an expression long in popular usage–“kiwi”–needs to be dropped; “kiwi” should apply to a bird or a fruit
“kiwi” as referring to people has been misused for too long, there are so many variations on “kiwi”, even a pecking order, the term is really shorthand for a form of reinforcing NZ nationalism
–a proper kiwi is white, reactionary, conservative, increasingly even if not articulated, neo liberal in world view, a compliant consumer–“NZ is Middle Earth”
–a “good kiwi bloke” was born here
–an honorary kiwi can be of all sorts of ethnicity–e.g. a migrant that has done the right thing such as taking off their garb like a Sikh person did to rescue a “kiwi” child
–brats on overseas trips, New Zealanders working overseas, and especially sports people are all bestowed when tragedy or honour strikes as “kiwis”
BUT what about Eleanor Catton? Nicky Hager? Hone Harawira? no kiwidom for them, kick “kiwi” to the kerb fellow commenters
I couldn’t agree with you more, Tiger Mountain – it drives me crazy, especially as I see behind its constant use a lot of social and political manipulation.
I get really cranky if someone tries to describe me as a ‘kiwi’. If I’m overseas I’m a New Zealander, if I’m home and more definition is required I’m a Pakeha
If you call a kiwifruit a kiwi you’re not a Kiwi 😉 (not sure who started the idea that a kiwitfruit is a kiwi but it strikes me as an Americanism).
“–a proper kiwi is white, reactionary, conservative, increasingly even if not articulated, neo liberal in world view, a compliant consumer–“NZ is Middle Earth””
Except it’s not. I don’t generally think of myself as a Kiwi, but I might say I am if I were online talking to someone overseas. I’m definitely white, but I’m not neoliberal conservative or a compliant Middle Earth consumer.
a lengthy paper could be written on the history of “kiwis” as humans, can’t cover it all in a blog post, but think of it this way–if you are not a kiwi–Whadarrryaaa!!!! then, that is how bad I think the usage has got in backing up the Nats and the unspoken expectations of what being a “kiwi” entails
don’t want the new John and Richie flag? don’t like rugby much? not a real kiwi then are you…sure there are no doubt some lovely people that casually adopt the vernacular but it is time to question it
I think you run the risk of ceding ground there. The right may very well have tried to appropriate the term Kiwi (eg Iwi/Kiwi), but they haven’t succeeded. You appear to be agreeing with their appropriation. I’d say take the word back instead.
When I was a child there were no kiwifruit; there was only the not-very-popular Chinese gooseberry. Then someone started to grow them on farms and popularise them. A better name for marketing was needed, so the synthetic name ‘kiwifruit’ was invented, with much acclaim.
The unintended consequence: because probably 99% of the world’s population have no idea that there is such a thing as a Kiwi bird (and maybe even that there is such a country as New Zealand!) the well-marketed popular kiwifruit had its name shortened to ‘kiwi’ almost everywhere, and the vast majority of the world’s population now think that is what ‘kiwi’ means.
In 1980 I was living in France, and was surprised to see kiwifruit labelled as ‘kiwi’ being sold at an exorbitant price at the fruit market. I soon found that they were also called ‘kiwi’ in Germany, and the rest of Europe. Why add the unnecessary ‘fruit’ on the end?
So like it or not, that is what ‘kiwi’ means to most of the rest of the world. It takes some insularity and naivety to expect that the rest of the world should know that the kiwi is a funny-looking flightless bird, even though NZers assume that it should be universally known. Only most Aussies and some of the British would think of the term ‘Kiwi’ as referring to an NZer. Unlikely that many others would.
yes, but people in NZ still called them Chinese gooseberries for a long time after that. I think it wasn’t until the kiwifruit boom (1980s?) that the name changed in common usage.
Although born in NZ, I went to live in the UK for 4 years in the 1950s as a schoolchild. Kiwi then was boot polish, as I recall, and no-one thought of applying it to a person (thank goodness). Can you remember when this term gained ground in its use for people? I really dislike it
various online accounts, but it was used in the military from Boer War/WWI onwards due to small Kiwi emblems on clothing, and entered popular usage internationally after WWII and before kiwifruit marketing
Thanks Tiger Mountain. Back then was it mainly used for the military or for everyone?
It’s definitely been subject to deliberate capture now to give a certain image – a sort of ‘Aussie-lite’
“Kiwi” is one of the most popular supermarkets in Norway (possibly second only to Rema 1000). Saw plenty of them (main colour – a kiwifruit Green) on our recent trip there. Made us feel right at home …… in fact, I almost had to wipe a tear from my eye as my thoughts turned nostalgically to the old Country.
this piece reminds me of someone…’since Bloomberg first published the forex price-rigging story last June, 29 senior traders – all men, strangely enough – have been named as involved and most have been placed on leave, suspended or fired.
Chalkie has heard it said that the artificial movement of forex rates at the 4pm fix can be thought of as the price to pay for having so much liquidity available at a specific minute in the day.
Perhaps that is so but it does not make colluding with competitors any less wrong.
The remarkable thing about this affair is how easy it would be to prevent.
If indexes used an average price for a whole day rather than a 4pm fix, for example, the problem would disappear.
So why didn’t this happen years ago? Chalkie reckons it comes down to the financial industry’s traditional view that it is fine to screw customers as long as they don’t realise they are being screwed. Silence is golden.
Chalkie is written by Fairfax business bureau deputy editor Tim Hunter.
Cunliffe has Steven Joyce on the back foot on the cuts to 3rd level education budgets.
Joyce has had too easy a ride in his various portfolios. He is a serial disaster who has not been properly exposed. Good to see Cunliffe taking it to him.
“Steven Joyce refutes claims ‘lives are at stake’ due to polytech ‘shortcuts'”
This is after years of dogged work and really expensive District Plan hearings opposed tooth and nail by Federated Farmers, Scion the tree genetics people, and others.
The uniqueness of this victory is it’s not driven by the usual suspects. It’s driven by fruit growers who want to protect and promote the extra value they get for the privilege of being able to declare their crops GE free.
For my sins over the last week I read Margaret Attwood’s Oryx and Crake, a full-fledged gene spliced apocalyptic dystopia. Of course it pushed GE experimentation to its furthest lengths. But the message was the same: GE experimentation is wrong, it will get out of the labs, and its effects will be unstoppable and unpredictable.
A GE free New Zealand is a New Zealand whose values have been protected.
Huge ups in particular to all those who donated, drafted, advocated and sustained the effort against these massive companies to win.
The same sort of action is taking place in the EU which has the sister agreement TTIP to counter.
“Local councils tearing strips off TTIP”
“Politicians in both Brussels and Westminster have taken great pains to try and brush off people’s many concerns about the toxic trade deal being pushed through by the EU and the United States.”
…
“An exciting new front is emerging in the battle against TTIP, harnessing the energy of grassroots groups to push opposition to the corporate power grab up the political food chain via the power of local councils. In Britain and across Europe, TTIP Free Zones are popping up like people-power mushrooms.
