People who are prepared to pay several hundred dollars for a dinner attended by the Prime Minister or one of his ministers undoubtedly do so because they want his Government to be re-elected, and, if they are honest, the occasion makes them feel like members of a privileged circle well plugged into the Government, at least while the function lasts.
This is a successful fundraising formula for political parties everywhere, especially in the United States where the President and members of Congress spend a good deal of their time speaking at fundraisers.
Tories everywhere do it. So, that’s alright then. /sarc.
How to justify a current mining tragedy Erdoğan style
“I went back in British history. Some 204 people died there after a mine collapsed in 1838. In 1866, 361 miners died in Britain. In an explosion in 1894, 290 people died there,” Erdoğan said on a visit to the grieving town of Soma.
“Take America with all of its technology and everything … In 1907, 361 [miners died there],” he added. “These are usual things.”
The prime minister also cited examples of early 20th century mine accidents in France and Japan. “In 1942, 1,549 miners died in China due to a mixture of gas and coal,” Erdoğan said. “Can you believe it?” he asked.
We live in a country with a corrupt media serving the plutocracy.
We’re quickly becoming like this.
Pity there’s no documentary showing how owned the NZ media is.
Hoskings = Fop = Perfect. Nonetheless for the skinny jeans the boy hair the bedroom eyes connection with the camera and the just concealed sneer on the mutton mouth.
Guyon Espiner’s sly and sneaky bias is slowly undermining Morning Report.
We have switched him off rather than listening to the bias day in day out.
RNZ was the one last piece of independent mainstream media in the country.
I’m starting to feel like what it was like to live in East Germany in the 1970s.
he was at his weaselly best this morning but winston got the better of him. The thing is these popinjays believe that they are better and more important than the MP’s themselves. Listening to the whiner right now he has the tory shill o’sullivan on and she cant tell the difference between the singular and plural. These people are so up themselves that they believe that no r rules of any description apply to them. Its worse than east germany. Its a cross between disneyland and 1984 and its not looking good.
“I’m starting to feel like what it was like to live in East Germany in the 1970s” – really? Do you have any idea what it was actually like to live there, or are you just prone to hyperbole? We live in one of the best countries on earth, at one of the best times in history, and enjoy freedoms the East Germans could only dream of in the 1970s.
You can travel freely about the country; you can travel freely overseas; you can access education, healthcare, and engage with the democratic process. Above all you can spout complete rubbish such as that above, and freely criticise the government without the Stasi coming to your house and arresting you, your family and everyone you work with.
The reality of our political environment is that regardless of which party you support, we enjoy a stable government in which our trading partners have confidence and which is underpinned by a strong economy. You’ve never had it so good, and you don’t even know you’re born.
(1) Its results quite violently clash with the most recent Roy Morgan.
(2) Over the last 2 election cycles, roughly half the Fairfax Polls have been pretty much in tune with other polls taken around the same time, but the other half have always skewed to the Right. Fairfax never has a Left-leaning outlier, but plenty of Right-leaning ones.
(3) Unlike previous coverage of Fairfax polls, there’s no mention in the Dominion Post or on-line about the “Change of Government” question.
This measurement is really the elephant-in-the-room as far as Tracy Watkins and Vern Small’s analyses are concerned. What readers don’t often realise (because often obscured by the Dom Post’s analysis) is that almost always more than half of Fairfax poll respondents say they do indeed want a change of government.
And yet, at one and the same time, National and the Right Bloc always lead the Left Bloc in Fairfax’s Party Vote results – poll after poll.
How can this be ? Well, those who are Undecided on the Party Vote are, of course, excluded from the poll’s party vote results. But not from the “Change of Government” results.
All of which suggests that in every one of Fairfax’s recent polls – a clear majority of Undecideds favour a Left-leaning government, while less than a quarter of Undecideds support the present government. (seems to be a particularly strong pattern among women who are Undecided). And this suggests to me they’re probably “undecided” between Labour and Green (or possibly Labour/Green and non-voting) rather than between Labour and National or Left and Right.
(4) And. as I’ve pointed out in the very recent past, we need to bear in mind that both National and Right Bloc support has been consistently and significantly over-stated (month after month) throughout the 18 months leading up to the last 2 general elections.
Here’s some revealing stats from 2008 and 2011 Fairfax Polls:
So – to finish off – what do the 2008 / 2011 Fairfax results presented in my previous comment suggest, given that in the latest Fairfax the Nats are polling a grand total of 47% ? Are we looking at roughly 37% for our Fine Feathered Tory Chums this September ? Or am I being just a little too generous to them there ?
Which is why the various “get out the vote” campaigns are so vital, people have to be persuaded to participate rather than be manipulated by Fear Facts polls and think the torys will win so why bother.
Wow, Brendan Horan just said on morning report that Winston Peters has been employing Simon Lusk for advice using the NZ First Leader’s budget.
I wonder what Cameron Slater thinks?
UPDATE: Peters has just come onto morning report and is fuming and has denied everything. I don’t blame him. Suggesting that he had hired Simon Lusk is pretty defamatory …
If Lusk has his ear I would think it highly unlikely to end up heading left if he is king maker.
Some sort of unholy deceitful insurance policy for the Nats been thrashed out using a middleman?
Or Horan could be blowing smoke…
Or Horan realises he is headed for electoral oblivion and has decided to spend the last few months attempting to take Peters with him. He possibly knows enough to make Winstons life a bit uncomfortable for a while…
Yes, whispering through the back of my mind as i listened to Brendan Who and Winston Peters on the wireless this morning was the little chant, ”fight you bastards fight”,
Could He tho is the real question here, Brendan Who topple Winston from the heady heights of ”King-maker” that is,
The race horse appears not to have any legs both in the press and on the track but IF Brendan Who can produce the smoking gun which shows the alleged ”mis-spending” by Peters from the NZFirst ‘leaders budget’ Peters and therefor NZFirst might just suffer electorally,
i have my doubts, Brendan Who has taken a scatter gun approach, ala His ex mentor, to throw out a variety of allegations about Peters claiming to have the proof and ”next week” He will reveal the ”smoking gun” of proof,(classic Winston Peters),
Here’s hoping, come on Brendan Who show us all what your made of, stout stuff or just shit,???…
In my dedication to bring some lightness and laughter to the darkness produced by political discussion I give you two versions of Whispering Grass all about – ‘not to tell the blathering trees, it’s no secret anymore. Why tell them the old things’ Winston might say to Brendan Horan. (I thought he sounded like Jamie Whyte coming on strong against Winston. Brendan certainly tried to do a number on him. There’s no fury like a politician scorned eh.)
Don Estelle’s fine voice from a small frame with Windsor Davies hamming it up alongside – gold!
And Don at our very own Ohaka Aerodrome with NZs at leisure on a fine day.
Better known as ‘Lofty’ Sugden from the British TV comedy series ‘It ‘Ain’t Half Hot Mum’, Don Estelle had a hit with this song back in the mid-1970’s alongside co-star Windsor Davies.
This performance was filmed at the Classic Fighters 2003 airshow in Blenheim, New Zealand, a short five months before Don died in August 2003
If its a beat up its all about Horan getting utu and im sure the right will facilitate that.
If true I worry that something much more machiavillian is going on in terms of post election negotiation.
Or its a combination in that its public knowledge Key has little time for both Peters and Lusk and he is using Horan to discredit them both in one hit.
