Sensible Sentencing Trust’s offender data base a bit threadbare
High-profile criminals have not yet been included
Yesterday I heard Garth “The Knife” McVicar on his publicly funded advertising outlet (Radio NZ National) announcing that the S.S. Trust Offenders Database was up and running again. I made a quick visit to the site to see just how thorough and comprehensive it was. One of the first things you notice is this laudable statement: “The Sensible Sentencing Trust believes in an open and transparent Justice System.”
First up, I typed in the name Alan Titford and ticked the box for “Arson”. NO RESULT.
Next, I typed in the name David Garrett and ticked the box for “Robbery/Attempted Robbery”. NO RESULT.
Then I typed in the name Bruce Emery and ticked the box for “Murder/Manslaughter”. NO RESULT.
Since these are all high-profile offenders, it seemed odd that their names were not yet on this database. Then I saw the following sign: “Submit Offender Information: Use the form below to get in touch and submit information about offenders.”
I filled in the submission form with the following information….
BRUCE EMERY. In late 2008, he chased down a boy on a South Auckland street, then stabbed him repeatedly, killing him.
Perhaps other Standard readers may like to submit the same names (Titford, Garrett, Emery) to the database, with a résumé of their crimes, to remind the people at the S.S. Trust to get it up to date…… http://www.sst.org.nz/offenders-database/
SST are particularly selective about who’s on their naughty list aren’t they? Emery’s victim, Pihema Cameron, for example, apparently not worthy of the same amount of outrage as others, yet, Pihema’s family received the least amount of justice. So why the silence?
Emery’s victim, Pihema Cameron, for example, apparently not worthy of the same amount of outrage as others…
It’s actually far, far worse than that, Rosie. Garth McVicar actually mounted a public campaign of traducing the reputation and memory of the dead boy and his family. He also loudly advocated for tolerance for and understanding of the boy’s killer, who he claimed was a decent citizen. Noelle McCarthy was struggling to hide her disgust for McVicar when she interviewed him in March 2011… http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-09032011/#comment-306178
Oh that is truly despicable. Double standards, hypocrisy, and undisguised callousness. McVicar’s brain must be well and truly addled. He is no victims rights advocate, he is a vulture.
And yes, he really is a vulture, the way he swoops when someone has been murdered – but only for a victim who fits his description of who is worthy of outrage.
I have let them know about Alan Titford:
“Alan Titford is an extremely dangerous offender who has been convicted of arson. I believe you need to keep an eye on him, as he is very dangerous to women, children, minorities, and seems totally divorced from reality. ”
They can probably keep an eye on him once he’s paroled, when he’ll be able to attend their meetings again.
Hi folks – would like some help refining this argument. Please any criticisms and other input welcome , Thanks in advance.
I have a problem with cars – a 100 years ago they had 4 wheels, a motor which ran on oil and a body – same as today really. A computer on the other hand was as large as a house, run on valves and need the operating system written in every day. Now your phone is a more powerful computer than the computer they used to land on the moon – but your car is still 4 wheels on a body, with a motor run with oil.
not to mention much like computers, engines have become more powerful, more efficient and much smaller… anf computers still run on electric.
To easily picked apart imo
And the car engines are pretty digitsed today – mechanics take all sorts of readings with electronic machines. My mechanic talks about how these days there’s all sorts of liquids that need monitoring and replacing at different times. Used to be that cars just mostly needed a main oil change.
But, I reckon we should just go back to the horse and cart – maintenance would be far easier – fuel top ups every day, regular checks with the vet and of the wheels, cart and reigns, daily waste disposal…… most jobs we could easily do ourselves without expensive equipment to monitor fluids and parts.
Difference being that horses and what not are merely recycling the ‘natural sink’ of carbon whereas oil is an addition to that ‘natural sink’ – like the difference between burning wood and burning coal. 😉
And again, that depends on the source of the fertiliser and how we choose to manage soils, no? Pour oil derivatives on and we are adding external sources to the ‘natural sink’…allow pastures to lie fallow so that soil, its ecosystems and fertility build up and gasses from the ‘natural sink’ and natural cycle, that nevertheless contribute to warming are, at least temporarily, sequestrated.
“But, I reckon we should just go back to the horse and cart”
Please no karol! Horses are treated appallingly here in NZ, the number of them that turn up half dead with their spirits broken at animal sanctuaries around the country are a testament to that. Even now days, Once a horse is deemed to have finished its useful life it is still sent to slaughter and ends up in Jimbo’s pet food. I kid you not. I have met these beautiful darlings who have been rescued at the last moment.
And work horses that are used in other countries are used and abused and often die young from untreated injuries and illnesses. It’s the one time where you actually welcome those busy body types that get all judgemental with how other cultures operate, to come and set up horse hospitals, take the work horses of the hands of the “owner”, provide them with income lost for not having their horse or donkey working, treat the horse for diseases and injury, feed them up, get them well nourished and return to them to the owner with instructions on how to take care of them. (This happens in Egypt but may also be happening in other countries)
Horses are highly sensitive, sociable and emotional herd animals that suffer so much at our hands and tolerate so much. They are also hugely expensive to look after and high maintenance.
People that are supposed to be “horse people” can’t always be trusted to care for horses, let alone folks that know nothing of them.
Instead, how about we overthrow Big Oil and create a vehicle that is simple to run and maintain and runs on water? Not much to ask eh? Lol.
A lot of people think that SPCAs were set up to look after pets such as dogs and cats, etc.
The history of SPCAs is that they were established in the mid 1800s by Wilberforce and others to deal with the appalling treatment of horses in the days of the horse and cart, horses being used in coal mines etc etc. In fact, the establishment of SPCAs here in NZ for this purpose predates the establishment of a Police force.
Oh, that first scene in “Amazing Grace” where the character of William Wilberforce came across a pair of men who were beating a cart horse who had fallen from exhaustion was so awful.
The Industrial Revolution saved the work horse from future harm and organisations like the SPCA helped to educate others as the horse transitioned from work to recreation in industrialised nations. So the Industrial Revolution improved the lot for the horse but being humans, we managed to stuff up our planet instead.
Its at this point I put my hand up for all the farm animals abused by the attitude of the NZ farmer. All livestock requires shelter from the sun, cold, rain and wind, and all livestock need sufficient space and freedom of movement. Go out of town, see all the cows and sheep in full sun with no shelter, or freezing in open paddocks during a southerly. Or pigs and chickens imprisoned in cages. We farm industrially and treat the stock appallingly.
I might also add the farmers are matched in their disdain of living things by anglers (of whom I am one) who hold their catch up out of water for a photo, and who delight in the joys of “fighting” a distressed fish rather than making it short and sweet. Growl, things that make me mad……
“We farm industrially and treat the stock appallingly’
Indeed we do Ennui. Our lack of basic compassion for “industrial” animals in our care demonstrates a lack of emotional intelligence, and certainly a lack of respect for the animal.
I wonder if there will ever be a government enlightened or willing enough to introduce decent standards of care for farmed animals. Funnily enough it may likely be economically advantageous for exporters if we could demonstrate that NZer’s were caring farmers, of both animals and the land.
Good on you for not mucking around with your fish either.
plus one ennui .
i would have a lot more respect for the spca if they started to agitate/educate/advocate about farmed animals that do not have shelter.
to see a cow in the height of summer, standing with its head in the shadow of a strainer post, to get some relief is kinda sad.
it is even more galling as there is dollars involved.
The motor vehicle saved humankind from horse manure and dead horses. If a horse broke down it was oft shot and left in the street for the city authorities to take care of the corpse.
“The horse was no newcomer on the urban scene. But by the late
1800s, the problem of horse pollution had reached unprecedented
heights. The growth in the horse population was outstripping even the
rapid rise in the number of human city dwellers. American cities were
drowning in horse manure as well as other unpleasant byproducts of
the era’s predominant mode of transportation: urine, flies, congestion,
carcasses, and traffic accidents.Widespread cruelty to horses was a form
of environmental degradation as well.
The situation seemed dire.
In 1894, the Times of London estimated that by 1950 every street in the city would be buried nine feet deep in horse manure.”
I hope that there isn’t any leather in your shoes karol.
If there is I hope you will think of the poor animal that died in order that you might walk comfortably in your leather (uppers or soles) shoes.
I think my footwear is mostly rubber & synthetic – I’d have thought hardly any kinder to the environment than leather – what am I going to do – stay home, go barefoot on todays pavements?
You are forgiven Karol. Sackcloth and ashes are not required.
I was only trying to get a little lightness into life with the remark.
My god, but the stuff before your comment, on the origons of the SPCA and the treatment of horses, was depressing wasn’t it?
Believe me, you wouldn’t go back to a horse and cart if you lived in a city where they regularly run tourists around. The roads they use and the park-up spots are to be avoided. Although the poo is capture in horsey bags, the stench of horse-piss is unbearable in summer (barely bearable in winter).
In the past hundred years I think it is correct to say that the human cargo they are designed to carry has got taller and considerably bigger with over eating, in countries where cars are produced so it is understandable that their size has not reduced …. there has for a long time been the alternative motorbikes and shanks pony .. the latter is miniscule.
Why would car manufacturers want to produce more efficient, and therefore less profitable cars? Maybe trace the connections between the oil industry and car manufacturers? Also…why the hell were cars ever introduced as a means of mass transport? Oh yeah…the conspiracy (charged in court as such and found guilty) of the rubber industry, oil industry and car industry, whereby they bought up public transport networks and deliberately trashed them to create a market for the automobile.
You might also be interested in reading Chris Trotter’s take on the possible ramifications of the launch of KDC’s political party, PU, on his blog site, Bowalley Road and in The Press today.
Trotter’s view is that it may well appeal a lot to the younger generation of voters as a fresh option unencumbered by the past – an extract from his article
“Statistics New Zealand estimate that on June 30, 2013, there were 333,840 New Zealanders aged 20-24 – more than enough to surmount the 5 per cent MMP threshold.”
With over 15,000 people already registered for tickets to The PartyParty next Monday night in less than 24 hours, IMO they will get the 500 registered members very quickly to qualify for registration of the political party.
UPDATE; KDC has just tweeted that the name of the party will be the “Internet Party”, not the Mega Party. He has also tweeted the logo
Guessing the reason for capitalising both words and putting Party directly under Internet is so that you have a vertical acronym IP – Internet Protocol which fits the agenda – such as it is.
Purple is a Suffragette colour. – or lesbian – or just a mix of red and blue signifiying it’s neither totally left or right wing – which, IMO, usually means centrist according to the centre ground of the time.
From memory, his drill sadist used to wear that colour. It was meant to be a mixture between the bright red of arterial blood and the “blue” blood of veins. Actually the blood in veins are also red – a dark red of deoxygenated haemoglobin. Veins just look blue from the outside… But hey it is a just a book.. 😈
Of course if KDC starts to transplant large incisors then I’d start worrying what fictional universe he wants to live in.
@ alwyn lol…yes he has been called a fuckwit ……but he has the vote so you cant ignore it
….the way of youth is totally different from the way we oldies think…the internet has provided another parallel universe for them …and I am afraid for good or ill it is a revolutionary change
imo KDC could mop up a lot of votes from cynical youth who would not otherwise vote
It’s all hypothetical, but Dot com’s a business man first, l reckon, he’d be trying to make as much money out of this political lark as possible.
There’s some really dumb gullible mofos out there that hang off his every word, great opportunity for Orcon to gain a heap of new customers and for Dot com to make some coin.
KDC’s values are conveyed by his way of promoting the party – all we see so far is that it’s got his brand on it and it’s about the internet. Little about what his party stands for in all that, other than what we already know about KDC. So I’m not optimistic. Celebrity branding and partying.