But TTIP Free Zones are equally important as a means of promoting an understanding the impact TTIP would have on the powers of local councils. TTIP could also affect existing powers granted to local authorities such as planning. The decision of Lancashire County Council to deny planning permission for fracking in the local area is the sort of decision that would be harder to make under TTIP – first because such a decision could be challenged under ISDS, and second because of the pressure to ‘harmonize’ energy regulations. ”
Well – that IS good news, Ad, But…. and there’s a huge BUT coming along – the Govt has introduced a National Environment Standard for plantation forests, and at the very last moment put in a small clause which explicity allows government agencies to overturn any attempts by local councils to prevent GMO-modified plants/trees coming into their districts.
There were 16,000 submissions opposing this small clause, but it remains to be seen whether the govt will take any notice of them.
The Tory propagandists attacks on Corbyn begins already. Press columnist Tracey Watkins chooses words carefully..”scruffy socialist…”unelectable…” ..drags the party” ..etc etc., and makes attempts to denigrate Labour’s leadership by tenuous analogies.
Right wingers love tenuous analogies. Mud (dirt) sticks.
We don’t see the same language when writing about the present government.. . funny that !
Sounds like the stuff article on the weekend that mentioned “Marx”, “socialist” and “unelectable” all in the first 2 lines. Something tells me the press are right behind this guy!!..
I noted also that the Radio NZ news at 7am was like a propaganda broadcast: “In our poll of polls, taken from the last four polls, John Key’s National government is 1% more popular than it was on election night, with Labour and the Greens trailing…” I mention it because an average of four polls a long way out from an election is hardly leading news. Moreover, NZ1 didn’t rate a mention. The subtext seemed to say, “OK, Corbyn might be Britain’s Labour leader, but round here Key remains large and in charge.”
Yes, I found it odd that they did not mention NZ First who are also part of the opposition. A balanced story would have talked about the total opposition in relationship to National.
I was astonished at the subset of comments linking the results to an FPP environment instead of an MMP one. Espinor commented to the effect… National’s total was so far ahead of Labour’s (as if it is still between the two biggest parties) and the only way Labour could ever win an election was to join with the Greens. No acknowledgement that MMP works on a ‘left and right’ divide and is not a contest between two parties.
Lazy reporting or a deliberate attempt to spin the outcome to look like it means something else? The latter of course.
No acknowledgement that MMP works on a ‘left and right’ divide and is not a contest between two parties. Our version of MMP has certainly turned out that way, but rather than acknowledging it, most of the press seem to use a blurred distinction between FPP and MMP to play up Key’s popularity.
Yes, I have been following these comments of yours, and just had a look at them again. The figures you have gathered speak for themselves. One difference between Key and Clark at this stage though, is that in her case the press had already begun to sink the boot in. With Key, they seem to be continually signalling, “Don’t worry mate, I’m still batting for your team” – their poll interpretations are but one example of this.
John Key thinks that drone attacks killing innocent people are justified because we are killing bad people too. So I thought I’d show you how propaganda works. The story? God hates Muslims and the Bin Ladens are evil, The Russians hate us but GOD LOVES US!
The Commerce Commission (the competition watchdog) is currently taking submissions on a $785 million deal, which would create a combined entity selling around half of New Zealand’s transport fuels.
However, Z Energy (which is part owned by the NZ Superannuation Fund) is so confident the deal will be approved have already spent $40m before the Commerce Commission announces whether the deal will be approved.
Public submissions from industry groups and fuel companies have raised concerns about the market power the proposed merged company would have in the retail market, particularly in smaller centres.
Z argues that there are only five areas where consumers would see the options reduce from two companies into one within a five kilometre radius.
BP, Z’s largest competitor, argues that “competition issues” would arise in more areas than was being claimed.
The AA say the risk of “disparate fuel pricing” would increase if Z and Caltex had the same owners.
Retail competition is one of a string of areas where rivals and the industry warn a combined Z/Caltex would have a dominant position, with concerns raised about the control of fuel terminals at ports, sales of bitumen and a large number of truck stops.
This watchdog has pretty much always rubber stamped the removal of competition and was gutted by the nact early on.
Paying $40m is a safe bet as the last time they turned anything large down was AirNZ/Qantas code share from memory.
Even if they do reject it a few tweaks and a resubmit would see it get approval as part of the illusion that consumers are being looked after which rarely ever happens.
No, monopolies are what drive prices up and wages down.
Can we take it you support this merger, believing it will drive prices down and wages up?
Increasing labour supply will have downward pressure. Increasing demand for workers drives wages up, thus there is a difference, which I assume your confusion stems from.
Competitive business that don’t compete tend to be cartelling, which is illegal.
Where we might agree is a genuine non profit monopoly can reduce duplication, thus overheads, which can result in lowering prices as there is no profit gouging.
Increasing the amount of businesses partaking increases labour demand as more positions are required to be fulled.
Being a government run monopoly isn’t on the table, nor was it the question. Care to try again?
Actually, it was on the table as I said down here. You seem to have got confused and thought I meant a non-profit private monopoly which I will never support.
Competitive business that don’t compete tend to be cartelling, which is illegal.
And since when did laws ever stop crime? And do you recall the LIBOR and other banking scandals? Businesses operating as a cartel happens all the fucken time.
Where we might agree is a genuine non profit monopoly can reduce duplication, thus overheads, which can result in lowering prices as there is no profit gouging.
All monopolies will reduce duplication and thus overhead from what we get from competitive markets. A private monopoly will gouge prices to boost income.
Increasing the amount of businesses partaking increases labour demand as more positions are required to be fulled.
Only in the bureaucracy. So we get more high paid jobs, no more low paid jobs and the prices go up to cover those unnecessary high paid jobs.
No. Although it is your preferred choice, it’s not a choice the commission have, nor does it relate to the question put to you. Feel free to try again. It was a simple question.
Open your eyes, competition is a reality – not merely a hypothesis. Although it is lacking in this small country of ours.
There are numerous people in jail, thus their criminal activity has been stopped by the law. Unfortunately, some get away with their crimes.
Yes, all monopolies will reduce duplication and thus overheads, but generally, genuine non profits will pass those savings on to lower prices. Therefore, we do agree on that point.
Increasing the amount of businesses partaking increases labour demand as more positions are required to be filled. Not only in the top end bureaucracy, but right down to front line staff and cleaners, etc.
Prof. Tim Bale of Univ. of London—anybody familiar with him?
Monday 14 September 2015
I know he used to work at Victoria University of Wellington, and I suspect he may have been a poster on this excellent site. Earlier this morning I heard him deliver the most sneering and contemptuous putdown of Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters on Radio NZ National. As usual, poor old Guyon Espiner didn’t seem to have a clue.
Transcript to come as soon as I recover from my boiling rage….
Yep, a very nice bloke on a personal level, but, Christ !!!, the guy’s tweets on Corbyn over the last few weeks have been irritating the hell out of me.
Enormous amount of sneering and ridicule, open speculation on the most effective way to take Corbyn down (I mean he’s supposed to be an objective, independent scholar, for chrissakes !!!, not some scheming factional insider in the Party machine. Tim’s obviously highly excited to be on the fringes of the Westminster elite: One of his Tweets: “Question for Labour moderates: better to roll Corbyn after 2017 locals or let him go all the way to 2020 so lesson is truly learned”). He’s also remarkably selective in the “research” he links to (often turgid stuff emanating from the lavishly-funded Blairite Progress group- Why Corbyn is Unelectable and so on).
