Democrats have rebelled on the TPP/fast track, and its passing is looking less and less likely. Nancy Pelosi, House Democratic leader is not supportive. Hopefully Democrats retain some backbone, which is a bit less likely…
It’s a bit funny how Democrats are almost unanimously opposing Obama. Pretty embarrasing for him – even the Republican Party can’t garner full support because Tea Party Republicans don’t want to give Obama more power.
… activists are celebrating a pyrrhic victory today as Fast Track was apparently blocked in the House of Representatives by a coalition of Democrats and Republicans.
The truth is that only its companion bill, the Trade Adjustment Assistance bill (TAA), was defeated in the House. The Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), i.e. the Fast Track legislation, was passed by a small margin of votes (219-211). But, due to the fact that these two bills were passed as one bill in the Senate, both need to be passed in the House before either becomes law. Fast Track has been sidelined for now, but it will be back soon to bite us.
What isn’t being widely disseminated is that it is likely that the TAA will be voted on again next week. This vote (or one further down the road) will decide whether or not the TAA is passed and if Fast Track will be the means by which the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will be voted on in Congress once Obama finishes negotiating the deal with his counterparts.
More at http://us6.camp aign-archive1.com/?u=ffdc278104b5964bb04b4251e&id=eb83cb3a87&e=f36be083ee
still time for some dissenters to be bought off, like a few weeks ago, when those changing their minds miraculously received donations for their upcoming re-election campaigns.i
The following is purported to be an excerpt from Hooten’s latest NBR article. It concerns the Think Tank named “Progress” to be set up by Pagani, Leggett, Quinn and co. If the ‘quote’ is accurate (comes from blubber boy’s site which we don’t link to here) then it means someone has YET AGAIN leaked… this time last week’s caucus meeting:
To discuss their idea, Mr Leggett and Ms Pagani met Mr Little, his deputy Annette King and Labour’s political director Neale Jones. Shortly after, word was put out that Ms Pagani was “stroppy.” According to the leader’s office, Ms King had taken particular offence to Ms Pagani while the leader himself said relatively little.
Having observed how Ms Clark had responded to her own attempt to roll her in 1996, Ms King acted quickly to arrange a confrontation at Tuesday’s caucus meeting. Ms King, Mr Robertson, Te Atatu MP Phil Twyford and chief whip Chris Hipkins made clear to MPs suspected of being involved with Progress that they should have nothing further to do with it.
The head of the Rainbow faction, Louisa Wall, supported by Wigram MP Megan Woods, even urged that those involved be expelled from the party altogether. As he had largely done in the original meeting, Mr Little kept his own counsel. Mr Shearer and Mr Parker also knew to stay above the fray. Progress now seems to be going nowhere.
Setting aside Hooten’s snide dig at Annette King (he can’t help himself and it will bring him down one day) this is becoming an intolerable situation. I’m inclined to agree with Louisa Wall and Megan Woods….
In the leaked electoral review document it talked about the “harsher” kind of discipline that could also be summed up as “Mr.Little kept his own counsel”. Anything Hooten says, implies or incites that Labour is, or should do, is wrong.
There will be leaks. There will be problems. Labour will do everything except change their name to The Lational Party in order to lose voter support between now and 2017. It isn’t intolerable. Don’t be fooled. Support the positive message of the important socially-cohesive issues.
Charles, I’m not supporting anything Hooten says/implies Labour should say or do. I long ago saw through his often spurious commentary. But if this is what happened then someone has leaked confidential caucus matters and it has ended up in Hooten’s hands. Whoever it was, did so with spiteful intent. It IS intolerable and caucus must stamp out this leaking forthwith. Every time it happens it gives the Nats and their media acolytes another chance to consolidate the perception Labour is a party racked with division. The truth is that under Little it is now a very united caucus but clearly there is still at least one maverick present.
I have no qualms about Little keeping his own counsel. In matters of a similar nature Helen Clark did the same thing. That is, keep the leader as free as possible from controversy and let other senior caucus personnel do the talking.
I read somewhere that Nash was approached by the Pagani/Quin group but he turned down any involvement in the project. But who knows what the truth really is…
The leaker in this instance is the party who walked away from the meeting unhappy, namely Pagani and co, who coincidentally have very strong connections to Hooten, Slater, and Farrar and it is those people who continually quote Quin and Pagani and Nash and Davis as the divine way forward for the centre, centre left in New Zealand.
All the other leak problems within Labour have come from this same right-of-left group of people who have ambition but no power (the only power they weald is the ability to squeal to Cameron Slater when they don’t get their way).
The question is, are these people still useful? If so then something will have to be done to include them and create one message. Otherwise, expel them. Out of the current crop of leaders, Little seems the most likely to be able to achieve it.
Let’s see … Pagani would have been quite happy that it leaked so that she and her project get more publicity? And the leaker’s ambition exceeds his/her own power or influence (or intelligence) and is aiming at creating more mischief and damage?
and so the recent revelations of problems in National’s caucus have faded away to be replaced by LP problems… and who is helping fan that fire? Why Hooton and WO…
And Phil Quin and Josie Pagani have been adding extra fuel. Don’t forget WO’s links to Pagani, and Stuart Nash’s links to Simon Lush. Quin was a major part of the anti Cunliffe movement.
The reality is Tracey Labour has not been so unified since the Clark days. I’m 90% sure the right wing Nat. hump of mischief-makers have been egging the Pagani/Quin crowd on. I’d go so far as to say that Pagani and co. spend more time socialising with them than they do with anyone from the L.P.
It sounds like Annette King took intense umbridge with whatever Pagani was saying when the LP leadership met her and Leggett recently. In 2013/14 whenever Pagani was on TV or radio slagging off the LP membership, I wanted to swipe her across the face I felt so angry and insulted. I think it might have happened to Annette only she was able to curb any temptation to do the same. 🙂
Hooton just said that all parties have factions within them… you wouldn’t know it from the media or other things he writes.
So who in the Nat caucus is the women faction, the gay faction, the left faction, the right faction, the whatever faction?
I have to agree with Hooton (well, I don’t have to, I choose to). Annette King has probably done her dash. not cos of her age but her roots and connection to the old days… OTOH she does seem to ably represent those of middle NZ that Hooton and Williams say LP needs back… so Hoots also kind of contradicts himself.
Update on global push for a cashless society – need to keep people informed about this and how it can be used to steal from the population. This particular update is from Chris Martenson, one of the most rational futurists around.
“…In a recent speech widely regarded as a curtain-raiser to the encyclical, Turkson said: “Much of the world remains in poverty, despite abundant resources, while a privileged global elite controls the bulk of the world’s wealth and consumes the bulk of its resources.”
The Argentinian pontiff is expected to repeat calls for a change in attitudes to poverty and nature. “An economic system centred on the god of money needs to plunder nature to sustain the frenetic rhythm of consumption that is inherent to it,” he told a meeting of social movements last year. “I think a question that we are not asking ourselves is: isn’t humanity committing suicide with this indiscriminate and tyrannical use of nature? Safeguard creation because, if we destroy it, it will destroy us. Never forget this.”’
Pope Francis will call for an ethical and economic revolution to prevent catastrophic climate change and growing inequality in a letter to the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics on Thursday.
