The leading secular radical movement in Palestine is the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, founded in 1967. Its key founder was George Habash.
Some of us at Redline were involved, a couple of years ago, in fund-raising in NZ for the PFLP.
Its most well-known member is probably Leila Khaled, a Palestinian icon who is today a member of its PolitBureau. Its general-secretary Ahmad Sa’adat, is currently in an Israeli jail, without charge, after the Israelis kidnapped him in 2006.
We have numerous articles up on Redline on the cause of Palestinian liberation and the PFLP, including an interview that was done with Leila as part of the fundraising campaign.
Excellent. Thanks for that Philip. Murray Horton is a witty and compelling speaker, with a sharp mind. Which means he is totally unsuited for radio programmes like Jim Mora’s The Panel.
I’ve just heard, on Radio NZ National’s excellent Mediawatch program, that empty vessel Mike “Contra” Hosking boasting to a simpering, giggling Rachel Smalley how he gave Nicky Hager “a hard time” on his show last year.
When did that happen? I find it extremely unlikely that Hosking would have got the better of Hager, who is far more articulate, and clearly his superior intellectually as well as ethically and morally.
Perhaps someone could provide a link to—or a transcript of—this amazing event which I for one do not believe ever happened.
That would be the Mediawatch in which that Lackwit Larry got a mention. It’s been years since I heard that droning voice delivering words of wisdom. Do people actually listen to that guy while conscious or is he the ZB sleep-time for toddlers story teller. 10mg of Mogadon would be a better option.
…. and yes – it is an excellent programme (watch out for the knives amongst RNZ management)
and yes – it is an excellent programme (watch out for the knives amongst RNZ management)
I have no doubt that Richard (Lord Haw Haw Haw Haw) Griffin has conniptions every time that this programme sends up the government’s media wing, as it did this morning with its devastating exhibition of Hosking and Williams. In the last few months alone, they’ve already wielded the knife against Wayne Brittenden and Down the List.
No. Hoskings and JLR don’t use the American pronunciation of ‘class’ rhyming like ‘ass’ as your subject (Fis) does. (Catching up with Key 14th March) They rhyme the word ‘class’ with ‘arse, speaking the same way as real New Zealanders.
Seven Sharp- shortly after the DP book was launched so it would have been mid to late August Morrissey.
There was no “intellectual” superiority in the so-called “hard time”. It was just loud noise coming from Hosking not unlike Key’s attempts to discredit Hager at the same time. Everything Hager said was rubbished by Hosking, but he presented no cogent or logical explanation fore the rubbishing. You know the type of thing:
Hager: I’ve just heard that President Kennedy has been assassinated.
Hosking: That’s rubbish. You’re making it up. The President of the USA been assassinated? Have you ever heard anything so ridiculous.
A few hours later there is an official statement… “President Kennedy has been assassinated”. Hosking goes quiet for a long time. Then he boasts loudly on a radio programme… I remember giving that creep Hager a hard time last year.
It’s a sign of how low standards are at TV1 that this himbo-bimbo fronts their evening newsmagazine show.
I heard part of Mediawatch and one of the things Hoskings did on his radio show was read out a text or email from one of his listeners (although I wouldn’t be surprised if Hosking had’ve made it up) referring to Hager as “that little prick Hager”.
I wonder if he would’ve read out a text using the same words to describe Key.
And what a withering intellectual critique of Nicky Hager, eh? But that’s Hosking’s level.
Given that he is still banging on the same nonsense about Hager all these months later, he has a real bee in his hairdo about Nicky. Nicky must’ve really made him look bad!
But now, yes, it appears he is totally delusional as well.
Hosking is that unfortunate specimen: a working class boy who has “made good” and takes on the simpering narcissism and prejudices of the class that he thinks he has joined, even though he’s really tolerated by them because he’s a useful idiot.
I knew Hosking was an airhead and a narcissist. But now it also appears he’s totally delusional.
He’s a prime example of that unfortunate creature, the working class boy ‘made good’ who takes on the prejudices and simpering narcissism of the class he thinks he’s joined when really they tolerate him because he’s a useful idiot.
Yeah, I read the headline. Thought it was unbelievable that someone thought respecting private property was the definition of a free and tolerant so society so didn’t want to add to the page views. I’m guessing it was about the Titirangi Kauri, but any statements on what he thinks about respect for people or the environment?
But that’s not how these characters play. They are puffed-up bandwagon-jumpers, holier-than-thou busybodies, always ready to bully and abuse at no expense or inconvenience to themselves.
To hell with minority rights – in this case, the Lenihan’s. We can jump up and down, and scream and shout and be clapped and reported about. It’s glorious. Look at us, we care. To hell with the law.
It really is interesting to consider that quote in the light of the early US leaders who waxed lyrical about freedom and justice. And “owned” other human beings as slaves.
Yes the concept of “private property” as conceived by John Locke in 1690 in his “ Second Treatise on Government” is shot full of logical and ethical inconsistencies. This is the founding statement and justification of the right to private property and to protection of that property by public law and force. Locke argues that the right to private property and protection is the foundation of all government legislation and duty, of all individual rights, and – if violated – of the rights to rebel against the state or sovereign. Market doctrine since Locke has presupposed his position as canonical (vis Hide’s stupid out burst!).
We have to reinvestigate the whole concept of what constitutes property – just what rights “ownership” carries as well as protection of the commons as well.
By the time George Washington became President he was the richest man in the USA. His wealth came from the extermination of the Indian nations and the expropriation, farming and on selling of their land.
In fact it is clear that the Founding Fathers of the USA did everything they could to make sure that the USA would not be a popular democracy. The appointed senate, the electoral college, and the barring of women and blacks from voting were just a few clues to that.
I came across an excellent book in the Ottawa library last year “Unequal Freedoms – the global market as an ethical system” by John Mc Murray published 1999. It investigates and critiques the philosophical basis of both the “free market” and the globalisation of such. Highly perceptive and a devastating critique of market doctrine. We see that modern economic theory is based on very flimsy foundations and it is unsurprising that our conventional economic practices are failing.
Hide doesn’t recognise that his much treasured rules of ‘private’ property are not actually sustainable in society, certainly not to the level of paramouncy as he seems to believe.
He has been caught out believing his own bullshit.
Oh, I really hope so. While I can imagine SIS agents (basically jumped up school prefects from Grammar school 2nd XVs) saying that sort of thing, the stupidity needed to put it in writing would be monumental. At least Simon Bridges level.
Hope someone will introduce into the House the letter of apology from new head of GCSB for written comments ‘spies’ ( ie employees of NZ taxpayers) made about raping Mrs Mona Dotcom and replacing her with one of their own.
KDC is a sublime rust for Key. Keeps on giving and eating away, and he may yet be the one responsible for bringing him down.
Since the article says that it applies to those who were there prior to 1999, and therefore King qualifies, it is hardly surprising that she’s in favour. Anything to build up her slush find for when she quits at the next election.
Incidentally has anyone heard a rumour I was told about last week. My informant, who is subject to a bit of hyperbole, claimed that the price of Annette being deputy for a while was that she would quit and allow Little to stand for Rongotai. Seems a bit extreme but it could be possible. Certainly I’m sure he would like an electorate that he could possibly win.
The travel perk was, of course one of Norman Kirk’s schemes. Norm wanted to give MPs, and himself, a pay rise but not to appear to be doing so. He therefore brought this in so he could sanctimoniously say that MPs were sacrificing for the country without actually doing so.
He also brought in the extra allowance for former PMs. He carefully worded it so that Jack Marshall wouldn’t get it, but in time Norm would. When he died before the requisite time period the Rowling Government changed it so that Ruth King, along with Wallace Rowling himself would get the money.
Never get between a trougher and the money pot seemed to be the motto of those charlatans.
I will if you like but you might not want to hear about it.
The main promoter of the scheme, despite being a junior minister, was the bete-noire of the left, Roger Douglas.
The scheme grew out of a private member’s bill put forward by Douglas when in opposition.
As Wikipedia says
“Douglas was an early and enthusiastic promoter of the government’s plans for a compulsory contributory superannuation scheme that would supplement the old age pension. In 1972, while still in opposition, he introduced a private member’s bill that provided for a form of compulsory superannuation. In Cabinet, Rowling, who was then Minister of Finance, and Douglas were largely responsible for a 1973 White Paper setting out the government’s proposals for superannuation. As well as augmenting individual provision for retirement, the scheme was intended to be a source of capital for investment in the domestic economy.[11] The scheme became law in the form of the New Zealand Superannuation Act 1974.
The law was passed a few days before Norm died but it wasn’t really his work, was it? You have to give credit for the short-lived scheme to Rowling and Douglas.
Yes, this was when Douglas still acted for the good of the country and well before his book “There’s Got to be a Better Way”, which laid out some plagiarised Friedmanite rubbish as his own thoughts. Norm knew what the country needed, Lange was too blinded by his own witty performances to even notice what Douglas had turned into.
Legislation for a major change like super doesn’t go through without the approval of the PM, just as a very dodgy MP doesn’t stand for re-election without the specific approval of the PM.
“Legislation for a major change like super doesn’t go through without the approval of the PM, just as a very dodgy MP doesn’t stand for re-election without the specific approval of the PM.”
You may be right, although if the second part is true one must worry about the honesty of Helen Clark, given what Taito Phillip Field had been up to.
I have been told by people who had to deal with Kirk that he really had little control over anything during 1974. He had, unfortunately, had heart problems, circulation problems and other health problems during the entire year and was not really in command of his job. I cannot comment from personal experience but some of the people who have told me this were very senior public servants at the time.
Taito Philip Field was merely dodgy. For very dodgy you need to look at the right. I don’t think Field ever molested the children of anyone who worked on his house. Graeme Cappill came from the right.
You may be right.
On the other hand perhaps you can remind us again what Party Mr Capill belonged to, when he was an MP, and therefore which PM is responsible for his behaviour? At least tell us which PM was the leader of his party?
You can also tell us who was the party leader responsible when the former MP for Otaki got into Parliament and how you might justify the rather “iffy” behaviour he got up to when he entertained a teenager in the present Labour Parties deputy leader’s home? How do you justify that sort of behaviour, where the kid ended up having to flee naked down the street?
“perhaps you can remind us again what Party Mr Capill belonged to, when he was an MP, and therefore which PM is responsible for his behaviour? At least tell us which PM was the leader of his party?”
Th’ feck are you on about? No PM was ever the leader of Capill’s tawdry little conservative right-wing christo-fascist party.
Ps did you know that the right-wing conservative pedophile Graham Capill also worked for the NZ Police?
I think you know that it’s the type of offences that Capill was found guilty of that’s important here. Maybe I’ll be able to tell you the rest next week, if you don’t know already.