He’s the go-to-guy for the BBC these days….was the major post-May-election analyst, for instance.
Just a cosy little establishment clique – seasoned journos from the MSM, independent commentators, and the intelligentsia – most former Oxbridge, all acting like fully paid-up enablers and cheerleaders for the little Blairite elite. Seems to be no shame involved.
Tim was always a Blairite (he described himself as a vague, wishy-washy social democrat if I remember rightly) and it struck me at the time (we’re talking more than 15 years ago) that his visceral contempt for Labour’s Left was far more extreme than any critique he offered of the Tories. As with our own wannabe Blairites – especially Phil Quin – their sheer disdain for anyone to the Left of Harriet Harman (Bale) or Mike Moore (Quin) appears to be deeply emotional.
It’s clear that this isn’t about finding the best electoral strategy for UK Labour to win government, they – like Blair – really are opposed to what most of us consider core social democratic values. They belong squarely in the socially-liberal, pro-EU faction of the British Conservative Party (although, come to think of it, Quin isn’t necessarily all that liberal either).
“Frankly, I think it’s NUTS!”
Hooton continues to run amok every Monday morning. From the Left and From the Right, Radio NZ National, 14/9/15
Kathryn Ryan, Matthew Hooton, Mike Williams
They should just put a corpse in Mike Williams’s chair. The corpse might have a bit more gumption, and would definitely display a lot more life. First topic today was the election of Jeremy Corbyn to leadership of the Labour Party. Of course, Hooton took control of the discussion from the start….
MATTHEW HOOTON: Frankly, I think it’s NUTS! Maybe it IS the will of the British people to get out of NATO after sixty or seventy years. Maybe it IS their will to be led by an aging Marxist who has endorsed every major terrorist group…. [splutter, snort]….
From Mike Williams, silence, closely resembling stupidity, and/or cowardice, and/or bewilderment. Hooton bored on….
MATTHEW HOOTON: In the scheme of things, I would say that this guy is way more to the left of the Labour Party than Thatcher was to the right of her party. It’s an example of a mainstream political party being hijacked by activists!
Kathryn Ryan actually dared to challenged him over that. Mike Williams, by contrast, remained almost completely silent as Hooton ranted….
MATTHEW HOOTON: So fifteen thousand new members signed up for the Labour Party. Well, that’s the equivalent of nine hundred people signing up if John Minto became leader in New Zealand. Ha ha ha!
I actually think Williams is better than he seems to be as he submits to these weekly spankings by someone as loathsome as Hooton. That’s why I and many others are so disappointed with him.
While the Government makes way especially for social topics such as the changing the flag, more pending matters are waiting to be approached that are in my opinion, socially unjust in the fact that it has not been discussed to the extent of the flag change. Euthanasia is always one of the various themes that people either have a lot to say about or people shy away from in fear of not having the information to make an educated response to the issue at hand.
A case study that happened this year that I am sure New Zealand is familiar with is the story of Lecretia Seales. Seales, aged 42 died from an incurable brain tumour in June 2015. The tumour had left her both paralysed and blind. During the process of having this disease she approached New Zealand courts to seek out the use of Euthanasia if her suffering became too intolerable. It was ruled that only parliament could make a law change to allow such a step to legally occur. Seale’s family was given information regarding the case in the interim of the process due to Seale’s rapid deterioration so that she could be made aware to whether a doctor could lawfully help her with her right to choose to die.
It was said that Judge Collins interpretation was that “he could not find aid in dying available to Seales or was inconsistent with the Bill of Rights”. It was also mentioned that it would indeed be an offence under the Crimes Act for her doctor to be able to assist her in dying. Her doctor could have been charged with manslaughter or murder if he had used the fatal drug intending to kill her. Lecretia learnt on her death bed that she had been denied her dying wish.
I really am in two minds about euthanasia which are that I believe that everyone should have the right to choose how they live and in conjunction, how they choose to die. However, growing up in a family with nurses and doctors I have realised the immense pressure and responsibility that would be put on these medical professionals if they were to administer a fatal drug killing their patient, and ultimately a human life almost instantly. Who are we to play God? Who are we to play God in giving a fatal drug to a patient or telling a patient that is in pain and incurable of an incomprehensible disease that she or he cannot choose the way that she wants to leave this world? Should we really be able to force someone to live if they want to die?
One thing that I am certain on is that this specific case has been a long time coming and has brought about discussion that is putting emphasis on a subject that has the need and necessary attributes to be discussed further.
A “Kiwi” is a derptastic middle-aged bloke from the provinces, obsessed with Rugby, where his self-esteem is channelled parallel to the fortunes of the national rugby side (being the nation’s only perceived impact on the world), ignorant of the rest of the globe, profoundly distrustful if not downright antagonistic of anything remotely intellectual.
“LACK” of communication causing so much inconvenience to travellers try to get to the airport due to the SH20A project.
Imagine having to rush to the airport only to find out that the main road to the highway that leads to the airport is being blocked off due to roadwork construction. Not only is it blocked but you would need to turn around and hope that you find another way to get onto the highway by going through the opposite road which now you have just spent the last hour or so trying to find your way to the airport which result in you missing your flight.
What a huge inconvenience for many who have travelled a long way to get to the airport but is delayed due to the new project of SH20A.
Since the right turn movement has been restricted residents have found it very difficult to get to the Airport through the Kirkbride West road. The right turn both on Kirkbride East to SH20A North and Kirkbride West to the SH20A South at the intersection has been restricted from August till March 2016. Although, the extension of SH20A is expected to create an easier access to the Airport, it is creating a bit of a hassle for local residents as they struggle to find another way to reach the Airport. “it very inconvenient, i don’t see why they need to expand SH20A when it’s creating so much hassle” says resident Emma Lang.
I can definitely understand why the project would be beneficial in creating a safer travel. However, it would be much better if there was a sign that perhaps let people know that the Kirkbride road has been blocked off to avoid any inconvenient as well as saving time. The purpose of this post is because I feel that not only is the SH20A project has caused so many issues but as well as many roadwork projects that occur on our roads and I feel it’s due to the lack of communication that is made to help travellers avoid traffic. This has been an issue for many people since the start of the project however, little discussion is made upon the issue.
Therefore, I want to know what your thoughts are on this and who else feels that this is an inconvenient and do you think that there should be a better roadwork communication or perhaps you have your own opinion or story that you want to share, perhaps we can engage in a discussion or argue your viewpoints.
“Couldn’t you just go ahead and drill for water yourselves?”
Bryan Crump asked that of a Palestinian farmer tonight. Nights, Radio NZ National, Monday 14/9/15, 7:10 p.m.
The topic for the first item tonight was, ominously, “Palestinian farming”. I feared that Bryan Crump would not be prepared for this interview, and sadly I was right. A couple of his statements were extremely ignorant and provocative. I really wouldn’t like to say that Crump, who seems like a genuinely nice guy, was doing it deliberately, but who other than a paid Israeli government spokesperson would be crass enough or cruel enough to speak of the “disputed” instead of the occupied Palestinian territories, or refer to the illegal, internationally condemned annexation (or apartheid) wall as a “security” wall? Bryan Crump said both of those things tonight. This raises serious questions about his judgement, if not his morality.