In an unprecedented encyclical on the subject of the environment, the pontiff is expected to argue that humanity’s exploitation of the planet’s resources has crossed the Earth’s natural boundaries, and that the world faces ruin without a revolution in hearts and minds. The much-anticipated message, which will be sent to the world’s 5,000 Catholic bishops, will be published online in five languages on Thursday and is expected to be the most radical statement yet from the outspoken pontiff.
More locally, according to NewstalkZB, James Shaw is about to announce some new GP initiatives around CC today.
The pope is “aiming at a change of heart. What will save us is not technology or science. What will save us is the ethical transformation of our society,” said Carmelite Father Eduardo Agosta Scarel, a climate scientist who teaches at the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina in Buenos Aires.
This.
Ironic that it’s coming from one of the more conservative parts of society.
My favourite irony at the moment, is the republicans running in the primaries who call themselves catholics – they are having extreme difficulty connecting with the majority of catholic in the USA. Indeed some church leaders have asked, some very difficult questions – it’s been great.
It’s not for nothing that we lapsed catholics call him the PR Pope.
It’s just another strategy designed to revive a degraded institution; other examples are the United States presidency and the royal family.
The truth is that only its companion bill, the Trade Adjustment Assistance bill (TAA), was defeated in the House. The Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), i.e. the Fast Track legislation, was passed by a small margin of votes (219-211). But, due to the fact that these two bills were passed as one bill in the Senate, both need to be passed in the House before either becomes law. Fast Track has been sidelined for now, but it will be back soon to bite us.
What isn’t being widely disseminated is that it is likely that the TAA will be voted on again next week. This vote (or one further down the road) will decide whether or not the TAA is passed and if Fast Track will be the means by which the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will be voted on in Congress once Obama finishes negotiating the deal with his counterparts.
[lprent: Please don’t put up near identical comments, especially under different handles. It makes me immediately think that you are an astroturfer. Nobody likes them, especially me. I fixed up your link. ]
[They were both stuck in span and I released both and intended to then delete one but didn’t get round to it – MS]
The server will have been slightly more sluggish this morning. Added two more disks to the main TS array. Means that the cache both locally (memcache) and overseas (CDN) got flushed. It will be rebuilding this morning as people requested static data from various browsers and devices. It usually takes 3-4 hours of NZ day traffic to get to steady state again.
We are experiencing the delicious irony that Maori now make by far the best stuff on TV while Pakeha, with all their supposed knowledge and hugely superior resources, mostly make total crap.
Next Maori will be out-thinking Pakeha on the battlefield…..oh I forgot they’ve already done that.
Gorgeous photo of Gerry Brownlee on Stuff. Obviously dashed over to rally the troops. Cap, check. Dashing shades, check. FLAK JACKET! Check. A copy will be going on my wall for when I need a good belly(pun intended) laugh. The article is on obesity in the forces. Oh, the irony! Mr Brownlee declined to comment. His mouth was full of doughnut at the time. When I first read this the article commented that Admiral Brownlee had an above average BMI himself (think HUGE) but this has been deleted. Would his flak jacket have had to be especially made? If so, at what cost.?
Gerry doesn’t need a flak jacket because he can dodge Airport Security and bullets better than Neo in The Matrix. The pièce de résistance is, of course, the little white Kiwi on his cap [fully intentional pun]. Aren’t all National MPs made of Teflon and Kevlar but not of blood & bones?
Phil Twyford @PhilTwyford 1h1 hour ago
“Nick Smith won’t debate me on @NZQandA but demands unchallenged right of reply after my interview.
He’s under pressure.”
Just saw this tweet. How come Smith is allowed to dictate the terms for an appearance on a current affairs show?
When it’s available I’ll put the link up but shorter – former domestic violence perpetrator and alleged harasser of women shows true self when confronted by a woman.
So longer – when Miriama Kamo took Fox to task about irregularities and lack of transparency in Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust he became quite confrontational.
But when he was challenged about his defence of the irregularities and lack of transparency he reacted with such hostility I was half expecting him to lose whatever self control he had left and vault the desk.
Of course another crash is coming. Nothings been done to change the financial system from the failure it was in 2008 so it was inevitable that it would fail again and inevitable that it would be another housing crisis that triggered it.
If I can paraphrase Peter Schiff, we haven’t had the real crash yet, but it is coming. He also talks about a US dollar crisis. Once other countries lose faith in the US dollar and stop lending them money (because they know the US is in so much debt they won’t be able to pay the money back) then they really are in trouble. China is already moving away from the US dollar.
Following the ratings crash at TV3, Jay Wintrob the CEO of Oaktree Capital (the company poised to take 100% ownership of MediaWorks) and Jonas Mitzschke (also of Oaktree Capital) are in New Zealand to find out what has been going on at MediaWorks New Zealand. They’ll be making a review of the decisions that have led to this steady decline in ratings for their network. [1] [2]
This could be our chance to bring back Campbell Live. Will you take 2 minutes to send a quick email to these US bosses asking them to consider bringing back our favourite show?
Click here to send a quick email to Jay Wintrob and Jonas Mitzschke, Mark Weldon (CEO of MediaWorks) and Julie Christie (Board of Directors at MediaWorks).
Together we can show them that if they are serious about saving the network they need to bring back John Campbell and Campbell Live. Some people have asked, would John and his team really want to go back to the channel that has treated them so poorly? We can’t speak for John Campbell or his team, but we have spoken to some of them to ensure this isn’t a terrible idea. In fact, we think if there was a big enough shake up at TV3, they may well be happy to return. Wouldn’t that be bloody marvellous?
Let’s stand together once again and show our commitment to quality, public interest, investigative journalism for the people of NZ.
All new legislation would be subject to a “climate change test” if a Green Party bill is passed.
Today new Green Party co-leader James Shaw announced a new private members bill, which would require official documents assessing the impact of new legislation to include a section about the impact on the environment.
The Climate Impact Disclosure Statement Bill will require all new legislation introduced to Parliament to be accompanied by a Climate Impact Disclosure Statement that “outlines what impact, if any, the new legislation would be likely to have on New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions”.
Already new legislation is subject to Regulatory Impact Statements and Bill of Rights Act Reports.
“Climate change is impacting almost every aspect of our lives. This bill will ensure that the government considers climate change in everything it does,” Shaw said.
“This bill will mean that government can’t ignore how their decisions impact on our climate.”
Shaw announced the bill at the Asia-Pacific Green Federation Congress in Lower Hutt on Sunday, where Green politicians from 16 countries are meeting.
The environmental impact assessment wouldn’t prevent Parliament from voting through any piece of legislation Shaw said, but would give politicians and the public the opportunity to asses it.
I was working for PriceWaterhouseCoopers. It’s a global consultancy firm.
At the time there was this fake debate in politics and in the media, about whether climate change was real or a hoax.
You had all these scientists debating energy lobbyists who were pretending to be scientists.
Politicians were saying ‘Well, we just don’t know who to believe. The science is disputed.’
But some businesses had to take climate change seriously because their profits depended on scientific modelling and long term forecasts.
Like insurance companies, which rely on accurate actuarial forecasts.
I read this report commissioned by the insurance industry on the long terms effects of climate change.
It did some projections based on the available data and it was all very calm and methodical.
