Some major brands, which had been promoted as gangster chic, have taken a PR hit as a result of being the main target for looters in the UK riots. Adidas & Nike are a couple of those brands. Now the corporates that own these brands are scrambling to develop counter-PR strategies. Meanwhile, some marketers are looking for further ways to exploit the associations with looting and the riots for more intensive gangster chic marketing.
Branding experts are warning that the riots are a wake-up call for the fashion brands that JD Sports stocks. They have cultivated a “gangster chic” image and found themselves targeted by looters across the country. Mark Borkowski, a PR and branding expert, said that image was now coming back to haunt them.
[…]
Borkowski said brands have been aligning themselves with gang and criminal culture for decades but ramped up their association with less clean-cut figures in recent years.
Adidas will next week launch an advertising campaign featuring rapper, gang member and convicted criminal Snoop Dogg. The Adidas Originals advert also stars fellow US rapper Big Sean, who was charged with sexual assault last week.
[..]
Ritson agrees that the most-stolen brands will receive “extra street cred” from their association with the riots and looting.
“Some brands may acquire extra street cred because they were part of it [the unrest],” he said. “It’s remarkable, but for brands that are targeted at the young, pissing off a lot of older people will actual increase the brands’ appeal to the young.”
With all the arrests the next fashion is likely to be Black Bloc…
What this entails is covering everything in black including the face, working to established and known anti police and anti arrest tactics in unison without leadership, and not knowing or being able to incriminate your fellow rioter.
“What is happening to our young people? They disrespect their elders, they disobey their parents. They ignore the law. They riot in the streets inflamed with wild notions. Their morals are decaying. What is to become of them?”
I s’pose civilizations have had similar problems throughout history. Many of the comments out of Rome prior to its slow decline are indistinguishable from what you read today on blogs and letters to the editor.
“The riots are the apotheosis of the welfare state and popular culture in their British form. A population thinks (because it has often been told so by intellectuals and the political class) that it is entitled to a high standard of consumption, irrespective of its personal efforts; and therefore it regards the fact that it does not receive that high standard, by comparison with the rest of society, as a sign of injustice. It believes itself deprived (because it has often been told so by intellectuals and the political class), even though each member of it has received an education costing $80,000, toward which neither he nor—quite likely—any member of his family has made much of a contribution;”
I’ve highlighted the bits I disagree with. The pronouncements of intellectuals and the political class (at least one part of it)’ and so-called welfare dependency are not the issue in so many ways it’s hard to know where to start. But I’ll try.
First, welfare systems existed long before so-called ‘intellectuals’ were supposedly telling anyone they had a right to a “high standard of consumption” and didn’t lead to these kinds of riots.
Second, most ‘intellectuals’ and many left-wing politicians have decried the focus on consumption and wealth as the measure of a person. There is so much critical literature on consumer capitalism I barely know where to start.
Third, missing from this analysis are those other – apparently innocent – purveyors of the values of consumerism: marketing(!!! – hint, it’s the whole point of marketing!), advertising, PR and right wing politicians – such as Richard Prebble who said on Nat Rad, after the 1997 Asian crisis, that anyone (like the Greens) advocating against consumption were ‘traitors’, and George Bush persuading Americans to show the terrorists what for after 9/11 by going shopping!! Consumerist, self-centred lives – welcome to late capitalism.
The only critical and informed appraisal of consumerism and materialist, individualist, me-first values and ideology has consistently been from the left.
Notice also, that the so-called cause of all modern problems – lefty-liberal 60s/70s ideology – only came along after a post-War economic boom and decades of attempts on the part of industry and the state via the advertisers/marketers deliberately to shift values away from ‘production values’ (work, save, be watchful of expenditure) and towards consumption values (self-focus, immediate gratification, hedonism, ok with debt).
It’s been deliberate, grumpy – and not on behalf of the ‘intellectuals’. Weren’t you aware of that?
There is a lovely label on the last point of the article fundamentalist consumerism ….gets you thinking does it not? Gotta have the latest, the label, the look….all of which transcend the individual.
In 2007 in the USA there was $773,000,000,000 ($773 billion) in circulation.
In 2011 in the USA there is $1,030,000,000,000 ($1.03 trillion) in circulation.