Not even a glimmer of what his party will do for Kiwis in general, other than from what we know of KDC’s focus and interests.
Edit: and on the basis of just as much (or as little evidence), many on the left are uncritically cheerleading KDC’s party move, which I find worrying
Well, I’m not hopeful about it being anything “new” – just the same old same old “neoliberal” celebrity culture of infotainment led by a libertarian type wanting in on the big time capitalist action – old story, new window dressing – remake for the digital age.
“But there are some facts as I’ve laid out, and they don’t give me cause for optimism.”
I may be missiing something, Karol, but IMO your comments in this thread at 3.2; 3.2.1.1; and this one seem to be personal opinion/perception – not facts – and based on a lot of assumptions.
Personally, I am keeping an open mind on the Internet Party until we have actually seen their vision, policies etc, and who else is involved – presumably next week.
I have followed the KDC saga closely over the last two years – because of the legal and other ramifications rather than as a cheer leader for KDC. But in so doing, I have come to the opinion that KDC may be a very clever businessman/entrepreneur; but also has a softer side to him also. Loves his wife, children, pets dearly; is very loyal to his friends, work colleagues; and can appreciate the simplicity of a beautiful tree in flower etc. Yes, he has done some bad things in the past; but he was (at the time of his application for residency)and has continued to be open about these (although his German convictions were actually ‘clean slated’ under German legislation similar to our own Clean Slate Act).
As I said, I await fuller details about the Internet Party with an open mind.
The facts are in KDC’s past record. They are also in the way the party is named, and what is so far missing – nothing about what the party or KDC will do for NZers, except for his desire for internet “freedom”.
Many right wingers have their soft family side – means little.
KDC is first and foremost an Entrepreneur – he is out to make money using the Internet – he sees it as an under-utilised platform for business. He is ultimately a capitalist (and very competitive) – and a fairly libertarian one. I have heard nothing from him about being concerned for the plight of the less well off, or of low paid workers, etc.
He may be useful to the left in challenging Key and splitting the right wing vote. But he is not of the left.
But, whatever, ….my views are not going to influence the outcomes. And time will tell what KDC’s party is really about.
One presumes, being launched by Kim Dotcom, that it will be a “fuck John Key / the government / big business / ties to the USA” party aimed at young people.
Chance of this hurting National in election year: zero
How about stating what Bradbury said in full on TDB, and not just one sentence ?
What Bradbury said in full (its not long) is;
Good old Cameron. Thank you for the publicity.
Couple of things.
1: I stood down from my role as a consultant with the MANA Party last year.
2: What Cameron is showing is an early draft of a proposal tabled at a meeting with a whole bunch of other ideas late last year.
3: The idea of me as a candidate was more to kick around ideas.
I am a Political consultant, this is what I do, this was a proposal I was asked to submit. The moment I start working for the Internet Party if I am offered a role I will be shouting it from the rooftops as I think the ideas of an Internet Party focused on civil rights in the online 21st Century and the economic prosperity that could generate for NZ is the future and anything that moves us away from a dairy dependent, drill and mine economy is a good thing.
But all it was, was a proposal. If that changes, I will let you all know.”
Bradbury goes with the highest bidder. Thus he’s busy right now telling us who he’s NOT working for. The moment he tells us he IS working for someone, he’s not worth anything to anyone else. Like a good capitalist he’s just trying to maximise his own asking price.
Still, I note that Bradbury sure ain’t posting any pictures of himself standing in support next to Harawira, Cunliffe, or Norman and Turei.
PS: oh lol at the leaked document: “Bradbury recommends the party pay him $8000 a month to run a campaign in the Auckland Central electorate.
Mr Bradbury also asks for a one-off payment of $5000 to upgrade his computer, cellphone and tablet devices.”
Good. Mana will do a lot better without him. I hope they never paid him. A dead moray eel would be too high a payment for the services of the poor man’s Hooten.
Bomber’s main interest seems to be the media and getting a role for himself. I think he’s a natural fit with Dotcom, much more so than with Mana. I can’t see the Dotcom party doing much good at all, except for in the area of regulation of the internet and maybe the surveillance society. Mana would be much stronger in fighting the surveillance society, because their activists have known for years what it’s like to be watched and persecuted. I think it’s a dangerous distraction, and no, I don’t have to look at their policies to have an opinion, any more than I need to read the ACT manifesto to condemn them.
aye, I tend to agree re: bradbury. Loves being the voice of the left, as long as “the left” agrees with whatever he says – so now he’s working for a Banks supporter.
Bomber’s main interest seems to be the media and getting a role for himself.
heh – 3 News claims the Int Party so far have 3 main policies, including intenet business for NZ and supporting a public broadcasting service – they need to be able to show it will be free from KDC money manipulations.
So the best way, according to 3 news website, that Bomber could help fight against a national third term is to whore himself out for 8,000 a month and a new i rig for a rich prick with a penchant for super cars and shite music, who awaiting extradition on piracy charges, sets up mega, which has dodgy copyright content on it as I type.
Great way to make a contribution, comrade, by filling your own pocket with dirty money.
I will wait to see what the policies are before I decide about the party but I am supportive of him actually making a party especially one that looks like it will bring the young into politics.
People today don’t like being party cannon fodder. If you want someone to do something for you, you have to give them some fun before, during and after. A party that is also a PARTY appeals to people who are turned off by the idea of earnest discussions about Saturday morning (Sunday morning? Are you nuts? I’ve got a hangover/get my only sleep-in on Saturday mornings sayeth the youth of today) leaflet drops by pensioners in drafty halls on a rainy Monday night in July.
I kinda foresee nicely dressed up, but really quite nasty right wing tosh oozing out from this. The challenge for left leaning parties is to grasp the opportunity to pull newly ‘engaged’ Dotcommers into a more honest realm of politics. Will they? Doubt it. And so we’ll wind up with a NZ version of that Italian guy whose name escapes me or a NZ version of the Pirate Party. Not good.
+1 Bill, The political interest it will generate is to be welcomed. But in the long run I can only see it hurting the left unless they re-engage with the public in a meaningful way.
And a computer is still a keyboard and a screen, and if cars shit themselves as often as computers and needed ” upgrading” as often, car companies would have been sued out of existance.
There is a teeny bit more than that in them. But typically the failure components are hard disks and on the printed circuit boards (PCB)
PCBs have a few orders of magnitude more components than the entirety of any production car and are made up of hot or warm components that are densely packed and typically react to each other and their environment. Selecting the right motherboard and case for cooling, maintaining and replacing them for your task makes a hell of difference. Just as it does with a car. Which is why my motherboards typically last until I *upgrade* them – usually about every 5 years. I just replaced the one in my workstation that I brought in 2009.
Hard disks typically operate at sustained movement speeds far in excess of any car apart from Formula one racing cars – which seldom last a year. The best way to think about them is that they are a consumable like brake pads or tyres. You should expect to replace them every few years and build that into your maintenance schedule.
I suspect that you’re mostly complaining about portable computers and handhelds.
Yes it is possible to get longer lasting laptops – for instance a Toughbook. Paying for them is a completely different matter.
The last laptop I brought was in 2009, a sony vaio Z series. It is still happily running and in daily use. My partners old laptops from the last two decades used to litter the household until we disposed on them on moving into less storage space. None of them ever died, they just got new hard disks. Of course these were all rather expensive apples..
Standardisation of components also makes a big difference in enabling rapid development and reducing cost. You don’t see this with cars, apart from obvious things like wheels, tyres etc.
You can’t just grab any old gearbox off the shelf and whack it in your car.
I had hoped one day to see someone start a project for an open source (and open standards) car design. However given that car manufacturing is now a sunset industry (or will be soon) it’s probably not worth doing.
Eric Roy is the 9th National Party Caucus member to resign at the end of this term. Colin James and Michelle Boag (on RNZ this morning) reckon that these people are being tapped on the shoulder to f.o. I reckon the National Party cant be a happy camp at the moment, but it is a very corporate way of running things, interesting.
It’s a good thing really I could name several high profile labour mp’s that should have been ‘shoulder tapped’ years ago.
I doubt things are too unhappy i’m sure most of them will wash up with a few cushy board positions or similar…
That’s the problem. Labour don’t have the corporate jobs to bribe their MOs with to leave.
Anyway, if Labour don’t get rid of their neoliberal rump they are toast.
There are far too many timid or compromised people in the party.
Yes. Labour is much more democratic though, im not convinced that the National’s Corporate approach is the right way, it might get rid of the deadwood but it also has its downsides. It does lead to a lot to people conforming to what the leader wants, so a lot of sucking up…but I still reckon that it is probably a much unhappier party than what is been let on.
If you did jcuknz you wouldn’t be on the blog so much as aRWNJ. After all there is no money in it for you, is there? Or are you too old to be a judge? (shades of Cook and Moore.)
It’s called rejuvenation. Look for more long-serving MPs to retire as National positions itself as a future-facing party in election year.
And on the other side of the political spectrum, we have the party going to the election with David Cunliffe, Phil Goff, Annette King, and Trevor Mallard. All Clark-era Cabinet ministers.
For bonus dotage: Mallard and King entered Parliament in the election that ousted Rob Muldoon.
But wait there’s more: Goff has been an MP since the election that ousted BILL ROWLING.
Plenty of sickening things happen every day but one of the worst this week has been the singing of Ariel Sharon’s praises at his funeral by Israeli politicians and an assortment of international butchers and war criminals such as former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. Our own Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully was marginally less cringe-worthy saying Sharon had acted out of love of his country but at least acknowledged Sharon as “controversial” – a euphemism for “bloody butcher” in this case.
[deleted]
Sharon was one of the most vicious and gruesome political leaders from the 20th century.
[lprent: The quoting was excessive – relevant quoted *teasers* yes – not a copied page and a half. Opinion from yourself is what I’d usually expect as the main teaser anyway. Don’t make me have to do this work again. See the policy on cut’n’paste.
BTW and before you ask: The only reason that Penny Bright gets away with her massive screeds is because I can’t find them on google. Probably means that wherever else they are published has crappy search engine optimisation. BLip’s lists are original. ]
And if Labour retain their neo-liberal hue, nothing will change.
Just three examples off the bat:Goff supports the TPP and Jones supports off shore drilling and Labour MPs take gifts from Sky City
It’ll just be a slower death for workers’ rights in NZ and, more dangerously, more disaffected voters. The UK already suffers from this fact as there is no party there you can vote for that challenges neo-liberal economics.
(and,,ahem..!..the negotiating-stance i wd go for..is..
..if oil is found..the state gets 50% of the gusher…
..that’s the deal..
..take it or leave it..
..50%..or nothing…)
Bad move. Rescind the license completely and then set it up so that the drilling is either done directly by the government or under contract to the government for a fixed price. The government would own all of the oil/gas.
And do that with all the mining and resource extraction in the country.
Labour were infiltrated in the 80s by the neo-liberal virus.
Looks like the grassroots are trying to purge the party of this disease, but it’s hard work to oust these 5th columnists out of their comfortable rotten boroughs.
So where did our billions go? Hawksworth writes: “The logical answer is that the oil money enabled non-oil taxes to be kept lower.” In other words: tax cuts. When the North Sea was providing maximum income, Thatcher’s chancellor, Nigel Lawson slashed income and other direct taxes, especially for the rich. The top rate of tax came down from 60p in the pound to just 40p by 1988. He also reduced the basic rate of income tax; but the poor wouldn’t have seen much of those pounds in their pockets, as, thanks to the Tories, they were paying more VAT.
Yes where is he?…and Rhinocrates?….Maybe they are sunning themselves on a tropical island just listening to the lap of the waves….. and hoping that there wont be a cyclone…..