So Horan is either a whistle blower to scheming or a man with a chip on his shoulder with nothing to lose
My pick is this is Brendan Who’s parting shot at Peters, quite clever timing from Mr Who, should the allegations turn out to have some evidence behind them and thus gain traction through the media some real damage could be the end result in terms of votes for NZFirst,
Considering the latest Roy Morgan, Brendan Who managing to do some real damage to the NZFirst vote in September is way far worse news for National than for Labour/Green, my calculations say that National have ditched any idea of trying to promote Colon Craig’s Conservatives into the Parliament and is ‘gambling’ on Winston opting to side with National after the numbers have been counted in September,(which will require National to cut adrift Dunne),
The IF in all this i see as being the proposed Mana/Internet alliance, IF this goes ahead i can see such an alliance gaining 4% of the vote, and, as the latest Roy Morgan showed, that 4% could well come without harming in any way a rising Labour/Green % of support, that’s a Labour/Green Government right there without having Winston dictating anything to anyone,
Hence the desperation, outlined in Lprent’s post on the evil baby look-a-like’s (Farrar),latest piece of bullshit attempting to slur Cunliffe, and, Mickey Savages latest on Slippery the Prime Ministers desperate ”tax cuts coming” when even His Finance Minister knew nothing about any such plan…
i do hope the pants are sued off Guy Espiner and Morning Report for defamation!!!…and Paul Thompson for allowing it…. these accusations against Peters are entirely gratuitous and amount to bias and defamation
….and Suzie Ferguson on it was absolutely appalling the other week when interviewing Lianne Dalzeil…i was interested in hearing what Dalzeil had to say but couldnt….because Ferguson kept loudly interrupting and talking over her ( i did not get around to making a complaint but I know others also thought it was disgusting)
whats even worse is the little whining weasel tied to put Winston on the spot as if horan has more credibility than Winston.
Radio New Zealand should be ashamed of themselves employing somebody of the calibre of guyon espiner. He whines and whinges and pretence of objectivity is absent.
They [RNZ] have loaded themselves up with a cadre of infantilised mental midgets who are not up to the job of presenting news qua news but are revealed as mere propagandists.
They all scratch each others backs and pretend that their behaviour is normal when it is descending into the slime of goebels and his style.
Horan sounds like he is auditioning for the natz party. He goes on to boring espiners show to dish the dirt and then says that he can’t comment further because of the budget and “we have a country to run” etc. Pure keyspeak. I was shocked that gaspiner allowed horan to call Peters a thief outright. Wouldn’t want to be in Brendan’s shoes!
After Horan’s claims on Morning Report, I suspect some lawyers are very busy right now! LOL.
Just checked RNZ’s site, and nothing re Horan’s claims in the News section that I could see; and the Morning Report play back section does not include the Horan or Peters’ interviews.
They way Espiner just sat there, allowing enormous amounts of dead air between Horan’s accusations, was a starkly suspicious contrast to his usual yapping mid-sentence during answers.
Exactly. Espiner should have shut the conversation/accusations immediately. I don’t have much time for Kathryn Ryan on Nine to Noon, but she handled Hooten’s faux pas a few months ago very professionally in shutting it down immediately ( I cannot even remember what it was!)
Instead, Espiner failed to do so and has probably landed RNZ in it as a result.
My default position is (and I think the left inclined voters’ default position should be) that Winston is more likely to go with National after the election than with Labour.
That is why I won’t feel safe and comfortable until the polls indicate that the total party vote support for Labour+Greens is close to or over 50 %.
Internet Party web site is very, very impressive, as one would expect…still awesome!….if i was a techy (and not so interested in other parties) i would be tempted to join up!…my son is interested!
….my only issue is the smart meters…from what i have heard from a friend in Florida…they definitely are NOT a good idea!…..something about privacy and radiation…
Yes. The sky is falling. Take some tinfoil and make a hat, then go directly to your nearest secret government underground bunker and tell them you’re from Area 51.
So what? All sorts of things get “debated” in the USA: whether 9/11 was perpetrated by the US government or the Illuminatii, whether the Moon landings were filmed in Florida or Mexico, whether Buzz Aldrin is secretly in league with the HAARP cabal.
Take the global secret government, for example. Naturally, they’re all-pervasive and very very busy, as well as being invisible, so of course smart meters are part of the plan.
Hi Chooky and Millsy … my personal view is less benevolent. Why would I want a modem equivalent to many dozens of cellphones on permanent link on the side of my house ? I arranged via Grey Power Electricity to have the Smart Meter here at my home removed … it was just outside my bedroom wall ! There is some good scientific research out there and everyone has the right to make an informed decision.
This link at least offers access to some good advice and research.
The respected Nature journal last week published a peer reviewed article that demonstrated electromagnetic radiation disrupts the migratory flights of birds.
These things take a long time, but eventually such research, and other studies, may well pressure the New Zealand standard.
Or perhaps the birds are just conspiracy theorists, or Nimbys?
You need to do a bit more reading OAB before castigating others with your bombastic derision.
.
I heard a rumour once (I think it was in a “Physics” lecture) that Earth generates its own electromagnetic field which pervades everything, but that can’t be true because electromagnetic fields are poisonous.
Right, the safety standards are redundant then because of natural radiation.
But you just cited the NZ RF standard as representing a safety threshold. Why do you cite that, if we don’t need safety limits? Which is it? Do we need a standard or not?
I heard a rumour once (I think it was in a “Physics” lecture) that Earth generates its own electromagnetic field which pervades everything, but that can’t be true because electromagnetic fields are poisonous.
Geeezus mate perhaps you should have kept going to physics beyond 101 as you might have figured out that the electromagnetic field of the earth and the electromagnetic radiation output by RF transmitters have completely different characteristics, and is in fact a completely different form of energy. Bloody hell.
I’m guessing that you think that a 40kHz sound wave and a 40kHz RF wave are sort of similar too.
“that the electromagnetic field of the earth and the electromagnetic radiation output by RF transmitters have completely different characteristics, and is in fact a completely different form of energy.”
CV, can you explain that in a little more detail? You’ve lost me.
“I’m guessing that you think that a 40kHz sound wave and a 40kHz RF wave are sort of similar too.”
I assume you mean a 40 kHz radio wave vs a 40 kHz sound wave. There are similarities, but the differences are probably more important.
‘No, we can rely on statements made by Phillip Morris in the 1950s.’
Spot on! Good to see you’re now showing some understanding OAB.
You’re right: the archaic industry-supported RF standard is decades out of date in only measuring thermal effects. The orthodoxy is slowing shifting – like tobacco it will take a long time.
Or we could ask ourselves: “What causes more health problems, smart meters or irrational fear-induced stress?”
Then we could point to the global blancmange of wittering Chicken Little fear-mongers and notice how much more harm they do than any of the so-called evils they decry.
Or we could ask ourselves: “What causes more health problems, smart meters or irrational fear-induced stress?”
Sometimes it takes many years or even decades for health threats to be realised and acted on. There is a bloody long list of such failures by authorities and by the scientism fanciers like yourself. Being blase about it and pretending that people who raise the point are irrational does not help. Did you learn nothing from thalidomide? From the Dalkon shield? From the Unfortunate Experiment? From Vioxx? From BPA leaching from plastics?
Pretending that modern technology has not brought with it serious human costs, as well as serious human benefits, does not help.
Then we could point to the global blancmange of wittering Chicken Little fear-mongers and notice how much more harm they do than any of the so-called evils they decry.
Gosh you live in a little bubble. Do you have a smart phone? Maybe an iPhone? You do realise that all iPhones from 4S on have a warning, stored inside the phone and no doubt also buried in the paperwork fine print, that you are not to store the phone less than 10mm away from yourself, right? That for instance precludes you from putting the phone in your jeans pocket. Tell me, why do you think that is? Is Apple playing “chicken little” now too?
What a sad joke. People who cite a paper on the fact that birds can “see” an EMF as evidence of some sort of danger from smart meters then tell me I’m religious.
Still, thanks for alerting me to the 10mm rule, it certainly made me think twice about using my smart meter as a hot water bottle.
You do realise that all iPhones from 4S on have a warning, stored inside the phone and no doubt also buried in the paperwork fine print, that you are not to store the phone less than 10mm away from yourself, right?