There is now one third more printed money in existence.
The Federal Reserve (that privately owned organisation tasked with money manufacture in the US) in 2007 owned $985,000,000,000 ($985 billion) in assets.
In 2011 it owns $2,850,000,000,000 ($2.85 trillion) in assets. These were bought with money that it printed.
Just some minor wee facts for a Sunday morning pondering ……………………
Not forgetting those figures are all in USD. Which obviously isn’t worth as much as it used to be for printing reasons. The price of GOLD directly reflects the ongoing debasement of the USD.
Now here’s the question which really screws things up.
If there is an extra $230B in circulation, but the Fed printed an extra ~$1900B to buy those dodgy assets…who pocketed the difference???.
I wonder if you are reading the same websites as I am 🙂
Former Governor General, Sir Paul Reeves has died.
I guess that means a certain person who is making a big campaign speech – ostensibly to the Party faithful – will not make the No.1 spot on the TV news this evening. That will p–s him off!
We have lost a good hardworking thoughtful and principled man now that Sir Paul Reeves has died, ex Governor General and worker for a good constitution for Fiji, that was bypassed on spurious grounds by coup leaders. He was trying to help them fromulate a constitution that would ensure their diverse nationalities all had a voice but no outright monopoly.
He was trying to help them formulate a constitution that would ensure their diverse nationalities all had a voice but no outright monopoly.
Agree prism.
I guess he was too good for Fiji’s coup leaders.
I watched TV One’s presentation of his life and times, and was glad to be reminded he stood up to the Rogernomes in the late 1980s when it was fashionable to be a Rogernome. That took courage which he had in abundance. It’s the people who have such courage in the face of adversity who are remembered by history – not the hypocrites who pander to the lowest common denominator.
note this little piece of info regarding policy for voting on the straw poll
(there is nothing better then *cough* free elections *cough cough* )
“The poll results are nonbinding, amount to a popularity contest and offer candidates a chance to test their get-out-the-vote organizations. Those willing to shell out $30 for a ticket were eligible to vote, though some campaigns paid for tickets they distributed to backers”
Mortgage-lending companies that lobbied prior to the financial crisis generally engaged in riskier lending practices, according to the report, and they were more likely to be bailed out. “Sixteen of the twenty lenders that spent the most on lobbying between 2000 and 2006” received bailout funds, with 60% of funds allocated under TARP going to lenders that lobbied on specific issues.
Without greater disclosure of the activities on which lenders lobbied, the authors could not determine whether mortgage lenders lobbied to gain preferential treatment or to share information with decision-makers. (It could be both.)
We definitely need rules concerning lobbying and lobbyists. We need to know who they are, who they’re working for and what they’re lobbying for at the very least.
Yes. And just as importantly a full review and tighten up of the rules around both private/public campaign financing and media funding.
Multimillion dollar private campaign funding and unlimited corporate speech through the mass media has been the death knell of US politics.
I have posted this before re: the subprime mortgage regulation failure, just making sure you had seen it. The FBI blew the whistle on this in 2004 and they were ignored.
thats right draco. at the moment we are being chivvvied around by a privileged group that feels it does not have to abide by any rules whatsoever and as they are the distributors of largesse the government sees no need to form any rules for them either.
I just have one question, is releasing part of your policy before the election and labeling it a ‘plank’ a freudian slip alluding to the intellectual capacity of your leader, your caucus, the press or your voters?
I was always under the impression a plank was a piece of milled lumber… must just be me haha
Now correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t National promise to close the wage gap between New Zealand and Australia? I seem to recall them campaigning on that promise. Unfortunately because of their archaic policies, that gap is now increasing twice as fast under National, but try telling John Key et al that.
i remember something along those lines
i also remember no increase in g.s.t., now higher
north of $50 a week tax cuts became living costs increases
and the creating jobs policy also seems to have fallen victim to reverse land.
john Key has super powers allright, he is the anti-man
Now National can spend millions on controlling what young people buy and paying their rents. Makes fluorescent light bulbs look rather insignificant in terms of the super nanny state John Key wants to implement eh!
We spend x billion on welfare but children are still living in poverty.