If one follows the link lprent put up there is some good links I think, though I haven;t caught up yet. Frankly I will always be running behind with the shovel as I think lots of the best stuff gets dropped unnoticed.
People who fight to establish a country are terrorists who become honoured citizens when they succeed in their endeavours. War, official or not, is a horrible and nasty business [irrespective of if you are the respected winner or the despised looser] and Arik succeeded but with age apparently became more sensible and tolerant of what is likely to succeed in the longterm.
As a man of his times and his situation he should be respected rather than reviled. But the past eight years illustrates the foolishness of quantity versus quality as practiced by the medical profession with the support of the rest of us.
What you say does make some sense. Sharon—or “Arik” as he was known to his friends and to hapless political makeweights like Joe “Kinnock” Biden—was a war criminal, and at his his funeral he was eulogized by war criminals. But he is not some monster who was running out of control; he was a faithful servant of a criminal, scofflaw regime. Nothing more, nothing less.
I was working in Palestine when Ariel Sharon rocked up to the Temple of the Mount with armed soldiers in tow, a few months out from the election.
Rioting ensued. So began the second intifada.
Sharon then rode the subsequent tide of racist nationalism to win the election
Most Israelis I spoke to at the time were disgusted that he would forment violence simply to stoke the fears of the Israeli populace. Several mentioned that he should be tried as a war criminal for his role in the Sabra and Shatila massacre. Even more believed he should have been court marshalled for disobeying Golda Meir during the Yom Kippur War which led the the deaths of many of the soldiers under his command (and Golda Meirs resignation).
His career should have ended in a court marshall in 1973. Or at the very least in the Hague after 1982.
“Labour corrections spokeswoman Jacinda Ardern said [SERCO} should lose its contract to run Mt Eden.”
What was wrong with saying: “The next Labour-led government will cancel all contracts and/or close all private prisons. SERCO investors take note: you will lose 100% of your investment every single time you interfere in New Zealand penal policy”?
There are ways to Tory proof this country. Compulsory return of public property without compensation is a tool that needs to come out of the shed more often.
perhaps the most egregious aspect of this sell-out to american corporate interests by this tory govt..
..is the guarantee in the deal..for the nz state to provide these vultures with enough prisoners to fill their cells..and thus guarantee them their-profit-margins..
..and get this..!..under this sell-out deal..if the state does not serve up these/enough bodies for this american corporation..
..the nz taxpayers have to pay them compensation..
..the tories thus continuing to ensure we maintain our place of shame..
..so so near the top of the countries that imprison the most of their citizens..
First, Labour has to rediscover its backbone. Bloody hard when so many are “career politicians”, or else have been voted in under a tide of blue liberalism.
Imagine if some of them had to categorically state something, you wouldn’t see them for the dust. As for Serco, the old saying, a fool and his money are easily parted, rings true in this case.
We look at one of the most shocking incidents in the career of the late former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon: the Sabra and Shatila massacre. Up to 2,000 Palestinians died on Sept. 16-17, 1982, when the Israeli military allowed a Christian militia to attack the camp. Then-Defense Minister Ariel Sharon was forced to resign after a special Israeli investigative panel declared him to be “personally responsible” for the massacre. We air a description of the killings by Ellen Siegel, a Jewish-American nurse who was working at Gaza Hospital at the Sabra camp at the time of the attacks, and speak with Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies at Columbia University, and Noam Chomsky, world-renowned political dissident, linguist, author and Institute Professor Emeritus at Massachusetts Institute of Technology….
A couple of thoughts.
Apparently there is a lowering crime rate, yet it is a time of increased deprivation of many.
A possible flow on from increased deprivation. Thomas Belmonte in his sociological study of the very poor people of Naples , in his book The Broken Fountain noted that the police were kept away from this area. Their presence usually meant more problems, no-one would want to give them information because of peer pressure and because it drew them personally to police attention. To live they reverted to stealing, it was endemic. The children were adept at getting into car boots of cars stopped at intersections. They might be as adept at climbing as monkeys. The author when new to the area, turned in his room, and found a young boy who had scaled the balcony to the first floor to check him out. They stole from each other, the family possibly, their friends and neighbours, probably. The Catholic church was their first port of call when having difficulties. A cosa nostra scenario really.
So if people are likely to be questioned about their own life if they report a crime, they will think twice. And it has to be serious, to be reported. To people in these conditions, the police are not an option. Police are sometimes unfriendly but fair, sometimes not, always a complication. Community building and support are needed to overcome this in NZ and help with the young delinquents on diversion properly handled could be the best option. That is until, or if, the government sets in place an economy that allows people to strive and to better themselves, and gives them plenty of inexpensive opportunities.
Another thought.
The present parliamentary system is no better than committees I’ve been on for community organisations. A new committee comes in,. and proceeds to overturn decisions made previously that people spent time thinking and arguing and deciding on, and which are of benefit. A new group has a better idea and considers itself automatically better than the past, particularly if as is common in community organisations that don’t have rich patrons or funding, they are just cranking along doing some good.
The government can overturn good policies of the past. To avoid this, there has to be a burst of energy against it. The whole thing can be re argued. There is no cause to do this unless the thing is fundamentally wrong and is likely to be so because of the lack of checks in the system.
It seems to me that there should be a stay on change, though new legislation should go ahead in its processes. There should be panels of people who can put their names forward and are drawn like a jury at random. The lists would be of people who would have passed a test of basic knowledge about the country and its economy and political system. This would result in a highly ordered random selection of people being drawn from say five strata to get a range of backgrounds.
The process of making decisions about changes or new legislation should have a checklist of questions about the cost, the value added, who needs it and why, who doesn’t think they need it and why, the likelihood of unintended consequences, whether it is just a deterrent, an example of a small step to change societal attitudes – and there must be a consideration of under 100 words for each check, and all to be filled in and collated and published. This would slow down legislation immensely, but a lot of what is passed now is repairing badly prepared stuff, or puts new bad law that has immediate advantage to a small group in, later to be mourned by those picking up the pieces. It would cut down on externalities being greatly resorted to, as less could be blithely passed over by the irresponsible.
I like the thoughts. A more ‘informed participatory democracy’ getting a wider range of views, experience and knowledge. It would reduce the influence of well funded individuals, politicians, narrow minded civil servants, ideologists, vested interests and lobbyists. I’m of the view that too much power is vested in too few people.
who read the angry pro-smacking tirade in the dompost this a.m.by one of Craigs acolytes.
people like this should not be allowed to have children in the first place.
The media is definitely doing a beat up on Colin Craig so far this year. It’s amazing how money can get you some much media space.
Why? The Tories are definitely trying to bait the NZ electorate on this one, as it represents their best hope of power in 2014.
I suggest that editors at newspapers and producers at TV and radio stations are being told to include this as content as much as possible. It’s a bit like having a playlist at a bad music radio station. You get no independence to select your own tracks. The owners of this country tell the media what to play.
“The media is definitely doing a beat up on Colin Craig so far this year”
you are missing what is really going on Paul
It is an election year and the Nat supporters who want even more hate to flood NZ need to be told where they can safely vote without scaring the pollsters too much
Brendon Who???, ah what choices for the people of Tauranga, (1) do they vote for the bloke who if watched closely when under pressure shows clear signs of being in possession of a serious disease of the mind, or (2), cast one for the bloke what can switch on and off at will a smile of such radiance that the sun pales into insignificance, said smile all the while never quite being translated through the eyes making one wonder if He who bestows such has an axe concealed somewhere about their person…
Phillip Ure, raking the ashes of what is past, tell me something, as a leftist what use do you see of a NZFirst Party that could just as easily decide to prop up a National Government as a Government of the left,
Now tell me something, Winston cannot carry on forever,(unless He has found some substance the rest of us have so far missed), so who of the 2011 intake of NZFirst could have possibly kept the NZFirst Party alive after Winston,
Who in that Party had an ounce of the charisma, the mana if you will to be able to carry that Party forward after Winston,
Brendon Who??? don’t be such a soft mug Phillip, this is the long game of politics and the knee-capping of Brendon Who is simply a small move in the game,
i don’t think you will find me having commented on Brendon Who’s honesty at any point, simply because as i insinuate that wasn’t the point…
The joys of US ‘quantitative easing’ washing across the borders into New Zealand perhaps, meanwhile back in the jungle as the US leviathans flash the cash the US congress is hell bent on slashing it in the form of cancelling unemployment benefits for 100’s of thousands in the US still suffering from the unemployment brought about the Global Financial Crisis,
The hypocrisy of this which cannot escape any of us except perhaps the most hardened of wing-nuts…
So we keep hearing how business confidence in NZ has hit an all time high.
After mass sacking of workers, slashing of workers’ rights and pay, after total dis-empowering of unions, after blackmailing workers into submission by threatening them with job losses, and making massive profits which are being distributed only among the management, with the help and support by a compliant government, no wonder the business confidence is so high.
Yes, the celebrating of business confidence implies that we all benefit. In fact, things like the GFC are exploited by the coporate plutocracy, so that, when there is a recovery, wages are lower, jobs more preacarious, and workers’ rights have been further whittled away.
Also, why do people so hate Martyn Bradbury? I don’t know the man at all apart from what he writes in his blogs, so more insight would be helpful.
He’s apparently joined Kim Dotcom’s party. WTF?
You know the extradition case is in tatters, don’t you Funi Man? The evidence the police presented proven false, the warrant illegal, the provision of access to sealed court evidence to unauthorised foreign nationals, do you think all those things have just sort of gone away now they aren’t in the media so much?
What sort of weight do you suppose the court will give to this sad litany when considering its decision? Do you suppose it will affect the degree of trust the court is prepared to invest in the rest of the Yankee request much?
Clearly you are of the sort that believes the accused are always guilty whether proven innocent or not, and your opinion is utterly irrelevant, but I care, Funi Man. I’m looking forward to your chagrin 🙂
Source WO. Bradbury was a consultant to the internet Party early on. Ditto Graeme Edgeler. Trotter as alleged cheerleader.+
I don’t hate Bradbury. Sometimes I totally agree with his comments/analysis. Sometimes I think he’s not a very in-depth thinker. He also can be a bit contradictory. He’s a good publicist – can use the media quite well.
Some find him too opinionated and too focused on his own publicity.
The only thing I like about KDC is the way he makes John Key squirm on the end of his bayonet. Millionaire vs Millionaire battle just another gormless media distraction really.
Says you. As for NZ interests, I note he is funding a political party and has apparently hired (or at least called for expressions of interest from) some quite serious players to run it.
The last time someone tried something of this nature, The New Zealand Party got 12% of the vote.
I won’t be surprised if he fails, but I won’t be surprised if he doesn’t.
I’m struggling to seeing him make 5%, but the New Zealand Party…
I’m not. The Greens got 6.8% in their first election. Act got 6.9% in their first election.
I see it as highly probably that, in their first election, The Internet Party will get over 5%. The question is if they will be able to maintain that. Act hasn’t but The Greens are going strong.
Nice little ‘jolt’ felt in Wellington just now, maybe 2.5-3 on the rickety scale, a minor isolated movement or more from the series shaking the top of the South???…
It doesn’t add up. Looking at the numbers from the msd site, the $10.3 billion decrease doesn’t add up to the figures on the site. It only shows $7.3 billion. There was $1.5B was added that was a methodology correction to the 2012 liability figures. So it should have been $8.8 billion. But that’s still $1.5 billion more than the numbers published on the MSD site. http://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/newsroom/media-releases/2014/taylor-fry-welfare-valuation.html
Most of the savings was due to cheaper service rates $3.0 billion.