That probably has something to do with this rather than RF.
“I expect that’s all part of the secret government’s agenda though.”
Interesting. See I would think it’s more the result of ordinary people doing stupid things on the basis of a belief in Science as God. The capitalist imperative probably has a fair amount to do with it too.
Whereas some of us prefer to work with the precautionary principle, as well as the principle of choice. Esp given how many times science has fucked up and told us everything is alright and then all the Science religionists have ridiculed any questioning of the Science as God doctrine.
(and let’s save us all a lot of time and not assume that everyone who challenge’s the domination of science is anti-science or scientifically illiterate).
This important independent evidence-based report is significant.
Some European states are starting to adopt its precautionary principles.
Independent non-industry science is crucial; your pro-industry hysteria is unhelpful OAB.
I think it’s more religious thing. I have no idea if OAB is atheist or not, but the belief in Science as god strikes me as religious. Religion in its faith and worship sense, not its spiritual sense. The etymology of religion is the Latin for obligation, bond, reverence 😉
Well, you might say it’s “belief in Science as god”, but I just reckon that we shouldn’t worry too much about stuff that has no clear evidence of harm after 3 decades or more of pervasive use across much of the globe.
Actually, in this case absence of evidence is indeed evidence of some degree of absence.
e.g. we know to a certain level of surety that there is a distinct absence of, say, rapid and terminal brain cancer afflicting 99% of cellphone users within six months of their phone purchase.
There might be a one chance in several tens or hundreds of millions for cancer to result from a smart meter’s RF emissions. We don’t know either way.
But as OAB pointed out, stress as a serious risk factor for morbidity and mortality has been well demonstrated. So it’s the devil we have evidence for versus the devil we have no evidence for.
This doesn’t mean that monsanto or even motorola should be trusted (at the very least monsanto’s business practices raise serious questions about biodiversity, sustainability, and long term monopolisation). It just means that we needn’t jump at shadows, especially if we’re in broad daylight.
“I might say that you cite science when it suits your argument and that’s called cherry picking.”
You could say that but it would be without evidence. On the otherhand, maybe I use science as one tool amongst others for understanding the worlds, and I pick which science to believe based on whether it’s good science, and whether it stands up to other tests of validity such as trustworthiness and integrity. What I don’t do is assume that all science is right or good or true. Nor do I believe that everything an be explained by science (ie science isn’t omniscient), or that science isn’t as flawed as the rest of human endeavour. I also know that science has been misused a lot, and that it has made enough mistakes to be cautious when it comes to human and environmental health. Further, science works within a specific set of principles (which is what makes it very good in some areas), but the world doesn’t operate solely within in those principles, hence those that belief it does are basing their belief on faith not evidence or other ways of knowing.
All of that is in the context of the precuationary principle.
McFlock, that’s a very convincing argument except for the fact that science is not that good at studying complex, multiple cause, interrlated events. Has a study been done on people living with smart meters who also use cell phones and have all the other exposures of modern life that might challenge health (including stress)?
Afaik, medical research simply doesn’t look at the world in that way. Plus it looks at populations, which is very useful unless you are the individual that gets ill.
Yeah sure, Weka, and as soon as I cite safety standards that explicitly acknowledge the potential dangers of this technology I’m exhibiting religious traits.
You are missing the point OAB. I don’t really care about smart meters today, and although I am aware of the debate going on in NZ around this, I haven’t been following it enough to have an opinion about safety. So my comments aren’t about your views on smart meters, but your beliefs about science, how you use it, and how you ridicule people that don’t have your particular belief system. Science as god is just another form of funadmentalism. Don’t get me wrong, I see plenty of fundamentalism also amongst the alternative sub-cultures who are the ones that generally raise the alarm about new tech – it’s a human thing I guess.
Yes, the systems are complex. Yes, there is no one type of research that can answer all the questions – case/control, longitudinal, population, and even animal testing all answer parts of the question “is this shit something I need to worry about?”
Some of the most difficult tasks in medical science involve identifying “high consequence/low incidence” outcomes in complex situations – e.g. long term adverse reactions to different medicine combinations.
But that doesn’t get around the fact that we have more evidence as to the debilitating effects of stress (including worrying about health harms that might not exist) than we do about the debilitating effects of RF emissions from smart meters and cellphones (individually or combined).
So, nah – not bovvered. And that isn’t saying “science is god”. I just have no grounds to worry.
‘What a sad joke. People who cite a paper on the fact that birds can “see” an EMF as evidence of some sort of danger from smart meters then tell me I’m religious.’
OAB, the paper said EMR disrupted the birds’ flights. It’s not relevant whether they can see it or not. The point is it has an effect at levels lower than the WHO/ICNIRP safety levels.
The article is relevant because even if you don’t care about birds (and many people do), animal models show there may be effects we can’t write off as psychosomatic.
The Science Media Centre is a government funded body aiming to increase the public’s awareness of science. Last week it disseminated this migratory bird flight paper to its stakeholders with no critical comment (they enlist local scientists to debunk work they perceive as ‘bad science’).
In case you don’t know, the SMC guys are the very pillars of the paradigm you think you are championing, and they’re pretty quick to jump on anything they perceive as lacking an evidence base.
They thought this peer reviewed published research was interesting, and should be disseminated.
‘But as OAB pointed out, stress as a serious risk factor for morbidity and mortality has been well demonstrated.’ – McFlock
This is ironic, given OAB’s mocking and ridicule is an example of the stress inducing intolerance displayed to people who hold views other than what is perceived as mainstream.
If you’re right (and you’ve read at least the abstract from Nature), you’ll know that the birds are confused by (relatively) tiny emissions (One thousand times weaker than the “lower exposure limits” for humans).
Perhaps the pervasive nature of Earth’s EMF explains NIMBYism and right wing political beliefs too!
OAB is quite right. It is a government agenda. Secret it is not. Millions of us know that “smart” meters are dangerous. Since “smart” meters run exactly the same technology as your mobile, just read the article in the Dominion Post today; “Study finds heavy cellphone use causes brain tumours”. It refers to the latest of many hundreds of studies which have proved the point. But Government employees, in their loyalty to the cellphone industry, insist on maintaining their corporate lie.
You are correct on smart meters Chooky. There is cause for concern from electromagnetic radiation and privacy; at the very least, people must be able to choose whether to have one.
Electromagnetic radiation is a possible carcinogen, according to the World Health Organisation’s re-classification in 2011.
Privacy is a very serious concern – people monitoring these smart meters can see when you arrive home, when you wake up in the morning, when you are away on holiday, when you have extra guests stay, etc.
It is widely accepted that electromagnetic radiation in the PHz range causes cancer. As for µ-waves and longer wavelengths, I think we should be careful. If µ-waves are shown to cause cancer at a significant level, the development of texting may have saved a lot of people.
As far as using a smart meter goes, I just wouldn’t bother. Any damage may well be minimal, but will be cumulative, and we’ve survived for years without them.
“….my only issue is the smart meters…from what i have heard from a friend in Florida…they definitely are NOT a good idea!…..something about privacy and radiation…
…can anyone elucidate?”
There’s been a bit of debate on this in Organics magazine (NZ). I haven’t followed it but your library would have the back copies. You might find some stuff on their website too.
WRT smart meters. You now have the choice of having the meters installed without the ‘smart’ capability i.e. no modem.
The biggest thing you have to worry about when they get installed is tripping out breakers or shorting out wiring leading to part-power, no hot water etc. Not to mention that wiring in a lot of housing is quite challenging to work with. Plus there is a lot of pressure being put onto the techninicans resulting in them making mistakes when installing. I work for a company that has a contract to install them around the country.