Some scathing views about National’s Northland BYELECTION-BRIBES:
* “New” jobs which may or may not be full-time jobs; “new” road bridges which are not a priority; “new” promises on the roll-out of broadband which are old promises.
* Is there no limit on the lengths to which the National Party will go to pull the wool over voters’ eyes and hope that prevents the seat of Northland from falling into Winston Peters’ clutches?
* Deserving of special scrutiny is the repeated claim by Steven Joyce that 7500 new jobs were created in Northland last year. [Note: The link below explains why that claim is just pig shit]
* With more pork yet to come, National is setting a none-too-useful benchmark which risks turning contests in electorates into unseemly auctions.
* But National does not care one jot what Labour or anyone else thinks. It is locked in an almighty struggle with the man who has been its nemesis for longer than the party cares to remember.
* It was Mark Osborne, National’s candidate in Northland, who announced that the Government would be spending up to $70 million on replacing 10 single-lane bridges in the electorate. It is Parliament which sanctions such spending and Bridges who will be responsible for ensuring the money is spent on exactly what Parliament has decreed it be spent on – not Osborne, who as yet has no parliamentary standing and should not have made the announcement. It takes pork-barrelling to a new level when the candidate is doing it.
* Equally disturbing is the scale of the pork-barrelling by National.
* But National does not care one jot what Labour or anyone else thinks. It is locked in an almighty struggle with the man who has been its nemesis for longer than the party cares to remember. The stakes are not just high; they are stratospheric. So far, National appears to have no idea how to do that beyond trying to crowd him out of the media.
* National’s post-mortems on the byelection will also have to ask how the party managed to select a candidate who is so obviously out of his depth. Putting him up against Peters was lamb for the slaughter.
* National’s campaign is further handicapped by its confused stance in this byelection. The subtext of Joyce’s gushing statements about the strong growth in the Northland economy is that this is all down to National’s sound management of the overall economy and its business development programmes. Yet, the ever-lengthening line of Cabinet ministers trekking to Northland bearing gifts speaks of a regional economy still in dire straits and desperately short of capital, infrastructure and a highly skilled workforce needed to attract business ventures.
Northland is either a burgeoning success story or an economic cot-case. It cannot be both.
* If things are on the improve in the region – as Joyce insists – why is National being punished by a large chunk of the party’s supporters deserting to New Zealand First?
I sometimes wonder about Armstrong’s (political) convictions. Perhaps he ‘adapts’ his style & contents to maximise the number of page views (reads?) & comments? After all, he’s a qualified professional with lots of experience unlike the likes of Rodney Hide and Mike Hosking.
“Northland is either a burgeoning success story or an economic cot-case. It cannot be both.”
It can, actually. Northland is like a 3rd world country where the wealthy live in gated enclaves and the poor live in misery. Take a drive from Kerikeri to Moerewa. It’s not far.
Tomorrow, Monday 16 March 2015, after confirming with the Electoral Commission the ‘due process’ to follow – it is my intention to make a formal complaint against National’s Northland candidate Mark Osborne, for reported comments allegedly made by him, which, in my opinion, are a breach of s.216 (2) of the Electoral Act 1993 – “BRIBERY”.
In my view, in order to get an ‘outcome’ – you need to first put something into a ‘sausage machine’.
Just ‘howling at the moon’ doesn’t ‘cut it’ – in my opinion and experience.
The chain of events that ended up getting John Banks removed from Parliament, started with a complaint to the Police….
I was one of the three complainants.
Once I have the ‘process’ confirmed with the Electoral Commission – I will pass on the information.
Under NZ electoral law – “BRIBERY” is an offence.
But, situation normal, nothing will happen until someone actually MAKES A COMPLAINT?
I’ve already emailed the Electoral Commission – asking them this ‘due process’ question, so the ‘sausage machine’ has been ‘switched on’ – as it were….
Good luck Penny. Maybe you can also include/allude to the early votes deliberately cheated out of confused elderly as mentioned in Open Mike yesterday ? ( Can find you link if you missed it).
Very serious indeed, and possibly could be part of same complaint ?
I haven’t seen the comment you refer to but the voting of people suffering from dementia by the staff of their aged care home seems to be a standard feature of every election.
I worked as a clerk at a polling booth in one of the homes at an election some years ago. Their were people who obviously suffered from dementia whose voting papers were collected by a staff member. The staff member had to tell us who the resident was as they didn’t seem to be in a position to know their own name.
The staff member then “helped” them to vote. I don’t think some of them had the faintest idea that there was even an election on.
One can only hope that there are never enough to unduly affect the results.
I have no idea who the votes were being cast for.
I certainly never saw the completed ballot papers. I can only say that I don’t think the “voters” knew either.
I’m more concerned with this new, and insidious, practice by the National party to have helpers phone and door-knock offers of rides to the polling booth.
On election day in 2014 we got an automated call from Sam Lotu Iiga’s electorate office apparently offering a ride to the polling booth. I don’t know how many houses this call went out to on election day but one must assume it was all households in the Maungakeiei electorate.
I complained to the Electoral commission on the day, and to be fair to them they had their chief lawyer call me back almost instantly, but he said it was within the rules agreed to by all parties.
While a higher proportion of constituents voting for parties of the socially responsible left are more likely to require help to get to a polling booth (or in this case – advanced voting for the infirm), this agreement is likely to not be in Labour’s benefit because the National party will cynically use it to have a last ditch advertising push on election day to all voters, regardless of mobility status…
…as Sam Lotu Iiga did in Maungakeikei in September 2014.
A solution to this would be for the Electoral commission themselves to have the funding to help vulnerable voters fulfil their right to vote uninfluenced by the Nats.
I would love to know what evidence you have for the statement that “While a higher proportion of constituents voting for parties of the socially responsible left are more likely to require help to get to a polling booth”.
On the other hand I do know one person, who does vote for right leaning parties, who called the Labour Party to request help to get to the polling booth. After voting she then, on the way home thanked “the nice young man and assured him she had voted for his candidate XXX. XXX was the National candidate”. She said that the driver managed, just, to resist tossing out of the car.
I told this story to one of my Labour leaning friends and she did it the other way round at the next election. She got National to take her to vote Labour. She claimed he was, in a strained way, quite polite to her.
You’d have to be stupid to not accept that more lower socio-economic people vote left and that more lower socio-economic people lack private transport.
I complained to the Electoral commission on the day, and to be fair to them they had their chief lawyer call me back almost instantly, but he said it was within the rules agreed to by all parties.
It is. Labour has always offered rides especially to the elderly and infirm in well supported electorates
That’s what the Electoral Commission’s lawyer said too.
“Labour do it too”
I had to laugh because it sounded like something straight out of the Crosby Textor handbook.
I felt at the time that help to the polling booth targeted to immobile voters is fair enough, but an automated and apparently random phone message? Sounds like campaigning to me.
Given your comment reference, 11.2.1.2 you appear to be replying to my comment which is 11.2.1.
What the hell are you talking about? Am I not allowed to help run the election by giving my time, and the payment went to a charity, to help run the election? I was a clerk in the polling booth. I wasn’t a bloody party representative.
1. It is not “bullshit”
2. I hate to dent your little ego but I don’t really care in the slightest what you think. I have yet to read anything by you that matters in the slightest.
Lest we forget, the process which led to the legally enforced corporate takeover of the Auckland region via the Auckland ‘Supercity’ (for the 1%) amalgamation, effectively started on 5 September 2006, with the attempted ‘Mayoral coup’.
The purpose of the (failed) Auckland ‘Mayoral coup’ was to get rid of the Auckland Regional Council (ARC) and replace it with a ‘Supercity’.
The ‘ring leaders’ of this attempted Auckland ‘Mayoral coup’, were Waitakere City Council Mayor Bob Harvey, Manukau City Council Mayor Barry Curtis, North Shore City Council Mayor George Wood, and Auckland City Council Mayor Dick Hubbard.
FACT.
The ‘form’ taken by these four City Council Mayors – was a letter – co-signed by all of them – addressed to then LABOUR Prime Minister, Helen Clark, asking for her urgent intervention and assistance, on behalf of those who were really pushing hard for this – BUSINESS leaders.
Luckily, fellow community activist Lisa Prager and myself, having been ‘tipped off’ about this meeting to be held in the Auckland Town Hall, gate-crashed it and disrupted it – on the basis that the Auckland ‘Mayoral Forum’ under whose auspices this meeting had been called, was NOT a ‘creature of statute’ – had no lawful right to do anything – and under the then Local Government Act 2002, there had to be a binding poll of the PUBLIC before any ‘amalgamation’ took place.
Our action on 5 September 2006, at least helped to slow down the process …
Looking at the RT site for what it has about President Putin’s whereabouts.
The news at the 12th March was that he had cancelled some things but was having meetings out of the public eye. He had some trouble in 2012 similarly and this was ascribed to old sports injuries etc. http://rt.com/politics/240025-russia-peskov-putin-health/
This has been hot on Twitter since late yesterday when Philip Lyth picked it up, then Idiot/Savant (NRT) and Graeme Edgeler. Graeme researched it and then posted on Public Address:
The whole situation seems to changing minute by minute. According to Graeme the Stuff article has been updated to exclude a sentence included in the original article referring to Fox, Turei and King opposing the changes. *
Graeme’s Twiitter feed is possibly the only way to keep up with the changing situation. Lots more details, questions, comments there.
EDIT – the earlier version also included the fact that only one dissenting vote is needed for the changes to not pass! Apparently this still stands, but taken out of the Stuff article.
I suspect that this is going to be all over the MSM news tomorrow, The Stuff (Dom Post) article was obviously written in haste – I suspect by a pretty junior on duty journo. Herald also has a fairly vacuous article up tonight. Won’t bother providing a link unless you would like one.
But it continues to be debated on Twitter – Graeme Edgeler, Jessica Williams, Hoots, Annette King (qualifies when she leaves Parliament), Tau Henare (another qualifier now) etc. King seems to be out there trying to justify the change on behalf of National. Say no more.
Edgeler seems to be holding his ground and refusing to let it go which IMO is good. Could be the start of another bad week for Key …. !
Death by a thousand cuts, perhaps. Time will tell.
Sparrho is like the Google for scientific papers—and patents, posters, events, and grants. Just type in keywords, like “GMO food,” and you’ll soon have access to all the latest research. Here’s a snapshot of what comes up when you search for GMO food:
As you can see, the latest results are up-to-date (I performed the search on March 6). Some are accessible to laypeople, some are not. That’s because Vivian Chan, Sparrho’s CEO and co-founder, originally designed the platform for herself. “I was doing my PhD at Cambridge University, and realized using search engines for science doesn’t work. There are all of these databases out there, but you have to know exactly what it is you’re looking for,” she says.