I’ll skip most of the crap, and just present some of the highlights, or lowlights…..
BRYAN CRUMP: It can be tricky farming at the best of times, especially when the land you farm is one of the more disputed parts of the planet. Saleem Abu Ghazaleh is the fair trade director of the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee, Palestine’s largest NGO. He’s in New Zealand at the moment. Welcome, Saleem. SALEEM ABU GHAZALEH: Thank you.
Crump had obviously written—or had written for him—a list of questions which he was determined to plough through….
BRYAN CRUMP: What are the main crops for farmers on the West Bank?…Where are the main markets?… You mention you used to export a fair amount to Israel but not now. What are the reasons for that? SALEEM ABU GHAZALEH: You should ask the other side that.
Crump seemed nonplussed at that answer, and he lapsed into an awkward silence for a short while. Then he returned to his scripted questions….
BRYAN CRUMP: You mention there’s some farming in Gaza. SALEEM ABU GHAZALEH: Yes of course. Strawberries, flowers…. BRYAN CRUMP: What are some of the main obstacles if you want to become a farmer in the Palestinian Territories? SALEEM ABU GHAZALEH: It’s difficult with the water cut off, the apartheid wall, the checkpoints. BRYAN CRUMP: So the security wall you mentioned there. And also the water… SALEEM ABU GHAZALEH: The water is under Israeli control. BRYAN CRUMP: You say the water is under Israeli control?
……..
SALEEM ABU GHAZALEH: One hundred and twenty checkpoints make daily life very difficult for Palestinian people, especially the farmers.
……..
BRYAN CRUMP: You said before that in many cases the water is controlled by Israel— SALEEM ABU GHAZALEH: In ALL cases. BRYAN CRUMP: Couldn’t you just go ahead and drill for water yourselves? SALEEM ABU GHAZALEH: It is forbidden to do that. BRYAN CRUMP: And what happens if farmers break the law? SALEEM ABU GHAZALEH: You go to prison. BRYAN CRUMP: Riiiight. …[pause]…. What kind of year has 2015 been for Palestinian farmers? SALEEM ABU GHAZALEH: We have had drought. BRYAN CRUMP: Almonds need a lot of water don’t they…..
Appalled and depressed by this, I sent Bryan Crump the following email….
The West Bank is illegally occupied, not “disputed”.
Dear Bryan,
In the introduction to your interview with Saleem Abu Ghazaleh, you described the Occupied Territories as “one of the more disputed parts of the planet.” In fact, there is no dispute: under international law, Israel is illegally occupying the West Bank. Other than the illegal occupying state, this ruling is recognized by every state in the world, including the United States.
A little later, Saleem mentioned the illegal apartheid wall that makes farming so difficult for him. You immediately referred to it as “the security wall”.
Could you please pay attention to these points in future?
That transcript is hilarious. Sadly my daily 5 minutes of NatRad were spent with a Panel of Mora, Clifton and McDonald (you would think one of the less vacuous calibrations of the dastardly thing) talking about noisy students, and guffawing cleverly to themselves about Jeremy Corbyn and the flag
(FINLAY MCDONALD: Jeremy Corbyn is the Red Peak! JANE CLIFTON: *snort* JIM MORA: A-ha-ha-ha! A-ha–!)
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Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
Introduction Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) has revolutionized the field of translation by harnessing the power of technology to assist human translators in their work. This innovative approach combines specialized software with human expertise to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and consistency of translations. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the ...
In today’s digital age, mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Among the vast array of portable computing options available, iPads and tablet computers stand out as two prominent contenders. While both offer similar functionalities, there are subtle yet significant differences between these two devices. This ...
A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to carry out a set of instructions. The basic components of a computer are the processor, memory, storage, input devices, and output devices. The Processor The processor, also known as the central processing unit (CPU), is the brain of the ...
Voice Memos is a convenient app on your iPhone that allows you to quickly record and store audio snippets. These recordings can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as taking notes, capturing ideas, or recording interviews. While you can listen to your voice memos on your iPhone, you ...
Laptop screens are essential for interacting with our devices and accessing information. However, when lines appear on the screen, it can be frustrating and disrupt productivity. Understanding the underlying causes of these lines is crucial for finding effective solutions. Types of Screen Lines Horizontal lines: Also known as scan ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The 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. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
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 ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
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. ...
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an expression long in popular usage–“kiwi”–needs to be dropped; “kiwi” should apply to a bird or a fruit
“kiwi” as referring to people has been misused for too long, there are so many variations on “kiwi”, even a pecking order, the term is really shorthand for a form of reinforcing NZ nationalism
–a proper kiwi is white, reactionary, conservative, increasingly even if not articulated, neo liberal in world view, a compliant consumer–“NZ is Middle Earth”
–a “good kiwi bloke” was born here
–an honorary kiwi can be of all sorts of ethnicity–e.g. a migrant that has done the right thing such as taking off their garb like a Sikh person did to rescue a “kiwi” child
–brats on overseas trips, New Zealanders working overseas, and especially sports people are all bestowed when tragedy or honour strikes as “kiwis”
BUT what about Eleanor Catton? Nicky Hager? Hone Harawira? no kiwidom for them, kick “kiwi” to the kerb fellow commenters
I couldn’t agree with you more, Tiger Mountain – it drives me crazy, especially as I see behind its constant use a lot of social and political manipulation.
I get really cranky if someone tries to describe me as a ‘kiwi’. If I’m overseas I’m a New Zealander, if I’m home and more definition is required I’m a Pakeha
If you call a kiwifruit a kiwi you’re not a Kiwi 😉 (not sure who started the idea that a kiwitfruit is a kiwi but it strikes me as an Americanism).
“–a proper kiwi is white, reactionary, conservative, increasingly even if not articulated, neo liberal in world view, a compliant consumer–“NZ is Middle Earth””
I think you just insulted a whole lot of NZers.
Accurate, though 🙂
Except it’s not. I don’t generally think of myself as a Kiwi, but I might say I am if I were online talking to someone overseas. I’m definitely white, but I’m not neoliberal conservative or a compliant Middle Earth consumer.
a lengthy paper could be written on the history of “kiwis” as humans, can’t cover it all in a blog post, but think of it this way–if you are not a kiwi–Whadarrryaaa!!!! then, that is how bad I think the usage has got in backing up the Nats and the unspoken expectations of what being a “kiwi” entails
don’t want the new John and Richie flag? don’t like rugby much? not a real kiwi then are you…sure there are no doubt some lovely people that casually adopt the vernacular but it is time to question it
I think you run the risk of ceding ground there. The right may very well have tried to appropriate the term Kiwi (eg Iwi/Kiwi), but they haven’t succeeded. You appear to be agreeing with their appropriation. I’d say take the word back instead.
When I was a child there were no kiwifruit; there was only the not-very-popular Chinese gooseberry. Then someone started to grow them on farms and popularise them. A better name for marketing was needed, so the synthetic name ‘kiwifruit’ was invented, with much acclaim.