And it concluded that the cumulative impact of extreme weather events and flooding caused by climate change would cause such catastrophic damage to property and loss of lives over the upcoming decades that it would bankrupt the entire insurance industry by the year 2050.
That report was commissioned by ReMunich (by the way one of the largest reinsurers in the business) and they have been actively pursing policies to combat AGW ever since because they realise that if BAU continues the insurance industry is stuffed – people will not be able to bear the cost of insuring – so no insurance companies anymore. Essentially they are right. Report released today on Scientific American notes we are already committed to 5m of SLR. 🙁
That is a little weird, Greens cannot introduce any bills unless they suddenly become a government. I presume what he is saying is that they will submit a private members bill into the ballot system. it will sit there until such time as it gets drawn which may never happen. Lot of other bills in there and when they are drawn it depends on the government whether the bill proceeds. This bill would require expenditure so most unlikely to happen.
Ensuring every new piece of legislation acknowledges the reality and costs of climate change.
Green Party Co-leader James Shaw has released a Member’s Bill to require all Government legislation to have a Climate Impact Disclosure Statement – a report, prepared by the Ministry for the Environment, that outlines the likely impact of the legislation on the climate.
This means that when a bill is introduced, all MPs, and the public, will get to learn the likely implications of the legislation on New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions and/or New Zealand’s ability to meet its international greenhouse gas reduction target. It will also detail any relationship between the legislation and the Climate Change Response Act.
It’s a way to ensure that in the development of legislation, climate is a key consideration. It will also give opposition parties good information to hold the Government to account on climate issues.
Climate change is the biggest issue. We need to be thinking about it when we’re introducing new laws. We need to know the cost of legislation on our climate.
By ensuring every new piece of legislation acknowledges the reality and costs of climate change, we will see a cumulative, gradual effect – having parliament thinking about our climate all of the time.
If every bill requires a disclosure statement about Climate effect then whom are you supposing will provide that research at no charge. If it requires a government department or even non government service to provide a service that requires money then the bill is immediately defeated as only ministers can introduce bills that require expenditure.
Also to introduce a bill into parliament when you are not a minister requires the bill to be submitted to the ballot. The bills can only be debated on Wednesday’s and only 8 bills can be in the ballot on any Wednesday. Bills are withdrawn from the box by ballot and if a bill wins the ballot it can then be debated. Until such time as Government outvotes the bill then it dies.
You can read about bills here http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/pb/legislation/proposed-bills
All this could be avoided if National decided to adopt the bill and I guess it is possible that Greens and National have agreed to do this.
Re the disclosure statements, read the links, it’s explained there.
This is win/win for the GP. It continues their agenda of raising awareness of CC. If the Bill gets selected, then there are a whole bunch of opportunities to raise awareness whether National support it or not. We’re past the point where government can ignore this, too many people are waking up to reality.
Have read and in the first line it states it will require the Ministry of Environment to provide the disclosure. That surely requires them to spend money and it is not permissible for a bill to proceed if it requires expenditure unless the government picks up the bill and take it over.
Basically it seems like grandstanding to enter a bill into the ballot with the knowledge that it would be ruled out as soon as the government want to.
This is despite the rules that govern private members bills. Read the parliamentary url I gave you and you will see there is little chance of it getting near the ballot. Of course maybe some of those Green bills already in the system could be withdrawn that might help.
Its in your previous comment but here it is again from the actual Green media release. It requires a government department to prepare a report for every piece of Government Legislation.
I dont know if you have ever worked for a State Department but that report will cost a lot of money. They do not have staff sitting around just waiting for work. It would require a lot of research and that would mean staff needing to travel possibly and hours of work to pull it together.
I asked you before who do you think will pay for that. If you are suggesting that it will just be picked up by the department then it is expenditure and is not allowed in a members private bill.
Green Party Co-leader James Shaw has released a Member’s Bill to require all Government legislation to have a Climate Impact Disclosure Statement – a report, prepared by the Ministry for the Environment, that outlines the likely impact of the legislation on the climate.
“I asked you before who do you think will pay for that. If you are suggesting that it will just be picked up by the department then it is expenditure and is not allowed in a members private bill.”
I’m not suggesting it, James Shaw is stating it.
I’m asking for a citation that a bill like this won’t be allowed because of expenditure.
Sheeezus, the government of the day funds Ministeries and Departments to carry out their statutory duties via the Budget. The funding is not defined in the bloody legislation.
Good grief Do they not teach anything in schools these days. The Parliamentary system requires that only governments can commit expenditure. It would be chaos of it was otherwise. Why do you think we have a budget? And then a budget debate. Governments expend opositions critique.
If a government cannot get a finance bill past parliament they effectively resign.
Don’t take my word go do some research I just hope that the Greens are not as naive as some of its supporters.
Having pasted the interview with Dame Sylvia Cartwright, (Inside Story A9 Herald Saturday- David Fisher) in my scrapbook I then had a bit of a browse and came across this clipping from Finlay MacDonald SST 2009
Still makes interesting reading in 2015, nothing changes.
Cut the waffle and answer the question | Stuff.co.nz
Jul 19, 2009 … For those readers who missed John Key’s speech last week about New Zealand’s economy, here’s a quick summary: Bla bla bla productivity … http://tinyurl.com/n9b3eke
Great to see Helen Clark interviewed at length by Oksana Boyko on Worlds Apart-RT television,Sunday night. Her depth of intellect, sincerity and grasp of the issues is such a contrast to our current PM.
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Welcome back to our weekly roundup. We hope you had a good break (if you had one). Here’s a few of the stories that caught our attention over the last few weeks. This holiday period on Greater Auckland Since our last roundup we’ve: Taken a look back at ...
Sometimes I feel like I don't have a partnerSometimes I feel like my only friendIs the city I live in, The City of AngelsLonely as I am together we crySong: Anthony Kiedis, Chad Smith, Flea, John Frusciante.A home is engulfed in flames during the Eaton fire in the Altadena area. ...
Open access notablesLarge emissions of CO2 and CH4 due to active-layer warming in Arctic tundra, Torn et al., Nature Communications:Climate warming may accelerate decomposition of Arctic soil carbon, but few controlled experiments have manipulated the entire active layer. To determine surface-atmosphere fluxes of carbon dioxide and ...
It's election year for Wellington City Council and for the Regional Council. What have the progressive councillors achieved over the last couple of years. What were the blocks and failures? What's with the targeting of the mayor and city council by the Post and by central government? Why does the ...
Over the holidays, there was a rising tide of calls for people to submit on National's repulsive, white supremacist Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill, along with a wave of advice and examples of what to say. And it looks like people rose to the occasion, with over 300,000 ...
The lie is my expenseThe scope of my desireThe Party blessed me with its futureAnd I protect it with fireI am the Nina The Pinta The Santa MariaThe noose and the rapistAnd the fields overseerThe agents of orangeThe priests of HiroshimaThe cost of my desire…Sleep now in the fireSongwriters: Brad ...
This is a re-post from the Climate BrinkGlobal surface temperatures have risen around 1.3C since the preindustrial (1850-1900) period as a result of human activity.1 However, this aggregate number masks a lot of underlying factors that contribute to global surface temperature changes over time.These include CO2, which is the primary ...
There are times when movement around us seems to slow down. And the faster things get, the slower it all appears.And so it is with the whirlwind of early year political activity.They are harbingers for what is to come:Video: Wayne Wright Jnr, funder of Sean Plunket, talk growing power and ...