Good analysis and ideas in the Observer today for addressing Britain’s housing crisis, which shares most of the hallmarks of NZ’s:
”The Homes for Britain campaign, which brings together housing associations, private house builders, landlords, planners and architects, is holding a rally in Westminster. It aims to solve the housing crisis “in a generation”, which is a realistic time frame, given that it has taken a generation to create the current situation
”The crisis in house prices is therefore not an act of pure economic fate but constructed and willed by policy over decades. As such, it can also be defused by policy, if not easily or quickly. So far, the main government response has been to try to relax planning rules and to encourage the market with measures such as Help To Buy which, presented as much-needed assistance to first-time buyers, tend to push up prices further.”
Aid agencies reported that around 90% of houses in Port Vila have been destroyed, many people displaced, and schools ripped apart. Oxfam Australia’s executive director Helen Szoke said:
It’s becoming increasingly clear that we are now dealing with worse than the worst case scenario in Vanuatu. This is likely to be one of the worst disasters ever seen in the Pacific.
Up to 75,000 children in Vanuatu could be in desperate need of food, water and shelter, Save the Children has said.
‘Lack of urgency’ on climate change, says World Bank V-P
As reported earlier, Vanuatu’s president, Baldwin Lonsdale, is, by coincidence, at the UN world conference on disaster risk reduction in Japan, from where AFP sends this report:
Despite ominous predictions of mass devastation in cyclone-wrecked Vanuatu, policymakers at a UN disaster meeting in Japan do not seem to understand the pressing need to tackle climate change, the World Bank warned Sunday.
A state of emergency has been declared in the impoverished Pacific nation, where dozens are feared dead after one of the most powerful storms ever recorded smashed through. Aid agencies have spoken of “grave fears” over the scale of the human tragedy.
But Rachel Kyte, World Bank vice president and special envoy for climate change, said there appeared to be a disconnect between policy and the increasingly-frequent weather-related disasters the world is suffering.
“I worry that a sense of urgency and a sense of shared ambition is not at the right level,” she told AFP in an interview on the sidelines of the UN conference on disaster risk reduction in Sendai, Japan.
“It’s hugely ironic that this storm should hit Vanuatu while we are all here. If we truly care for those people, we have to respond,” she said, referring to the need for environmental commitments.
“I think we have to hold ourselves accountable and at least voluntarily we should have targets” on emission reductions from the Sendai conference, she said.
The conference comes ahead of COP 21 talks scheduled for December in Paris, at which countries will try to thrash out agreements on cutting greenhouse gases.
French foreign minister Laurent Fabius, who will chair the meeting, told AFP Sendai could act as a springboard to success later in the year.
Kyte told AFP:
I don’t think I would say climate change caused [Cyclone] Pam, but I would say the fact is in the past three or four years we’ve seen category fives coming with a regularity we’ve never seen before.
And that has some relationship with climate change. It is indisputable that part of the Pacific Ocean is much warmer today than in previous years, so these storms are intensifying.
We may have helped communities become resilient to the kinds of storms we experienced in the past, but resilience to a storm with wind speed of up to 300km per hour – that’s a whole new intensity.
The UN development bank chief, Helen Clark, former prime minister of New Zealand, said it was “impossible” to protect against natural disasters without addressing one of the root causes:
Unless we tackle climate change on the global level we are making the task of building resilience to disasters almost impossible.
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Alex Ford, University of Portsmouth and Gary Hutchison, Edinburgh Napier UniversityWithin just a few generations, human sperm counts may decline to levels below those considered adequate for fertility. That’s the alarming claim made in epidemiologist Shanna Swan’s new book, “Countdown”, which assembles a raft of evidence to show that ...
Just like last year, this year's General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) will happen virtually instead of in person in Vienna. Contrary to last year, the organizers decided early on to hold their conference online and planned for it accordingly (quite a difference to last year's scramble where they switched ...
Time for a strange rant. A very strange rant. But bear with me, because this is serious business. A True Story, by Lucian of Samosata is not Science-Fiction. What on earth am I talking about? Well, it was one of those Wikipedia rabbit holes. I was reading ...
By Kate Evans for UndarkOne of New Zealand’s most spectacular fossil sites originated 23.2 million years ago. It was formed in a valley dotted with small volcanoes, when rising magma deep below the Earth’s surface came into contact with groundwater. Lava and water don’t mix — they explode. The ...
A Thorn In Their Side: As Chair of the Auckland Regional Council, Mike Lee made sure Auckland’s municipal resources remained in Aucklanders’ hands. Not surprisingly the neoliberal powers-that-be (in both their centre-left and centre-right incarnations) hated this last truly effective standard-bearer for democratic-socialist values and policies.MIKE LEE is the closest ...
It’s always something of a shock to come across a page run by a health-focused business that contains substantial misinformation. This one left me gobsmacked, given the sheer number of statements that are demonstrably untrue. And while a fair bit of the content is prefaced by the statement that it’s ...
Previously (9 February) I wrote about how business consultants Ernst & Young were used to do a hatchet job on the former senior management team at Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB). While this hatchet job was planned in 2019 its gestation was much longer. Its underlying causes involved differences in ...
Flying beneath the radar of guilt Fight or Flight: How Advertising for Air Travel Triggers Moral Disengagement(open access) by Stubenvoll & Neureiter not only takes an interesting approach to decomposing the effects of airline travel advertisements but also helps us to understand the general psychological landscape of our often conflicted ...
Yesterday I got told to “do some research” &, by extension, to think critically. The biologist in me cringed a little when I read it (and not because of the advice about doing research). Biology teachers I know suggested that perhaps everyone should take the NCEA standard that ...
Lis Ku, De Montfort University Since the onset of the pandemic, everyone from newspaper columnists to Twitter users has advanced the now idea that extroverts and introverts are handling the crisis differently. Many claim that introverts adapt to social distancing and isolation better than extroverts, with some even suggesting that ...
A friend of mine pointed me in the direction of this blog post by New Zealand’s “Plan B” group. While initially this group opposed the government’s use of lockdowns to manage covid19 outbreaks in this country, they seem to have since moved on to opposing the rollout of vaccines against ...
Twenty years after it invaded, the US is finally leaving Afghanistan. What's surprising is that it took them so long - its been clear for over a decade that their presence there was pointless and just pissing people off. But imperial pride leads to exactly this sort of stupidity. Their ...
The government has announced that it will ban the export of livestock by sea. Huzzah! A vile, cruel and unconscionable trade will be ended! But there's a catch: the ban won't kick in until 2023, giving farmers two ful years to continue to profit from extreme animal cruelty. But why ...
Today is unexpectedly a Member's Day - the Business Committee granted it early in the year, to make up for time list to government business. First up is a two-hour debate on the budget policy statement, with questions to Ministers, replacing the general debate. Then its the second reading of ...
. . Two stories which appeared almost side-by-side on RNZ’s website. Parent, Miranda Cross, was quoted as saying; “I think the expectations are that we can at least send our kids to school where they will receive an education.” An American parent would probably demand; “I think the expectations are ...
Time for reviewing something a bit different. Move over Tolkien adaptations, hello Japanese splatter movie. Specifically, a certain 2009 movie called Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl. I watched this one a few days ago with some acquaintances, never having seen it before, and not being familiar with the manga ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters, PhD An above-average Atlantic hurricane season is likely in 2021, the Colorado State University (CSU) hurricane forecasting team says in its latest seasonal forecast issued April 8. Led by Dr. Phil Klotzbach, with coauthors Dr. Michael Bell and Jhordanne Jones, the CSU ...
How seriously does the Māori Party take issues of corruption and the untoward influence of big money in politics? Not very, based on how it’s handling a political finance scandal in which three large donations were kept hidden from the public. The party is currently making excuses, and largely failing ...
The annual inventory report [PDF] of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions has been released, showing a significant increase in emissions: (Note that this is UNFCCC accounting, not the weird fudged figures the Climate Change Commission is using). Emissions increased by almost 2 million tons in 2019, from 80.6 MT ...
The melody from the classic movie Wizard of Oz echoes as Jacinta Ruru explains what inspired her to attend university, and her ambition to help create a more just society in Aotearoa. Jacinta, who affiliates to Raukawa and Ngāti Ranginui, specialises in the research areas of indigenous peoples and the law. ...
Stuff reports that National is refusing to back the Climate Change Commission's recommendations, which is apparently a Bad Thing: The National Party says it can’t support the Climate Change Commission’s draft plan to cut New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions unless changes are made. If National maintains this position when ...
Driven, accountable, unafraid to test limits and connected to the communities she serves are traits that come to mind when thinking about Dr Anne-Marie Jackson. (Ngāti Whātua, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu o Whangaroa, Ngāti Wai) She specialises in Māori physical education and health research disciplines while incorporating tikanga Māori and Te ...
This is my first post for a while. I have been a bit overwhelmed by other work in the last several weeks, with teaching and other commitments, and the blog has sadly suffered. But I’m still here. This morning, while sitting in a car in the permanent traffic jam through ...
Predatory Morality: Is geopolitical consultant, Paul Buchanan, right? Does the rest of the world truly monitor New Zealand’s miniscule contribution to the international arms trade so closely? Are foreign chancelleries truly so insensitive to their own governments’ complicity in the world’s horrors that they expect all other sovereign states to ...
Anna Källén, Stockholm University and Daniel Strand, Uppsala University A middle-aged white man raises his sword to the skies and roars to the gods. The results of his genetic ancestry test have just arrived in his suburban mailbox. His eyes fill with tears as he learns that he is “0.012% ...
March 2021 The housing crisis right now in New Zealand is one of our biggest contributors to income and wealth inequality. “With the explosive increase in sales and prices, those with houses have their income and/or wealth rapidly increasing, and those who are not on the property ladder are falling ...
Samoans went to the polls on Friday, and delivered a stinging blow to Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi one-party state. Pre-election Malielegaoi's Human Rights Protection Party had controlled 44 of 49 seats in Parliament, while using restrictive standing orders to prevent there from even being a recognised opposition in ...
Prof Nick Wilson, Dr Jennifer Summers, Prof Michael BakerIn this blog we briefly consider a new Report from a European think tank that aims to identify an optimal COVID-19 response strategy. It considers mortality data, GDP impacts, and mobility data and suggests that COVID-19 elimination appears to be superior ...
Something I missed on Friday: the Māori Party has been referred to police over failure to disclose donations over $30,000. Looking at the updated return of large donations, this is about $320,000 donated to them by three donors - John Tamihere, the National Urban Māori Authority, and Aotearoa Te Kahu ...