While only $180 million was due to lower than expected benefit payments.
Take this from the msd site,
—
The June 2012 total liability was $86.8 billion, compared with the June 2013 liability of $76.5 billion.
—
That’s there $10.3 billion figure. But in the notes at the bottom of the page is this,
—
[ii] The starting liability at 30 June 2012 was reduced to $85.3 billion due to methodology correction.
—
Oh look, there’s $1.5 Billion they are still counting even though they had corrected the figure due to methodology. Can’t trust there numbers if they make such a simple error
I just noticed on zerohedge.com that the benchmark Baltic Dry shipping indexing is collapsing at historic rates. That implies massive dry bulk carrying over capacity on 23 of the world’s major trade routes.
I don’t think that the global real economy is going to do any good this year, at all.
That was mentioned in a article I read a year or two back on shipping. The article mentioned that there was an awful lot carrying capacity coming on line in the next year or two and that competition would drive prices for shipping to below cost.
Haven’t noticed any pictures or mentions about David Cunliffe on holiday with his family etc etc…Key’s boys been getting high fives from Obama on the golf course in Hawaii…absolute elitism but also very hard to attack as that…
hmmmm? CCC or KDC? What interesting times we live in! I suppose it should come as no surprise that we see a plethora of minor parties applying for the tail role of, not just wagging the dog, but potentially choosing the pooch to be promenaded by. Fun and doo doors ahead folks. Keep shoveling and smile!
It costs a lot to live in Auckland, and the reason is ?…. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11185768
Auckland Tourism Events and Economic Development tourism manager Jason Hill said the city billed itself as a top-quality holiday spot.
“Auckland doesn’t profess to be a budget destination, but delivers on other aspects of visitor experiences and consistently ranks highly as a desirable place to visit,” he said.
How about those of us who reside perminately within Auckland and are captured within this low wage economy ? Perhaps as a cup of coffee, a beer , dinner our are so expensive, then those working within the industry could expect to see an uplift in their wages, at least there in no reason for working conditions to be attacked!! http://www.sfwu.org.nz
Common sense and logic fail as to why it is soooo costly to live within New Zealand. Perhaps it is all that money bring exported out as dividends in the banking sector:-)
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 27 were:1. The Minister for Ford Rangers strikes againTransport Minister Simeon Brown was again the busiest of the Cabinet ministers this week, announcing an ...
You got a fast carAnd I want a ticket to anywhereMaybe we make a dealMaybe together we can get somewhereAny place is betterYesterday’s newsletter, Trust In Me, on the report of abuse in state care, and by religious organisations, between 1950 and 2019, coupled with the hypocrisy of Christopher Luxon ...
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
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There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
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History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
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A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
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TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
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Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earth’s land area – particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Heynen, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy, The University of Queensland A temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars, ParisEkaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sustainability of the event is coming under scrutiny. The organisers have promoted ...
A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. You’d barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capital’s last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Professor in Marine Geology, University of Canterbury Louise Corcoran/Getty Images The decline in the number of doctoral candidates at New Zealand universities is a worrying sign for the country’s effort to build a knowledge-based economy. Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vaughan Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania Paris is about to host its third summer Olympics. While we don’t yet know what the legacy of this year’s games will be, let’s take the opportunity to reflect on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Griffith University In the wake of the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, there were calls from bothsides of US politics, as well as internationally, to reduce the brutal, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Keith Rathbone, Senior Lecturer, Modern European History and Sports History, Macquarie University Two high-profile assaults on Australians in Paris have raised concerns about security ahead of the Olympic Games. On Saturday evening, a young woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by a ...
Dying is inevitable and, so it seems, is it costing a lot, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.The cost of dying ...
The government took Joyce Harris's first baby and sent her off to a girls' home. Half a century on - and out of oceans of hurt - it asked her to be a mother figure. ...
It’s the deadliest fictional town in the country, but which death has been the most bonkers? Alex Casey looks back at 10 seasons of The Brokenwood Mysteries to find out. Warning: The following ranking story contains famous New Zealand actors appearing to be dead (not alive). The Spinoff has been ...
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If sprinter Zoe Hobbs lines up in the 100m final in Paris this year, her Olympic campaign will have been a success. Even if she doesn’t climb the podium, her presence will be as good as gold. But if Dame Lisa Carrington comes fourth, the country will record it as ...
Sensible Sentencing Trust’s offender data base a bit threadbare
High-profile criminals have not yet been included
Yesterday I heard Garth “The Knife” McVicar on his publicly funded advertising outlet (Radio NZ National) announcing that the S.S. Trust Offenders Database was up and running again. I made a quick visit to the site to see just how thorough and comprehensive it was. One of the first things you notice is this laudable statement: “The Sensible Sentencing Trust believes in an open and transparent Justice System.”
First up, I typed in the name Alan Titford and ticked the box for “Arson”. NO RESULT.
Next, I typed in the name David Garrett and ticked the box for “Robbery/Attempted Robbery”. NO RESULT.
Then I typed in the name Bruce Emery and ticked the box for “Murder/Manslaughter”. NO RESULT.
Since these are all high-profile offenders, it seemed odd that their names were not yet on this database. Then I saw the following sign: “Submit Offender Information: Use the form below to get in touch and submit information about offenders.”
I filled in the submission form with the following information….
BRUCE EMERY. In late 2008, he chased down a boy on a South Auckland street, then stabbed him repeatedly, killing him.
Perhaps other Standard readers may like to submit the same names (Titford, Garrett, Emery) to the database, with a résumé of their crimes, to remind the people at the S.S. Trust to get it up to date……
http://www.sst.org.nz/offenders-database/
SST are particularly selective about who’s on their naughty list aren’t they? Emery’s victim, Pihema Cameron, for example, apparently not worthy of the same amount of outrage as others, yet, Pihema’s family received the least amount of justice. So why the silence?
Hypocrites.
Emery’s victim, Pihema Cameron, for example, apparently not worthy of the same amount of outrage as others…
It’s actually far, far worse than that, Rosie. Garth McVicar actually mounted a public campaign of traducing the reputation and memory of the dead boy and his family. He also loudly advocated for tolerance for and understanding of the boy’s killer, who he claimed was a decent citizen. Noelle McCarthy was struggling to hide her disgust for McVicar when she interviewed him in March 2011…
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-09032011/#comment-306178
Oh that is truly despicable. Double standards, hypocrisy, and undisguised callousness. McVicar’s brain must be well and truly addled. He is no victims rights advocate, he is a vulture.
And yes, he really is a vulture, the way he swoops when someone has been murdered – but only for a victim who fits his description of who is worthy of outrage.
mcvicar is not only a ‘vulture’..
..he is a calculated/calculating/opportunistic ‘vulture’..
..the worst kind..
..phillip ure..
To be fair, Garrett isn’t a robber AFAIK.
Thug, identity thief, drink driver: yes.
But not a robber.
I have let them know about Alan Titford:
“Alan Titford is an extremely dangerous offender who has been convicted of arson. I believe you need to keep an eye on him, as he is very dangerous to women, children, minorities, and seems totally divorced from reality. ”
They can probably keep an eye on him once he’s paroled, when he’ll be able to attend their meetings again.
Hi folks – would like some help refining this argument. Please any criticisms and other input welcome , Thanks in advance.
I have a problem with cars – a 100 years ago they had 4 wheels, a motor which ran on oil and a body – same as today really. A computer on the other hand was as large as a house, run on valves and need the operating system written in every day. Now your phone is a more powerful computer than the computer they used to land on the moon – but your car is still 4 wheels on a body, with a motor run with oil.
It could have been so much better….
http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2012/03/retro-future-glorious-transportation.html
I dunno, the monocycle looks outright dangerous. So does that 200mph speed limit.
not to mention much like computers, engines have become more powerful, more efficient and much smaller… anf computers still run on electric.
To easily picked apart imo
And the car engines are pretty digitsed today – mechanics take all sorts of readings with electronic machines. My mechanic talks about how these days there’s all sorts of liquids that need monitoring and replacing at different times. Used to be that cars just mostly needed a main oil change.
But, I reckon we should just go back to the horse and cart – maintenance would be far easier – fuel top ups every day, regular checks with the vet and of the wheels, cart and reigns, daily waste disposal…… most jobs we could easily do ourselves without expensive equipment to monitor fluids and parts.
Unfortunately, horses emit more greenhouse gases per tonne/km, than trucks. 🙂
Difference being that horses and what not are merely recycling the ‘natural sink’ of carbon whereas oil is an addition to that ‘natural sink’ – like the difference between burning wood and burning coal. 😉
right up until they add fertiliser to the soil to feed the horses, in which case the difference diminishes significantly 🙂
And again, that depends on the source of the fertiliser and how we choose to manage soils, no? Pour oil derivatives on and we are adding external sources to the ‘natural sink’…allow pastures to lie fallow so that soil, its ecosystems and fertility build up and gasses from the ‘natural sink’ and natural cycle, that nevertheless contribute to warming are, at least temporarily, sequestrated.
nice – just reread up on the basics of crop rotation, thanks 🙂
“But, I reckon we should just go back to the horse and cart”
Please no karol! Horses are treated appallingly here in NZ, the number of them that turn up half dead with their spirits broken at animal sanctuaries around the country are a testament to that. Even now days, Once a horse is deemed to have finished its useful life it is still sent to slaughter and ends up in Jimbo’s pet food. I kid you not. I have met these beautiful darlings who have been rescued at the last moment.
And work horses that are used in other countries are used and abused and often die young from untreated injuries and illnesses. It’s the one time where you actually welcome those busy body types that get all judgemental with how other cultures operate, to come and set up horse hospitals, take the work horses of the hands of the “owner”, provide them with income lost for not having their horse or donkey working, treat the horse for diseases and injury, feed them up, get them well nourished and return to them to the owner with instructions on how to take care of them. (This happens in Egypt but may also be happening in other countries)
Horses are highly sensitive, sociable and emotional herd animals that suffer so much at our hands and tolerate so much. They are also hugely expensive to look after and high maintenance.
People that are supposed to be “horse people” can’t always be trusted to care for horses, let alone folks that know nothing of them.
Instead, how about we overthrow Big Oil and create a vehicle that is simple to run and maintain and runs on water? Not much to ask eh? Lol.
I absolutely agree, Rosie.
A lot of people think that SPCAs were set up to look after pets such as dogs and cats, etc.
The history of SPCAs is that they were established in the mid 1800s by Wilberforce and others to deal with the appalling treatment of horses in the days of the horse and cart, horses being used in coal mines etc etc. In fact, the establishment of SPCAs here in NZ for this purpose predates the establishment of a Police force.
Oh, that first scene in “Amazing Grace” where the character of William Wilberforce came across a pair of men who were beating a cart horse who had fallen from exhaustion was so awful.
The Industrial Revolution saved the work horse from future harm and organisations like the SPCA helped to educate others as the horse transitioned from work to recreation in industrialised nations. So the Industrial Revolution improved the lot for the horse but being humans, we managed to stuff up our planet instead.
Its at this point I put my hand up for all the farm animals abused by the attitude of the NZ farmer. All livestock requires shelter from the sun, cold, rain and wind, and all livestock need sufficient space and freedom of movement. Go out of town, see all the cows and sheep in full sun with no shelter, or freezing in open paddocks during a southerly. Or pigs and chickens imprisoned in cages. We farm industrially and treat the stock appallingly.
I might also add the farmers are matched in their disdain of living things by anglers (of whom I am one) who hold their catch up out of water for a photo, and who delight in the joys of “fighting” a distressed fish rather than making it short and sweet. Growl, things that make me mad……
“We farm industrially and treat the stock appallingly’
Indeed we do Ennui. Our lack of basic compassion for “industrial” animals in our care demonstrates a lack of emotional intelligence, and certainly a lack of respect for the animal.