What about spending 2x billion on welfare and then children will be well and truly out of poverty.
However the rich give x billion instead to the top money earners and they salt it away in other economies. Put that x billion extra at the lower end of beneficiary/salary earners and it will recirculate in the New Zealand economy.
I was damned surprised. Mr Espiner does have it after all when he feels like pulling it out. Key: shifty and uncharismatic when he is not smiling and waving.
Have they suddenly realised their love affair with the self-serving Key and his NAct govt. has so impacted on the voters there’s going to be a Claytons’s campaign, and they won’t have anything to talk or write about?
Watched Q+A and was surprised.
Sadly, however, the TV1 news presentation of Joky Hen was delivered by a smiling Bernadine-sports-jock-Kirby and another novice journo so it was still the same old, same old. That said, if Guyon Espiner continues in this vein, then it has to be a positive (how do you get the sycophant Holmes to change though?)
My father – who has voted National without fail since the 70’s, rang me up today to say he was going off that “John Key’s”, who is apparently “giving all the money to Pita Sharples and only cares about big business not the people”… As an old school mechanic (we immigrated from Scotland in the late 70’s ) he can’t understand where all the young apprentices the govt used to send them (and pay half their wages) have gone, and since there is so much youth unemployment why cant they bring it back.. In anycase I nearly dropped the phone when he said he might even vote green “Because I like that wee man Norman, he doesnt want to sell the assets”…
Oh dear Salsy, where has your father been. What about the Labour “Stop Asset Sales” campaign that has been going for months. Did he miss it? Did you tell him that it’s always been National govts. who have cut back – or cut out – the apprentice schemes?
Anyway, if he votes for the Greens that’s great – so long as it’s the Left, but pssst.. don’t tell him that. 🙂
Consider if you will the huge amount of attention given when the Speaker of the House, Lockwood Smith, threw Hone Harawera out of Parliament. That story made the Six O’clock news and was the topic of heated debate for ages…
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The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
“Our exporters should, therefore, be deeply concerned that the Fast-track Approvals Bill was not assessed for consistency with any of our free trade commitments prior to being introduced to the House,” says Gary Taylor, Chief Executive of the Environmental ...
NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff is calling on all political parties to support the new Member’s Bill from Labour’s workplace relations and safety spokesperson Camilla Belich MP that would ensure negligent companies are held accountable when their employees ...
A historian with an uncanny track record of predicting US election winners tells RNZ's Sunday Morning that President Biden looks to be on track for another term, but things could still go very wrong for him. ...
A historian with a track record of predicting US election winners tells RNZ's Sunday Morning that President Biden looks to be on track for another term, but things could still go wrong for him. ...
Ngaio Marsh House is one of Christchurch’s best kept secrets – and contains more than a few mysteries of its own.Trust Ngaio Marsh to leave more than a few mysteries scattered through her house long after her departure. For a start, there’s the curious concrete portal in the garden, ...
Appointment viewing has been lost to the mists of time, but memories of Montana Sunday Theatre can still be conjured by hitting play on a particular piece of classical music. “You’re not going to be able to sell it.” Over 30 years on, Karen Bieleski still recalls how the task ...
Performance Review King Luxon sat behind His massive polished oak desk. It is Performance Review time. There is a knock on the door. “Enter!” says the King. In steps Minister of Disabilities and Carer Pedicures, Penny Simmonds. “I can explain everything …” she begins. “Fine,” says King Luxon, pressing the ...
The pair opened their first fully collaborative exhibition, Nina for Flowers, last Saturday. Gabi Lardies visited their studio to find out who Nina is and what working together was like.‘It didn’t start out like, ‘This is a show about Nina,’” says Josephine Jelicich, gripping a thermos of peppermint tea. ...
Thank you, Dr Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Benner, for your brilliant invention. I’m another mid-20s Kiwi who had an OE last year. I hopped on my bicycle where France meets the Atlantic and cycled east. I pedalled through the Loire Valley, down rivers lined with willows and ancient wisteria-draped chateaus. I relished ...
Asia Pacific Report From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps. And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
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 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
Nearly everyone has experienced the frustration of something you use breaking and being difficult or expensive to fix. Proposed legislation could change that. It’s been raining on and off all Sunday afternoon but people are lining up outside a building in a corner of Gribblehirst Park in Sandringham, Auckland. In ...