Stormy Seas: Will Jacinda Ardern's Labour Government stand behind the revolutionary proposals contained in He Puapua – the 20-year plan devised by a government appointed working group to realise the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Aotearoa/New Zealand?“GETTING AHEAD of the story” is one of the most ...
We have not been fans of the Climate Change Commission’s draft report. New Zealand has an Emissions Trading Scheme with a binding cap, and a declining path for net emissions in the covered sector. Measures taken within the covered sector cannot reduce net emissions. NZU not purchased by one sector get ...
For several decades under Labour and National-led governments New Zealand has claimed to have an independent (and sometimes autonomous) foreign policy. This foreign policy independence is said to be gained by having a “principled but pragmatic” approach to international relations: principled when possible, pragmatic when necessary. More recently NZ foreign ...
This video produced in Seattle looks at the gender identity curriculum used in schools in the US. A thin veneer of pseudoscience is being used to indoctrinate children with an ideology based on scientific and medical inaccuracies. ...
For once, I have written my submission on a bill with enough time to spare to both enocurage any of you who wants to make a submission to do so as well, and to give you time to spot the typos in mine.Louisa Wall's Harmful Digital Communications (Unauthorised Posting of Intimate ...
A friend found a concerning FB post (see below – this is a public post & so I have not redacted the name) & – as you do – immediately queried it with Southern Cross Life & Health Insurance as well as sending the screenshot to me¹. We both read ...
Judith Collins’ National Party leadership is under more scrutiny, with increased talk in the media of her being replaced by brand new MP Christopher Luxon. For many commentators it’s just a question of “when” rather than “if” Collins is replaced. While others ponder whether Luxon really has what it takes ...
‘Tis the season for unearthing the rarest gems in Tolkien adaptation – which, considering that the fandom has been dominated by Peter Jackson for nigh on two decades, is a positively heart-warming development. It is why I have devoted so much blog space to the obscure and weirdly wonderful ...
Whatever the damage, especially to the British economy, Brexit has done us a service by illustrating the complexity of trade.Brexit is the only example we have of two closely integrated sophisticated economies severing trading ties. The European Union and Britain still do not have tariffs or import quotas between them ...
The Palmerston North City Council has voted for Māori wards: Palmerston North Māori will be guaranteed one or two seats on the city council from 2022, and this time, there is nothing opponents can do about it. The council decided by an 11-5 vote at its monthly meeting this ...
Kids are striking for the climate today, demanding a decent, liveable future. Meanwhile, the National Party, the reliable servant of the farm lobby and other polluting businesses, is calling for action to be delayed: National has written to Climate Change Minister James Shaw calling for him to extend the ...
Today tens of thousands of schoolkids have walked out of school to strike for a future free from climate change. And tens of thousands of older New Zealanders have joined them. Their demands are clear: eliminate fossil fuels, implement 100% renewable energy with a just transition, and support our Pacific ...
The Gods That Failed.We studied the dialecticRead the whole of ‘Capital’So we could follow youSo we could follow youHow we shoutedHow we scrawledPainted slogans on city wallsOn prison wallsProof we had followed youBut, we still didn’t find what we’re looking forAnd we still haven’t found what we’re looking forWhen they ...
Conventional Wisdom? The Republican Right is convinced that to “go woke” is to “go broke”. It simply does not believe sufficient Americans feel strongly enough about social justice to make any kind of boycott remotely effective. Clearly, the Boards of Directors of more and more American corporations disagree. RECENT MOVES by ...
On November 25, 2020 Skeptical Science Inc. became a registered nonprofit organization and on March 17, 2021 our application to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service for 501(c)(3) status was approved. In this blog post, we’ll explain why we went down this path and what will come next. Since its ...
Blowing Hot And Cold: Mike Hosking’s bosses should, perhaps, ask themselves what message Newstalk-ZB (and NZME) is sending to the people of New Zealand if Mike Hosking, their self-appointed “People’s Prosecutor”, is accorded bragging rights for “cancelling” the democratically-elected Prime Minister of New Zealand. Especially when said Prime Minister’s only ...
Ali Boyle, University of CambridgeIf you ask people to list the most intelligent animals, they’ll name a few usual suspects. Chimpanzees, dolphins and elephants are often mentioned, as are crows, dogs and occasionally pigs. Horses don’t usually get a look in. So it might come as a surprise that ...
Selwyn Manning and I dedicated this week’s video podcast to the potential emergence of rival blocs within the transitional process involved in the move from a unipolar to a multipolar international system currently underway. However one characterises the phenomenon–autocracies versus democracies, East versus West, colonial versus post-colonial–the global order is ...
With the rediscovery of the lost Soviet Lord of the Rings, the time has come for the important things in life. Specifically, compiling the Tom Bombadil scenes from the three known screen adaptations that feature him: This is a collection of scenes from:– Sagan om Ringen (1971: ...
Back in February the Climate Change Commission recommended a ban on new coal-fired boilers, and a phase out of existing ones by 2037. And today, the government has said they will implement that policy, and backed it up with funding to help transition some of our large pollution sources: ...
A ballot for three members bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Income Tax (Adjustment of Taxable Income Ranges) Amendment Bill (Simon Bridges) Regulatory Standards Bill (David Seymour) Human Rights (Disability Assist Dogs Non-Discrimination) Amendment Bill (Ricardo Menéndez March) The first two ...
The Greens welcome $6.6 million from the Government’s $455 million programme to increase access to mental health and addiction services for our Pasifika communities in Auckland and Wellington. ...
The Green Party is putting a Member’s Bill into the ballot today which will be a significant step towards overhauling the Social Security Act by embedding a tikanga Māori framework into the welfare system. ...
The Green Party have reaffirmed their strong commitment to the union movement in Aotearoa New Zealand by renewing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with E Tū. ...
Soon, more kids in Aotearoa will have access to the in-school mental health support that has boosted the resilience of tamariki and whānau in Canterbury. ...
The Green Party supports the open letter released today by a cross-sector coalition calling for the Government to treat all drug use as a health issue, to repeal and replace the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975. ...
Small businesses are not only the heart of our economy – they’re also the heart of our communities. They provide important goods and services, as well as great employment opportunities. They know and love their locals. And after a tough year, they need our support! ...
Green Party spokesperson for Pacific Peoples Teanau Tuiono MP, supports the demand from Pasifika communities fighting for climate action as their homelands are more at risk in the Pacific region. ...
The Green Party supports the six demands for climate action put forward by School Strike for Climate NZ, who are striking across the country today. ...
The Ministry of Justice Māori victimisation report, released today, reinforces what we already know about the impact of systemic racism in Aotearoa and that urgent action is needed. ...
Ricardo Menéndez March’s Members Bill to ensure that disabled New Zealanders do not face discrimination for having a disability assist dog was today pulled from the biscuit tin to be debated in Parliament. ...
More than one million people will be better off from today, thanks to our Government’s changes to the minimum wage, main benefits and superannuation. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Government to do more for New Zealanders who continue to miss out, as main benefits are set to rise by less than $8 a week tomorrow, Thursday 1 April (at the start of the financial year). ...
New Zealand is providing further support to Timor-Leste following severe flooding and the recent surge in COVID-19 cases, Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. “Our thoughts are with the people of Timor-Leste who have been impacted by the severe flooding and landslides at a time when the country is ...
A ceremony has been held today in Gisborne where the unclaimed medals of 28 (Māori) Battalion C Company soldiers were presented to their families. After the Second World War, returning service personnel needed to apply for their medals and then they would be posted out to them. While most medals ...
New Zealand has today added its voice to the international condemnation of the malicious compromise and exploitation of the SolarWinds Orion platform. The Minister Responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau, Andrew Little, says that New Zealand's international partners have analysed the compromise of the SolarWinds Orion platform and attributed ...
An expert consenting panel has approved the Queenstown Arterials Project, which will significantly improve transport links and reduce congestion for locals and visitors in the tourism hotspot. Environment Minister David Parker welcomed the approval for the project that will construct, operate and maintain a new urban road around Queenstown’s town ...
Economic and Regional Development Minister Stuart Nash says a landmark deal has been agreed with Amazon for The Lord of the Rings TV series, currently being filmed in New Zealand. Mr Nash says the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) secures multi-year economic and tourism benefits to New Zealand, outside the screen ...
The Government welcomes the findings from a rapid review into the health system response to lead contamination in Waikouaiti’s drinking water supply. Sample results from the town’s drinking-water supply showed intermittent spikes in lead levels above the maximum acceptable value. The source of the contamination is still under investigation by ...
Transport Minister Michael Wood today marked the start of construction on the New Zealand Upgrade Programme’s Papakura to Drury South project on Auckland’s Southern Motorway, which will create hundreds of jobs and support Auckland’s economic recovery. The SH1 Papakura to Drury South project will give more transport choices by providing ...
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā karanga maha o te wa, tēnā koutou, tēna koutou, tēna tātou katoa. Ki ngā mana whenua, ko Ngāi Tahu, ko Waitaha, ko Kāti Māmoe anō nei aku mihi ki a koutou. Nōku te hōnore kia haere mai ki te ...
Transport Minister Michael Wood today marked the completion of upgrades to State Highway 20B which will give Aucklanders quick electric bus trips to and from the airport. The State Highway 20B Early Improvements project has added new lanes in each direction between Pukaki Creek Bridge and SH20 for buses and ...
The Government is putting in place a review of the work being done on animal welfare and safety in the greyhound racing industry, Grant Robertson announced today. “While Greyhound Racing NZ has reported some progress in implementing the recommendations of the Hansen Report, recent incidents show the industry still has ...
The infringement fee for using a mobile phone while driving will increase from $80 to $150 from 30 April 2021 to encourage safer driving, Transport Minister Michael Wood announced today. Michael Wood said too many people are still picking up the phone while driving. “Police issued over 40,000 infringement notices ...
Pacific people in New Zealand will be better supported with new mental health and addiction services rolling out across the Auckland and Wellington regions, says Aupito William Sio. “One size does not fit all when it comes to supporting the mental wellbeing of our Pacific peoples. We need a by ...
New measures are being proposed to accelerate progress towards becoming a smokefree nation by 2025, Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced. “Smoking or exposure to second-hand smoke kills around 12 people a day in New Zealand. Recent data tells us New Zealand’s smoking rates continue to decrease, but ...
More children will be able to access mental wellbeing support with the Government expansion of Mana Ake services to five new District Health Board areas, Health Minister Andrew Little says. The Health Minister made the announcement while visiting Homai School in Counties Manukau alongside Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Associate ...