Hi,Right now the power is out, so I’m just relying on the laptop battery and tethering to my phone’s 5G which is dropping in and out. We’ll see how we go.First up — I’m fine. I can’t see any flames out the window. I live in the greater Hollywood area ...
2024 was a tough year for working Kiwis. But together we’ve been able to fight back for a just and fair New Zealand and in 2025 we need to keep standing up for what’s right and having our voices heard. That starts with our Mood of the Workforce Survey. It’s your ...
Time is never time at allYou can never ever leaveWithout leaving a piece of youthAnd our lives are forever changedWe will never be the sameThe more you change, the less you feelSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan.Babinden - Baba’s DayToday, January 8th, 2025, is Babinden, “The Day of the baba” or “The ...
..I/We wish to make the following comments:I oppose the Treaty Principles Bill."5. Act binds the CrownThis Act binds the Crown."How does this Act "bind the Crown" when Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which the Act refers to, has been violated by the Crown on numerous occassions, resulting in massive loss of ...
Everything is good and brownI'm here againWith a sunshine smile upon my faceMy friends are close at handAnd all my inhibitions have disappeared without a traceI'm glad, oh, that I found oohSomebody who I can rely onSongwriter: Jay KayGood morning, all you lovely people. Today, I’ve got nothing except a ...
Welcome to 2025. After wrapping up 2024, here’s a look at some of the things we can expect to see this year along with a few predictions. Council and Elections Elections One of the biggest things this year will be local body elections in October. Will Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Canadians can take a while to get angry – but when they finally do, watch out. Canada has been falling out of love with Justin Trudeau for years, and his exit has to be the least surprising news event of the New Year. On recent polling, Trudeau’s Liberal party has ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Much like 2023, many climate and energy records were broken in 2024. It was Earth’s hottest year on record by a wide margin, breaking the previous record that was set just last year by an even larger margin. Human-caused climate-warming pollution and ...
Submissions on National's racist, white supremacist Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill are due tomorrow! So today, after a good long holiday from all that bullshit, I finally got my shit together to submit on it. As I noted here, people should write their own submissions in their own ...
Ooh, baby (ooh, baby)It's making me crazy (it's making me crazy)Every time I look around (look around)Every time I look around (every time I look around)Every time I look aroundIt's in my faceSongwriters: Alan Leo Jansson / Paul Lawrence L. Fuemana.Today, I’ll be talking about rich, middle-aged men who’ve made ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 29, 2024 thru Sat, January 4, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Hi,The thing that stood out at me while shopping for Christmas presents in New Zealand was how hard it was to avoid Zuru products. Toy manufacturer Zuru is a bit like Netflix, in that it has so much data on what people want they can flood the market with so ...
And when a child is born into this worldIt has no conceptOf the tone of skin it's living inAnd there's a million voicesAnd there's a million voicesTo tell you what you should be thinkingSong by Neneh Cherry and Youssou N'Dour.The moment you see that face, you can hear her voice; ...
While we may not always have quality political leadership, a couple of recently published autobiographies indicate sometimes we strike it lucky. When ranking our prime ministers, retired professor of history Erik Olssen commented that ‘neither Holland nor Nash was especially effective as prime minister – even his private secretary thought ...
Baby, be the class clownI'll be the beauty queen in tearsIt's a new art form, showin' people how little we care (yeah)We're so happy, even when we're smilin' out of fearLet's go down to the tennis court and talk it up like, yeah (yeah)Songwriters: Joel Little / Ella Yelich O ...
Open access notables Why Misinformation Must Not Be Ignored, Ecker et al., American Psychologist:Recent academic debate has seen the emergence of the claim that misinformation is not a significant societal problem. We argue that the arguments used to support this minimizing position are flawed, particularly if interpreted (e.g., by policymakers or the public) as suggesting ...
What I’ve Been Doing: I buried a close family member.What I’ve Been Watching: Andor, Jack Reacher, Xmas movies.What I’ve Been Reflecting On: The Usefulness of Writing and the Worthiness of Doing So — especially as things become more transparent on their own.I also hate competing on any day, and if ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by John Wihbey. A version of this article first appeared on Yale Climate Connections on Nov. 11, 2008. (Image credits: The White House, Jonathan Cutrer / CC BY 2.0; President Jimmy Carter, Trikosko/Library of Congress; Solar dedication, Bill Fitz-Patrick / Jimmy Carter Library; Solar ...
Morena folks,We’re having a good break, recharging the batteries. Hope you’re enjoying the holiday period. I’m not feeling terribly inspired by much at the moment, I’m afraid—not from a writing point of view, anyway.So, today, we’re travelling back in time. You’ll have to imagine the wavy lines and sci-fi sound ...
Completed reads for 2024: Oration on the Dignity of Man, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola A Platonic Discourse Upon Love, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola Of Being and Unity, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola The Life of Pico della Mirandola, by Giovanni Francesco Pico Three Letters Written by Pico ...
Welcome to 2025, Aotearoa. Well… what can one really say? 2024 was a story of a bad beginning, an infernal middle and an indescribably farcical end. But to chart a course for a real future, it does pay to know where we’ve been… so we know where we need ...
Welcome to the official half-way point of the 2020s. Anyway, as per my New Years tradition, here’s where A Phuulish Fellow’s blog traffic came from in 2024: United States United Kingdom New Zealand Canada Sweden Australia Germany Spain Brazil Finland The top four are the same as 2023, ...
Completed reads for December: Be A Wolf!, by Brian Strickland The Magic Flute [libretto], by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Emanuel Schikaneder The Invisible Eye, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Owl’s Ear, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Waters of Death, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Spider, by Hanns Heinz Ewers Who Knows?, by Guy de Maupassant ...
Well, it’s the last day of the year, so it’s time for a quick wrap-up of the most important things that happened in 2024 for urbanism and transport in our city. A huge thank you to everyone who has visited the blog and supported us in our mission to make ...
Leave your office, run past your funeralLeave your home, car, leave your pulpitJoin us in the streets where weJoin us in the streets where weDon't belong, don't belongHere under the starsThrowing light…Song: Jeffery BuckleyToday, I’ll discuss the standout politicians of the last 12 months. Each party will receive three awards, ...
Hi,A lot’s happened this year in the world of Webworm, and as 2024 comes to an end I thought I’d look back at a few of the things that popped. Maybe you missed them, or you might want to revisit some of these essay and podcast episodes over your break ...
Hi,I wanted to share this piece by film editor Dan Kircher about what cinema has been up to in 2024.Dan edited my documentary Mister Organ, as well as this year’s excellent crowd-pleasing Bookworm.Dan adores movies. He gets the language of cinema, he knows what he loves, and writes accordingly. And ...
Without delving into personal details but in order to give readers a sense of the year that was, I thought I would offer the study in contrasts that are Xmas 2023 and Xmas 2024: Xmas 2023 in Starship Children’s Hospital (after third of four surgeries). Even opening presents was an ...
The Green Party has welcomed the provisional ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, and reiterated its call for New Zealand to push for an end to the unlawful occupation of Palestine. ...
The Green Party welcomes the extension of the deadline for Treaty Principles Bill submissions but continues to call on the Government to abandon the Bill. ...