The unintended consequence: because probably 99% of the world’s population have no idea that there is such a thing as a Kiwi bird (and maybe even that there is such a country as New Zealand!) the well-marketed popular kiwifruit had its name shortened to ‘kiwi’ almost everywhere, and the vast majority of the world’s population now think that is what ‘kiwi’ means.
In 1980 I was living in France, and was surprised to see kiwifruit labelled as ‘kiwi’ being sold at an exorbitant price at the fruit market. I soon found that they were also called ‘kiwi’ in Germany, and the rest of Europe. Why add the unnecessary ‘fruit’ on the end?
So like it or not, that is what ‘kiwi’ means to most of the rest of the world. It takes some insularity and naivety to expect that the rest of the world should know that the kiwi is a funny-looking flightless bird, even though NZers assume that it should be universally known. Only most Aussies and some of the British would think of the term ‘Kiwi’ as referring to an NZer. Unlikely that many others would.
Sure, but I was referring to NZers using the term kiwi to refer to the fruit. I find that far more annoying that NZers being called kiwis.
I’m of the Chinesegooseberry generation too 🙂
Although I can vaguely recall Chines gooseberries in peoples gardens it seems the name change was introduced in 1959.
http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/the-chinese-gooseberry-becomes-the-kiwifruit
yes, but people in NZ still called them Chinese gooseberries for a long time after that. I think it wasn’t until the kiwifruit boom (1980s?) that the name changed in common usage.
Although born in NZ, I went to live in the UK for 4 years in the 1950s as a schoolchild. Kiwi then was boot polish, as I recall, and no-one thought of applying it to a person (thank goodness). Can you remember when this term gained ground in its use for people? I really dislike it
various online accounts, but it was used in the military from Boer War/WWI onwards due to small Kiwi emblems on clothing, and entered popular usage internationally after WWII and before kiwifruit marketing
Thanks Tiger Mountain. Back then was it mainly used for the military or for everyone?
It’s definitely been subject to deliberate capture now to give a certain image – a sort of ‘Aussie-lite’
“Kiwi” is one of the most popular supermarkets in Norway (possibly second only to Rema 1000). Saw plenty of them (main colour – a kiwifruit Green) on our recent trip there. Made us feel right at home …… in fact, I almost had to wipe a tear from my eye as my thoughts turned nostalgically to the old Country.
this piece reminds me of someone…’since Bloomberg first published the forex price-rigging story last June, 29 senior traders – all men, strangely enough – have been named as involved and most have been placed on leave, suspended or fired.
Chalkie has heard it said that the artificial movement of forex rates at the 4pm fix can be thought of as the price to pay for having so much liquidity available at a specific minute in the day.
Perhaps that is so but it does not make colluding with competitors any less wrong.
The remarkable thing about this affair is how easy it would be to prevent.
If indexes used an average price for a whole day rather than a 4pm fix, for example, the problem would disappear.
So why didn’t this happen years ago? Chalkie reckons it comes down to the financial industry’s traditional view that it is fine to screw customers as long as they don’t realise they are being screwed. Silence is golden.
Chalkie is written by Fairfax business bureau deputy editor Tim Hunter.
Cunliffe has Steven Joyce on the back foot on the cuts to 3rd level education budgets.
Joyce has had too easy a ride in his various portfolios. He is a serial disaster who has not been properly exposed. Good to see Cunliffe taking it to him.
“Steven Joyce refutes claims ‘lives are at stake’ due to polytech ‘shortcuts'”
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/steven-joyce-refutes-claims-lives-are-at-stake-due-to-polytech-shortcuts-q10507
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1509/S00187/latest-tertiary-scandal-ghost-students-lives-forsaken.htm
We can now declare at least one region of New Zealand GE free: Hawkes Bay.
http://purehawkesbay.org/strong-future-for-hawkes-bay-economy-as-hastings-council-secures-gm-free-status/
This is after years of dogged work and really expensive District Plan hearings opposed tooth and nail by Federated Farmers, Scion the tree genetics people, and others.
The uniqueness of this victory is it’s not driven by the usual suspects. It’s driven by fruit growers who want to protect and promote the extra value they get for the privilege of being able to declare their crops GE free.
For my sins over the last week I read Margaret Attwood’s Oryx and Crake, a full-fledged gene spliced apocalyptic dystopia. Of course it pushed GE experimentation to its furthest lengths. But the message was the same: GE experimentation is wrong, it will get out of the labs, and its effects will be unstoppable and unpredictable.
A GE free New Zealand is a New Zealand whose values have been protected.
Huge ups in particular to all those who donated, drafted, advocated and sustained the effort against these massive companies to win.
[Converting this to a guest post – MS]
Well done the Hawkes Bay.
As much as some detest being called Kiwi others can’t abide “the” Hawke’s Bay. It’s Hawke’s Bay. Period.
thanks, I was wondering about that.
Hallelujah brother! NO ONE from Hawkes Bay says “The Hawkes Bay”. It is an instant identifier of out of towners and general tosspots.
Especially “tosspots”.
you mean everyone else in NZ 😉
The same sort of action is taking place in the EU which has the sister agreement TTIP to counter.
“Local councils tearing strips off TTIP”
“Politicians in both Brussels and Westminster have taken great pains to try and brush off people’s many concerns about the toxic trade deal being pushed through by the EU and the United States.”
…
“An exciting new front is emerging in the battle against TTIP, harnessing the energy of grassroots groups to push opposition to the corporate power grab up the political food chain via the power of local councils. In Britain and across Europe, TTIP Free Zones are popping up like people-power mushrooms.
But TTIP Free Zones are equally important as a means of promoting an understanding the impact TTIP would have on the powers of local councils. TTIP could also affect existing powers granted to local authorities such as planning. The decision of Lancashire County Council to deny planning permission for fracking in the local area is the sort of decision that would be harder to make under TTIP – first because such a decision could be challenged under ISDS, and second because of the pressure to ‘harmonize’ energy regulations. ”
http://newint.org/blog/2015/09/11/ttip-local-council-power/
(Vivienne Westwood drove in a tank to Cameron’s home in a fracking protest
in response to last month’s announcement by the UK government that it would offer licences for fracking in 27 locations in Yorkshire, the north-west and the east Midlands. }
http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2015/sep/11/vivienne-westwood-tank-protest-fracking-david-cameron-chadlington
A bit of NZ background on Council rights concerning GMOs:
2013 Amy Adams threatens to remove right of Councils to regulate GMOs
“Minister cops flak over GMOs”
http://i.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/northland/whangarei-leader/8891181/Minister-cops-flak-over-GMOs
Legal consideration on whether councils have jurisdiction to reulate GMOs
http://www.rmla.org.nz/upload/files/obiter/jurisdiction_of_councils_to_regulate_gmos_under_the_rma_-_dr_k_grundy.pdf
Well – that IS good news, Ad, But…. and there’s a huge BUT coming along – the Govt has introduced a National Environment Standard for plantation forests, and at the very last moment put in a small clause which explicity allows government agencies to overturn any attempts by local councils to prevent GMO-modified plants/trees coming into their districts.