… and thankyou everyone for a stimulating debate and helping me make a more informed decision!!!!!…guess i wont be going with these meters!!!!….guess the Internet Party should think about this policy some more …at very least from a PR perspective
coincidentally ….also i heard on the radio on my way home from town…. that a recent French University study concludes that cell phones used long term (for more than half an hour a day close to the head ) have a long term increased prognosis of brain tumors…( too busy to find the link at the moment)
We have one and its a f…ing nightmare. At least once a month the hot water relay trips. Cold showers in the morning are Not appreciated. Millsy, could I have it removed and replaced with a standard meter?
But you can find the option to have it removed, or at least the modem removed. I parted company with Powershop, who could not, or likely, politically, would not do the removal for me. After searching around, I eventually happily signed with Grey Power Electricity, but only after their customer service person initially seemed very surprised at my request for meter/modem removal. I asked for, and received written confirmation from a supervisor guaranteeing removal before I signed with them.
Chooky et al .. we can make ripples … and ripples are the promises the waves make to the flood. Good luck and good health to you all, including OAP 🙂
+1 Paul
Thanks for your comment. I have the same opinion on the lowering of the standards at NZ’s only non commercial state broadcaster, and National is stacking the board and freezing the funding. It’s beginning to show on Morning Report with Guyon and, to lesser extent, Suzie. It didn’t take long after the departure of Geoff Robinson.
One solution would be for a lot of people to question the story selection of the show, given this is a publicly funded broadcaster.
Front foot these media puppets.
The funny thing about Morning Report is I’ve just stopped listening to it. It wasn’t deliberate. It just died away after Espiner started. The “tone” of the show is all wrong now. Instead of being earnest but proudly public radio, it is suddenly some sad, dowdy attempt at commercial radio without the zing. Espiner and Furguson keep trying to insert themselves into the story. The “journalist as celebrity” culture kills the news value of everything it touches.
Today was the last straw. We switched it off.
Sadly there are no reliable impartial mainstream sources left.
Gradually democracy is being eroded in this country.
Talking of RNZ Bryce Edwards got to me this morning. He said the Key government was being “really strategically smart” in the budget and later said in comparison with the Oz budget “it makes Bill English’s [budget] almost socialist” (at which point Espiner giggles)
WTF!! Even O’Sullivan and Hoskin, the right wing commentators, to their credit gave the government a serve on how little vision they were showing. But so-called lefty Edwards crawls up Key’s nether regions.
Has Edwards actually looked at the Oz budget, where dole provisions for young people have been massacred?
And before that Espiner started asking whether Key’s obvious cock-up last night (where he blurted out tax cuts) was actually a cock up, but before anyone could answer Espiner said “I don’t think it was”. Why bother with the experts-you tell us Guyon. Your mate Key could never make a mistake.
But tell that to Bill English who dismissed the idea of tax cuts until he was told Key had said it, at which point he was obviously embarassed. See tv3 news last night for both Key and English.
I’ve never been able to understand how Bryce Edwards could be considered leftish. At best, he’s some sort of stamp collector, with his Herald contributions just being lists of which commentator said what in praise of the Key regime. Sometimes he throws something by Bomber in, but it’s highly debatable how much that helps any of us.
More people switch off, and then some future Tory government will say, hey no ones listening to it (because it’s so shit) so we’ll switch it off altogether.
Yes CV that’s what bothers me. Don’t ignore the radio, Paul. Contact them and tell them of your concerns, and give them some praise when they do well too. Don’t make them feel that you are just prejudiced against them.
Don’t worry about criticising them though, I heard the early news team reading out a critical email about something that was the most pathetic prejudiced rubbish – they must have picked out one that scored the lowest for reasoning or joined-up thought. So they are fairly thick-skinned about the sort of job they do.
A change of government could demand and fund public radio to be giving good quality information and make changes to give us better public information on NZ. .That is if the left are more alive than they were when they allowed our public television to go private, the stupid, unthinking, ignorant s..ts.
The present outfit isn’t there in concrete. The whole thing could vanish. It could be wiped like they wiped broadcasting house, merely on a whim in one parliamentary session. This is a weakness of politicians having the right to be change agents when they should have to get permission to wipe out or majorly change systems and infrastructure. They should be only managers during their reign, the decision making should go with a referendum from people who undertake study of how the country works and operates so we get informed responses.
Aaah the obscene sense of entitlement extending a cloud that reeks over the heads of the National Government,
Kicked out of the Parliament last year for an over exposure of the sense of entitlement was Aaron Gilmore, He of ”dont you know who i am” infamy,(well NO Aaaron your a complete non-entity), the replacement into the National Caucus off of the Party List, Claudette Hauiti has just been caught with Her hand in the cooky jar,(or is that with the nose firmly stuck in the trough),
Apparently Claudette saw fit to hire Her partner to work in Her electorate office, a clear breach of the rules administered by the House Speaker,
Having been caught, the partner has now been dismissed from the employment and the Speaker has said no further action will be taken,
Its easy then to see why these people happily break these so called ”rules” isn’t it, my view is that at the least Claudette Hauiti should be paying back to the taxpayer the monies wrongfully paid to Her partner as an employee,
It goes further then that tho doesn’t it, allowing low level corruption such as what Claudette has engaged in,(claiming She had no knowledge of the rules???), simply enables and encourages further acts of corruption of a greater and more widespread nature,
Claudette Hauiti should be removed from the Parliament immediately…
What rules? Nepotism rules eh! It obviously makes sense to have one of your own bringing further cash into the family.
And then there are the rest of the family, you become a business centre an economic dynamo spreading opportunities and largesse throughout your happy whanau. It is very practical and the way that things are done in the world of advanced power, so expect more of it as time goes on.
Bill English, Conor English, friends of Bill and Conor in positions of farming interest there is one example of spread of influence and lines of connection. If you looked at any long term politician there would be similar. So those parliamentary rules need to be kept dusted.
Incidentally I heard Damien O’Connor making an unashamed spiel for his West Coast constituents the other day, strengthening his connecting lines. He was speaking about mining there and lauding it as an earner, and the fine quality which I think is especially good in steel making. No reference to temporary, while we work hard on getting other fuels and alternative technologies to replace the harm that coal burning will do – climate change etc. You would think it was the 1970s. Isn’t it time that people in positions of power and privilege acknowledged our looming climate troubles, before the tsunami hits and to assist after?
+1
(look what happened to Queenstown. I can’t remember the name of that National Party non-entity responsible for it all, but it seems Damien is intent on going down the same track). Really short term thinking!
Thankfully I wont’t be around, but watch ’em all squeal like pigs when the inevitable comes to pass.
Yesterday I started a new 10 minute radio slot with Raglan Radio. I will be a guest on the morning live show Wednesday once every two weeks and the next one will be 9:10 am 28th of May. Subject matter is the history of the transient nature of Europe’s State borders connected to events playing out today.
Go fo it Travellerev – what we don’t know about Europe and its changing borders would fill several large battleships. So it would be a good idea to get a surplus on that deficit of knowledge.
I hate it CV. But (as above) … watch ’em all scream like stuffed pigs when it all turns to shite. I’m sure it’ll be televised. Possibly on The Guyon and Susie Show.
Jane Clifton like many others was enchanted by the Campbell Live Cunliffes at home program. It was a nicely crafted item, and a must-watch for anyone interested in politics. This will be one of the most-talked-about pieces of television in this election campaign, even though Cunliffe featured as more of a bit-part player. His was nonetheless a telling cameo. http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/culture/television/10040943/Cunliffes-wife-proves-a-gem
the comments are amazing , “they were acting”, & a mate of mine told me the radio talk back world reckoned that the bee hives & animals were just brought in for the filming. ffs! anyway, fuck the haters, most ppl with a brain could see how awesome the cunliffes were.
Yes ianmac but what is most remarkable is how we humans continue to under-estimate the animal kingdom.