Complaints about disruptive behaviour now handled in around 13 days (down from around 60 days a year ago) 553 Section 55A notices issued by Kāinga Ora since July 2024, up from 41 issued during the same period in the previous year. Of that 553, first notices made up around 83 ...
The time it takes to process building determinations has improved significantly over the last year which means fewer delays in homes being built, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “New Zealand has a persistent shortage of houses. Making it easier and quicker for new homes to be built will ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is pleased to announce the annual list of New Zealand’s most popular baby names for 2024. “For the second consecutive year, Noah has claimed the top spot for boys with 250 babies sharing the name, while Isla has returned to the most popular ...
Work is set to get underway on a new bus station at Westgate this week. A contract has been awarded to HEB Construction to start a package of enabling works to get the site ready in advance of main construction beginning in mid-2025, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“A new Westgate ...
Minister for Children and for Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour is encouraging people to use the resources available to them to get help, and to report instances of family and sexual violence amongst their friends, families, and loved ones who are in need. “The death of a ...
Uia te pō, rangahaua te pō, whakamāramatia mai he aha tō tango, he aha tō kāwhaki? Whitirere ki te ao, tirotiro kau au, kei hea taku rātā whakamarumaru i te au o te pakanga mo te mana motuhake? Au te pō, ngū te pō, ue hā! E te kahurangi māreikura, ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says people with diabetes and other painful conditions will benefit from a significant new qualification to boost training in foot care. “It sounds simple, but quality and regular foot and nail care is vital in preventing potentially serious complications from diabetes, like blisters or sores, which can take a long time to heal ...
Associate Health Minister with responsibility for Pharmac David Seymour is pleased to see Pharmac continue to increase availability of medicines for Kiwis with the government’s largest ever investment in Pharmac. “Pharmac operates independently, but it must work within the budget constraints set by the government,” says Mr Seymour. “When this government assumed ...
Mā mua ka kite a muri, mā muri ka ora e mua - Those who lead give sight to those who follow, those who follow give life to those who lead. Māori recipients in the New Year 2025 Honours list show comprehensive dedication to improving communities across the motu that ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is wishing all New Zealanders a great holiday season as Kiwis prepare for gatherings with friends and families to see in the New Year. It is a great time of year to remind everyone to stay fire safe over the summer. “I know ...
A year out from leaving the bear pit that is the pinnacle of our democracy, I have returned to something familiar. A working life in litigation, mainly in employment law, has brought me full circle, refreshed old skills and exposed me to some realities and values which have stunned me.But ...
2025 is the Year of the Snake, so it should be another productive year for the David Seymours of the world by which I mean of course people with an enigmatic and introspective nature. Those born in previous Snake years – 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001 – will flourish in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney The acclaimed American filmmaker David Lynch has died at the age of 78. While a cause of death has yet to be publicly announced, Lynch, a lifelong tobacco enthusiast, revealed ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Monika Ferguson, Senior Lecturer in Mental Health, University of South Australia People presenting at emergency with mental health concerns are experiencing the longest wait times in Australia for admission to a ward, according to a new report from the Australasian College of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anthony Blazevich, Professor of Biomechanics, Edith Cowan University We’re nearing the halfway point of this year’s Australian Open and players like the United States’ Reilly Opelka (ranked 170th in the world ) and France’s Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (ranked 30th) captured plenty of ...
Asia Pacific Report Four researchers and authors from the Asia-Pacific region have provided diverse perspectives on the media in a new global book on intercultural communication. The Sage Handbook of Intercultural Communication published this week offers a global, interdisciplinary, and contextual approach to understanding the complexities of intercultural communication in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Benjamin T. Jones, Senior Lecturer in History, CQUniversity Australia In his farewell address, outgoing US President Joe Biden warned “an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy”. The comment suggests ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hrvoje Tkalčić, Professor, Head of Geophysics, Director of Warramunga Array, Australian National University A map showing the ‘Martian dichotomy’: the southern highlands are in yellows and oranges, the northern lowlands in blues and greens.NASA / JPL / USGS Mars is home ...
A new poem by Niamh Hollis-Locke.Field-notes: Midsummer, 9pm, walking barefoot in the reserve after a storm, the sky still light, the city strung out across backs of the hills Dunes of last week’s cut grass washed downslope against the bracken, drifts of pale wet stems rotting into one ...
The poll, conducted between 9-13 January, shows National down 4.6 points to 29.6%, while Labour have risen 4.0 points from last month, overtaking them with30.9%. ...
As the world farewells visionary director David Lynch, we return to this 2017 piece by Angela Cuming about escaping into the haunting world of Twin Peaks. I was only 10 years old when Twin Peaks – and the real world – found me.Once a week, in the dark, I ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marc C-Scott, Associate Professor of Screen Media | Deputy Associate Dean of Learning & Teaching, Victoria University Screenshot/YouTube The 2025 Australian Open (AO) broadcast may seem similar to previous years if you’re watching on the television. However, if you’re watching online ...
By Anish Chand in Suva A Fiji community human rights coalition has called on Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka to halt his “reckless expansion” of government and refocus on addressing Fiji’s pressing challenges. The NGO Coalition on Human Rights (NGOCHR) said it was outraged by the abrupt and arbitrary reshuffling of ...
A selection of the best shows, movies, podcasts and playlists that kept us entertained over the holidays. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here.Leo (Netflix) My partner and I watched exactly one thing on the TV in our Japan accommodation while ...
Toby Manhire tells you everything you need to know ahead of season two of Severance.After an agonising wait – nearly three years between waffles, thanks to US actor and writer strikes and, some say, creative squabbles – Severance returns today, Friday January 17. For my money the first season ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a 32-year-old mother of a one-year-old shares her approach to spending and saving. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Female. Age: 32. Ethnicity: East Asian – NZ ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Talia Fell, PhD Candidate, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland The Los Angeles wildfires are causing the devastating loss of people’s homes. From A-list celebrities such as Paris Hilton to an Australian family living in LA, thousands ...
The outgoing and incoming presidents have both claimed credit for the historic deal, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund for The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Finally, some good fucking news. The Friday Poem is back! Last year, The Spinoff leveled with its audience about the financial reality it faced and called for support from its audience. Some tough decisions were made at the time including cuts to our commissioning budget and the discontinuation of The ...
The soon-to-be deputy PM has already had a crucial win behind the scenes. First published in Henry Cooke’s politics newsletter, Museum Street. Margaret Thatcher used to love prime minister’s questions. If you’re not familiar, the UK parliamentary system has a weekly procedure where the prime minister is subject to at least ...
Summer reissue: The current coalition not lasting beyond this parliamentary term is an idea that’s been seized on by its opponents. History suggests it’s unlikely – but not impossible. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor in Port Vila More than 180,000 registered voters are expected to cast their votes today with polls now open in Vanuatu. It is remarkable the snap election is even able to happen with Friday marking one month since the 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck the ...
New Zealand needs to boost its productivity growth and become more attractive and accessible as a workplace in order to fix its labour market woes, a recruitment agency says.Commenting on new salary survey results from Robert Walters, Shay Peters, the company’s Australia and New Zealand chief executive, says the Government ...