I wonder if there will ever be a government enlightened or willing enough to introduce decent standards of care for farmed animals. Funnily enough it may likely be economically advantageous for exporters if we could demonstrate that NZer’s were caring farmers, of both animals and the land.
Good on you for not mucking around with your fish either.
plus one ennui .
i would have a lot more respect for the spca if they started to agitate/educate/advocate about farmed animals that do not have shelter.
to see a cow in the height of summer, standing with its head in the shadow of a strainer post, to get some relief is kinda sad.
it is even more galling as there is dollars involved.
Methinks horses are not the answer.
The motor vehicle saved humankind from horse manure and dead horses. If a horse broke down it was oft shot and left in the street for the city authorities to take care of the corpse.
http://www.uctc.net/access/30/Access%2030%20-%2002%20-%20Horse%20Power.pdf
“The horse was no newcomer on the urban scene. But by the late
1800s, the problem of horse pollution had reached unprecedented
heights. The growth in the horse population was outstripping even the
rapid rise in the number of human city dwellers. American cities were
drowning in horse manure as well as other unpleasant byproducts of
the era’s predominant mode of transportation: urine, flies, congestion,
carcasses, and traffic accidents.Widespread cruelty to horses was a form
of environmental degradation as well.
The situation seemed dire.
In 1894, the Times of London estimated that by 1950 every street in the city would be buried nine feet deep in horse manure.”
OK. I learned something. Thanks, Rosie and veuto.
I like walking anyway.
I hope that there isn’t any leather in your shoes karol.
If there is I hope you will think of the poor animal that died in order that you might walk comfortably in your leather (uppers or soles) shoes.
Yes alwyn, treating animals cruelly while they’re alive is exactly the same as making shoes out of them when they’re dead.
🙄
it’s more that it is part of the same uncaring continuum..felix..
..that belief that animals are there for our pleasure/use/exploitation..
..and yep..!..when you haven’t worn animal skins for a long time..
..yr standard pair of shoes is kinda gross..
..you look at it..and you don’t think..’mmm!..leather.!’..
..you think..animal skin taken/used as the final indignity in their miserable/tortured lives..ew..!
..it’s all a matter of perspective..eh…
..phillip ure..
I think my footwear is mostly rubber & synthetic – I’d have thought hardly any kinder to the environment than leather – what am I going to do – stay home, go barefoot on todays pavements?
I think my footwear is mostly rubber & synthetic –
Ah, nothing to beat that old vegan stinkfoot syndrome…especially hingy when synthetic socks are thrown into the rubber/canvas/nylon shoe mix 😉
You are forgiven Karol. Sackcloth and ashes are not required.
I was only trying to get a little lightness into life with the remark.
My god, but the stuff before your comment, on the origons of the SPCA and the treatment of horses, was depressing wasn’t it?
@ alwyn..
..that recoiling in disgust re the historical treatment of horses..
..if vehemently stated today..while wolfing down some veal/w.h.y….
..does take black-irony to a new level..eh..?
..i call it the greenpeace-bbq-syndrome..
..save the planet..!
..(but first..excuse me while i chow down on some animal-flesh..)
..phillip ure..
Phil …
you seem to be …
posting more frequently…
lately….
Are you…
leaving enough room…
for…
Penny?
If we don’t crush the souls of animals as we walk, how do we absorb their vitalistic powers?
Lol. I may have been a bit reactive karol, but it wasn’t aimed at you at all 🙂
Believe me, you wouldn’t go back to a horse and cart if you lived in a city where they regularly run tourists around. The roads they use and the park-up spots are to be avoided. Although the poo is capture in horsey bags, the stench of horse-piss is unbearable in summer (barely bearable in winter).
In the past hundred years I think it is correct to say that the human cargo they are designed to carry has got taller and considerably bigger with over eating, in countries where cars are produced so it is understandable that their size has not reduced …. there has for a long time been the alternative motorbikes and shanks pony .. the latter is miniscule.
Why would car manufacturers want to produce more efficient, and therefore less profitable cars? Maybe trace the connections between the oil industry and car manufacturers? Also…why the hell were cars ever introduced as a means of mass transport? Oh yeah…the conspiracy (charged in court as such and found guilty) of the rubber industry, oil industry and car industry, whereby they bought up public transport networks and deliberately trashed them to create a market for the automobile.
fascinating doco on the killing of the electric car http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4EbhkmlaK8
15,000+ people registered to attend Kim Dotcom’s party launch, which due to wild interest has been moved from the Cloud to Vector Arena.
I hope John Key has got his party pants, because it looks like we are in for a German Sparkle Party.
re 15,000 vector..
could you give the link/source for than information..
..ta..
..i wd like to report on it..
..but can’t just take yr word for it..eh..?
..nothing personal…
phillip ure..
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11186349
“…However, more than 15,000 people registered for tickets, forcing Dotcom to move the party to Vector Arena…”
@ sanctuary..
..thanks..
..just that fact should have politicians of all stripes reaching for the anti-depressants..
phillip ure..
You might also be interested in reading Chris Trotter’s take on the possible ramifications of the launch of KDC’s political party, PU, on his blog site, Bowalley Road and in The Press today.
http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2014/01/get-ready-for-megaparty-of-serious-fun.html
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/opinion/columnists/chris-trotter/9606125/Dotcoms-Megaparty-of-serious-fun
Trotter’s view is that it may well appeal a lot to the younger generation of voters as a fresh option unencumbered by the past – an extract from his article
“Statistics New Zealand estimate that on June 30, 2013, there were 333,840 New Zealanders aged 20-24 – more than enough to surmount the 5 per cent MMP threshold.”
With over 15,000 people already registered for tickets to The PartyParty next Monday night in less than 24 hours, IMO they will get the 500 registered members very quickly to qualify for registration of the political party.
UPDATE; KDC has just tweeted that the name of the party will be the “Internet Party”, not the Mega Party. He has also tweeted the logo
https://twitter.com/KimDotcom
KDC is popular up north.
He was doing rather a good job of redistributing his wealth, locally.
lousy logo..
you’d think they’d de-capitalise..drop the stop..
..and centre ‘party’ under ‘internet’..
..or run both on same line..
..it feels not in the slightest bit..’modern’..
..and that was the best shade of purple to hand..?
..i don’t mean to be picky..but..
..there is so much to pick at..
..phillip ure..
Guessing the reason for capitalising both words and putting Party directly under Internet is so that you have a vertical acronym IP – Internet Protocol which fits the agenda – such as it is.
Have no idea about the purple though.
Purple is a Suffragette colour. – or lesbian – or just a mix of red and blue signifiying it’s neither totally left or right wing – which, IMO, usually means centrist according to the centre ground of the time.
Purple = United Future in my brain.
Someone on Twitter noted it’s also close to the colour palette for Orcon.
[ETA: I see BM also made the Orcon connection downthread.]
Bill the galactic hero…
From memory, his drill sadist used to wear that colour. It was meant to be a mixture between the bright red of arterial blood and the “blue” blood of veins. Actually the blood in veins are also red – a dark red of deoxygenated haemoglobin. Veins just look blue from the outside… But hey it is a just a book.. 😈
Of course if KDC starts to transplant large incisors then I’d start worrying what fictional universe he wants to live in.
Looking around it appears that this red/blue thing is still a popular myth.
http://scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=2927
my 18 year old son is voting for KDC…otherwise he said he wouldn’t vote
I knew that reducing the voting age from 21 to 18 was a mistake.
I fear that your son is proving it.
Because there won’t be hundreds of hipster 25-year-olds voting for KDC. 🙄
@ alwyn lol…yes he has been called a fuckwit ……but he has the vote so you cant ignore it
….the way of youth is totally different from the way we oldies think…the internet has provided another parallel universe for them …and I am afraid for good or ill it is a revolutionary change
imo KDC could mop up a lot of votes from cynical youth who would not otherwise vote
Suspicious use of purple, same color as the Orcon logo, hmmmm.
Is the internet party just a advertising gimmick for Orcon?
KDC already has a relationship with Orcon – and features on some of their advertising.
https://t.co/1PrbjUDCCP/large
Oops, that link doesn’t work. See the link to KDC’s Twitter site in my earlier comment. There is a picture of KDC in an Orcon ad on a bus.
I know, that’s why I mentioned it.
It’s all hypothetical, but Dot com’s a business man first, l reckon, he’d be trying to make as much money out of this political lark as possible.
There’s some really dumb gullible mofos out there that hang off his every word, great opportunity for Orcon to gain a heap of new customers and for Dot com to make some coin.
Like John Key isn’t
bm..
..the picture of a perfectly modern/nervous green…
..heh..!
..and these ‘he’s only in it for the money!’..are laughable..
..d’yareckon he’s jonesing for that opposition party president honorarium..?
..heh..!
..i’m surprised at the amount of irrational/ill-informed hysteria i am seeing here from some..
..if he supports the centre-left..(and no..he won’t support his mortal-enemy key..)
..what is the problem..?..
..and this is not f.p.p…
..so unlike a previous equivalent on the right..jones/nz party..
..under mmp this political-vehicle has the chance of a much longer life than the nz party had..
..so those moaning/bitching had better get used to it..
..or it could be a flash-in-the-pan/this election only..
..but i doubt it..
..there are a lot of people out there who feel un-represented..
..(some 800,000 odd..i believe..)
..with chookys’ sons’ assertion a dotcom party is the only one he will drag himself away from his monitor for..
..surely being a policy-alarm-bell for labour/grns/mana..?
..you’d think..?
..i said it the other day..and i’ll say it again..
..i reckon this will be the first real mmp-election..
..where the policies of the minor and major parties is/will be more to the fore than ever before..
..and those parties that think they will..as in the past..just cruise in/get by..on their traditional ‘brand’..plus a bit of spin..
..are in for a serious/unpleasant shock..
..(and i most certainly include labour in that prescription..
..i see them in more danger than most..
..of seeing their support leach away to parties that are offering not just more of the same..but exciting/innovative/game-changing ‘policies’..
..and with this formal announcement of the dotcom-gig..and that 15,000 sign-up for his opening party party..
..david cunnliffes’ state-of-the-nation speech suddenly swings much more into focus/import)…
..eh..?
phillip ure..
The politics of partying: Dotcom’s celebrity circuses. Not much about the bread distribution to all.
@ karol..
..no sense of jury out/wait ’till the evidence appears..?
..just that rush to judgement..eh..?
..i prefer to wait ’till i see the policies..
..then..if needed..i’ll pile in..
..but really karol..
..’judgement-rush’ is how you are coming across on this dotcom-thing..
..why the beef..?..(excuse the non-vegan metaphor..)
phillip ure..
KDC’s values are conveyed by his way of promoting the party – all we see so far is that it’s got his brand on it and it’s about the internet. Little about what his party stands for in all that, other than what we already know about KDC. So I’m not optimistic. Celebrity branding and partying.
Not even a glimmer of what his party will do for Kiwis in general, other than from what we know of KDC’s focus and interests.
Edit: and on the basis of just as much (or as little evidence), many on the left are uncritically cheerleading KDC’s party move, which I find worrying
same thoughts and fears here
Me too karol.
A move away from the sad-old,same-old, failed policies, maybe? Something new on the horizon?
Well, I’m not hopeful about it being anything “new” – just the same old same old “neoliberal” celebrity culture of infotainment led by a libertarian type wanting in on the big time capitalist action – old story, new window dressing – remake for the digital age.
um..!..i’m not ‘cheerleading’ his move..
..as i don’t yet know what his policies will be..