The Government’s COVID-19 response has meant a record number of people moved off a Benefit and into employment in the March Quarter, with 32,880 moving into work in the first three months of 2021. “More people moved into work last quarter than any time since the Ministry of Social Development ...
A stocktake undertaken by France and New Zealand shows significant global progress under the Christchurch Call towards its goal to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. The findings of the report released today reinforce the importance of a multi-stakeholder approach, with countries, companies and civil society working together to ...
Racing Minister Grant Robertson has announced he is appointing Elizabeth Dawson (Liz) as the Chair of the interim TAB NZ Board. Liz Dawson is an existing Board Director of the interim TAB NZ Board and Chair of the TAB NZ Board Selection Panel and will continue in her role as ...
The Government has announced that the export of livestock by sea will cease following a transition period of up to two years, said Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. “At the heart of our decision is upholding New Zealand’s reputation for high standards of animal welfare. We must stay ahead of the ...
WORKSHOP ON LETHAL AUTONOMOUS WEAPONS SYSTEMS Wednesday 14 April 2021 MINISTER FOR DISARMAMENT AND ARMS CONTROL OPENING REMARKS Good morning, I am so pleased to be able to join you for part of this workshop, which I’m confident will help us along the path to developing New Zealand’s national policy on ...
For the first time, all 18 prisons in New Zealand will be invited to participate in an inter-prison kapa haka competition, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. The 2021 Hōkai Rangi Whakataetae Kapa Haka will see groups prepare and perform kapa haka for experienced judges who visit each prison and ...
The Government has introduced the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Bill, designed to boost New Zealand's ability to respond to a wider range of terrorist activities. The Bill strengthens New Zealand’s counter-terrorism legislation and ensures that the right legislative tools are available to intervene early and prevent harm. “This is the Government’s first ...
Coal boiler replacements at a further ten schools, saving an estimated 7,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide over the next ten years Fossil fuel boiler replacements at Southern Institute of Technology and Taranaki DHB, saving nearly 14,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide over the next ten years Projects to achieve a total ...
Attorney-General David Parker today announced the appointment of Cassie Nicholson as Chief Parliamentary Counsel for a term of five years. The Chief Parliamentary Counsel is the principal advisor and Chief Executive of the Parliamentary Counsel Office (PCO). She is responsible for ensuring PCO, which drafts most of New Zealand’s legislation, provides ...
Every part of Government will need to take urgent action to bring down emissions, the Minister for Climate Change, James Shaw said today in response to the recent rise in New Zealand’s greenhouse emissions. The latest annual inventory of New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions shows that both gross and net ...
Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister David Clark says Aotearoa New Zealand has become the first country in the world to introduce a law that requires the financial sector to disclose the impacts of climate change on their business and explain how they will manage climate-related risks and opportunities. The Financial ...
Exceptional employment practices in the primary industries have been celebrated at the Good Employer Awards, held this evening at Parliament. “Tonight’s awards provided the opportunity to celebrate and thank those employers in the food and fibres sector who have gone beyond business-as-usual in creating productive, safe, supportive, and healthy work ...
Applications are now invited from all councils for a slice of government funding aimed at improving tourism infrastructure, especially in areas under pressure given the size of their rating bases. Tourism Minister Stuart Nash has already signalled that five South Island regions will be given priority to reflect that jobs ...
Tēnā koutou e ngā maata waka Tenā koutou te hau kāinga ngā iwi o Te Whanganui ā TaraTēnā koutou i runga i te kaupapa o te Rā. No reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tatou katoa. It is a pleasure to be here tonight. Thank you Graeme (Peters, ENA Chief ...
The Construction Skills Action Plan has delivered early on its overall target of supporting an additional 4,000 people into construction-related education and employment, says Minister for Building and Construction Poto Williams. Since the Plan was launched in 2018, more than 9,300 people have taken up education or employment opportunities in ...
An innovative new Youth Justice residence designed in partnership with Māori will provide prevention, healing, and rehabilitation services for both young people and their whānau, Children’s Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. Whakatakapokai is located in South Auckland and will provide care and support for up to 15 rangatahi remanded or ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today expressed New Zealand’s sorrow at the death of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. “Our thoughts are with Her Majesty The Queen at this profoundly sad time. On behalf of the New Zealand people and the Government, I would like to express ...
We, the Home Affairs, Interior, Security and Immigration Ministers of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States of America (the ‘Five Countries’) met via video conference on 7/8 April 2021, just over a year after the outbreak of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Guided by our shared ...
Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Carmel Sepuloni has today announced the opening of the first round of Ngā Puninga Toi ā-Ahurea me ngā Kaupapa Cultural Installations and Events. “Creating jobs and helping the arts sector rebuild and recover continues to be a key part of the Government’s COVID-19 response,” Carmel ...
Interim legislation that is already proving to keep people safer from drugs will be made permanent, Health Minister Andrew Little says. Research by Victoria University, on behalf of the Ministry of Health, shows that the Government’s decision in December to make it legal for drug-checking services to operate at festivals ...
Public consultation launched on ways to improve behaviour and reduce damage Tighter rules proposed for either camping vehicles or camping locations Increased penalties proposed, such as $1,000 fines or vehicle confiscation Rental companies may be required to collect fines from campers who hire vehicles Public feedback is sought on proposals ...
The Government is continuing to support Air New Zealand while aviation markets stabilise and the world moves towards more normal border operations. The Crown loan facility made available to Air New Zealand in March 2020 has been extended to a debt facility of up to $1.5 billion (an additional $600 ...
Christchurch’s Richmond suburb will soon have a new community hub, following the gifting of a red-zoned property by Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) to the Richmond Community Gardens Trust. The Minister for Land Information, Damien O’Connor said that LINZ, on behalf of the Crown, will gift a Vogel Street house ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says the reopening of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples’ (MPP) Languages Funding in 2021 will make sure there is a future for Pacific languages. “Language is the key to the wellbeing for Pacific people. It affirms our identity as Pasifika and ...
It is a pleasure to be here tonight. Thank you Cameron for the introduction and thank you for ERANZ for also hosting this event. Last week in fact, we had one of the largest gatherings in our sector, Downstream 2021. I have heard from my officials that the discussion on ...
Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods has today announced the 16 projects that will together get $3.9 million through the 2021 round of Te Pūnaha Hihiko: Vision Mātauranga Capability Fund, further strengthening the Government’s commitment to Māori knowledge in science and innovation. “We received 78 proposals - the highest ...
Business & Investing: A new survey of manufacturing sees production and orders soaring, Plus two NZ energy shares close higher despite index linked sell-off ...
Passengers could share their first rides with strangers in Auckland this month, as part of the company’s global strategy to reduce cars on the road. ...
The two-year phaseout of the export of livestock by sea, announced by Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor last week, could mean over 200,000 animals will be shipped overseas before the cruel trade is ended. TVNZ’s ‘Sunday’ programme last night ...
Encouraging Chinese consumers to buy products on easy credit was sensationally popular, until it wasn't. Benjamin Liu and Xin Chen of the University of Auckland explain the troubles facing Jack Ma's Ant Group. China has been leading the world in the exponential growth of e-commerce. Rising from this massive and highly competitive ...
You are more likely to be hit by lightning than suffer a blood clot after a Covid vaccine, but consequences can be dire for those who do. Vaccinologist Helen Petousis-Harris explains. COMMENT: Recently the vaccine safety watch dogs in Europe noted reports of unusual types of blood clots in people vaccinated ...
The one about a tough loner from Quebec who comes to New Zealand and writes a crime novel that screens tonight on TV2 Where I grew up, there were two ways to make big money: farming pigs for the corporate machine or running drugs over the border for the gangs. ...
Newly-crowned national mountain bike champion Sammie Maxwell only knew how to go fast. But slowing down and putting her health first has helped her back to top speed. Sammie Maxwell felt confused as she stood on top of the podium at this year's mountain bike national championships. She hadn't won because ...
'We're from the Government, we're here to help' might well be the message from the holders of Kris Faafoi's new $50m of taxpayer money as they start to dispense it to the nation's media. Stephen Parker examines the implications of the PIJF. Later this year, when reading daily news, you ...
We live in post-normal times: A time which means nothing will ever be normal again, writes Peter O'Connor of the University of Auckland. The world order has stumbled under the devastating global impact of Covid-19, resulting in the most serious assault to the economic, public health and social order of ...
From today, travelling between New Zealand and Australia becomes a little bit easier. Here’s everything you need to know about the new trans-Tasman bubble.To mark the opening of the trans-Tasman bubble, The Spinoff is casting an eye across the ditch all week – read our Australia Week content here. What’s this ...
The premature dismissal of compensation for a woman wrongly convicted and sentenced to a year of home detention is morally rotten and practically misguided, writes Andrew Geddis.In her magnificent reporting on things New Zealander’s usually don’t like to think about, Stuff’s Kirsty Johnston has told some pretty sad stories. Families ...
The Dawn Raids of the 1970s carry a shameful legacy to this day - and those who haven't forgotten want an apology Nearly 50 years after the police started a crackdown on Pasifika people in Auckland, people are opening up about their experiences of the Dawn Raids for the first time. ...
“The Government’s proposed Hate Speech Laws mean someone could spend longer in jail for having an unpopular opinion than assaulting a child, male assaults female, participating in a riot and common assault," says ACT Leader David Seymour. ...
New Zealand's demi-official poet laureate Victor Billot composes an ode to a public figure every Sunday. Today: Prince PhilipThe artist formerly known as Prince He is fallen, just short of one hundred. An antique connection sundered with an old and vanished world over which the Union ...
Analysis by Bryce Edwards Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. The Labour Government received plaudits this week for its historic announcement that it will ban the live export of animals by sea. It’s said to be a world first. The decision comes after years of pressure, which increased after last year’s ...
The House: Calls to force witnesses to child abuse to speak, reforming adoption law for same-sex couples, and better protections for religious freedoms have been made by petitions to Parliament. ...
Creamerie is a new dystopian comedy about three New Zealand women and the last man on earth. Its co-creator and co-star, Perlina Lau, explains how they made a show about the aftermath of a deadly pandemic, during a pandemic.In 2018, when we sat around a dining table spitballing ideas about ...
James Borrowdale bids farewell to a summer of cricket with his oblivious baby daughter.Made possible thanks to the support of Creative New ZealandOriginal illustrations by Sophie Watson If cricket, at least in its longer forms, can lay claim to something approaching artistic meaning – that is, for its actions to ...
Why are ice core samples and marine algae important for understanding our climate in the future? Dr Holly Winton, a geochemist with the Antarctic Research Centre at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, explains in this short video.Winton is working on a Rutherford Foundation-funded project analysing ...