Comment: When Newsroom’s editor Jonathan Milne invited me to write one of two special pieces for the summer break, I faced quite the conundrum. My options were to either review a work of non-fiction or write a column about hope and optimism for 2025.I initially misread Jonathan’s request to review ...
By Daniel Perese of Te Ao Māori News Māori politicians across the political spectrum in Aotearoa New Zealand have called for immediate aid to enter Gaza following a temporary ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel. The ceasefire, agreed yesterday, comes into effect on Sunday, January 19. Foreign Minister Winston Peters ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Sherlock, Lecturer, School of Fashion and Textiles, RMIT University Australian-owned brand UGG Since 1974 has announced it will change its name to “Since 74” for sales outside Australia and New Zealand. There has been a long-running battle over the rights ...
The committee has agreed to split into two sub-committees to increase the number of people it can hear from in the time available. Each sub-committee will meet for 30 hours total, together making up 60 of the 80 planned hours of hearings. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Parmeter, Research scholar, Middle East studies, Australian National University The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, to come into effect on Sunday, has understandably been welcomed by the overwhelming majority of Israelis and Palestinians. Israelis are relieved that a process for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christine Carson, Senior Research Fellow, School of Medicine, The University of Western Australia Over the past several days, the world has watched on in shock as wildfires have devastated large parts of Los Angeles. Beyond the obvious destruction – to landscapes, homes, ...
http://www.salon.com/2015/06/12/the_democrats_tpp_rebellion_just_drew_blood_everything_you_need_to_know_about_todays_shocking_vote/
Democrats have rebelled on the TPP/fast track, and its passing is looking less and less likely. Nancy Pelosi, House Democratic leader is not supportive. Hopefully Democrats retain some backbone, which is a bit less likely…
It’s a bit funny how Democrats are almost unanimously opposing Obama. Pretty embarrasing for him – even the Republican Party can’t garner full support because Tea Party Republicans don’t want to give Obama more power.
… activists are celebrating a pyrrhic victory today as Fast Track was apparently blocked in the House of Representatives by a coalition of Democrats and Republicans.
The truth is that only its companion bill, the Trade Adjustment Assistance bill (TAA), was defeated in the House. The Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), i.e. the Fast Track legislation, was passed by a small margin of votes (219-211). But, due to the fact that these two bills were passed as one bill in the Senate, both need to be passed in the House before either becomes law. Fast Track has been sidelined for now, but it will be back soon to bite us.
What isn’t being widely disseminated is that it is likely that the TAA will be voted on again next week. This vote (or one further down the road) will decide whether or not the TAA is passed and if Fast Track will be the means by which the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will be voted on in Congress once Obama finishes negotiating the deal with his counterparts.
More at
http://us6.camp aign-archive1.com/?u=ffdc278104b5964bb04b4251e&id=eb83cb3a87&e=f36be083ee
still time for some dissenters to be bought off, like a few weeks ago, when those changing their minds miraculously received donations for their upcoming re-election campaigns.i
Only an increase in campaign donations required to pass this. It’s always about the money.
Reposted from OM – late last night:
The following is purported to be an excerpt from Hooten’s latest NBR article. It concerns the Think Tank named “Progress” to be set up by Pagani, Leggett, Quinn and co. If the ‘quote’ is accurate (comes from blubber boy’s site which we don’t link to here) then it means someone has YET AGAIN leaked… this time last week’s caucus meeting:
Setting aside Hooten’s snide dig at Annette King (he can’t help himself and it will bring him down one day) this is becoming an intolerable situation. I’m inclined to agree with Louisa Wall and Megan Woods….
In the leaked electoral review document it talked about the “harsher” kind of discipline that could also be summed up as “Mr.Little kept his own counsel”. Anything Hooten says, implies or incites that Labour is, or should do, is wrong.
There will be leaks. There will be problems. Labour will do everything except change their name to The Lational Party in order to lose voter support between now and 2017. It isn’t intolerable. Don’t be fooled. Support the positive message of the important socially-cohesive issues.
Charles, I’m not supporting anything Hooten says/implies Labour should say or do. I long ago saw through his often spurious commentary. But if this is what happened then someone has leaked confidential caucus matters and it has ended up in Hooten’s hands. Whoever it was, did so with spiteful intent. It IS intolerable and caucus must stamp out this leaking forthwith. Every time it happens it gives the Nats and their media acolytes another chance to consolidate the perception Labour is a party racked with division. The truth is that under Little it is now a very united caucus but clearly there is still at least one maverick present.
I have no qualms about Little keeping his own counsel. In matters of a similar nature Helen Clark did the same thing. That is, keep the leader as free as possible from controversy and let other senior caucus personnel do the talking.
If looking for leaks from caucus I’d first look at the MP linked with the Pagani/Quin group, and that is Stuart Nash.
I read somewhere that Nash was approached by the Pagani/Quin group but he turned down any involvement in the project. But who knows what the truth really is…
This continual leaking needs to dealt with. Find the leaker and expel them from the party. No if’s, No but’s, No amnesties!
The leaker in this instance is the party who walked away from the meeting unhappy, namely Pagani and co, who coincidentally have very strong connections to Hooten, Slater, and Farrar and it is those people who continually quote Quin and Pagani and Nash and Davis as the divine way forward for the centre, centre left in New Zealand.
All the other leak problems within Labour have come from this same right-of-left group of people who have ambition but no power (the only power they weald is the ability to squeal to Cameron Slater when they don’t get their way).
The question is, are these people still useful? If so then something will have to be done to include them and create one message. Otherwise, expel them. Out of the current crop of leaders, Little seems the most likely to be able to achieve it.
Let’s see … Pagani would have been quite happy that it leaked so that she and her project get more publicity? And the leaker’s ambition exceeds his/her own power or influence (or intelligence) and is aiming at creating more mischief and damage?
Spot on Kiwiri.
and she gets portrayed as victimised, which seems to be a perpetual broken record mantra
and so the recent revelations of problems in National’s caucus have faded away to be replaced by LP problems… and who is helping fan that fire? Why Hooton and WO…
Those doyens of truth and justice.
🙄
And Phil Quin and Josie Pagani have been adding extra fuel. Don’t forget WO’s links to Pagani, and Stuart Nash’s links to Simon Lush. Quin was a major part of the anti Cunliffe movement.
The reality is Tracey Labour has not been so unified since the Clark days. I’m 90% sure the right wing Nat. hump of mischief-makers have been egging the Pagani/Quin crowd on. I’d go so far as to say that Pagani and co. spend more time socialising with them than they do with anyone from the L.P.
It sounds like Annette King took intense umbridge with whatever Pagani was saying when the LP leadership met her and Leggett recently. In 2013/14 whenever Pagani was on TV or radio slagging off the LP membership, I wanted to swipe her across the face I felt so angry and insulted. I think it might have happened to Annette only she was able to curb any temptation to do the same. 🙂
Hooton just said that all parties have factions within them… you wouldn’t know it from the media or other things he writes.
So who in the Nat caucus is the women faction, the gay faction, the left faction, the right faction, the whatever faction?
I have to agree with Hooton (well, I don’t have to, I choose to). Annette King has probably done her dash. not cos of her age but her roots and connection to the old days… OTOH she does seem to ably represent those of middle NZ that Hooton and Williams say LP needs back… so Hoots also kind of contradicts himself.