..depending on them will define the level of any ensuing ‘cheerleading’..
..i don’t know..
..you don’t know..
..this is the only point i am making..
..and rushing to judgement..about anything..without the facts..
..is both a folly..and not a good look..
phillip ure..
Well, f the Internet Party surprises me I’ll say so. But there are some facts as I’ve laid out, and they don’t give me cause for optimism.
“But there are some facts as I’ve laid out, and they don’t give me cause for optimism.”
I may be missiing something, Karol, but IMO your comments in this thread at 3.2; 3.2.1.1; and this one seem to be personal opinion/perception – not facts – and based on a lot of assumptions.
Personally, I am keeping an open mind on the Internet Party until we have actually seen their vision, policies etc, and who else is involved – presumably next week.
I have followed the KDC saga closely over the last two years – because of the legal and other ramifications rather than as a cheer leader for KDC. But in so doing, I have come to the opinion that KDC may be a very clever businessman/entrepreneur; but also has a softer side to him also. Loves his wife, children, pets dearly; is very loyal to his friends, work colleagues; and can appreciate the simplicity of a beautiful tree in flower etc. Yes, he has done some bad things in the past; but he was (at the time of his application for residency)and has continued to be open about these (although his German convictions were actually ‘clean slated’ under German legislation similar to our own Clean Slate Act).
As I said, I await fuller details about the Internet Party with an open mind.
The facts are in KDC’s past record. They are also in the way the party is named, and what is so far missing – nothing about what the party or KDC will do for NZers, except for his desire for internet “freedom”.
Many right wingers have their soft family side – means little.
KDC is first and foremost an Entrepreneur – he is out to make money using the Internet – he sees it as an under-utilised platform for business. He is ultimately a capitalist (and very competitive) – and a fairly libertarian one. I have heard nothing from him about being concerned for the plight of the less well off, or of low paid workers, etc.
He may be useful to the left in challenging Key and splitting the right wing vote. But he is not of the left.
But, whatever, ….my views are not going to influence the outcomes. And time will tell what KDC’s party is really about.
Dotcom’s political party is brand new. It’s still very early days and I am guessing that it still has a lot of policy development work to do.
But I will bet that it’s political posture will not fall easily into analysis via the traditional Left/Right dimensions.
One presumes, being launched by Kim Dotcom, that it will be a “fuck John Key / the government / big business / ties to the USA” party aimed at young people.
Chance of this hurting National in election year: zero
Labour and the Greens, on the other hand…
you are wrong shg..
..dotcom has most appeal to that disenfranchised 800.000 +
..and as a centre-left supporter after the outcome..
..this will have key/the right worried..
..they would be fools if they weren’t..
phillip ure..
Well WO is claiming Martyn Bradbury is part of the party and will be a candidate – Bradbury is distancing himself somewhat.
I’d be disappointed if Bradbury moved from supporting Mana (or was it Cunliffe) to the Internet Party.
But it depends on who else is involved.
Bradbury just changed his twitter profile image to this:
https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_banners/26863166/1375401091/web
If you don’t feel like clicking: it’s Bradbury standing at Dotcom’s right hand as Dotcom makes his announcement.
Bradbury just posted at TDB that he has stood down from his role with Mana.
But that he hasn’t joined the Internet Party – will let us know if/when he does.
I for one cannot wait to see whether or not the hairy fat bespectacled white guy joins the hairy fat bespectacled white guy.
How about stating what Bradbury said in full on TDB, and not just one sentence ?
What Bradbury said in full (its not long) is;
Good old Cameron. Thank you for the publicity.
Couple of things.
1: I stood down from my role as a consultant with the MANA Party last year.
2: What Cameron is showing is an early draft of a proposal tabled at a meeting with a whole bunch of other ideas late last year.
3: The idea of me as a candidate was more to kick around ideas.
I am a Political consultant, this is what I do, this was a proposal I was asked to submit. The moment I start working for the Internet Party if I am offered a role I will be shouting it from the rooftops as I think the ideas of an Internet Party focused on civil rights in the online 21st Century and the economic prosperity that could generate for NZ is the future and anything that moves us away from a dairy dependent, drill and mine economy is a good thing.
But all it was, was a proposal. If that changes, I will let you all know.”
Bradbury goes with the highest bidder. Thus he’s busy right now telling us who he’s NOT working for. The moment he tells us he IS working for someone, he’s not worth anything to anyone else. Like a good capitalist he’s just trying to maximise his own asking price.
Still, I note that Bradbury sure ain’t posting any pictures of himself standing in support next to Harawira, Cunliffe, or Norman and Turei.
PS: oh lol at the leaked document: “Bradbury recommends the party pay him $8000 a month to run a campaign in the Auckland Central electorate.
Mr Bradbury also asks for a one-off payment of $5000 to upgrade his computer, cellphone and tablet devices.”
http://www.3news.co.nz/Details-leaked-about-Doctoms-Internet-Party/tabid/1607/articleID/328539/Default.aspx
SLURP SLURP SLURP
Good. Mana will do a lot better without him. I hope they never paid him. A dead moray eel would be too high a payment for the services of the poor man’s Hooten.
Bomber’s main interest seems to be the media and getting a role for himself. I think he’s a natural fit with Dotcom, much more so than with Mana. I can’t see the Dotcom party doing much good at all, except for in the area of regulation of the internet and maybe the surveillance society. Mana would be much stronger in fighting the surveillance society, because their activists have known for years what it’s like to be watched and persecuted. I think it’s a dangerous distraction, and no, I don’t have to look at their policies to have an opinion, any more than I need to read the ACT manifesto to condemn them.
aye, I tend to agree re: bradbury. Loves being the voice of the left, as long as “the left” agrees with whatever he says – so now he’s working for a Banks supporter.
+ 1 So true Murray – Mana don’t need him and never did – he was never a natural fit there and TIP is much more his cup of tea
Bomber’s main interest seems to be the media and getting a role for himself.
heh – 3 News claims the Int Party so far have 3 main policies, including intenet business for NZ and supporting a public broadcasting service – they need to be able to show it will be free from KDC money manipulations.
I was right about Bomber all along then!
http://www.3news.co.nz/Details-leaked-about-Doctoms-Internet-Party/tabid/1607/articleID/328539/Default.aspx
So the best way, according to 3 news website, that Bomber could help fight against a national third term is to whore himself out for 8,000 a month and a new i rig for a rich prick with a penchant for super cars and shite music, who awaiting extradition on piracy charges, sets up mega, which has dodgy copyright content on it as I type.
Great way to make a contribution, comrade, by filling your own pocket with dirty money.
Apart from that, not a lot really.
yep I agree too karol – I’m not sure where the votes are going to come from but I can’t imagine many Mana voters are going to jump ship to partyparty.
edit: bomber is a political consultant – he consults for a crust – good luck to him I say although I do think Mana wasted their money on him.
I will wait to see what the policies are before I decide about the party but I am supportive of him actually making a party especially one that looks like it will bring the young into politics.
+1
People today don’t like being party cannon fodder. If you want someone to do something for you, you have to give them some fun before, during and after. A party that is also a PARTY appeals to people who are turned off by the idea of earnest discussions about Saturday morning (Sunday morning? Are you nuts? I’ve got a hangover/get my only sleep-in on Saturday mornings sayeth the youth of today) leaflet drops by pensioners in drafty halls on a rainy Monday night in July.
I kinda foresee nicely dressed up, but really quite nasty right wing tosh oozing out from this. The challenge for left leaning parties is to grasp the opportunity to pull newly ‘engaged’ Dotcommers into a more honest realm of politics. Will they? Doubt it. And so we’ll wind up with a NZ version of that Italian guy whose name escapes me or a NZ version of the Pirate Party. Not good.
+1 Bill, The political interest it will generate is to be welcomed. But in the long run I can only see it hurting the left unless they re-engage with the public in a meaningful way.
And a computer is still a keyboard and a screen, and if cars shit themselves as often as computers and needed ” upgrading” as often, car companies would have been sued out of existance.
There is a teeny bit more than that in them. But typically the failure components are hard disks and on the printed circuit boards (PCB)
PCBs have a few orders of magnitude more components than the entirety of any production car and are made up of hot or warm components that are densely packed and typically react to each other and their environment. Selecting the right motherboard and case for cooling, maintaining and replacing them for your task makes a hell of difference. Just as it does with a car. Which is why my motherboards typically last until I *upgrade* them – usually about every 5 years. I just replaced the one in my workstation that I brought in 2009.
Hard disks typically operate at sustained movement speeds far in excess of any car apart from Formula one racing cars – which seldom last a year. The best way to think about them is that they are a consumable like brake pads or tyres. You should expect to replace them every few years and build that into your maintenance schedule.
I suspect that you’re mostly complaining about portable computers and handhelds.
Yes it is possible to get longer lasting laptops – for instance a Toughbook. Paying for them is a completely different matter.
The last laptop I brought was in 2009, a sony vaio Z series. It is still happily running and in daily use. My partners old laptops from the last two decades used to litter the household until we disposed on them on moving into less storage space. None of them ever died, they just got new hard disks. Of course these were all rather expensive apples..
I suspect that you’re getting what you pay for.
Standardisation of components also makes a big difference in enabling rapid development and reducing cost. You don’t see this with cars, apart from obvious things like wheels, tyres etc.
You can’t just grab any old gearbox off the shelf and whack it in your car.
I had hoped one day to see someone start a project for an open source (and open standards) car design. However given that car manufacturing is now a sunset industry (or will be soon) it’s probably not worth doing.
cars shit themselves as often as computers and needed ” upgrading” as often
You should stop buying shit computers then. My cars need far more attention than my computers.
Eric Roy is the 9th National Party Caucus member to resign at the end of this term. Colin James and Michelle Boag (on RNZ this morning) reckon that these people are being tapped on the shoulder to f.o. I reckon the National Party cant be a happy camp at the moment, but it is a very corporate way of running things, interesting.
It’s a good thing really I could name several high profile labour mp’s that should have been ‘shoulder tapped’ years ago.
I doubt things are too unhappy i’m sure most of them will wash up with a few cushy board positions or similar…
That’s the problem. Labour don’t have the corporate jobs to bribe their MOs with to leave.
Anyway, if Labour don’t get rid of their neoliberal rump they are toast.
There are far too many timid or compromised people in the party.
Yes. Labour is much more democratic though, im not convinced that the National’s Corporate approach is the right way, it might get rid of the deadwood but it also has its downsides. It does lead to a lot to people conforming to what the leader wants, so a lot of sucking up…but I still reckon that it is probably a much unhappier party than what is been let on.
I gather that most Labour MPs simply do not have the workskills to perform in the real world outside of Parliament.
If you did jcuknz you wouldn’t be on the blog so much as aRWNJ. After all there is no money in it for you, is there? Or are you too old to be a judge? (shades of Cook and Moore.)
jcuknz, I gather that you’re talking out your arse.
Paul
+1 National is showing the way. Labour get to work.
It’s called rejuvenation. Look for more long-serving MPs to retire as National positions itself as a future-facing party in election year.
And on the other side of the political spectrum, we have the party going to the election with David Cunliffe, Phil Goff, Annette King, and Trevor Mallard. All Clark-era Cabinet ministers.
For bonus dotage: Mallard and King entered Parliament in the election that ousted Rob Muldoon.
But wait there’s more: Goff has been an MP since the election that ousted BILL ROWLING.
We are all Palestinians by JOHN MINTO [deleted]
[deleted]
– See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/01/15/we-are-all-palestinians/#sthash.8duMXuCK.dpuf
[lprent: The quoting was excessive – relevant quoted *teasers* yes – not a copied page and a half. Opinion from yourself is what I’d usually expect as the main teaser anyway. Don’t make me have to do this work again. See the policy on cut’n’paste.
