re both as bad as each other.
Now the US?UK is using the excuse of chemical weapons to validate the arming of Syrian rebel groups such as the Al Nusra Front an Al Qaeda affiliated organisation,
What could go wrong with this plan?.
I made a link late last week, maybe from The Guardian, about the political entrepreneurship manipulating Shia / Sunni, and inter-sectarian oppositions, then there is always the memories of the mujahideen…
furthermore, there are the Iranian elections, all candidates competing in obedience to The Supreme Leader, seeking a more complicit Prez. from the single moderate, four conservative and one hardliner candidates.hmmm
In 2010, large amounts of information from numerous sources revealed the USA’s use of white phosphorus and depleted uranium shells in Iraq during various battles resulting from the USA’s illegal invasion in 2003. I don’t remember hearing any outrage about the illegal use of prohibited weapons from National. There was not a sound from their benches during or after the attacks, or later, when they were the Government and the truth became public. Coming to think of it they are still markedly reticent to comment on it.
here is a press release about one of the studies
http://www.thecbdf.org/ar/cbdf-reaserch-papers/61-international-journal-of-environmental-studies-and-public-health-ijerph-switzerland-genetic-damage-and-health-in-fallujah-iraq-worse-than-hiroshima-
p.s. here is the Greens policy on such
http://www.greens.org.nz/policy/globalaffairs
section on global security 3 B
A soldier’s body containing a live grenade and two bullets is brought back using three separate flights. Jonathan Coleman says Who could have imagined that this would happen. Well all of government really. Because they have fed us the story that our forces overseas are strictly there for reconstruction and to aid peace moves and then turned off their hearing aids off and pocketed their specs.
A major fall from grace gets 12 months home detention and 250 hours community service (what will he do I wonder) hen he was involved with others in losing $millions from hard-working taxpaying citizens. I want equal justice for beneficiaries who are found guilty of defrauding taxpayers.
Something odd happens every day. What’s odder is that nothing seems to be done to adjust the vision for a more practical and effective result.
Two democratic heroes;
Two very different treatments by Radio New Zealand
The Panel, Radio NZ National, Tuesday 11 June 2013
Jim Mora, Tony Doe, David Farrar
Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, I could not listen after 4 o’clock, but if the combination of inanity and insincere unctuousness in the preshow chat was anything to go by, I’m kind of glad I missed the main show.
This is what, according to Susan Baldacci and Jim Mora, the World is Talking About….
1.) Do i-Phones have a soul?
2.) Designated drivers are often just “less drunk” rather than sober.
3.) An exciting new coffee cup design that eliminates cup rings.
4.) Dogshit detectors in Spain.
5.) Nelson Mandela’s health.
This last topic supplied the unctuousness factor. Susan Baldacci announced that Mandela had rallied a little over the last twenty-four hours; Mora huffed and sighed: “That’s goodish news.” More huffing and sighing, then more unctuous expressions of goodwill for the Pope, who is also not in the best of health.
This contrasts brutally with Mora’s behaviour after Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez died…
The Panel, Radio NZ National, Friday 8 March 2013
JIM MORA: Okay, just a couple of minutes left. Should John Key go to Hugo Chávez’s funeral or not? I can see why he’s NOT going. Ha ha ha ha!
DAVID SLACK: Of course he should go. He’s been leaned on by the United States.
MORA: But he’d be seen to be endorsing a revolutionary left wing leader?
MARK INGALLS: I’m ashamed as a New Zealander that he’s not going.
[Long uncomfortable pause….]
MORA: [grudgingly] Mmmmkay.
I looked up Stanley the explorer in Wikipedia and was amazed at his great career and adaptability from very harsh beginnings. But others who hadn’t harsh or poor beginnings to overcome don’t always succeed in reaching their potential as civilised, well-rounded human beings. Note Jameson heir of a whiskey manufacturer below and don’t forget the truly awful Belgian King Leopold II. This is from Stanley’s entry in wikipedia.
In 1886, Stanley led the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition to “rescue” Emin Pasha, the governor of Equatoria in the southern Sudan.
King Leopold II demanded that Stanley take the longer route, via the Congo River, hoping to acquire more territory and perhaps even Equatoria.
After immense hardships and great loss of life, Stanley met Emin in 1888, charted the Ruwenzori Range and Lake Edward, and emerged from the interior with Emin and his surviving followers at the end of 1890.[25]
But this expedition tarnished Stanley’s name because of the conduct of the other Europeans: British gentlemen and army officers. An army major was shot by a carrier, after behaving with extreme cruelty.
James Jameson, heir to an Irish whiskey manufacturer, bought an 11-year-old girl and offered her to cannibals to document and sketch how she was cooked and eaten.[26] Stanley only found out when Jameson had died of fever.
I’m not so sure that Stanley should be painted in such a good light. From the same Wikipedia article…
Richard I missed that – Stanley was a man of his time it seems. What a time, thumbs down.