Update on global push for a cashless society – need to keep people informed about this and how it can be used to steal from the population. This particular update is from Chris Martenson, one of the most rational futurists around.
Not even a lapsed Catholic, but this current Pope is making my day with his latest papal letter, due to be released on Thursday: Explosive Intervention by Pope set to transform climate change debate.
Incredible.
Pope Francis will call for an ethical and economic revolution to prevent catastrophic climate change and growing inequality in a letter to the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics on Thursday.
In an unprecedented encyclical on the subject of the environment, the pontiff is expected to argue that humanity’s exploitation of the planet’s resources has crossed the Earth’s natural boundaries, and that the world faces ruin without a revolution in hearts and minds. The much-anticipated message, which will be sent to the world’s 5,000 Catholic bishops, will be published online in five languages on Thursday and is expected to be the most radical statement yet from the outspoken pontiff.
More locally, according to NewstalkZB, James Shaw is about to announce some new GP initiatives around CC today.
The pope is “aiming at a change of heart. What will save us is not technology or science. What will save us is the ethical transformation of our society,” said Carmelite Father Eduardo Agosta Scarel, a climate scientist who teaches at the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina in Buenos Aires.
This.
Ironic that it’s coming from one of the more conservative parts of society.
Whilst there are many conservative catholics.
There are many radicals also… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Day
A powerful group within catholicism at this point, is this group.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_theology
My favourite irony at the moment, is the republicans running in the primaries who call themselves catholics – they are having extreme difficulty connecting with the majority of catholic in the USA. Indeed some church leaders have asked, some very difficult questions – it’s been great.
It’s not for nothing that we lapsed catholics call him the PR Pope.
It’s just another strategy designed to revive a degraded institution; other examples are the United States presidency and the royal family.
Re. TPP
The truth is that only its companion bill, the Trade Adjustment Assistance bill (TAA), was defeated in the House. The Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), i.e. the Fast Track legislation, was passed by a small margin of votes (219-211). But, due to the fact that these two bills were passed as one bill in the Senate, both need to be passed in the House before either becomes law. Fast Track has been sidelined for now, but it will be back soon to bite us.
What isn’t being widely disseminated is that it is likely that the TAA will be voted on again next week. This vote (or one further down the road) will decide whether or not the TAA is passed and if Fast Track will be the means by which the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will be voted on in Congress once Obama finishes negotiating the deal with his counterparts.
http://us6.campaign-archive1.com/?u=ffdc278104b5964bb04b4251e&id=eb83cb3a87&e=f36be083ee
[lprent: Please don’t put up near identical comments, especially under different handles. It makes me immediately think that you are an astroturfer. Nobody likes them, especially me. I fixed up your link. ]
[They were both stuck in span and I released both and intended to then delete one but didn’t get round to it – MS]
Aargh .. double post. Apologies ..
Thanks .. good to see are up. I posted an apology which did not appear.
Too much caffeine in my system, and on-screen responsiveness seemed slow.
It’s might be the old laptop I’m using at the moment.
The server will have been slightly more sluggish this morning. Added two more disks to the main TS array. Means that the cache both locally (memcache) and overseas (CDN) got flushed. It will be rebuilding this morning as people requested static data from various browsers and devices. It usually takes 3-4 hours of NZ day traffic to get to steady state again.
White Man Behind A Desk was on Media Take last week. Starts at 14 mins, but the whole show is worth a watch for its look at NZ satire and news.
http://www.maoritelevision.com/tv/shows/media-take/S02E012/media-take-series-2-episode-12
Thanks Weka-excellent.
We are experiencing the delicious irony that Maori now make by far the best stuff on TV while Pakeha, with all their supposed knowledge and hugely superior resources, mostly make total crap.
Next Maori will be out-thinking Pakeha on the battlefield…..oh I forgot they’ve already done that.
Gorgeous photo of Gerry Brownlee on Stuff. Obviously dashed over to rally the troops. Cap, check. Dashing shades, check. FLAK JACKET! Check. A copy will be going on my wall for when I need a good belly(pun intended) laugh. The article is on obesity in the forces. Oh, the irony! Mr Brownlee declined to comment. His mouth was full of doughnut at the time. When I first read this the article commented that Admiral Brownlee had an above average BMI himself (think HUGE) but this has been deleted. Would his flak jacket have had to be especially made? If so, at what cost.?
Gerry doesn’t need a flak jacket because he can dodge Airport Security and bullets better than Neo in The Matrix. The pièce de résistance is, of course, the little white Kiwi on his cap [fully intentional pun]. Aren’t all National MPs made of Teflon and Kevlar but not of blood & bones?
Oh hell NZ’s version of the Bacon Sandwich
Phil Twyford @PhilTwyford 1h1 hour ago
“Nick Smith won’t debate me on @NZQandA but demands unchallenged right of reply after my interview.
He’s under pressure.”
Just saw this tweet. How come Smith is allowed to dictate the terms for an appearance on a current affairs show?
Because Dr Smith was born to rule and everybody else was born to be ruled.
Because political coverage is unbiased in NZ
Derek Fox’s appearance on this mornings Marae was a fucking disgrace.
what did he do?
When it’s available I’ll put the link up but shorter – former domestic violence perpetrator and alleged harasser of women shows true self when confronted by a woman.
ta.
The Miriama Kamo interview with Fox.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/ondemand/marae/14-06-2015/series-2015-episode-16
Ondemand now requires registration so that TVNZ can sell your details to its advertisers:
So, not watched.
Same.
So longer – when Miriama Kamo took Fox to task about irregularities and lack of transparency in Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust he became quite confrontational.
But when he was challenged about his defence of the irregularities and lack of transparency he reacted with such hostility I was half expecting him to lose whatever self control he had left and vault the desk.
Thanks got it running in the background and yes he is a disgrace.
Worth watching
http://renegadeinc.com/another-economic-crash-is-coming-how-did-this-happen/#autoplay
Of course another crash is coming. Nothings been done to change the financial system from the failure it was in 2008 so it was inevitable that it would fail again and inevitable that it would be another housing crisis that triggered it.
in fact the Too Big To Fail banks are today even more massive and more over leveraged, than they were in 2008
If I can paraphrase Peter Schiff, we haven’t had the real crash yet, but it is coming. He also talks about a US dollar crisis. Once other countries lose faith in the US dollar and stop lending them money (because they know the US is in so much debt they won’t be able to pay the money back) then they really are in trouble. China is already moving away from the US dollar.
This from an Action Station email a few days ago,
Why would JC even bother with TV3 after the way they treated him. We want hin on Radio NZ 9-noon slot.
Some recent additions, hopefully of interest, on Redline blog:
The West on the rampage (1997, but highly relevant): https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/06/13/from-the-vaults-the-wet-on-the-rampage-1997/
Review of New Zealand and the New World (Dis)Order: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/06/12/from-the-vaults-new-zealand-and-the-new-world-disorder-reviewe1997/
New Zealand nationalism, racism and the immigration non-debate: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/06/11/nz-nationalism-racism-and-the-immigration-non-debate/
Ireland: “the class struggle is the source of the national struggle” – interview with eirigi general-secretary Brendan Mac Cionnaith: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/06/12/ireland-the-class-struggle-is-the-source-of-the-national-struggle/
And an excellent piece by James Heartfield on the postmodern abyss from a quarter of a century ago: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/06/10/from-the-vaults-staring-into-the-postmodern-abyss-1990/
James Shaw:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/69371923/green-party-wants-climate-test-for-new-laws
That is a great idea.