There were 16,000 submissions opposing this small clause, but it remains to be seen whether the govt will take any notice of them.
The Tory propagandists attacks on Corbyn begins already. Press columnist Tracey Watkins chooses words carefully..”scruffy socialist…”unelectable…” ..drags the party” ..etc etc., and makes attempts to denigrate Labour’s leadership by tenuous analogies.
Right wingers love tenuous analogies. Mud (dirt) sticks.
We don’t see the same language when writing about the present government.. . funny that !
Sounds like the stuff article on the weekend that mentioned “Marx”, “socialist” and “unelectable” all in the first 2 lines. Something tells me the press are right behind this guy!!..
I noted also that the Radio NZ news at 7am was like a propaganda broadcast: “In our poll of polls, taken from the last four polls, John Key’s National government is 1% more popular than it was on election night, with Labour and the Greens trailing…” I mention it because an average of four polls a long way out from an election is hardly leading news. Moreover, NZ1 didn’t rate a mention. The subtext seemed to say, “OK, Corbyn might be Britain’s Labour leader, but round here Key remains large and in charge.”
Yes, I found it odd that they did not mention NZ First who are also part of the opposition. A balanced story would have talked about the total opposition in relationship to National.
I was astonished at the subset of comments linking the results to an FPP environment instead of an MMP one. Espinor commented to the effect… National’s total was so far ahead of Labour’s (as if it is still between the two biggest parties) and the only way Labour could ever win an election was to join with the Greens. No acknowledgement that MMP works on a ‘left and right’ divide and is not a contest between two parties.
Lazy reporting or a deliberate attempt to spin the outcome to look like it means something else? The latter of course.
No acknowledgement that MMP works on a ‘left and right’ divide and is not a contest between two parties. Our version of MMP has certainly turned out that way, but rather than acknowledging it, most of the press seem to use a blurred distinction between FPP and MMP to play up Key’s popularity.
If you have time, see my comments
here … http://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-09092015/#comment-1068718
here … http://thestandard.org.nz/uk-cameron-loses-his-shit-new-members-flood-to-labour/#comment-1070505
here … http://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-09092015/#comment-1068722
Yes, I have been following these comments of yours, and just had a look at them again. The figures you have gathered speak for themselves. One difference between Key and Clark at this stage though, is that in her case the press had already begun to sink the boot in. With Key, they seem to be continually signalling, “Don’t worry mate, I’m still batting for your team” – their poll interpretations are but one example of this.
Just joined the PSA. That word union is a great word and concept.
John Key thinks that drone attacks killing innocent people are justified because we are killing bad people too. So I thought I’d show you how propaganda works. The story? God hates Muslims and the Bin Ladens are evil, The Russians hate us but GOD LOVES US!
The Commerce Commission (the competition watchdog) is currently taking submissions on a $785 million deal, which would create a combined entity selling around half of New Zealand’s transport fuels.
However, Z Energy (which is part owned by the NZ Superannuation Fund) is so confident the deal will be approved have already spent $40m before the Commerce Commission announces whether the deal will be approved.
Public submissions from industry groups and fuel companies have raised concerns about the market power the proposed merged company would have in the retail market, particularly in smaller centres.
Z argues that there are only five areas where consumers would see the options reduce from two companies into one within a five kilometre radius.
BP, Z’s largest competitor, argues that “competition issues” would arise in more areas than was being claimed.
The AA say the risk of “disparate fuel pricing” would increase if Z and Caltex had the same owners.
Retail competition is one of a string of areas where rivals and the industry warn a combined Z/Caltex would have a dominant position, with concerns raised about the control of fuel terminals at ports, sales of bitumen and a large number of truck stops.
Z played down the risk of market dominance.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/71837859/Petrol-merger-could-hurt-small-towns-and-loyalty-schemes
Thoughts?
This watchdog has pretty much always rubber stamped the removal of competition and was gutted by the nact early on.
Paying $40m is a safe bet as the last time they turned anything large down was AirNZ/Qantas code share from memory.
Even if they do reject it a few tweaks and a resubmit would see it get approval as part of the illusion that consumers are being looked after which rarely ever happens.
“This watchdog has pretty much always rubber stamped the removal of competition”
I largely share the sentiment.
Competition is vital in keeping prices down and wages up. Therefore, the country merely shoots itself in the foot failing to uphold a robust process.
LOL, no!!!
Competition increases the bureaucracy thus pushing prices up, not down. Competition in the labour market pushes wages down and profits up.
All up, competition cost us a huge amount for no extra gain and probably causes actual loss. It definitely causes social loss.
No, monopolies are what drive prices up and wages down.
Can we take it you support this merger, believing it will drive prices down and wages up?
Increasing labour supply will have downward pressure. Increasing demand for workers drives wages up, thus there is a difference, which I assume your confusion stems from.
No, you got that wrong as Steve Keen shows. Competitive business all run the same way that monopolies run and charge the same amount.
EDIT:
http://www.debtdeflation.com/blogs/2010/05/31/does-the-rspt-deserve-respect/
http://www.debtdeflation.com/blogs/2010/06/02/does-the-rspt-deserve-respect-part-ii/
Those just for starters.
It’s just a belief of the free-market that competition lowers prices. What it actually does is lower profits while increasing costs.
Nope. I support it being a government run monopoly service that’s run at cost.
There’s no increase in demand for workers as there’s no increase in demand for the product.
Being a government run monopoly isn’t on the table, nor was it the question. Care to try again?
Competitive businesses compete, thus prices, services, wages, etc largely differ.
Competitive business that don’t compete tend to be cartelling, which is illegal.
Where we might agree is a genuine non profit monopoly can reduce duplication, thus overheads, which can result in lowering prices as there is no profit gouging.
Increasing the amount of businesses partaking increases labour demand as more positions are required to be fulled.
Actually, it was on the table as I said down here. You seem to have got confused and thought I meant a non-profit private monopoly which I will never support.
That’s the hypothesis.
And since when did laws ever stop crime? And do you recall the LIBOR and other banking scandals? Businesses operating as a cartel happens all the fucken time.
All monopolies will reduce duplication and thus overhead from what we get from competitive markets. A private monopoly will gouge prices to boost income.
Only in the bureaucracy. So we get more high paid jobs, no more low paid jobs and the prices go up to cover those unnecessary high paid jobs.
No. Although it is your preferred choice, it’s not a choice the commission have, nor does it relate to the question put to you. Feel free to try again. It was a simple question.
Open your eyes, competition is a reality – not merely a hypothesis. Although it is lacking in this small country of ours.
There are numerous people in jail, thus their criminal activity has been stopped by the law. Unfortunately, some get away with their crimes.
Yes, all monopolies will reduce duplication and thus overheads, but generally, genuine non profits will pass those savings on to lower prices. Therefore, we do agree on that point.
Increasing the amount of businesses partaking increases labour demand as more positions are required to be filled. Not only in the top end bureaucracy, but right down to front line staff and cleaners, etc.
Fuel is another one of those things that comes under infrastructure and thus should be government owned and run at cost.
Genuine non profit monopolies are a different kettle of fish, thus largely have my support.
Prof. Tim Bale of Univ. of London—anybody familiar with him?