Some major brands, which had been promoted as gangster chic, have taken a PR hit as a result of being the main target for looters in the UK riots. Adidas & Nike are a couple of those brands. Now the corporates that own these brands are scrambling to develop counter-PR strategies. Meanwhile, some marketers are looking for further ways to exploit the associations with looting and the riots for more intensive gangster chic marketing.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/12/uk-riots-gangster-chic-brands
With all the arrests the next fashion is likely to be Black Bloc…
What this entails is covering everything in black including the face, working to established and known anti police and anti arrest tactics in unison without leadership, and not knowing or being able to incriminate your fellow rioter.
Black may become very chic.
And on the way to and from the gathering, simply put on a nice ADIDAS RWC top and pretend that you are a NZ rugby supporter!
“What is happening to our young people? They disrespect their elders, they disobey their parents. They ignore the law. They riot in the streets inflamed with wild notions. Their morals are decaying. What is to become of them?”
Plato, 4th Century BC
I s’pose civilizations have had similar problems throughout history. Many of the comments out of Rome prior to its slow decline are indistinguishable from what you read today on blogs and letters to the editor.
At least the Tory finance minister Osbourne has admitted the problems cause has been Deprivation in these communities BBC world news this morning!
Lowerstandard from Rome today Berlusconi raises tax by 10% on the rich by 7.5% on interest and shares!
8,000 Years of Anti-Social Behaviour
Definitely not something new, more than likely just enhanced with modernisation.
This, from a much better commentator…..
http://www.city-journal.org/2011/eon0810td.html
From your link:
“The riots are the apotheosis of the welfare state and popular culture in their British form. A population thinks (because it has often been told so by intellectuals and the political class) that it is entitled to a high standard of consumption, irrespective of its personal efforts; and therefore it regards the fact that it does not receive that high standard, by comparison with the rest of society, as a sign of injustice. It believes itself deprived (because it has often been told so by intellectuals and the political class), even though each member of it has received an education costing $80,000, toward which neither he nor—quite likely—any member of his family has made much of a contribution;”
I’ve highlighted the bits I disagree with. The pronouncements of intellectuals and the political class (at least one part of it)’ and so-called welfare dependency are not the issue in so many ways it’s hard to know where to start. But I’ll try.
First, welfare systems existed long before so-called ‘intellectuals’ were supposedly telling anyone they had a right to a “high standard of consumption” and didn’t lead to these kinds of riots.
Second, most ‘intellectuals’ and many left-wing politicians have decried the focus on consumption and wealth as the measure of a person. There is so much critical literature on consumer capitalism I barely know where to start.
Third, missing from this analysis are those other – apparently innocent – purveyors of the values of consumerism: marketing(!!! – hint, it’s the whole point of marketing!), advertising, PR and right wing politicians – such as Richard Prebble who said on Nat Rad, after the 1997 Asian crisis, that anyone (like the Greens) advocating against consumption were ‘traitors’, and George Bush persuading Americans to show the terrorists what for after 9/11 by going shopping!! Consumerist, self-centred lives – welcome to late capitalism.
The only critical and informed appraisal of consumerism and materialist, individualist, me-first values and ideology has consistently been from the left.
Notice also, that the so-called cause of all modern problems – lefty-liberal 60s/70s ideology – only came along after a post-War economic boom and decades of attempts on the part of industry and the state via the advertisers/marketers deliberately to shift values away from ‘production values’ (work, save, be watchful of expenditure) and towards consumption values (self-focus, immediate gratification, hedonism, ok with debt).
It’s been deliberate, grumpy – and not on behalf of the ‘intellectuals’. Weren’t you aware of that?
IMF on Trial: an Al Jazeera Panel Discussion
http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/empire/2011/08/20118483924329911.html
Same here?. Yup, I reckon.
http://www.alternet.org/vision/151850/8_reasons_young_americans_don't_fight_back_–_how_the_us_crushed_youth_resistance?page=entire
There is a lovely label on the last point of the article fundamentalist consumerism ….gets you thinking does it not? Gotta have the latest, the label, the look….all of which transcend the individual.