FYI
For those who haven’t yet bothered to base their ‘pro-fluoride’ / ‘not-so-considered’ opinions on FACTS and EVIDENCE – you may be interested in this statement, from a leading UK Professor of Public Health?
______________________________________________________________________________
Statement by leading UK Professor of Public Health.
Professor Peckham can be quoted as follows:-
As a Professor and Health Researcher I find pro-fluoridationists’ characterisation of those opposed to fluoridation as “quacks” offensive.
My work is supported by the UK Department of Health, I am a member of the UK Faculty of Public Health and have a number of funded research projects from the National Institutes for Health Research in the UK.
I have consistently opposed fluoridation policy due to the poor evidence base on its effectiveness, genuine concerns about potential health problems (requiring further research) and, therefore, the fact that imposing fluoridation is unethical.
Professor Stephen Peckham BSc. MA(Econ)., HMFPH
Director, Centre for Health Services Studies
Professor of Health Policy
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Director, Policy Research Unit in Commissioning and the Healthcare System
University of Kent
______________________________________________________________________________
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption /anti-privatisation’ campaigner
2013 Auckland Mayoral candidate
http://www.occupyaucklandvsaucklandcouncilappeal.org.nz/?page_id=152
Gluckman pronounced the last word for NZ;
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE1306/S00035/sir-peter-gluckman-statement-of-flouride.htm
IMO, the evidence base for its effectiveness is much better than the evidence base for any concerns.
same. ‘see ya’ on the ‘morrow.
Internal (upskirt) Affairs going on.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10890527
The Depletion of Natural Capital
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/environment/news/article.cfm?c_id=39&objectid=10890145
1 in 5 Pensioners still in paid employment; high cost of living, finance company collapses and divorce
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10890446
Snowden: China stays quiet.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10890430
Europe Floods
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/europe/news/article.cfm?l_id=7&objectid=10889629
Hilarious that Booz Allen tried to discredit Snowden by saying that his salary was only $122,000 per year, and Snowden claimed that he earnt $200,000 per year.
But figure in the big annual bonuses and benefits that these private consultant types get…and $200,000 doesn’t sound unreasonable at all.
just about to retrieve some Chinese perspective before biking home (cold snap).
Here’s a good read, and a short one too:
http://indigenoushistory.wordpress.com/2013/05/09/what-if-people-told-european-history-like-they-told-native-american-history/
That’s good. The comments are interesting too.
Thanks Pb I enjoyed that.
On Chinese response to Snowden
L.A Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-chinese-media-snowden-20130613,0,2845643.story
from The New Yorker
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/evanosnos/2013/06/snowdens-chinese-fans.html
some Chinese net users arguing for asylum as a demonstration of State Power , or sending him to Russia 😀
10 000 Police to G8-ITV
“Ha ha ha, ho ho ho, he he he! Get him a sun lamp!!!”
An unusually inane and depraved edition of The Panel
Radio NZ National, Friday 14 June 2013
Jim Mora, Lisa Scott, Chris Trotter
JIM MORA: It’s Susan Baldacci, with What the Wooooorld’s Talking About! What have you got for us today?
SUSAN BALDACCI: First up, Jim, is this Perth radio host who has been suspended for saying Julia Gillard’s husband is gay, because he is a hairdresser.
JIM MORA: This is bizarre, isn’t it!
LISA SCOTT: They’re attacking her because she’s a woman!
CHRIS TROTTER: The same thing went on with Helen Clark. There were some TERRIBLE things said about her husband too.
MORA: Yeah but they were more subterranean, weren’t they? In Australia this kind of thing is much more out in the open.
CHRIS TROTTER: Well, Ian Wishart’s Investigate magazine has a much larger readership than one might think.
MORA: But surely no mainstream, reputable media outlets in this country would TOLERATE that sort of thing would they?
REALITY CHECK….
Mora is either dishonest or has a memory like John Banks, i.e., he is dishonest. A few years ago on The Panel, one DOCTOR MICHAEL BASSETT worked himself up into a state of preternatural malice and snarled, absurdly, that Nicky Hager was a Holocaust-denier. I can think of nothing more despicable or extreme than uttering such a brutal and offensive falsehood on public radio—but Jim Mora did not say a word. Far from not tolerating “that sort of thing”, Mora’s guests on the Panel have included, as well as Bassett, such extreme and irrational figures as Nevil Breivik Gibson, Christine Spankin’ Rankin, and Garth Gaga George—to name just three off the top of my head. He has also respectfully interviewed such outré figures as the Sensible Sentencing Trust’s Garth “The Knife” McVicar. So much for his contention that no mainstream media outlets in this country would tolerate “that sort of thing.”
MORA: What else have you got for us?
SUSAN BALDACCI: Well, this latest study shows that we’re all a little bit paranoid. There are three kinds of paranoia, apparently—
MORA: Three kinds of paranoia?