One example – this ridiculous notion that sharks mistake humans for seals. I mean, really. Sharks have been swimming around in th ocean for millions of years munching on seals and we think they cannot tell what they are chomping on? Perhaps by illustration – if you were under water ianmac do you think you could tell the difference between a seal and a human?
Often times I think the thickest animals on the planet are we humans …..
I had the same thought. I think the speaker should take the bigger blame here if he did not inform Hauiti as she claims she was unaware of the rules!
Hauiti became a Member of Parliament in May last year following the departure of National MP Aaron Gilmore, who resigned after abusing a waiter while drunk in Hanmer Springs.
From the ‘Don’t you know who I am?’ Gilmore to ‘Don’t you know who my wife is!’ Hauiti!
National has become a discredited shameful outfit in so many ways!
If you look at this link there is an interview with Winston Peters about Judith C.
It then crosses to David Cunliffe, but spliced in there is a flash to a clip (just a still pic of Shane Taurima ……….its at about the 4.52 minute mark……
“What is common to all is that they are drawing on the social discontent that has mushroomed across the continent on the back of a decade of growing insecurity and unemployment, falling living standards and austerity. For many of their voters abandoned by the establishment parties, the populist right looks like the only alternative to hand.
Not that their advance will change anything on the ground. The European parliament is barely a shadow of a democratic assembly. “Choose who’s in charge in Europe”, its posters demand in an effort to convince sceptical voters to turn out next week.
In reality, they will be choosing no such thing. That is not just because Strasbourg is weak and toothless and the establishment alliance of centre-right and centre-left will continue to dominate it”
How stupid could you get? Well you could rail against secret trusts then get caught using one to fund your leadership campaign or you could still hang around with the imbecile who suggested it to you in the first place.
Though to be fair, this is pretty stupid.
[lprent: You know better. Four week ban for being fairly stupid in attacking an author, being off-topic in a post, attempting to do a diversion post, and wasting my time writing this. The comment is moved to Open Mike ]
Just attended the Business Expo at North Harbour Stadium and was intercepted by a large contingent of Police and civilians under the guise of Community Patrol.
I had never heard of this organisation so have just looked it up and it appears that it has been around since 2001. They seem to be highly organised across NZ and they have cars and uniforms.
The cars are also fitted with what looks like radio telephones of some kind.
Does anyone have any details how these people came into being. They seem to be working very closely with police and councils and I wonder just who is paying for this service. I think that I prefer law enforcement to be carried out by properly trained police officers and not defacto ones.
Just a little worrying but maybe I am paranoid?
If you are being paranoid, I share the feeling. They could be a new version of Massey’s Cossacks, ready and waiting, with links to the police already in place.
Except they are generally a couple of old diggers driving around in a tatty old corona being nosey and putting the crims off of busting down warehouse doors and the like. Totally harmless. For the danger I would suggest keep an eye on whaleoil and farrar diehards.
On their website their cars look good, but the personnel do look as if their days of frontline work would be a distant memory.
As far as the WhaleSpew army goes, I’d suspect that most of them would be the sort of psycho idiots that would be good at kicking people who were already on the ground and handcuffed. This fits in with the vile they spew at those least able to defend themselves, such as solo mothers and other beneficiaries. Many of them would give Walter Mitty a real run for his money, and make this hilariously obvious. Still, as shown in 1981 and since, if a big enough group of them can find a small enough group, preferably containing women and children, of those they don’t like, they can get brave enough to do some real damage.
I started getting depressed looking at the fresh Dep Index this week, and listening to commentators wondering why consumer spending keeps tracking resolutely down in the Waikato and East Coast.
Who can change inequality? This is part of a longer article you can find in Salon.com from Robert Reich, which I liked because it was simple and because they are themes I have heard for a good few years now. Also because the US appears to be facing the same kinds of challenges, from a far less fair and less regulated economy than ours. And then Easton’s article recently talked about how gvoernment’s rarely improve the economy. Got me searching…
“What We Must Do
There is no single solution for reversing widening inequality. Thomas Piketty’s monumental book “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” paints a troubling picture of societies dominated by a comparative few, whose cumulative wealth and unearned income overshadow the majority who rely on jobs and earned income. But our future is not set in stone, and Piketty’s description of past and current trends need not determine our path in the future. Here are ten initiatives that could reverse the trends described above:
1) Make work pay. The fastest-growing categories of work are retail, restaurant (including fast food), hospital (especially orderlies and staff), hotel, childcare and eldercare. But these jobs tend to pay very little. A first step toward making work pay is to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, pegging it to inflation; abolish the tipped minimum wage; and expand the Earned Income Tax Credit. No American who works full time should be in poverty.
2) Unionize low-wage workers. The rise and fall of the American middle class correlates almost exactly with the rise and fall of private-sector unions, because unions gave the middle class the bargaining power it needed to secure a fair share of the gains from economic growth. We need to reinvigorate unions, beginning with low-wage service occupations that are sheltered from global competition and from labor-replacing technologies. Lower-wage Americans deserve more bargaining power.
3) Invest in education. This investment should extend from early childhood through world-class primary and secondary schools, affordable public higher education, good technical education and lifelong learning. Education should not be thought of as a private investment; it is a public good that helps both individuals and the economy. Yet for too many Americans, high-quality education is unaffordable and unattainable. Every American should have an equal opportunity to make the most of herself or himself. High-quality education should be freely available to all, starting at the age of 3 and extending through four years of university or technical education.
4) Invest in infrastructure. Many working Americans—especially those on the lower rungs of the income ladder—are hobbled by an obsolete infrastructure that generates long commutes to work, excessively high home and rental prices, inadequate Internet access, insufficient power and water sources, and unnecessary environmental degradation.
5) Pay for these investments with higher taxes on the wealthy. Between the end of World War II and 1981 (when the wealthiest were getting paid a far lower share of total national income), the highest marginal federal income tax rate never fell below 70 percent, and the effective rate (including tax deductions and credits) hovered around 50 percent. But with Ronald Reagan’s tax cut of 1981, followed by George W. Bush’s tax cuts of 2001 and 2003, the taxes on top incomes were slashed, and tax loopholes favoring the wealthy were widened. The implicit promise—sometimes made explicit—was that the benefits from such cuts would trickle down to the broad middle class and even to the poor. As I’ve shown, however, nothing trickled down. At a time in American history when the after-tax incomes of the wealthy continue to soar, while median household incomes are falling, and when we must invest far more in education and infrastructure, it seems appropriate to raise the top marginal tax rate and close tax loopholes that disproportionately favor the wealthy.
6) Make the payroll tax progressive. Payroll taxes account for 40 percent of government revenues, yet they are not nearly as progressive as income taxes. (…)
7) Raise the estate tax and eliminate the “stepped-up basis” for determining capital gains at death. As Piketty warns, the United States, like other rich nations, could be moving toward an oligarchy of inherited wealth and away from a meritocracy based on labor income. The most direct way to reduce the dominance of inherited wealth is to raise the estate tax by triggering it at $1 million of wealth per person rather than its current $5.34 million. [Would a Capital Gains Tax do a similar job, or do we need a proper Estate Tax]
8) Constrain Wall Street. The financial sector has added to the burdens of the middle class and the poor through excesses that were the proximate cause of an economic crisis in 2008, similar to the crisis of 1929. (…) The Glass-Steagall Act, which separated commercial- and investment-banking functions, should be resurrected in full, and the size of the nation’s biggest banks should be capped. [Made me wonder what the Aus equivalent of Glass-Segall was]
9) Give all Americans a share in future economic gains. The richest 10 percent of Americans own roughly 80 percent of the value of the nation’s capital stock; the richest 1 percent own about 35 percent. As the returns to capital continue to outpace the returns to labor, this allocation of ownership further aggravates inequality. Ownership should be broadened through a plan that would give every newborn American an “opportunity share” worth, say, $5,000 in a diversified index of stocks and bonds—which, compounded over time, would be worth considerably more. The share could be cashed in gradually starting at the age of 18.