Monday 14 September 2015
I know he used to work at Victoria University of Wellington, and I suspect he may have been a poster on this excellent site. Earlier this morning I heard him deliver the most sneering and contemptuous putdown of Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters on Radio NZ National. As usual, poor old Guyon Espiner didn’t seem to have a clue.
Transcript to come as soon as I recover from my boiling rage….
Someone yesterday mentioned that they had been a student of Bale’s at Vic…
Was it our friend Swordfish? He mentioned it in a thread about Tim Bale two years ago. ….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-14042013/#comment-618441
Yep, a very nice bloke on a personal level, but, Christ !!!, the guy’s tweets on Corbyn over the last few weeks have been irritating the hell out of me.
Enormous amount of sneering and ridicule, open speculation on the most effective way to take Corbyn down (I mean he’s supposed to be an objective, independent scholar, for chrissakes !!!, not some scheming factional insider in the Party machine. Tim’s obviously highly excited to be on the fringes of the Westminster elite: One of his Tweets: “Question for Labour moderates: better to roll Corbyn after 2017 locals or let him go all the way to 2020 so lesson is truly learned”). He’s also remarkably selective in the “research” he links to (often turgid stuff emanating from the lavishly-funded Blairite Progress group- Why Corbyn is Unelectable and so on).
He’s the go-to-guy for the BBC these days….was the major post-May-election analyst, for instance.
Just a cosy little establishment clique – seasoned journos from the MSM, independent commentators, and the intelligentsia – most former Oxbridge, all acting like fully paid-up enablers and cheerleaders for the little Blairite elite. Seems to be no shame involved.
Tim was always a Blairite (he described himself as a vague, wishy-washy social democrat if I remember rightly) and it struck me at the time (we’re talking more than 15 years ago) that his visceral contempt for Labour’s Left was far more extreme than any critique he offered of the Tories. As with our own wannabe Blairites – especially Phil Quin – their sheer disdain for anyone to the Left of Harriet Harman (Bale) or Mike Moore (Quin) appears to be deeply emotional.
It’s clear that this isn’t about finding the best electoral strategy for UK Labour to win government, they – like Blair – really are opposed to what most of us consider core social democratic values. They belong squarely in the socially-liberal, pro-EU faction of the British Conservative Party (although, come to think of it, Quin isn’t necessarily all that liberal either).
“Frankly, I think it’s NUTS!”
Hooton continues to run amok every Monday morning.
From the Left and From the Right, Radio NZ National, 14/9/15
Kathryn Ryan, Matthew Hooton, Mike Williams
They should just put a corpse in Mike Williams’s chair. The corpse might have a bit more gumption, and would definitely display a lot more life. First topic today was the election of Jeremy Corbyn to leadership of the Labour Party. Of course, Hooton took control of the discussion from the start….
MATTHEW HOOTON: Frankly, I think it’s NUTS! Maybe it IS the will of the British people to get out of NATO after sixty or seventy years. Maybe it IS their will to be led by an aging Marxist who has endorsed every major terrorist group…. [splutter, snort]….
From Mike Williams, silence, closely resembling stupidity, and/or cowardice, and/or bewilderment. Hooton bored on….
MATTHEW HOOTON: In the scheme of things, I would say that this guy is way more to the left of the Labour Party than Thatcher was to the right of her party. It’s an example of a mainstream political party being hijacked by activists!
Kathryn Ryan actually dared to challenged him over that. Mike Williams, by contrast, remained almost completely silent as Hooton ranted….
MATTHEW HOOTON: So fifteen thousand new members signed up for the Labour Party. Well, that’s the equivalent of nine hundred people signing up if John Minto became leader in New Zealand. Ha ha ha!
MIKE WILLIAMS: [chortle, snort] I agree….
What do you mean resembling stupidity, and/or cowardice, and/or bewilderment?
I actually think Williams is better than he seems to be as he submits to these weekly spankings by someone as loathsome as Hooton. That’s why I and many others are so disappointed with him.
While the Government makes way especially for social topics such as the changing the flag, more pending matters are waiting to be approached that are in my opinion, socially unjust in the fact that it has not been discussed to the extent of the flag change. Euthanasia is always one of the various themes that people either have a lot to say about or people shy away from in fear of not having the information to make an educated response to the issue at hand.
A case study that happened this year that I am sure New Zealand is familiar with is the story of Lecretia Seales. Seales, aged 42 died from an incurable brain tumour in June 2015. The tumour had left her both paralysed and blind. During the process of having this disease she approached New Zealand courts to seek out the use of Euthanasia if her suffering became too intolerable. It was ruled that only parliament could make a law change to allow such a step to legally occur. Seale’s family was given information regarding the case in the interim of the process due to Seale’s rapid deterioration so that she could be made aware to whether a doctor could lawfully help her with her right to choose to die.
It was said that Judge Collins interpretation was that “he could not find aid in dying available to Seales or was inconsistent with the Bill of Rights”. It was also mentioned that it would indeed be an offence under the Crimes Act for her doctor to be able to assist her in dying. Her doctor could have been charged with manslaughter or murder if he had used the fatal drug intending to kill her. Lecretia learnt on her death bed that she had been denied her dying wish.
I really am in two minds about euthanasia which are that I believe that everyone should have the right to choose how they live and in conjunction, how they choose to die. However, growing up in a family with nurses and doctors I have realised the immense pressure and responsibility that would be put on these medical professionals if they were to administer a fatal drug killing their patient, and ultimately a human life almost instantly. Who are we to play God? Who are we to play God in giving a fatal drug to a patient or telling a patient that is in pain and incurable of an incomprehensible disease that she or he cannot choose the way that she wants to leave this world? Should we really be able to force someone to live if they want to die?
One thing that I am certain on is that this specific case has been a long time coming and has brought about discussion that is putting emphasis on a subject that has the need and necessary attributes to be discussed further.
A “Kiwi” is a derptastic middle-aged bloke from the provinces, obsessed with Rugby, where his self-esteem is channelled parallel to the fortunes of the national rugby side (being the nation’s only perceived impact on the world), ignorant of the rest of the globe, profoundly distrustful if not downright antagonistic of anything remotely intellectual.
But fortunately still a more evolved species than South Seas relative “the Ocker”…
The next major topic for discussion by Jim Mora and his Panel
http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/well-good/teach-me/72012095/Forget-thigh-gaps-thighbrows-are-the-next-new-body-trend
Nine days of Harry cost Kiwis more than $400k
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11512215
feckless rich bugger cant even pay for his own holidays ?
I hope he told the jobcentre he was taking a holiday abroad , other wise i WILL be expecting benefit sanctions !
At least he didn’t kill anyone when he was here. The peasants in Afghanistan weren’t so lucky….
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/campaigns/our_boys/4712507/Air-return-for-Big-H-the-killer.html
reminds me of lord flashart !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QC3sURgYxng
Just for giggles.
Hating Australians
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF_1hVYGaJw
Maher is a fool, an ignoramus and a bigot. Here he is getting schooled by someone much smarter….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB-itn_LJuM
“LACK” of communication causing so much inconvenience to travellers try to get to the airport due to the SH20A project.