SUSAN BALDACCI: [annoyed] Y-y-y-y-yes.
She gives a brief survey of an article about paranoia she has just downloaded from the internet, and then the program takes a sinister turn….
SUSAN BALDACCI: Julian Assange is a little bit paranoid.
MORA: Oh yes? Hur, hur, hur, hur!
SUSAN BALDACCI: Yeah, he claims that being holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy, he is deprived of his human right of getting enough sun.
MORA: Is it a human right to get enough sun?
SUSAN BALDACCI: That’s what he claims! He claims that being not allowed to leave London is violating his “human rights”.
MORA: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
LISA SCOTT: Ha ha ha ha ha ha!
CHRIS TROTTER: Haw haw haw haw haw!
SUSAN BALDACCI: He thinks he should be allowed out of his Ecuador embassy hideout to sunbathe.
MORA: He can get out on the balcony, where he gave that speech!
LISA SCOTT: Yeah! Ha ha ha ha ha!
CHRIS TROTTER: Yeah! Ha ha ha ha ha! Or get him a sun lamp! THAT’s what he needs!
LISA SCOTT: Ha ha ha ha ha!
SUSAN BALDACCI: He he he he he!
TROTTER: I suspect the ambassador’s just sick of the sight of him! “Are you ever going to LEEEEAAAVE?”
MORA: Sun lamp! Get him a sun lamp!!!
LISA SCOTT: Ha ha ha ha ha!
MORA: Back after the news!
……4 p.m. News……
WAYNE MOWAT: The time is nine minutes past four and due to circumstances beyond our control, we have some more music.
Plays George Harrison’s “Apple Scruffs”, then something by Fat Freddy’s Drop. Wayne Mowat tells us there’s been a fire alarm so everyone has had to leave the building for a short time.
They’re back in the studio at 4:15. Somebody—presumably not Mora himself—decides to ditch the discussion about fluoridation and the loons who have stampeded the Hamilton City Council into abandoning it. But they still go ahead with the entirely pointless, extended introductions of the guests. Trotter vapors on about Bloom’s Day, which is coming up in Auckland. “There’s a lot of laughing,” he promises, “and some weeping.”
Then it’s on to the big, in-depth discussions, “the news of the day in a different way”….
Topic No. 1:
Labour’s hypocritical MPs accepting “hospitality” from Sky City….
LISA SCOTT: giggles winsomely It just shows that politicians are people too.
CHRIS TROTTER: When I heard David Shearer say he didn’t know they were there, I almost threw my cellphone at the wall. To say that you didn’t know just shows you have no control over your caucus.
LISA SCOTT: Yeah, yeah, it’s not a good look. It’s a bad look, all right. I agree with you.
Topic No. 2:
Dunedin mayor Dave Cull’s email exchange about the Dalai Lama is to be released to the public….
CHRIS TROTTER: With our increasing closeness to and reliance on China, there will be increasing pressure on university chancellors, mayors and all public officials to not have ANYTHING to do with the Dalai Lama.
LISA SCOTT: Isn’t that sad!
CHRIS TROTTER: It is, really. He’s a lovely chap!
LISA SCOTT: Ha ha ha ha ha!
….[4:30 News]….
Soapbox….
MORA: What have you been thinking about, Lisa Scott?
LISA SCOTT: I’ve been thinking about something called UBF. Do you know what it is—Unintentional Bitch Face.
CHRIS TROTTER: Ho ho ho ho ho ho ho!
LISA SCOTT: It’s when you look grumpy without meaning to. Posh Spice has UBF.
MORA: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! She does too! Ha ha ha ha ha!
Sellotape behind the ears! This is cheap cosmetic surgery!
LISA SCOTT: I’ve got UGF—Unintentionally Gormless Face.
MORA: Posh DOES have a look doesn’t she! Okay, Chris Trotter, what’s been on your mind?
CHRIS TROTTER: Oh, mine seems terribly worthy now, compared to that GREAT topic. But an interesting factoid I have just learned is that New Zealand now has more than one thousand people employed in security. Why do we need so many spooks?
MORA: Do you remember when it was just the SIS? In those days you got the impression it was only fifty to a hundred people.
CHRIS TROTTER: Yes, those were the trenchcoat days, trailing Dr. Bill Sutch. Now it’s all NCIS and
MORA: We chortle, but if Big Data like Prism is going to conform and constrain and dominate our lives, then we NEED that expertise!
The program ends with Trotter taking up his guitar and singing a melancholy tribute to the legendary Dunedin student pub, the Captain Cook, which is closing after 150 years.
Unfortunately, this publicly funded yock-fest will continue on Monday…..
Pretend to be surprised: intelligence agencies share and swap sensitive data with thousands of private corporates
Who would’ve thought.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-14/u-s-agencies-said-to-swap-data-with-thousands-of-firms.html
It’s the new norman