10) Get big money out of politics. Last, but certainly not least, we must limit the political influence of the great accumulations of wealth that are threatening our democracy and drowning out the voices of average Americans. The Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision must be reversed—either by the Court itself, or by constitutional amendment. In the meantime, we must move toward the public financing of elections—for example, with the federal government giving presidential candidates, as well as House and Senate candidates in general elections, $2 for every $1 raised from small donors.”
[for me Reich has something extra from Easton, though I enjoy Easton as well. Thewre’s a nice barely buried anger with Reich.]
One of the main reasons that Australia, and New Zealand weathered the GFC so well, apart from not having National in power, for the previous 9 years, to run up the deficit with unaffordable tax cuts, asset sales and borrowing, is because of Keating’s tight regulation of the Ozzie banks.
I have to geniunely feel sorry for Krus Funlysun eh, ez the budjit is delivud. Look who the cnut has to his right – and more importantly the two places to his rear. There’d be a load of hypocrisy that a carbon tax equivalent mechanism would be hard to disperse.
Just saying.
There’s a ….. “I never inhaled” from the Keputee rejin
…….. a Ladder Puler Upper (eaxtra-ordinaire) complete with leapardskun suit under an ensemble feshun edvoisus hev rekumended
……. and a fick shit pretending some sort of ekademuk cheevmint (with stifikuts ta prove it0
…… all rolled into a nodding, hero worshipping, bunch of hypocrisy one could ever hope to come across as some sort of sociological study.
Pity their spouses eh?
Still, what they don’t know won’t kill them (and of course they’ve ‘nothing to fear’ – as their Dear Leader would have ’em believe.
We seek a 50% reduction in New Zealand’s carbon-equivalent net emissions, as compared to 1990 levels, by 2050. 50 by 50. We will write the target into law.
the price of goods and services has risen by 6 percent since the last election, while the after-tax average wage has actually gone up by 16 percent
no, although its a week ago and here I am being interviewed on television about them, I havn’t seen Gerry Brownlee’s comments regarding demolitions in Christchurch and which caused such outrage, but I can talk all about them
oh, maybe our SAS soldiers were in the Kabul hotel gun fight but they weren’t wounded by friendly fire
New Zealand has lost $12 billion from GDP due to the Christchurch earthquake . . . oh, it might actually be around $15 billion from GDP due to the Christchurch earthquake . . . Blinglish said what?
the GCSB needs to spy on New Zealanders because of the terrorist threat, even though official reports released over my signature say there is no risk and the SIS has the matter in hand
National Ltd™ has been working on a number of things with New Zealand First on a number of things one of which has a financial component but I can’t talk about it
the money from the sale of state assets will not be used to prop up Solid Energy
I don’t see a place for a Winston Peters-led New Zealand First in a government that I lead. It’s not a matter of political convenience, it’s a matter of political principle.
This summer is the most active season ever for oil and gas exploration, with the industry spending up to $750 million. At the same time, the Government is strengthening the regulations that govern drilling, particularly in deep water.
Labour is trying to mislead people about eligibility for Best Start because they don’t get the payment while they also get paid parental leave.
A mountain of evidence shows that the quality of teaching – inside the classroom – is the biggest influence on kids’ achievement
Governor General Jerry Mateparae has been jostled while walking onto Te Tii Marae at Waitangi .
Cameron Slater, who I speak to regularly and who told me about Winston meeting Kim Dot Com, has got absolutely nothing to do with the National Party.
The Cabinet Office has cleared Collins of a conflict of interest after it translated comments on Oravida’s website which stated that she had praised its products
My Justice Minister, Judith Collins, didn’t lie to Parliament, she just didn’t understand the question.
The [MFAT] paperwork shows right through this that not only did the Minister have a very busy programme, all on judicial and justice issues, but, secondly, all the way through it talks about a private dinner.
The economic mess inherited by the Abbott government in Australia can be likened to the economic mess inherited by National Ltd™ when it came into office in 2008.
Was anyone else attempting to watch the Budget debate via TV and have the transmission cut off for an ‘update’?
This occurred toward the end of Mr Cunliffe’s speech and has just come on again with Key yapping away about some garbled nonsense (as usual). Unsure how long transmission was cut – about 10 minutes I think.
It seems like a very odd time to choose an update at the very time that the NZ parliament are debating the countries’ budget and in an election year?
[Got anything to say for yourselves freeview managers?]
Do you mean past his use-by date because the US war machine is likely to take Pilger out for exposing the US government war machine actions?
Or do you mean past his use-by date because Pilger is wrong on this Ukraine matter? And if so it would be interesting to know why you think such. You seem to have a thorough knowledge of matters in those parts of the world (though I have no idea how accurate that knowledge might be, nor how that knowledge might convert to understanding)
As if Russia was ever going to allow the Ukraine to be taken over by NATO and the EU. Not happening.
The western military industrial complex already knew that however, and with the wind down of Afghanistan and Iraq they need new justification for even bigger military budgets out of Washington.
Riiiiight – so in your mind that translates to “lets annoy a major nuclear power”? In case you haven’t noticed, the US military-industrial complex has a marked preference for asymetrical conflicts that don’t run the risk of getting them turned into a pile of radioactive slag.
How arrogant to basically suggest the Ukraine people can’t have any autonomy in who they choose to side with – in fact they were quite happy to court both though neither side were having it – though maybe the preference of younger Ukrainians for the EU is something to do with better employment opportunities, better economic development and social liberalism (not being chucked in the gulag for saying you’re gay, for example). Please outline for me what Russia was offering?
Oh for fucks sake Pop1 you have no fucking idea, do you. A new cold war against Russia means new contracts for Gen VI fighters, new strategic bombers, a new generation of nuclear missile submarines, spy satellites, war head designs etc. etc. etc.
There is no fucking money in assymetrical warfare shit (building mine resistant APCs and walky talkys which jam IEDs lol), but there are trillion dollar budgets in building the next gen strategic nuclear missile submarine.
Please outline for me what Russia was offering?
The chance of not having the US and IMF infiltrate your country, gift it to neo-Nazis and the Right Sector and turn it into a failed state.
Which by the way the US is quite happy to have happen as it becomes a major problem for Russia at that point.
(not being chucked in the gulag for saying you’re gay, for example).
The US and EU have put neo-Nazis and the Right Sector in charge of Kiev now. They’ve invited 400 Blackwater mercernaries in to do the dirty work for them in Eastern Ukraine because they can’t rely on their own forces to turn against their own people. Once this gets going, it’s not going to be about putting gays behind bars. These are the same people who burnt 41 people to death in the trades union building in Odessa. Being put behind bars is going to be a fucking mercy at this rate.
Fuck you really have no idea. Stop watching fucking CNN would you.
the US military-industrial complex has a marked preference for asymetrical conflicts that don’t run the risk of getting them turned into a pile of radioactive slag.
This statement is too moronic, too naïve and too bleeding incorrect, for words.
Personally I can think of one grumpy little Marxist who has watched one too many James Bond films.
“The chance of not having the US and IMF infiltrate your country, gift it to neo-Nazis and the Right Sector and turn it into a failed state.”
Oh almighty fucktard, Ukraine was already a failing state – probably something to do with all that money being syphoned off by corrupt oligarchs puppeted from Moscow, so they could build palaces with private zoos.That was what was behind the original riots in the first place. I realise you are a cretin so I’ll try to make it simple for you. No former Soviet or Warsaw Pact state has any real desire to go back under the thumb of Moscow, if you don’t understand that you have presumably never had many dealings with Czechs, Poles etc – maybe you should read up on the Holodomor before you make such fucking stupid suggestions in future you sad pathetic little man. Maybe you should read up on what happened to the fucking Crimean Tartars you arrogant little shit.