Imagine having to rush to the airport only to find out that the main road to the highway that leads to the airport is being blocked off due to roadwork construction. Not only is it blocked but you would need to turn around and hope that you find another way to get onto the highway by going through the opposite road which now you have just spent the last hour or so trying to find your way to the airport which result in you missing your flight.
What a huge inconvenience for many who have travelled a long way to get to the airport but is delayed due to the new project of SH20A.
Since the right turn movement has been restricted residents have found it very difficult to get to the Airport through the Kirkbride West road. The right turn both on Kirkbride East to SH20A North and Kirkbride West to the SH20A South at the intersection has been restricted from August till March 2016. Although, the extension of SH20A is expected to create an easier access to the Airport, it is creating a bit of a hassle for local residents as they struggle to find another way to reach the Airport. “it very inconvenient, i don’t see why they need to expand SH20A when it’s creating so much hassle” says resident Emma Lang.
I can definitely understand why the project would be beneficial in creating a safer travel. However, it would be much better if there was a sign that perhaps let people know that the Kirkbride road has been blocked off to avoid any inconvenient as well as saving time. The purpose of this post is because I feel that not only is the SH20A project has caused so many issues but as well as many roadwork projects that occur on our roads and I feel it’s due to the lack of communication that is made to help travellers avoid traffic. This has been an issue for many people since the start of the project however, little discussion is made upon the issue.
Therefore, I want to know what your thoughts are on this and who else feels that this is an inconvenient and do you think that there should be a better roadwork communication or perhaps you have your own opinion or story that you want to share, perhaps we can engage in a discussion or argue your viewpoints.
Let me know!
TONIGHT!
Exposing corruption at local government level in NZ!
Monday 14 September 2015
TIME: 9pm
Face TV
Sky Channel 83
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfRgHcE_wbY&feature=youtu.be
+100 thanks Penny
Max Keiser supports Kim Dotcom
‘‘Meganet’: Kim Dotcom plans crowdfunded replacement to internet (Ft. Max Keiser) @start_coin’
http://www.maxkeiser.com/2015/06/meganet-kim-dotcom-plans-crowdfunded-replacement-to-internet-ft-max-keiser-start_coin/
(..personally I think the Internet Party was a plus for Mana and would have been a plus for New Zealand)
“Couldn’t you just go ahead and drill for water yourselves?”
Bryan Crump asked that of a Palestinian farmer tonight.
Nights, Radio NZ National, Monday 14/9/15, 7:10 p.m.
The topic for the first item tonight was, ominously, “Palestinian farming”. I feared that Bryan Crump would not be prepared for this interview, and sadly I was right. A couple of his statements were extremely ignorant and provocative. I really wouldn’t like to say that Crump, who seems like a genuinely nice guy, was doing it deliberately, but who other than a paid Israeli government spokesperson would be crass enough or cruel enough to speak of the “disputed” instead of the occupied Palestinian territories, or refer to the illegal, internationally condemned annexation (or apartheid) wall as a “security” wall? Bryan Crump said both of those things tonight. This raises serious questions about his judgement, if not his morality.
I’ll skip most of the crap, and just present some of the highlights, or lowlights…..
BRYAN CRUMP: It can be tricky farming at the best of times, especially when the land you farm is one of the more disputed parts of the planet. Saleem Abu Ghazaleh is the fair trade director of the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee, Palestine’s largest NGO. He’s in New Zealand at the moment. Welcome, Saleem.
SALEEM ABU GHAZALEH: Thank you.
Crump had obviously written—or had written for him—a list of questions which he was determined to plough through….
BRYAN CRUMP: What are the main crops for farmers on the West Bank?…Where are the main markets?… You mention you used to export a fair amount to Israel but not now. What are the reasons for that?
SALEEM ABU GHAZALEH: You should ask the other side that.
Crump seemed nonplussed at that answer, and he lapsed into an awkward silence for a short while. Then he returned to his scripted questions….
BRYAN CRUMP: You mention there’s some farming in Gaza.
SALEEM ABU GHAZALEH: Yes of course. Strawberries, flowers….
BRYAN CRUMP: What are some of the main obstacles if you want to become a farmer in the Palestinian Territories?
SALEEM ABU GHAZALEH: It’s difficult with the water cut off, the apartheid wall, the checkpoints.
BRYAN CRUMP: So the security wall you mentioned there. And also the water…
SALEEM ABU GHAZALEH: The water is under Israeli control.
BRYAN CRUMP: You say the water is under Israeli control?
……..
SALEEM ABU GHAZALEH: One hundred and twenty checkpoints make daily life very difficult for Palestinian people, especially the farmers.
……..
BRYAN CRUMP: You said before that in many cases the water is controlled by Israel—
SALEEM ABU GHAZALEH: In ALL cases.
BRYAN CRUMP: Couldn’t you just go ahead and drill for water yourselves?
SALEEM ABU GHAZALEH: It is forbidden to do that.
BRYAN CRUMP: And what happens if farmers break the law?
SALEEM ABU GHAZALEH: You go to prison.
BRYAN CRUMP: Riiiight. …[pause]…. What kind of year has 2015 been for Palestinian farmers?
SALEEM ABU GHAZALEH: We have had drought.
BRYAN CRUMP: Almonds need a lot of water don’t they…..
Appalled and depressed by this, I sent Bryan Crump the following email….
The West Bank is illegally occupied, not “disputed”.
Dear Bryan,
In the introduction to your interview with Saleem Abu Ghazaleh, you described the Occupied Territories as “one of the more disputed parts of the planet.” In fact, there is no dispute: under international law, Israel is illegally occupying the West Bank. Other than the illegal occupying state, this ruling is recognized by every state in the world, including the United States.
A little later, Saleem mentioned the illegal apartheid wall that makes farming so difficult for him. You immediately referred to it as “the security wall”.
Could you please pay attention to these points in future?
Yours sincerely,
Morrissey Breen
Northcote Point
+100…really the ignorance is damning
Both of us are being charitable and assuming he was merely ignorant. But those two most grievous “errors” that he makes both seem quite deliberate.
1.) Only a ruthless ideologue would call the Occupied Territories “disputed”—but that’s exactly what Crump says in his introductory remarks.
2.) When his guest mentions the apartheid wall, Crump immediately reformulates this: “So the security wall you mentioned there….”
I find Crump’s words here to be profoundly troubling.
That transcript is hilarious. Sadly my daily 5 minutes of NatRad were spent with a Panel of Mora, Clifton and McDonald (you would think one of the less vacuous calibrations of the dastardly thing) talking about noisy students, and guffawing cleverly to themselves about Jeremy Corbyn and the flag
(FINLAY MCDONALD: Jeremy Corbyn is the Red Peak!
JANE CLIFTON: *snort*
JIM MORA: A-ha-ha-ha! A-ha–!)
Yes, I heard that. Mora, perhaps deliberately, left it too late to do any talking about the Corbyn win. I note that he never stints on those tedious getting-to-reacquaint-ourselves chats at the start of each program. Sometimes they take until well past 4:15.
Mora can only talk fluff.
Mora can only talk fluff.
Indeed. He is just not up to the job on Checkpoint.