Great ideas put forward for the repair and development of Christchurch, the Prime Minister describes it as a wish list only, but a half baked job won’t lead to a strong recovery. Lets have some intelligent thinking and do what has been shown possible elsewhere in the world:
http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.com/2011/08/intelligent-citiesintelligent-economies.html
In 2007 in the USA there was $773,000,000,000 ($773 billion) in circulation.
In 2011 in the USA there is $1,030,000,000,000 ($1.03 trillion) in circulation.
There is now one third more printed money in existence.
The Federal Reserve (that privately owned organisation tasked with money manufacture in the US) in 2007 owned $985,000,000,000 ($985 billion) in assets.
In 2011 it owns $2,850,000,000,000 ($2.85 trillion) in assets. These were bought with money that it printed.
Just some minor wee facts for a Sunday morning pondering ……………………
Complies with the golden rule…he who has the gold makes the rules.
This will soon be true again. NB the golden rule states who holds the GOLD not who holds the USD 😀
Not forgetting those figures are all in USD. Which obviously isn’t worth as much as it used to be for printing reasons. The price of GOLD directly reflects the ongoing debasement of the USD.
Now here’s the question which really screws things up.
If there is an extra $230B in circulation, but the Fed printed an extra ~$1900B to buy those dodgy assets…who pocketed the difference???.
I wonder if you are reading the same websites as I am 🙂
Former Governor General, Sir Paul Reeves has died.
I guess that means a certain person who is making a big campaign speech – ostensibly to the Party faithful – will not make the No.1 spot on the TV news this evening. That will p–s him off!
We have lost a good hardworking thoughtful and principled man now that Sir Paul Reeves has died, ex Governor General and worker for a good constitution for Fiji, that was bypassed on spurious grounds by coup leaders. He was trying to help them fromulate a constitution that would ensure their diverse nationalities all had a voice but no outright monopoly.
He was trying to help them formulate a constitution that would ensure their diverse nationalities all had a voice but no outright monopoly.
Agree prism.
I guess he was too good for Fiji’s coup leaders.
I watched TV One’s presentation of his life and times, and was glad to be reminded he stood up to the Rogernomes in the late 1980s when it was fashionable to be a Rogernome. That took courage which he had in abundance. It’s the people who have such courage in the face of adversity who are remembered by history – not the hypocrites who pander to the lowest common denominator.
here is a nationwide Fox News on-line poll that strangely enough was removed from Fox News’s site
possibly because it completely contradicts the findings of their headline straw poll ?
http://www.topix.com/issue/fox/gop-debate-aug11
http://www.foxnews.com/
note this little piece of info regarding policy for voting on the straw poll
(there is nothing better then *cough* free elections *cough cough* )
“The poll results are nonbinding, amount to a popularity contest and offer candidates a chance to test their get-out-the-vote organizations. Those willing to shell out $30 for a ticket were eligible to vote, though some campaigns paid for tickets they distributed to backers”
for more on this oh-so-subtle piece of media manipulation
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/08/13/finally-here-ames-straw-poll-first-test-2012/
http://www.infowars.com/forget-the-hoax-ron-paul-is-a-presidential-front-runner/
Ron Paul might’ve been a contender 10 years ago, but he’s an old man now. That and the fact that TPTB will never let him take office.
That said I will be giving the rank and file Republicans some real credit if they actually select him as their candidate.
I thought his whole advertising point of difference was that he’s a Libertarian Independent? THerefore I’m a tad confused…
Report Ties Financial Industry Lobbying to the Financial Crisis
We definitely need rules concerning lobbying and lobbyists. We need to know who they are, who they’re working for and what they’re lobbying for at the very least.
Yes. And just as importantly a full review and tighten up of the rules around both private/public campaign financing and media funding.
Multimillion dollar private campaign funding and unlimited corporate speech through the mass media has been the death knell of US politics.
I have posted this before re: the subprime mortgage regulation failure, just making sure you had seen it. The FBI blew the whistle on this in 2004 and they were ignored.
http://reimaginingeconomics.mirocommunity.org/video/25/steinhardt-lecture-2010-at-lew
thats right draco. at the moment we are being chivvvied around by a privileged group that feels it does not have to abide by any rules whatsoever and as they are the distributors of largesse the government sees no need to form any rules for them either.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/5441979/National-to-clamp-down-on-youth-beneficiaries
Nanny state indeed…
No lollies for bad children.