As hard as it might be for someone of your pathological confirmation bias and liited intelligence to grasp, but having endured generations of Soviet oppression, the IMF and CIA are a fucking summer camp (the CIA doesn’t tend to execute you with a plastic bag, shove a potulism-tipped brollie up your jaxie, or put Polonium in your tea). If you are not an ethic Russian you are fucked. I you have issues with the Putin regime you are fucked. There is no freedom of speech or association and your callous disregard for minorities and dissidents is nauseating.
Naz1s? Har fucking har. I’ll tell you what’s naz1 – persecuting minorities and using ethnicity as a justification for invading a sovereign country al al fucking Putin. Maybe you should sit down and watch some videos of gays, Caucasians and Central Asians being beaten and tortured with the tacit approval of the Russian government because that’s how Putin rolls you useful idiot. Maybe you should stop to consider why a group like Pussy Riot would have a big fan base in the US but gets thrown in a gulag in Russia.
Now if you had a functioning brain you might have noticed that the US has in fact been largely withdrawing from Europe to focus on Asia and the Pacific. If the US was going to be picking fights with a nuclear superpower it is more than likely going to be China – and given the Chinese government seems a lot more organised and less psychotic than Putin’s Russia, that would by far be the safer bet for a nice safe cold war.
You are a moron and a swine. Jesus Christ people like you make me despair of the whole point of left wing politics. How can you possibly consider life under Russian rule even on the same universe of basic human decency as the EU? For the love of basic human decency pull your head out of your arse.
For those of you interested in the red pill unlike Populux, who has seems to have swallowed the blue pill of mass MSM propaganda wholeheartedly, here are a few links you might want to check out.
On the history of the Ukraine, whether the majority wants to be part of Russia and why, The Neo-Nazi threat to some 30.000 Jews, The illegality of the Kiev Dictator ship and what it means to the local population. Perhaps the fact that Julia Timoshenko (that weird female billionaire with the braided hairdo) thought that nuking them an mass was a good idea and the Odessa massacre was welcomed by her as a great example of how the illegal Ukraine dictatorship should deal with them pesky millions of people who identify as Russian, speak Russian and want to be able to continue to live peacefully in the Ukraine as Russians.
Oh, and the Son of Vice President Biden becoming one of the directors of the biggest private gas company in the Ukraine making Collin’s conflict of interest pale in comparison.
gawd… what with the horrific things pop says and the horrific things you say trav ….. what are we to do?
it’s like the entire world needs picking up and given a good shake so that all its peoples come back down in all different places and all mixed up so we can start again as people with no histories…
.. traditions … cultures … histories … religions … they all just lead to conflict when the different ones meet. And to think we all just arrived at these various spots just a few thousands of years ago as we migrated out of Africa and to the west and to the east. Now we are all crossing up and over and getting all upset and fighting over the dwindling resources … and fighting over our so-called traditions, cultures, histories, religions … these things are a crock … a sop … and a bar to rest our lazy lives on..
always be wary of crying “but its our tradition / culture / history / religion” – ’tis the sign of lazy and danger
How unusual for you to be concerned about Jewish welfare, Ev, you’re normally the one ranting about Rothschilds and John Key’s lapsed Hebraism, but lets look at Russia’s long and illustrious hstory of protecting Jewish rights. Jews weren’t even allowed to live in Russia proper until after WW2 – Cf. the Pale of Habitation, Shetls and so forth. There is a reason why so many move t Israel even now.
Not to mention that if your weird Protocols of the Elders of Zion fantasy is in any way accurate, the EU and US are puppets of the Zionist conspiracy and will not allow such things in their vassal states. Seriosuly, if they’re not going to tolerate the genocidal expulsion of Muslims from the Balkans, they are hardly going to stand by for a second Holocaust.
There are were and presumably are thousands of people living in New Zealand who would be happy to do so as British or Chinese – should Britain or China be given carte blanche to invade us?
CIA death squads? check your meds you loony muppet – the only foreign forces in Ukraine are decked out in Russian uniforms (curiously missing their insignias) and carrying Russian weapons.
You don’t know shit about Russia’s anti-gay laws. “Gay propoganda” in Russia can be interpreted as simply standing up for yourself as not being an evil paedophile or even simply saying that you are gay. Imagine if we passed laws that prevented you expressing yourself as a crazy conspiracy theory nutter.
No, actually I am not ranting about the Rothschild’s (Fuck I don’t even know how to write the name correctly) and those who read my blog and my comments can attest to that.
I have written extensively about Israel and the fact that many, many Jewish groups oppose the abomination that it is.
I have pointed out that “Jewish” John (Something he only uses if it gives him gains) is supporting an anti Semitic Neo Nazi dominated (not by numbers but by their willingness to use violence) illegal government with his NATO palls. I don’t know about you but I wonder why it is OK for NZ soldiers to go die for a war in the Ukraine.
Elders of Zion? Must read the book one day.
I have not espoused any knowledge of what Ukrainian Jews might want contrary to you and it would be good for those of you reading Populux’s rants to keep in mind that 27 million Russians died in the second WW, that they were the first to arrive in Berlin and that along the way they were the first to liberate prisoners of war, Jews and Gays from Concentration camps such as Auschwitz.
I also have not claimed any knowledge about how Gays feel in Russia but how about letting them speak for themselves. And here is a white paper written by a an American gay man and the full text of Russia’s “anti-gay” law analyzed.
Apparently it is fine to be openly gay in the Russian army for starters.
And apparently there is an upward trend in Anti Gay hate crime in the US
Is the situation for gays ideal in Russia. I’m sure it is not but neither is it in the US or Europe or here in NZ for that matter.
The issue here is not how gays are faring in Russia. The issue here is that we are overwhelmed with propaganda making us feel like we are the good guys and the Russians the bad guys. I always worry if and when that happens because the end result invariable is that people will die as a result.
How fascinating that the only mention of Brian M. Heiss on line, author of this white paper, is the “white paper” itself. I say “white paper” because it isn’t written like any white paper I’ve ever seen and more like an article for Gawker or InfoWars. Equally interesting is that Mr Heiss’ methodology is to compare reported hate crimes committed against LGBT people in Russia and the US according to the SOVA Center and the FBI as opposed to any independant analysis and is a statistically dubious if you were even just comparing two cities in the same country.
Anti gay hate crime in the US is not the topic, systemic and institutional LGBTQ people by the Russian state is. Perhaps you should actually talk to some LGBTQ Russians rather than cherrypick bullshit.
No, actually there is a facebook page and a twitter account too and if we’re talking how gays are being treated we should so in every country, not just the enemy du jour who needs to be vilified.
And about the expressing myself as a crazy conspiracy nutter? They would love nothing better than that. Which is why I use the freedom to express myself like there is no tomorrow, In fact there might not be what with the Americans beginning to resemble the NAZI’s more and more every day.
Actually it would be more things like that in the 21st century when Aboriginal Australians are making their own doccumentaries I don’t see why a middle class white guy should be taking it upon himself to direct their narrative. Nor do I appreciate his whole “marriage equalisation is a bourgeois distraction from Chelsea Manning” – and he did rather ignore the whole transgender angle. I really don’t like his blindly reflexive defense (cough cough blame the victim cough) of Julian Assange (I think it’s possible to praise Assange’s work while decrying his tendency to be a smug misogynist douchenozzle) – and this despite losing all the bail money he put down when Assange, as all innocent people do, inflicted himself on the hospitality of Ecuador’s ambassador to London.