BTW and before you ask: The only reason that Penny Bright gets away with her massive screeds is because I can’t find them on google. Probably means that wherever else they are published has crappy search engine optimisation. BLip’s lists are original. ]
I thought it might have been pushing the margin a bit there. My apologies.
(why aren’t we screaming from the rooftops about this one.)
http://whoar.co.nz/2014/dude-wheres-my-north-sea-oil-money-ed-hey-guess-what-funny-story-if-oil-is-found-off-the-nz-coast-we-are-going-to-be-screwed-by-the-oil-companies-just-as-the-british-were/
(excerpt:..)
“..For a few years – the UK enjoyed a once-in-a-lifetime windfall –
– only – unlike the Norwegians –
– we’ve got almost nothing to show for it..”
(cont..)
..(ed:..now..if we don’t take this as a cautionary-tale..a ‘whoop-whoop..!..pull-up!-moment..
..then we have sawdust between our ears..
..’cos this govt..using super-negotiator/hard-man browning..
..signed off on one of the most pathetically low oil rates..in the world..
..so..like britain..if a gusher is found..
..these clowns that rule over us..
..have guaranteed that – like britain..
..we will be screwed over by the oil-companies..
..all the profits will flow offshore..
..directly to them..
..and we will get s.f.a..
..and if a political party doesn’t seize on this populist-hand-grenade as an election-issue..
..well they all also have sawdust between their ears..
..and don’t believe nathan ‘clutch cargo’ guy when he bangs on about how wonderful it will be..
..and when he throws out actual figures/amounts..
..be aware they have been massaged so much..
..they are black and blue from the bruises..
..and they added in the gst on the packet of gum the courier driver bought on his way to this oil-field nirvana..
..to deliver a package..
..it is all just a cover-up to conceal their traitorous sell-out of our interests as a country..”
(cont..)
phillip ure…
This government is working for foreign corporate interests.
Simple.
Absolutely, and as long as they stay in power, the more irreversible damage they will do
And if Labour retain their neo-liberal hue, nothing will change.
Just three examples off the bat:Goff supports the TPP and Jones supports off shore drilling and Labour MPs take gifts from Sky City
It’ll just be a slower death for workers’ rights in NZ and, more dangerously, more disaffected voters. The UK already suffers from this fact as there is no party there you can vote for that challenges neo-liberal economics.
+1
I doubt if Labour would be doing anything different so I would crit the politicians not just the current government.
@ jcunz..
..i agree..labour cannot preach on this..
..as they are guilty of the same..(they showed the oil companies how easy we are to negotiate out the door..
..they set the bar so low you get back-strain reaching for it..
..the greens cannot..lest they be seen to have accepted drilling as a fait-accomplit..
..so i see this as yet another populist issue dotcom can ride to parliament..
..(and,,ahem..!..the negotiating-stance i wd go for..is..
..if oil is found..the state gets 50% of the gusher…
..that’s the deal..
..take it or leave it..
..50%..or nothing…)
phillip ure..
Bad move. Rescind the license completely and then set it up so that the drilling is either done directly by the government or under contract to the government for a fixed price. The government would own all of the oil/gas.
And do that with all the mining and resource extraction in the country.
i’ll see yr 100%..
phillip ure..
Labour were infiltrated in the 80s by the neo-liberal virus.
Looks like the grassroots are trying to purge the party of this disease, but it’s hard work to oust these 5th columnists out of their comfortable rotten boroughs.
Paul
Interesting you use that rotten boroughs term. That came to my mind as a comparison a while ago when thinking of what is happening here.
Another reason why we need Democracy instead of our blind faith in the loons in power.
+1
+2
this seemed fairly familiar:
So where did our billions go? Hawksworth writes: “The logical answer is that the oil money enabled non-oil taxes to be kept lower.” In other words: tax cuts. When the North Sea was providing maximum income, Thatcher’s chancellor, Nigel Lawson slashed income and other direct taxes, especially for the rich. The top rate of tax came down from 60p in the pound to just 40p by 1988. He also reduced the basic rate of income tax; but the poor wouldn’t have seen much of those pounds in their pockets, as, thanks to the Tories, they were paying more VAT.
Where is Rogue Trooper these days?
Yes where is he?…and Rhinocrates?….Maybe they are sunning themselves on a tropical island just listening to the lap of the waves….. and hoping that there wont be a cyclone…..
[lprent: Resting apparently. See http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-31122013/#comment-751547
Rhinocrates has been around. ]
Rhinocrates was around yesterday, but Rogue?
Yes, I’ve been reading Rhinocrates – and you too, Freedom by the way. I enjoyed your see saw metaphor for FFP vs. MMP. I support what you said.
Often I don’t have the time or the energy to reply to topics raised here at TS but I do read the majority of articles. Always thought provoking stuff.
I do miss Roguey’s unique style.
If one follows the link lprent put up there is some good links I think, though I haven;t caught up yet. Frankly I will always be running behind with the shovel as I think lots of the best stuff gets dropped unnoticed.
On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber. (Author of Debt: The First 5000 Years)
http://www.strikemag.org/bullshit-jobs/
+1
Lookalike
Surely this writer, i.e., moi, is not the first to notice the uncanny similarity of these two notorious right wing gentlemen….
NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR CHRIS CHRISTIE….
http://www.fijisun.com.fj/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Cameron-Slater.gif
CAMERON “WHALEOIL” SLATER….
http://patdollard.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Chris-Christie.jpg
People who fight to establish a country are terrorists who become honoured citizens when they succeed in their endeavours. War, official or not, is a horrible and nasty business [irrespective of if you are the respected winner or the despised looser] and Arik succeeded but with age apparently became more sensible and tolerant of what is likely to succeed in the longterm.
As a man of his times and his situation he should be respected rather than reviled. But the past eight years illustrates the foolishness of quantity versus quality as practiced by the medical profession with the support of the rest of us.
@ jcunz..
..pigs-arse..!
..he was a war-criminal who butchered unarmed/defenceless women and children..in a palestinian refugee camp..
..he deserves all the reviling he gets..
phillip ure..
What you say does make some sense. Sharon—or “Arik” as he was known to his friends and to hapless political makeweights like Joe “Kinnock” Biden—was a war criminal, and at his his funeral he was eulogized by war criminals. But he is not some monster who was running out of control; he was a faithful servant of a criminal, scofflaw regime. Nothing more, nothing less.
I was working in Palestine when Ariel Sharon rocked up to the Temple of the Mount with armed soldiers in tow, a few months out from the election.
Rioting ensued. So began the second intifada.
Sharon then rode the subsequent tide of racist nationalism to win the election
Most Israelis I spoke to at the time were disgusted that he would forment violence simply to stoke the fears of the Israeli populace. Several mentioned that he should be tried as a war criminal for his role in the Sabra and Shatila massacre. Even more believed he should have been court marshalled for disobeying Golda Meir during the Yom Kippur War which led the the deaths of many of the soldiers under his command (and Golda Meirs resignation).
His career should have ended in a court marshall in 1973. Or at the very least in the Hague after 1982.
Weak as piss from the Labour party.
“Labour corrections spokeswoman Jacinda Ardern said [SERCO} should lose its contract to run Mt Eden.”
What was wrong with saying: “The next Labour-led government will cancel all contracts and/or close all private prisons. SERCO investors take note: you will lose 100% of your investment every single time you interfere in New Zealand penal policy”?
There are ways to Tory proof this country. Compulsory return of public property without compensation is a tool that needs to come out of the shed more often.
+ 1.
+ 1 also.
+1
Serco has had its UK tender cancelled due to fraud.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25052373
Ardern should ask the auditor general to investigate,any improprieties in NZ.
How can we expect tory-proofing from a party that’s still stacked with pale blue, cut rate, 3rd way tories itself?
+1
Depressing but true.
+1
+1
for those who have never watched it, you really should
these guys are very clear in their intentions
and NZ is on their to do list
Well, that was scary shit……………….but perhaps more disturbingly, wasn’t surprising.
+1..
phillip ure..
perhaps the most egregious aspect of this sell-out to american corporate interests by this tory govt..
..is the guarantee in the deal..for the nz state to provide these vultures with enough prisoners to fill their cells..and thus guarantee them their-profit-margins..
..and get this..!..under this sell-out deal..if the state does not serve up these/enough bodies for this american corporation..
..the nz taxpayers have to pay them compensation..
..the tories thus continuing to ensure we maintain our place of shame..
..so so near the top of the countries that imprison the most of their citizens..
..now..doesn’t all of that both suck and blow..?
..phillip ure..
First, Labour has to rediscover its backbone. Bloody hard when so many are “career politicians”, or else have been voted in under a tide of blue liberalism.
Imagine if some of them had to categorically state something, you wouldn’t see them for the dust. As for Serco, the old saying, a fool and his money are easily parted, rings true in this case.
+1
+1
We need to stop kowtowing to the multi-national corporates and tell them to fuck off.
Noam Chomsky: Sabra & Shatila massacre recalls worst Jewish Pogroms
We look at one of the most shocking incidents in the career of the late former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon: the Sabra and Shatila massacre. Up to 2,000 Palestinians died on Sept. 16-17, 1982, when the Israeli military allowed a Christian militia to attack the camp. Then-Defense Minister Ariel Sharon was forced to resign after a special Israeli investigative panel declared him to be “personally responsible” for the massacre. We air a description of the killings by Ellen Siegel, a Jewish-American nurse who was working at Gaza Hospital at the Sabra camp at the time of the attacks, and speak with Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies at Columbia University, and Noam Chomsky, world-renowned political dissident, linguist, author and Institute Professor Emeritus at Massachusetts Institute of Technology….
http://www.democracynow.org/2014/1/13/noam_chomsky_sabra_shatila_massacre_that
A couple of thoughts.
Apparently there is a lowering crime rate, yet it is a time of increased deprivation of many.
A possible flow on from increased deprivation. Thomas Belmonte in his sociological study of the very poor people of Naples , in his book The Broken Fountain noted that the police were kept away from this area. Their presence usually meant more problems, no-one would want to give them information because of peer pressure and because it drew them personally to police attention. To live they reverted to stealing, it was endemic. The children were adept at getting into car boots of cars stopped at intersections. They might be as adept at climbing as monkeys. The author when new to the area, turned in his room, and found a young boy who had scaled the balcony to the first floor to check him out. They stole from each other, the family possibly, their friends and neighbours, probably. The Catholic church was their first port of call when having difficulties. A cosa nostra scenario really.
So if people are likely to be questioned about their own life if they report a crime, they will think twice. And it has to be serious, to be reported. To people in these conditions, the police are not an option. Police are sometimes unfriendly but fair, sometimes not, always a complication. Community building and support are needed to overcome this in NZ and help with the young delinquents on diversion properly handled could be the best option. That is until, or if, the government sets in place an economy that allows people to strive and to better themselves, and gives them plenty of inexpensive opportunities.
Another thought.
The present parliamentary system is no better than committees I’ve been on for community organisations. A new committee comes in,. and proceeds to overturn decisions made previously that people spent time thinking and arguing and deciding on, and which are of benefit. A new group has a better idea and considers itself automatically better than the past, particularly if as is common in community organisations that don’t have rich patrons or funding, they are just cranking along doing some good.
The government can overturn good policies of the past. To avoid this, there has to be a burst of energy against it. The whole thing can be re argued. There is no cause to do this unless the thing is fundamentally wrong and is likely to be so because of the lack of checks in the system.