Sebastian Contreras Rodriguez was an architect in Chile, but after moving to New Zealand he started working as a housekeeper. Federico Magrin speaks to him about architecture being a service for the poor, and the differences between Chile and New Zealand. Sebastian joins me after a tiresome and proving day at ...
University of Otago researchers examine 2000-3000-year-old skulls to uncover why Pacific communities of that era intentionally pulled their teeth Ritual tooth ablation, the intentional removal of teeth, is a highly visible form of body modification that can signal group identity and mark certain life events, such as marriage. In our ...
New Zealand’s favourite autumnal fruit meets a fancy-sounding but super-simple French dessert. The result? Delicious. There is only so much you can do with the fruit that drops (non-stop) from 17 feijoa trees. We’ve had ripe fruit peppering our lawn now for over two weeks. So far I’ve used them to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Hancock, School visitor, Australian National University Andrew Sharp Peacock, for so long “the coming man” of Australian politics, has died in the United States aged 82. Born in 1939, he was educated at Scotch College, Melbourne, acquired a law degree at ...
“ A Ministry of Health graph drawn by a graphic designer with no data to inform it is the perfect metaphor for this Government, all spin and no substance,” says ACT Leader David Seymour. “Like most things with this government, they present ...
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Iranian cabinet is full of US trained PhDs
It’s quite likely that Iran understands the USA far better than the other way around.
https://twitter.com/rezaaslan/status/522076160545419264/photo/1
http://iranprimer.usip.org/blog/2014/nov/13/rouhani%E2%80%99s-us-educated-cabinet
Ten steps which narrowed British politics to the extreme centre
A nation big enough to go to war in the Middle East, but not big enough to fund public libraries.
http://rt.com/op-edge/240745-uk-neocons-faux-left-establishment/
The leading secular radical movement in Palestine is the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, founded in 1967. Its key founder was George Habash.
Some of us at Redline were involved, a couple of years ago, in fund-raising in NZ for the PFLP.
Its most well-known member is probably Leila Khaled, a Palestinian icon who is today a member of its PolitBureau. Its general-secretary Ahmad Sa’adat, is currently in an Israeli jail, without charge, after the Israelis kidnapped him in 2006.
We have numerous articles up on Redline on the cause of Palestinian liberation and the PFLP, including an interview that was done with Leila as part of the fundraising campaign.
Below are a few PFLP pieces:
Remembering George Habash: Palestinian revolutionary intellectual and freedom fighter: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2014/02/08/remembering-george-habash/
For a world free of racism, imperialism and capitalist exploitation – message from PFLP to 2014 eirigi conference: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2014/12/01/for-a-world-that-is-free-of-racism-colonialism-imperialism-oppression-and-capitalist-exploitation-pflp-message-to-eirigi-conference/
Palestinian liberation and the PFLP today – interview with PFLP deputy-general-secretary: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2014/03/12/palestinian-liberation-and-the-pflp-today-an-interview-with-abu-ahmad-fouad-deputy-secretary-general-of-the-pflp/
PFLP on the Palestinian Authority: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/pflp-on-the-palestinian-authority/
NZ solidarity activist interview with Palestinian revolutionary icon Leila Khaled: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2013/10/27/nz-solidarity-activist-interviews-leila-khaled-2010/
The case of Ahmad Sa’adat: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/03/01/the-case-of-ahmad-saadat-palestinian-revolutionary-leader-and-political-prisoner/
Also, check out the Palestine and PFLP categories on the site.
Fascinating piece of NZ history – Murray Horton on the introduction of peacetime conscription in 1949 and the fight against it: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2011/10/26/labours-introduction-of-peacetime-conscription-and-the-fight-against-it/
Excellent. Thanks for that Philip. Murray Horton is a witty and compelling speaker, with a sharp mind. Which means he is totally unsuited for radio programmes like Jim Mora’s The Panel.
Fantasists of Our Time
No. 1: MIKE HOSKING
I’ve just heard, on Radio NZ National’s excellent Mediawatch program, that empty vessel Mike “Contra” Hosking boasting to a simpering, giggling Rachel Smalley how he gave Nicky Hager “a hard time” on his show last year.
When did that happen? I find it extremely unlikely that Hosking would have got the better of Hager, who is far more articulate, and clearly his superior intellectually as well as ethically and morally.
Perhaps someone could provide a link to—or a transcript of—this amazing event which I for one do not believe ever happened.
That would be the Mediawatch in which that Lackwit Larry got a mention. It’s been years since I heard that droning voice delivering words of wisdom. Do people actually listen to that guy while conscious or is he the ZB sleep-time for toddlers story teller. 10mg of Mogadon would be a better option.
…. and yes – it is an excellent programme (watch out for the knives amongst RNZ management)
and yes – it is an excellent programme (watch out for the knives amongst RNZ management)
I have no doubt that Richard (Lord Haw Haw Haw Haw) Griffin has conniptions every time that this programme sends up the government’s media wing, as it did this morning with its devastating exhibition of Hosking and Williams. In the last few months alone, they’ve already wielded the knife against Wayne Brittenden and Down the List.
Steve McCabe will have lost his spot on the Panel after daring to criticise the dear leader last week.
I know. Mike Hosking posts here as fisiani. The comparisons are uncanny.
I reckon fisiani sounds more like Jamie-Lee after a morning prayer sermon from Dear Leader & Joyce
No. Hoskings and JLR don’t use the American pronunciation of ‘class’ rhyming like ‘ass’ as your subject (Fis) does. (Catching up with Key 14th March) They rhyme the word ‘class’ with ‘arse, speaking the same way as real New Zealanders.
Seven Sharp- shortly after the DP book was launched so it would have been mid to late August Morrissey.
There was no “intellectual” superiority in the so-called “hard time”. It was just loud noise coming from Hosking not unlike Key’s attempts to discredit Hager at the same time. Everything Hager said was rubbished by Hosking, but he presented no cogent or logical explanation fore the rubbishing. You know the type of thing:
Hager: I’ve just heard that President Kennedy has been assassinated.
Hosking: That’s rubbish. You’re making it up. The President of the USA been assassinated? Have you ever heard anything so ridiculous.
A few hours later there is an official statement… “President Kennedy has been assassinated”. Hosking goes quiet for a long time. Then he boasts loudly on a radio programme… I remember giving that creep Hager a hard time last year.
Thanks for that, Anne. I wonder if this is available on YouTube. I’ll have a search; I’m sure it will end up there some time.
Excellent one, Anne.
That’s Hosking to a tee!
It’s a sign of how low standards are at TV1 that this himbo-bimbo fronts their evening newsmagazine show.
I heard part of Mediawatch and one of the things Hoskings did on his radio show was read out a text or email from one of his listeners (although I wouldn’t be surprised if Hosking had’ve made it up) referring to Hager as “that little prick Hager”.
I wonder if he would’ve read out a text using the same words to describe Key.
And what a withering intellectual critique of Nicky Hager, eh? But that’s Hosking’s level.
Given that he is still banging on the same nonsense about Hager all these months later, he has a real bee in his hairdo about Nicky. Nicky must’ve really made him look bad!
Phil
The thing about all this spying stuff is its our ‘Are we the baddies?’ moment.
I knew Hosking was an airhead and narcissist.
But now, yes, it appears he is totally delusional as well.
Hosking is that unfortunate specimen: a working class boy who has “made good” and takes on the simpering narcissism and prejudices of the class that he thinks he has joined, even though he’s really tolerated by them because he’s a useful idiot.
Phil
I knew Hosking was an airhead and a narcissist. But now it also appears he’s totally delusional.
He’s a prime example of that unfortunate creature, the working class boy ‘made good’ who takes on the prejudices and simpering narcissism of the class he thinks he’s joined when really they tolerate him because he’s a useful idiot.
Phil
Dog Math
😀
Reality Maths 🙂
hide frothing at the mouth like the c-grade actor that he is
“Respect for private property is what makes a free and tolerant society.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11417397
Private property is what makes a society greedy and divisive leading to an inevitable collapse.
The confiscation of the commons destroys society.
Yeah, I read the headline. Thought it was unbelievable that someone thought respecting private property was the definition of a free and tolerant so society so didn’t want to add to the page views. I’m guessing it was about the Titirangi Kauri, but any statements on what he thinks about respect for people or the environment?
yep, this
minority rights? lol what a dickhead hide is
So no tolerance and freedom to have an opinion for people or respect for the environment – can’t see the ownership titles I suppose.
He’s gotta be pretty pissed off about how his pet supercity project is working out huh? 🙂
It really is interesting to consider that quote in the light of the early US leaders who waxed lyrical about freedom and justice. And “owned” other human beings as slaves.
Yes the concept of “private property” as conceived by John Locke in 1690 in his “ Second Treatise on Government” is shot full of logical and ethical inconsistencies. This is the founding statement and justification of the right to private property and to protection of that property by public law and force. Locke argues that the right to private property and protection is the foundation of all government legislation and duty, of all individual rights, and – if violated – of the rights to rebel against the state or sovereign. Market doctrine since Locke has presupposed his position as canonical (vis Hide’s stupid out burst!).
We have to reinvestigate the whole concept of what constitutes property – just what rights “ownership” carries as well as protection of the commons as well.
By the time George Washington became President he was the richest man in the USA. His wealth came from the extermination of the Indian nations and the expropriation, farming and on selling of their land.
In fact it is clear that the Founding Fathers of the USA did everything they could to make sure that the USA would not be a popular democracy. The appointed senate, the electoral college, and the barring of women and blacks from voting were just a few clues to that.
I came across an excellent book in the Ottawa library last year “Unequal Freedoms – the global market as an ethical system” by John Mc Murray published 1999. It investigates and critiques the philosophical basis of both the “free market” and the globalisation of such. Highly perceptive and a devastating critique of market doctrine. We see that modern economic theory is based on very flimsy foundations and it is unsurprising that our conventional economic practices are failing.
Hide doesn’t recognise that his much treasured rules of ‘private’ property are not actually sustainable in society, certainly not to the level of paramouncy as he seems to believe.
He has been caught out believing his own bullshit.
Murdoch in the great package deal being offered Northlanders by National.
Great cartoon…and so true!
SIS papers release to dotcom lawyers: shocking reveal!
Tweets by KimDotcom
hmmm, I hope he’s going to release the documents. Too much assertion otherwise.
Oh, I really hope so. While I can imagine SIS agents (basically jumped up school prefects from Grammar school 2nd XVs) saying that sort of thing, the stupidity needed to put it in writing would be monumental. At least Simon Bridges level.
Hope someone will introduce into the House the letter of apology from new head of GCSB for written comments ‘spies’ ( ie employees of NZ taxpayers) made about raping Mrs Mona Dotcom and replacing her with one of their own.