I think so.
Here’s the full speech transcript.
https://www.greens.org.nz/news/speeches/green-party-co-leader-james-shaw%E2%80%99s-speech-asia-pacific-green-federation-congress
I was working for PriceWaterhouseCoopers. It’s a global consultancy firm.
At the time there was this fake debate in politics and in the media, about whether climate change was real or a hoax.
You had all these scientists debating energy lobbyists who were pretending to be scientists.
Politicians were saying ‘Well, we just don’t know who to believe. The science is disputed.’
But some businesses had to take climate change seriously because their profits depended on scientific modelling and long term forecasts.
Like insurance companies, which rely on accurate actuarial forecasts.
I read this report commissioned by the insurance industry on the long terms effects of climate change.
It did some projections based on the available data and it was all very calm and methodical.
And it concluded that the cumulative impact of extreme weather events and flooding caused by climate change would cause such catastrophic damage to property and loss of lives over the upcoming decades that it would bankrupt the entire insurance industry by the year 2050.
That report was commissioned by ReMunich (by the way one of the largest reinsurers in the business) and they have been actively pursing policies to combat AGW ever since because they realise that if BAU continues the insurance industry is stuffed – people will not be able to bear the cost of insuring – so no insurance companies anymore. Essentially they are right. Report released today on Scientific American notes we are already committed to 5m of SLR. 🙁
That’s a bloody good speech.
This is the essence of Green government: smart, strategic policies that slowly but surely lead to transformational change.
That is a little weird, Greens cannot introduce any bills unless they suddenly become a government. I presume what he is saying is that they will submit a private members bill into the ballot system. it will sit there until such time as it gets drawn which may never happen. Lot of other bills in there and when they are drawn it depends on the government whether the bill proceeds. This bill would require expenditure so most unlikely to happen.
If you read either the Stuff link or the speech, they both talk about a Private Members Bill.
What expenditure?
Climate Impact Disclosure Statement
Ensuring every new piece of legislation acknowledges the reality and costs of climate change.
Green Party Co-leader James Shaw has released a Member’s Bill to require all Government legislation to have a Climate Impact Disclosure Statement – a report, prepared by the Ministry for the Environment, that outlines the likely impact of the legislation on the climate.
This means that when a bill is introduced, all MPs, and the public, will get to learn the likely implications of the legislation on New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions and/or New Zealand’s ability to meet its international greenhouse gas reduction target. It will also detail any relationship between the legislation and the Climate Change Response Act.
It’s a way to ensure that in the development of legislation, climate is a key consideration. It will also give opposition parties good information to hold the Government to account on climate issues.
Climate change is the biggest issue. We need to be thinking about it when we’re introducing new laws. We need to know the cost of legislation on our climate.
By ensuring every new piece of legislation acknowledges the reality and costs of climate change, we will see a cumulative, gradual effect – having parliament thinking about our climate all of the time.
https://www.greens.org.nz/policy/cleaner-environment/climate-impact-disclosure-statement
If every bill requires a disclosure statement about Climate effect then whom are you supposing will provide that research at no charge. If it requires a government department or even non government service to provide a service that requires money then the bill is immediately defeated as only ministers can introduce bills that require expenditure.
Also to introduce a bill into parliament when you are not a minister requires the bill to be submitted to the ballot. The bills can only be debated on Wednesday’s and only 8 bills can be in the ballot on any Wednesday. Bills are withdrawn from the box by ballot and if a bill wins the ballot it can then be debated. Until such time as Government outvotes the bill then it dies.
You can read about bills here http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/pb/legislation/proposed-bills
All this could be avoided if National decided to adopt the bill and I guess it is possible that Greens and National have agreed to do this.
Re the disclosure statements, read the links, it’s explained there.
This is win/win for the GP. It continues their agenda of raising awareness of CC. If the Bill gets selected, then there are a whole bunch of opportunities to raise awareness whether National support it or not. We’re past the point where government can ignore this, too many people are waking up to reality.
Have read and in the first line it states it will require the Ministry of Environment to provide the disclosure. That surely requires them to spend money and it is not permissible for a bill to proceed if it requires expenditure unless the government picks up the bill and take it over.
Basically it seems like grandstanding to enter a bill into the ballot with the knowledge that it would be ruled out as soon as the government want to.
This is despite the rules that govern private members bills. Read the parliamentary url I gave you and you will see there is little chance of it getting near the ballot. Of course maybe some of those Green bills already in the system could be withdrawn that might help.
Can you please link to the bit about expenditure?
Its in your previous comment but here it is again from the actual Green media release. It requires a government department to prepare a report for every piece of Government Legislation.
I dont know if you have ever worked for a State Department but that report will cost a lot of money. They do not have staff sitting around just waiting for work. It would require a lot of research and that would mean staff needing to travel possibly and hours of work to pull it together.
I asked you before who do you think will pay for that. If you are suggesting that it will just be picked up by the department then it is expenditure and is not allowed in a members private bill.
“I asked you before who do you think will pay for that. If you are suggesting that it will just be picked up by the department then it is expenditure and is not allowed in a members private bill.”
I’m not suggesting it, James Shaw is stating it.
I’m asking for a citation that a bill like this won’t be allowed because of expenditure.
Sheeezus, the government of the day funds Ministeries and Departments to carry out their statutory duties via the Budget. The funding is not defined in the bloody legislation.
Good grief Do they not teach anything in schools these days. The Parliamentary system requires that only governments can commit expenditure. It would be chaos of it was otherwise. Why do you think we have a budget? And then a budget debate. Governments expend opositions critique.
If a government cannot get a finance bill past parliament they effectively resign.
Don’t take my word go do some research I just hope that the Greens are not as naive as some of its supporters.
All I’m asking is that you explain what you are talking about. You obviously can’t do that, and now just look like someone trying to undermine the GP.
How is this Bill any different than other Members’ bills that would require expenditure?
The GP have been in parliament a very long time. Stop being a trole and address the issues.
The New Medical Cannabis based charitable trust has just been registered, and is seeking donations.
Please donate and spread the word if you support legal access to safe, effective and afforable cannabis derived medicines.
http://unitedincompassion.org.nz/2015/06/13/united-in-compassion-is-officially-registered-and-seeking-donations/
Having pasted the interview with Dame Sylvia Cartwright, (Inside Story A9 Herald Saturday- David Fisher) in my scrapbook I then had a bit of a browse and came across this clipping from Finlay MacDonald SST 2009
Still makes interesting reading in 2015, nothing changes.
Cut the waffle and answer the question | Stuff.co.nz
Jul 19, 2009 … For those readers who missed John Key’s speech last week about New Zealand’s economy, here’s a quick summary: Bla bla bla productivity …
http://tinyurl.com/n9b3eke
Great to see Helen Clark interviewed at length by Oksana Boyko on Worlds Apart-RT television,Sunday night. Her depth of intellect, sincerity and grasp of the issues is such a contrast to our current PM.
Link for the above interview
http://rt.com/shows/worlds-apart-oksana-boyko/ Helen Clark
Holy crap thanks very much for the link; and I like Oksana Boyko too.