It seems to me that there should be a stay on change, though new legislation should go ahead in its processes. There should be panels of people who can put their names forward and are drawn like a jury at random. The lists would be of people who would have passed a test of basic knowledge about the country and its economy and political system. This would result in a highly ordered random selection of people being drawn from say five strata to get a range of backgrounds.
The process of making decisions about changes or new legislation should have a checklist of questions about the cost, the value added, who needs it and why, who doesn’t think they need it and why, the likelihood of unintended consequences, whether it is just a deterrent, an example of a small step to change societal attitudes – and there must be a consideration of under 100 words for each check, and all to be filled in and collated and published. This would slow down legislation immensely, but a lot of what is passed now is repairing badly prepared stuff, or puts new bad law that has immediate advantage to a small group in, later to be mourned by those picking up the pieces. It would cut down on externalities being greatly resorted to, as less could be blithely passed over by the irresponsible.
Or we could just go to referenda rather than looking for a new set of people to put up on pedestals.
I like the thoughts. A more ‘informed participatory democracy’ getting a wider range of views, experience and knowledge. It would reduce the influence of well funded individuals, politicians, narrow minded civil servants, ideologists, vested interests and lobbyists. I’m of the view that too much power is vested in too few people.
who read the angry pro-smacking tirade in the dompost this a.m.by one of Craigs acolytes.
people like this should not be allowed to have children in the first place.
The media is definitely doing a beat up on Colin Craig so far this year. It’s amazing how money can get you some much media space.
Why? The Tories are definitely trying to bait the NZ electorate on this one, as it represents their best hope of power in 2014.
I suggest that editors at newspapers and producers at TV and radio stations are being told to include this as content as much as possible. It’s a bit like having a playlist at a bad music radio station. You get no independence to select your own tracks. The owners of this country tell the media what to play.
“The media is definitely doing a beat up on Colin Craig so far this year”
you are missing what is really going on Paul
It is an election year and the Nat supporters who want even more hate to flood NZ need to be told where they can safely vote without scaring the pollsters too much
“..The owners of this country tell the media what to play.”
aye..
..the most recent odious example of this was the advertorial penned by the head of the bankers’ cartel..
..posing as an opinion-piece on stuff..
..and the kicker..?
..it was headlined on that site..
..for a week..
phillip ure..
And now Brendan Horan is planning to start his own Independent Coaliltion party – battle of the minors.
Brendon Who???, ah what choices for the people of Tauranga, (1) do they vote for the bloke who if watched closely when under pressure shows clear signs of being in possession of a serious disease of the mind, or (2), cast one for the bloke what can switch on and off at will a smile of such radiance that the sun pales into insignificance, said smile all the while never quite being translated through the eyes making one wonder if He who bestows such has an axe concealed somewhere about their person…
i think note should be made that horan has been officially cleared of all the allegations made against him..
..there was no wrongdoing in his handling of his mothers’ estate/assets..
..and given all the shit that was thrown at him around that..(by me too..)
..i think fair-justice be that the clearing of his name is widely broadcast..
..and peters deserves a premature-ejaculation-award..
..for throwing horan out of his party..
..based purely on allegations..
..peters comes out of this looking the worst..
phillip ure..
Phillip Ure, raking the ashes of what is past, tell me something, as a leftist what use do you see of a NZFirst Party that could just as easily decide to prop up a National Government as a Government of the left,
Now tell me something, Winston cannot carry on forever,(unless He has found some substance the rest of us have so far missed), so who of the 2011 intake of NZFirst could have possibly kept the NZFirst Party alive after Winston,
Who in that Party had an ounce of the charisma, the mana if you will to be able to carry that Party forward after Winston,
Brendon Who??? don’t be such a soft mug Phillip, this is the long game of politics and the knee-capping of Brendon Who is simply a small move in the game,
i don’t think you will find me having commented on Brendon Who’s honesty at any point, simply because as i insinuate that wasn’t the point…
tracy martin wd be up for the job..
..she is the best of them..
phillip ure..
And so goes Sky City – multinational investment mamangement company slowly growing their slice of the shares.
The joys of US ‘quantitative easing’ washing across the borders into New Zealand perhaps, meanwhile back in the jungle as the US leviathans flash the cash the US congress is hell bent on slashing it in the form of cancelling unemployment benefits for 100’s of thousands in the US still suffering from the unemployment brought about the Global Financial Crisis,
The hypocrisy of this which cannot escape any of us except perhaps the most hardened of wing-nuts…
So we keep hearing how business confidence in NZ has hit an all time high.
After mass sacking of workers, slashing of workers’ rights and pay, after total dis-empowering of unions, after blackmailing workers into submission by threatening them with job losses, and making massive profits which are being distributed only among the management, with the help and support by a compliant government, no wonder the business confidence is so high.
Yes, the celebrating of business confidence implies that we all benefit. In fact, things like the GFC are exploited by the coporate plutocracy, so that, when there is a recovery, wages are lower, jobs more preacarious, and workers’ rights have been further whittled away.
Also, why do people so hate Martyn Bradbury? I don’t know the man at all apart from what he writes in his blogs, so more insight would be helpful.
He’s apparently joined Kim Dotcom’s party. WTF?
Yes he is working for Krim.con and the Mana party.
You know the extradition case is in tatters, don’t you Funi Man? The evidence the police presented proven false, the warrant illegal, the provision of access to sealed court evidence to unauthorised foreign nationals, do you think all those things have just sort of gone away now they aren’t in the media so much?
What sort of weight do you suppose the court will give to this sad litany when considering its decision? Do you suppose it will affect the degree of trust the court is prepared to invest in the rest of the Yankee request much?
Clearly you are of the sort that believes the accused are always guilty whether proven innocent or not, and your opinion is utterly irrelevant, but I care, Funi Man. I’m looking forward to your chagrin 🙂
Source WO. Bradbury was a consultant to the internet Party early on. Ditto Graeme Edgeler. Trotter as alleged cheerleader.+
I don’t hate Bradbury. Sometimes I totally agree with his comments/analysis. Sometimes I think he’s not a very in-depth thinker. He also can be a bit contradictory. He’s a good publicist – can use the media quite well.
Some find him too opinionated and too focused on his own publicity.
Yup. Can’t see KDC and Bradbury being a comfortable mix for long.
Interesting though. WO has scored a bit of an own goal with this. He’s added to the Internet Party publicity, and aligned it with the left.
The only thing I like about KDC is the way he makes John Key squirm on the end of his bayonet. Millionaire vs Millionaire battle just another gormless media distraction really.
*sigh* Yep.
Own goal? Seems like he’s handled it perfectly.
I don’t know, Arfarmo. I can’t see them treading on one anothers’ toes that much. Dotcom wants to be a celebrity billionaire, not a politician.
I’ve concluded Bomber’s much the same. Their supporters will each claim their hearts are in the right place. But their egos will clash I reckon.
There is not a chance in hell that dot com gets 5% of the party vote.
What a waste of his money and his supporters time.
He’s a capitalist. He knows that’s what they’re there for. Big fun.
A lot of people are pissed off about being spied on, Brett. I’m struggling to seeing him make 5%, but the New Zealand Party…
Knucklehead:
He wont get 5% though, and do his supporters really think this guy actually has their best
interests at heart?
Says you. As for NZ interests, I note he is funding a political party and has apparently hired (or at least called for expressions of interest from) some quite serious players to run it.
The last time someone tried something of this nature, The New Zealand Party got 12% of the vote.
I won’t be surprised if he fails, but I won’t be surprised if he doesn’t.
Alistair Thompson has resigned from Scoop in the last hour or two and confirmed he is working for the IntP.
do his supporters really think this guy actually has their best
interests at heart?
If they didn’t they probably wouldn’t be supporters. #logic
QOT:
Most people who support fringe parties dont use logic.
#thinkaboutit
Most people who support TORY parties dont use logic.
#FIFY
“do his supporters really think this guy actually has their best
interests at heart?”
Dunno. Do John Key’s supporters?
I’m not. The Greens got 6.8% in their first election. Act got 6.9% in their first election.
I see it as highly probably that, in their first election, The Internet Party will get over 5%. The question is if they will be able to maintain that. Act hasn’t but The Greens are going strong.
The Conservative flesh out the field a bit…
so..brett..are you so sure of yr claim..
..that you will do a keith locke..?
..and walk naked down a main thoroughfare naked..
..if you are wrong..?
phillip ure..
Phillip:
I think its best for all concern that I keep my clothes on.
Secondly again he wont get near 5%.
Thirdly I find it beyond belief that there are kiwis who think Kim dotcom actually cares about
them.
He will end up doing what that Irish gimp did.
Nice little ‘jolt’ felt in Wellington just now, maybe 2.5-3 on the rickety scale, a minor isolated movement or more from the series shaking the top of the South???…
It doesn’t add up. Looking at the numbers from the msd site, the $10.3 billion decrease doesn’t add up to the figures on the site. It only shows $7.3 billion. There was $1.5B was added that was a methodology correction to the 2012 liability figures. So it should have been $8.8 billion. But that’s still $1.5 billion more than the numbers published on the MSD site.
http://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/newsroom/media-releases/2014/taylor-fry-welfare-valuation.html
Most of the savings was due to cheaper service rates $3.0 billion.
While only $180 million was due to lower than expected benefit payments.
Take this from the msd site,
—
The June 2012 total liability was $86.8 billion, compared with the June 2013 liability of $76.5 billion.
—
That’s there $10.3 billion figure. But in the notes at the bottom of the page is this,
—
[ii] The starting liability at 30 June 2012 was reduced to $85.3 billion due to methodology correction.
—
Oh look, there’s $1.5 Billion they are still counting even though they had corrected the figure due to methodology. Can’t trust there numbers if they make such a simple error
I just noticed on zerohedge.com that the benchmark Baltic Dry shipping indexing is collapsing at historic rates. That implies massive dry bulk carrying over capacity on 23 of the world’s major trade routes.
I don’t think that the global real economy is going to do any good this year, at all.
That was mentioned in a article I read a year or two back on shipping. The article mentioned that there was an awful lot carrying capacity coming on line in the next year or two and that competition would drive prices for shipping to below cost.
Haven’t noticed any pictures or mentions about David Cunliffe on holiday with his family etc etc…Key’s boys been getting high fives from Obama on the golf course in Hawaii…absolute elitism but also very hard to attack as that…
Parapara Peak, Golden Bay, South Island.
https://www.facebook.com/david.cunliffe.labour
Note the beard is back. 🙂
hmmmm? CCC or KDC? What interesting times we live in! I suppose it should come as no surprise that we see a plethora of minor parties applying for the tail role of, not just wagging the dog, but potentially choosing the pooch to be promenaded by. Fun and doo doors ahead folks. Keep shoveling and smile!
It costs a lot to live in Auckland, and the reason is ?….
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11185768
Auckland Tourism Events and Economic Development tourism manager Jason Hill said the city billed itself as a top-quality holiday spot.
“Auckland doesn’t profess to be a budget destination, but delivers on other aspects of visitor experiences and consistently ranks highly as a desirable place to visit,” he said.
How about those of us who reside perminately within Auckland and are captured within this low wage economy ? Perhaps as a cup of coffee, a beer , dinner our are so expensive, then those working within the industry could expect to see an uplift in their wages, at least there in no reason for working conditions to be attacked!!
http://www.sfwu.org.nz
Common sense and logic fail as to why it is soooo costly to live within New Zealand. Perhaps it is all that money bring exported out as dividends in the banking sector:-)
Hey Dunedin Standardista’s, is the Off The Pages meet up still happening on Saturday?
http://thestandard.org.nz/off-the-pages/
Was going to put up a ‘notice and features’ on Thursday…
Will be there in spirit.
Oh good 🙂 Thanks Bill.