I just have one question, is releasing part of your policy before the election and labeling it a ‘plank’ a freudian slip alluding to the intellectual capacity of your leader, your caucus, the press or your voters?
I was always under the impression a plank was a piece of milled lumber… must just be me haha
Dave – Quite good sarcasm, needs some more thought.
For the Future of NZ’s economy
Labour & Greens: Planning
National: Planking
National Widens Gap with Australia
Now correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t National promise to close the wage gap between New Zealand and Australia? I seem to recall them campaigning on that promise. Unfortunately because of their archaic policies, that gap is now increasing twice as fast under National, but try telling John Key et al that.
i remember something along those lines
i also remember no increase in g.s.t., now higher
north of $50 a week tax cuts became living costs increases
and the creating jobs policy also seems to have fallen victim to reverse land.
john Key has super powers allright, he is the anti-man
Key’s spinning so much bullshit around, I don’t think his Teflon smile is going to work this time.
Gives new meaning to the phrase shit eating grin.
Yeah. They are going to close the wage gap by cutting wages and doing the opposite of everything Australia does.
Not to mention National’s $146 million cut affecting 31,000 industry trainees over the last two years. We can always import the labor to rebuild Christchurch I suppose.
Now National can spend millions on controlling what young people buy and paying their rents. Makes fluorescent light bulbs look rather insignificant in terms of the super nanny state John Key wants to implement eh!
Instead of industry training their giving moral training $25million worth thats as good as the boot camps
Hopefully its the same one that don brash walked
We spend x billion on welfare but children are still living in poverty.
What about spending 2x billion on welfare and then children will be well and truly out of poverty.
However the rich give x billion instead to the top money earners and they salt it away in other economies. Put that x billion extra at the lower end of beneficiary/salary earners and it will recirculate in the New Zealand economy.
101 Economics in the University of Hard Knocks.
how about we change our economic system and do away with money and profits all together
Woweee, Guyon does a proper intervew.. I fear i woke up in an alternative universe (dont wake me up)
q and a
Jeebers. Who told him about follow-up questions?
Might have to rename the show “q+a+q” if this carries on.
I was damned surprised. Mr Espiner does have it after all when he feels like pulling it out. Key: shifty and uncharismatic when he is not smiling and waving.
Have they suddenly realised their love affair with the self-serving Key and his NAct govt. has so impacted on the voters there’s going to be a Claytons’s campaign, and they won’t have anything to talk or write about?
Watched Q+A and was surprised.
Sadly, however, the TV1 news presentation of Joky Hen was delivered by a smiling Bernadine-sports-jock-Kirby and another novice journo so it was still the same old, same old. That said, if Guyon Espiner continues in this vein, then it has to be a positive (how do you get the sycophant Holmes to change though?)
Anne, that’s exactly my reading of the apparent mood swing in much of the media lately.
Not much of a race to comment on with only one horse.
My father – who has voted National without fail since the 70’s, rang me up today to say he was going off that “John Key’s”, who is apparently “giving all the money to Pita Sharples and only cares about big business not the people”… As an old school mechanic (we immigrated from Scotland in the late 70’s ) he can’t understand where all the young apprentices the govt used to send them (and pay half their wages) have gone, and since there is so much youth unemployment why cant they bring it back.. In anycase I nearly dropped the phone when he said he might even vote green “Because I like that wee man Norman, he doesnt want to sell the assets”…
Oh dear Salsy, where has your father been. What about the Labour “Stop Asset Sales” campaign that has been going for months. Did he miss it? Did you tell him that it’s always been National govts. who have cut back – or cut out – the apprentice schemes?
Anyway, if he votes for the Greens that’s great – so long as it’s the Left, but pssst.. don’t tell him that. 🙂
Throwing English Out
Consider if you will the huge amount of attention given when the Speaker of the House, Lockwood Smith, threw Hone Harawera out of Parliament. That story made the Six O’clock news and was the topic of heated debate for ages…