KDC is a sublime rust for Key. Keeps on giving and eating away, and he may yet be the one responsible for bringing him down.
This on Twitter from Jessica Williams .. can’t find anything further about it .. anyone know anything ?
” Jessica Williams
@mizjwilliams
Why is the government trying to sneak through a fat increase to MPs’ travel perks? Listen to @LIVENewsDesk! “
I suspect it’s this. Annette King has given it the walrus of approval.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11417644
Since the article says that it applies to those who were there prior to 1999, and therefore King qualifies, it is hardly surprising that she’s in favour. Anything to build up her slush find for when she quits at the next election.
Incidentally has anyone heard a rumour I was told about last week. My informant, who is subject to a bit of hyperbole, claimed that the price of Annette being deputy for a while was that she would quit and allow Little to stand for Rongotai. Seems a bit extreme but it could be possible. Certainly I’m sure he would like an electorate that he could possibly win.
The travel perk was, of course one of Norman Kirk’s schemes. Norm wanted to give MPs, and himself, a pay rise but not to appear to be doing so. He therefore brought this in so he could sanctimoniously say that MPs were sacrificing for the country without actually doing so.
He also brought in the extra allowance for former PMs. He carefully worded it so that Jack Marshall wouldn’t get it, but in time Norm would. When he died before the requisite time period the Rowling Government changed it so that Ruth King, along with Wallace Rowling himself would get the money.
Never get between a trougher and the money pot seemed to be the motto of those charlatans.
Thank you for another post from the Tory misinformation service. How about Norm’s super scheme? Tell us about that instead.
I will if you like but you might not want to hear about it.
The main promoter of the scheme, despite being a junior minister, was the bete-noire of the left, Roger Douglas.
The scheme grew out of a private member’s bill put forward by Douglas when in opposition.
As Wikipedia says
“Douglas was an early and enthusiastic promoter of the government’s plans for a compulsory contributory superannuation scheme that would supplement the old age pension. In 1972, while still in opposition, he introduced a private member’s bill that provided for a form of compulsory superannuation. In Cabinet, Rowling, who was then Minister of Finance, and Douglas were largely responsible for a 1973 White Paper setting out the government’s proposals for superannuation. As well as augmenting individual provision for retirement, the scheme was intended to be a source of capital for investment in the domestic economy.[11] The scheme became law in the form of the New Zealand Superannuation Act 1974.
The law was passed a few days before Norm died but it wasn’t really his work, was it? You have to give credit for the short-lived scheme to Rowling and Douglas.
Yes, this was when Douglas still acted for the good of the country and well before his book “There’s Got to be a Better Way”, which laid out some plagiarised Friedmanite rubbish as his own thoughts. Norm knew what the country needed, Lange was too blinded by his own witty performances to even notice what Douglas had turned into.
Legislation for a major change like super doesn’t go through without the approval of the PM, just as a very dodgy MP doesn’t stand for re-election without the specific approval of the PM.
“Legislation for a major change like super doesn’t go through without the approval of the PM, just as a very dodgy MP doesn’t stand for re-election without the specific approval of the PM.”
You may be right, although if the second part is true one must worry about the honesty of Helen Clark, given what Taito Phillip Field had been up to.
I have been told by people who had to deal with Kirk that he really had little control over anything during 1974. He had, unfortunately, had heart problems, circulation problems and other health problems during the entire year and was not really in command of his job. I cannot comment from personal experience but some of the people who have told me this were very senior public servants at the time.
Taito Philip Field was merely dodgy. For very dodgy you need to look at the right. I don’t think Field ever molested the children of anyone who worked on his house. Graeme Cappill came from the right.
You may be right.
On the other hand perhaps you can remind us again what Party Mr Capill belonged to, when he was an MP, and therefore which PM is responsible for his behaviour? At least tell us which PM was the leader of his party?
You can also tell us who was the party leader responsible when the former MP for Otaki got into Parliament and how you might justify the rather “iffy” behaviour he got up to when he entertained a teenager in the present Labour Parties deputy leader’s home? How do you justify that sort of behaviour, where the kid ended up having to flee naked down the street?
“perhaps you can remind us again what Party Mr Capill belonged to, when he was an MP, and therefore which PM is responsible for his behaviour? At least tell us which PM was the leader of his party?”
Th’ feck are you on about? No PM was ever the leader of Capill’s tawdry little conservative right-wing christo-fascist party.
Ps did you know that the right-wing conservative pedophile Graham Capill also worked for the NZ Police?
Just like Mike Sabin did.
I think you know that it’s the type of offences that Capill was found guilty of that’s important here. Maybe I’ll be able to tell you the rest next week, if you don’t know already.
will you be in for the hearing, murray ?
Nah, I’m back in Oz.
Some scathing views about National’s Northland BYELECTION-BRIBES:
* “New” jobs which may or may not be full-time jobs; “new” road bridges which are not a priority; “new” promises on the roll-out of broadband which are old promises.
* Is there no limit on the lengths to which the National Party will go to pull the wool over voters’ eyes and hope that prevents the seat of Northland from falling into Winston Peters’ clutches?
* Deserving of special scrutiny is the repeated claim by Steven Joyce that 7500 new jobs were created in Northland last year. [Note: The link below explains why that claim is just pig shit]
* With more pork yet to come, National is setting a none-too-useful benchmark which risks turning contests in electorates into unseemly auctions.
* But National does not care one jot what Labour or anyone else thinks. It is locked in an almighty struggle with the man who has been its nemesis for longer than the party cares to remember.
* It was Mark Osborne, National’s candidate in Northland, who announced that the Government would be spending up to $70 million on replacing 10 single-lane bridges in the electorate. It is Parliament which sanctions such spending and Bridges who will be responsible for ensuring the money is spent on exactly what Parliament has decreed it be spent on – not Osborne, who as yet has no parliamentary standing and should not have made the announcement. It takes pork-barrelling to a new level when the candidate is doing it.
* Equally disturbing is the scale of the pork-barrelling by National.
* But National does not care one jot what Labour or anyone else thinks. It is locked in an almighty struggle with the man who has been its nemesis for longer than the party cares to remember. The stakes are not just high; they are stratospheric. So far, National appears to have no idea how to do that beyond trying to crowd him out of the media.
* National’s post-mortems on the byelection will also have to ask how the party managed to select a candidate who is so obviously out of his depth. Putting him up against Peters was lamb for the slaughter.
* National’s campaign is further handicapped by its confused stance in this byelection. The subtext of Joyce’s gushing statements about the strong growth in the Northland economy is that this is all down to National’s sound management of the overall economy and its business development programmes. Yet, the ever-lengthening line of Cabinet ministers trekking to Northland bearing gifts speaks of a regional economy still in dire straits and desperately short of capital, infrastructure and a highly skilled workforce needed to attract business ventures.
Northland is either a burgeoning success story or an economic cot-case. It cannot be both.
* If things are on the improve in the region – as Joyce insists – why is National being punished by a large chunk of the party’s supporters deserting to New Zealand First?
The full article is here:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/john-armstrong/news/article.cfm?a_id=3&objectid=11416930
Armstrong’s awful biased journalism prior to the election makes me question his authenticity.
A lot of journalists and media commentators were. I think now at least a few of them seem to have seen the light and are coming out of the dark side.
This is not the John Armstrong I’m used to..He must be due for the chop after this must read.
I sometimes wonder about Armstrong’s (political) convictions. Perhaps he ‘adapts’ his style & contents to maximise the number of page views (reads?) & comments? After all, he’s a qualified professional with lots of experience unlike the likes of Rodney Hide and Mike Hosking.
“Northland is either a burgeoning success story or an economic cot-case. It cannot be both.”
It can, actually. Northland is like a 3rd world country where the wealthy live in gated enclaves and the poor live in misery. Take a drive from Kerikeri to Moerewa. It’s not far.
Tomorrow, Monday 16 March 2015, after confirming with the Electoral Commission the ‘due process’ to follow – it is my intention to make a formal complaint against National’s Northland candidate Mark Osborne, for reported comments allegedly made by him, which, in my opinion, are a breach of s.216 (2) of the Electoral Act 1993 – “BRIBERY”.
In my view, in order to get an ‘outcome’ – you need to first put something into a ‘sausage machine’.
Just ‘howling at the moon’ doesn’t ‘cut it’ – in my opinion and experience.
The chain of events that ended up getting John Banks removed from Parliament, started with a complaint to the Police….
I was one of the three complainants.
Once I have the ‘process’ confirmed with the Electoral Commission – I will pass on the information.
Under NZ electoral law – “BRIBERY” is an offence.
But, situation normal, nothing will happen until someone actually MAKES A COMPLAINT?
I’ve already emailed the Electoral Commission – asking them this ‘due process’ question, so the ‘sausage machine’ has been ‘switched on’ – as it were….
Penny Bright
+1
Good on you, Penny Bright.
You are courageous and a tenacious fighter for accountability.
If I may say so, you are bold and Bright..putting your Penny and pen where your mouth is.
Good luck Penny. Maybe you can also include/allude to the early votes deliberately cheated out of confused elderly as mentioned in Open Mike yesterday ? ( Can find you link if you missed it).
Very serious indeed, and possibly could be part of same complaint ?
I haven’t seen the comment you refer to but the voting of people suffering from dementia by the staff of their aged care home seems to be a standard feature of every election.
I worked as a clerk at a polling booth in one of the homes at an election some years ago. Their were people who obviously suffered from dementia whose voting papers were collected by a staff member. The staff member had to tell us who the resident was as they didn’t seem to be in a position to know their own name.
The staff member then “helped” them to vote. I don’t think some of them had the faintest idea that there was even an election on.
One can only hope that there are never enough to unduly affect the results.
Disgraceful conduct like that by the union reps in rest homes has been happening at every election.
I have no idea who the votes were being cast for.
I certainly never saw the completed ballot papers. I can only say that I don’t think the “voters” knew either.
Headlines.
Fate of countries RMA reforms in hands of 137 elderly KeriKeri dementia sufferers.
Lol.
I’m more concerned with this new, and insidious, practice by the National party to have helpers phone and door-knock offers of rides to the polling booth.
On election day in 2014 we got an automated call from Sam Lotu Iiga’s electorate office apparently offering a ride to the polling booth. I don’t know how many houses this call went out to on election day but one must assume it was all households in the Maungakeiei electorate.
I complained to the Electoral commission on the day, and to be fair to them they had their chief lawyer call me back almost instantly, but he said it was within the rules agreed to by all parties.
While a higher proportion of constituents voting for parties of the socially responsible left are more likely to require help to get to a polling booth (or in this case – advanced voting for the infirm), this agreement is likely to not be in Labour’s benefit because the National party will cynically use it to have a last ditch advertising push on election day to all voters, regardless of mobility status…
…as Sam Lotu Iiga did in Maungakeikei in September 2014.
A solution to this would be for the Electoral commission themselves to have the funding to help vulnerable voters fulfil their right to vote uninfluenced by the Nats.
I would love to know what evidence you have for the statement that “While a higher proportion of constituents voting for parties of the socially responsible left are more likely to require help to get to a polling booth”.
On the other hand I do know one person, who does vote for right leaning parties, who called the Labour Party to request help to get to the polling booth. After voting she then, on the way home thanked “the nice young man and assured him she had voted for his candidate XXX. XXX was the National candidate”. She said that the driver managed, just, to resist tossing out of the car.
I told this story to one of my Labour leaning friends and she did it the other way round at the next election. She got National to take her to vote Labour. She claimed he was, in a strained way, quite polite to her.
Nice story, but I don’t believe a word of it.
You’d have to be stupid to not accept that more lower socio-economic people vote left and that more lower socio-economic people lack private transport.
It is. Labour has always offered rides especially to the elderly and infirm in well supported electorates
That’s what the Electoral Commission’s lawyer said too.
“Labour do it too”
I had to laugh because it sounded like something straight out of the Crosby Textor handbook.
I felt at the time that help to the polling booth targeted to immobile voters is fair enough, but an automated and apparently random phone message? Sounds like campaigning to me.
Do you want unions to be banned fisi?
If it stops rich pricks like you from bleeding the poor dry, then it is justified.
For too long people like you have been screwing over those at the bottom, demanding high rents, high divedends, low taxes, low prices, etc.
“For too long people like you have been screwing over those at the bottom, demanding high rents, high dividends, low taxes, low prices, etc”
Yes, especially the Selfish Rich Prick RW bastards.
Given your comment reference, 11.2.1.2 you appear to be replying to my comment which is 11.2.1.
What the hell are you talking about? Am I not allowed to help run the election by giving my time, and the payment went to a charity, to help run the election? I was a clerk in the polling booth. I wasn’t a bloody party representative.
alwyn-You really think people believe your Bullshit?
1. It is not “bullshit”
2. I hate to dent your little ego but I don’t really care in the slightest what you think. I have yet to read anything by you that matters in the slightest.
You mean real bribery like interest free student loans Or just a fevered deluded inference?
When are you going to stop freeloading and pay your rates?
Yes, god forbid that we should reduce the financial burden on those getting an education.
Lest we forget, the process which led to the legally enforced corporate takeover of the Auckland region via the Auckland ‘Supercity’ (for the 1%) amalgamation, effectively started on 5 September 2006, with the attempted ‘Mayoral coup’.
The purpose of the (failed) Auckland ‘Mayoral coup’ was to get rid of the Auckland Regional Council (ARC) and replace it with a ‘Supercity’.
The ‘ring leaders’ of this attempted Auckland ‘Mayoral coup’, were Waitakere City Council Mayor Bob Harvey, Manukau City Council Mayor Barry Curtis, North Shore City Council Mayor George Wood, and Auckland City Council Mayor Dick Hubbard.
FACT.
The ‘form’ taken by these four City Council Mayors – was a letter – co-signed by all of them – addressed to then LABOUR Prime Minister, Helen Clark, asking for her urgent intervention and assistance, on behalf of those who were really pushing hard for this – BUSINESS leaders.
Luckily, fellow community activist Lisa Prager and myself, having been ‘tipped off’ about this meeting to be held in the Auckland Town Hall, gate-crashed it and disrupted it – on the basis that the Auckland ‘Mayoral Forum’ under whose auspices this meeting had been called, was NOT a ‘creature of statute’ – had no lawful right to do anything – and under the then Local Government Act 2002, there had to be a binding poll of the PUBLIC before any ‘amalgamation’ took place.
Our action on 5 September 2006, at least helped to slow down the process …
Penny Bright
On the good news front. Our Friends in Australia – are sick of the crap being done to them.
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/protesters-shut-down-melbourne-to-fight-against-closure-of-aboriginal-communities-20150313-143uhe.html
I can’t believe Australia is still doing that shit. Good on the people taking over the main streets of Melbourne.
Forcing people out of remote communities through funding cuts ‘cultural genocide’: Trevor Donaldson
Content warning: ignorant white man pretending to be the Prime Minister of Australia being an extremely racist prick instead.
http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2015/03/12/4196442.htm?site=goldfields
NORTHLAND BYELECTION : The I-PREDICT price movements so far:
Investors and gamblers have been estimating, daily, the % chances of which candidate will win :
The predictions so far are for the dates, March 4th, 6th, 9th, 11th, 13th and today, the 15th (The ides of March of Winston’s march!):
The Nat candidate : 90%, 75%, 65%, 65%, 60%, and today, 53%.
The Winston Peters: 10%, 22%, 45%, 35%, 37%, and today, 48%.
The Lab candidate : 10%, 25%, 15%, 15%, 15%, and today, 0.3%.
Here are the graphs:
NAT : https://www.ipredict.co.nz/app.php?do=graph&sym=BE15.NTD.NAT&size=xlg&col=%230392D7&cbgcolor=%230089EF&bgcolor=%23FFFFFF
WP : https://www.ipredict.co.nz/app.php?do=graph&sym=BE15.NTD.OTHER&size=xlg&col=%230392D7&cbgcolor=%230089EF&bgcolor=%23FFFFFF
LAB: https://www.ipredict.co.nz/app.php?do=graph&sym=BE15.NTD.LAB&size=xlg&col=%230392D7&cbgcolor=%230089EF&bgcolor=%23FFFFFF
Pick the winner and double your money
@fisiani
“Pick the winner and double your money”
Who would you pick to double the money, fisiani?
Fisianil looking at the average decline in support for National per day.
I predict Winnie to Win.
Looking at the RT site for what it has about President Putin’s whereabouts.
The news at the 12th March was that he had cancelled some things but was having meetings out of the public eye. He had some trouble in 2012 similarly and this was ascribed to old sports injuries etc.
http://rt.com/politics/240025-russia-peskov-putin-health/
Comments on the Ukraine business from Gorbachev and Kissinger. Two old guys who have definite views on the subject and sound as if they are very sharp still. Kissinger is not glad handing the USA.
http://rt.com/news/203475-gorbachev-speech-berlin-wall/
http://rt.com/news/203795-kissinger-warns-cold-war/
I can only shake my head in disbelief at this http://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/67387751/Former-MPs-travel-perk-to-get-a-boost
This has been hot on Twitter since late yesterday when Philip Lyth picked it up, then Idiot/Savant (NRT) and Graeme Edgeler. Graeme researched it and then posted on Public Address:
http://publicaddress.net/legalbeagle/mps-to-vote-on-raising-international-travel/
Graeme’s post includes links to Philip and I/S posts.
Marama Fox (MP) and Metiria Turei (GP) were contacted via Twitter and both said they would oppose the increase.
Last night Annette King tweeted Graeme asking where he got the information from regarding former MPs travel and “No-one else has heard it!”
The whole situation seems to changing minute by minute. According to Graeme the Stuff article has been updated to exclude a sentence included in the original article referring to Fox, Turei and King opposing the changes. *
Graeme’s Twiitter feed is possibly the only way to keep up with the changing situation. Lots more details, questions, comments there.
Tweets by GraemeEdgeler
EDIT – the earlier version also included the fact that only one dissenting vote is needed for the changes to not pass! Apparently this still stands, but taken out of the Stuff article.
Cheers I thought I’d seen a comment on The Standard some were but couldn’t find it so thought I’d chuck this up.
Pleased you did!
I suspect that this is going to be all over the MSM news tomorrow, The Stuff (Dom Post) article was obviously written in haste – I suspect by a pretty junior on duty journo. Herald also has a fairly vacuous article up tonight. Won’t bother providing a link unless you would like one.
But it continues to be debated on Twitter – Graeme Edgeler, Jessica Williams, Hoots, Annette King (qualifies when she leaves Parliament), Tau Henare (another qualifier now) etc. King seems to be out there trying to justify the change on behalf of National. Say no more.
Edgeler seems to be holding his ground and refusing to let it go which IMO is good. Could be the start of another bad week for Key …. !
Death by a thousand cuts, perhaps. Time will tell.
Update – Edgeler has now posted a further post at Public Address.
http://publicaddress.net/legalbeagle/update-on-the-former-mps-travel-perk/
Haven’t read it yet, but thought you might be interested if you had not seen it.
heh
http://www.fastcoexist.com/3043346/a-google-for-scientific-articles-for-the-next-time-youre-locked-in-a-debate-about-vaccines
Sparrho is like the Google for scientific papers—and patents, posters, events, and grants. Just type in keywords, like “GMO food,” and you’ll soon have access to all the latest research. Here’s a snapshot of what comes up when you search for GMO food:
As you can see, the latest results are up-to-date (I performed the search on March 6). Some are accessible to laypeople, some are not. That’s because Vivian Chan, Sparrho’s CEO and co-founder, originally designed the platform for herself. “I was doing my PhD at Cambridge University, and realized using search engines for science doesn’t work. There are all of these databases out there, but you have to know exactly what it is you’re looking for,” she says.
worth some thought maybe …
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-famiglietti-drought-california-20150313-story.html
and Sao Paulo, Brasil, with population of 25 million is on water rationing with supplies only two days a week …
thank goodness there isn’t any such thing as human=induced climate change. Imagine how bad things might really be !!!
The so called Housing Crisis in Auckland myth has been exploded http://www.beehive.govt.nz/sites/all/files/Auckland_Housing_Accord_Monitoring_Report_5.pdf
Ask the people having to live in shithole boarding houses.
Or the homeless people living on the streets.
Good analysis and ideas in the Observer today for addressing Britain’s housing crisis, which shares most of the hallmarks of NZ’s:
”The Homes for Britain campaign, which brings together housing associations, private house builders, landlords, planners and architects, is holding a rally in Westminster. It aims to solve the housing crisis “in a generation”, which is a realistic time frame, given that it has taken a generation to create the current situation
”The crisis in house prices is therefore not an act of pure economic fate but constructed and willed by policy over decades. As such, it can also be defused by policy, if not easily or quickly. So far, the main government response has been to try to relax planning rules and to encourage the market with measures such as Help To Buy which, presented as much-needed assistance to first-time buyers, tend to push up prices further.”
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/14/britain-housing-crisis-10-ways-solve-rowan-moore-general-election
http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2015/mar/15/cyclone-pam-aid-agencies-head-to-vanuatu-as-death-toll-rises#block-55053188e4b08cb82df08263