But yes, I am pissed off by Pilger’s ignorance of the Ukraine matter – has he ever been to Ukraine? Does he know any Ukrainians? I regularly discuss the issue with my Ukrainian and Russian friends. Basically he’s so busy blaming the US (who certainly owns a portion of blame, no doubt) that he neglects entirely to mention the Budapest Accord (which Moscow is in flagrant violation of), he ignores any Russian perfidy in manipulating Ukraine’s politics (like, oh I dunno, puppet and kleptocrat Viktor Yanukovych). In blaming the woes of Islam on the US, he neglects the USSR’s invasion of Afghanistan, or Russia’s current atrocties in Chechnya. Nor is the US dragging us to war – they put up with North Korea, they certainly have no intentions of going toe to toe with a major nuclear power, and it’s not them that has troops occupying sovereign Ukraine territory. Also calling the current government of Ukraine neo-naz1s is ridiculous – yes Svoboda are a pack of far right nationalist bastards, but they are the smallest party in the coalition and about the only portfolio they control is agriculture.
Two little pieces of wisdom, my enemy’s enemy is merely my enemy’s enemy and nothing more than that, and my favourite quote from Emily Bronte:
“Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion. To attack the first is not to assail the last. To pluck the mask from the face of the Pharisee is not to lift an impious hand to the Crown of Thorns.”
Here is how this small contingent in the Illegal Kiev dictatorship bought by the Nuland “Fuck Europe” Neocon faction (also a very small but powerful group) for a mere $ 5 billion thinks a democracy ought to work.
In the excellent piece by John Pilger there is a link to William Blum’s article which contains the following informative paragraph
Arseniy Yatsenuk, it should be noted, has something called the Arseniy Yatsenuk Foundation. If you go to the foundation’s website you will see the logos of the foundation’s “partners”. Among these partners we find NATO, the National Endowment for Democracy, the US State Department, Chatham House (Royal Institute of International Affairs in the UK), the German Marshall Fund (a think tank founded by the German government in honor of the US Marshall Plan), as well as a couple of international banks. Is any comment needed?
Or what really happened was John Key avoided giving any answers but managed an “Its all Labours Fault” line. What a fraud!
All up about 8 minutes of drivel!
Cunliffe’s budget speech was brilliant. John Key’s speech stupid & sneering trying to be the David Letterman to his sycophants sitting beside him. He is an awful role model for young kiwis.
Key’s concern that Cunliffe is a better more competent person is showing through in his psychospeech.
All the comments here deserve some attention, but the problem is, the wider public do not read here, never visit her, and will not give any consideration what valued or less valued commentators state on The Standard.
I am afraid, and I am not happily afraid, that with today’s budget, the election 2014 has been decided, and that Labour may as well fold up their tents, no matter how nice David Cunliffe may be as a person.
Fact is: The Nats STOLE Labour’s most valuable policies, like extended parental leave and also by offering some more free health care for young children, plus a few other bits here and there. This budget was an “election year budget”, and it was designed to convince middle class young and not so young families, and those wanting to get there, to vote National.
The only chance Labour will have to challenge the Nats now is on housing, and perhaps the economy, but that latter topic will be too hard to debate on, as no matter how much the government uses basic, simple economics, the results will be perceived as OK for most voters.
Many voters will also not dare to take risks re a change in economic planning, they rather stick with the fossil fuel deal, and renege on a Labour Green option, as that will be something they are not familiar with and is perceived as too “tricky”.
Welfare will be a “no go issue” for Labour and Greens, so nothing will change there. All other topics, including finance, will only be rather marginal given Labour’s and even the Green’s rather conservative approaches.
It is now all over, I fear, this election will not offer a change, it is a done deal, unless something totally unexpected, like a scandal will happen.
I am sorry, I wish it was different, but I see the pretty under-qualified, divided and unconvincing Labour caucus the worst that any larger party ever had prior to running an election campaign. They are not fit for the challenge.
Labour, Cunliffe and the rest, you are “done”! Get another job, as the future may be taken over by a totally new political movement.
Mike TSO
You may like to see someone else’s opinions of each parliamentary member, and see how they compare to yours.
Go into Google and search under – denis o’rourke Maori gangs
then look for Roll Call 2013 – Trans Tasman Newsletter.
Mike the Savage One
You have not even looked at the link I put up which is not about gangs they were just part of the search phrase. I won’t bother with you. You are a waste of time.
Yep . . . tr0ll, alright. I think this was the narrative s/he was seeking to insert . . .
. . . with today’s budget, the election 2014 has been decided, and Labour may as well fold up their tents . . .
. . . the lie upon which it was vectored is the suggestion that The Standard is not read by a sufficient number of people to make any difference. We inhabitants are, apparently, wasting our time. The comment then seeks to define the debate upon which National Ltd™ can be challenged . . .
. . . The only chance Labour will have to challenge the Nats now is on housing, and perhaps the economy, but that latter topic will be too hard to debate on, as no matter how much the government uses basic, simple economics, the results will be perceived as OK for most voters . . .
Labour can challenge National Ltd™ over the performance of any government portfolio because all have performed poorly. Education, Police, Health, ACC, EQC, IRD, WINZ, Justice . . . oh, and Environment. Don’t forget John Key’s “responsibilities” – shall we start with the appointment of his old mate Ian Fletcher as GCSB boss?
It turns out that the GCSB has been involved in the illegal spying of individuals around the world. Such is the nature and scope of this spying, New Zealand’s international standing is taking a battering. Gone now is the idea that New Zealand is an “honest player” on the international stage, now we are just Barack Obama and Warner Brothers’ pacific bumboy. Now, if any other group or individual were to blacken New Zealand’s name so thoroughly on the international stage, the GCSB would be investigating the hell out of them. Kinda ironic.
. . . Welfare will be a “no go issue” for Labour and Greens, so nothing will change there. All other topics, including finance, will only be rather marginal given Labour’s and even the Green’s rather conservative approaches . . .
Social welfare is actually a MUST GO area for the Greens and Labour. Nothing may change until September so by the time we get there the opposition has a duty to inform New Zealand of what National Ltd™ has done.
All in all, IMNSHO, the comment is a semi-slick attempt at reinforcing the notion that “National Ltd™ is going to stroll in, you might as well shut up now and stay at home in September”.
I expext we will get more of these sorts of tr0lls as we get closer and closer to the electon. Some of them have money riding on it and think they can game the system by employing there mate’s PR firm.
Thanks BLIP you made sense of that ridiculous mishmash. It sounded or was meant to, like a concerned younger voter trying to ‘analyse this’, but not well.
But the number of comments scattered all over yesterday by this trial was a clue.
It must be a fun job allocated to various boys and girls hanging around the places of power, influence and money with notes being compared on who did the best writing job. It helps to have read about how the anti-Castro and USA government agents mounted covert attacks on him. Once you know the extent that people will go to, the mindset required can be understood better.
I was thinking, the confusing and constant number of trials raining down on the left could be compared to the Windows system in WW2 with the intention of misleading and confusing the opposition.
Wikipedia – WINDOW was the code name for small metallised strips, like tin foil, designed to be dropped in bundles from RAF bombers. The result was a gently drifting cloud of metallic strips that created confusing signals on German radar screens and concealed the position of the actual bombers.
BLIP
I think your lists and links compiled about this era of our political history is an extraordinary effort and a valuable resource and you should some time soon think of offering it to some august ivory tower NZ university political science library. For the aforementioned reasons.
Many prominent commentators on this site castigate the government for the borrowing it has undertaken over the last 6 years to maintain services, and avoid austerity measures given the collapse in revenue that began in the 2008 Budget. We had the latest farce today, parodying John Key for his fiscal record (“John Key’s Surplus”).
These commentators, such as the author of that earlier post, laughably castigate the Government for its fiscal record (which is the envy of the OECD). Yet at the same time they propose higher government spending, and typically oppose every measure the government has introduced to restrain public expenditure.
So here is yet another example of delusion or hypocrisy. It is a joke. You are either a pathological liar or you are talking the piss.
[lprent: Don’t do diversion trolls on posts. This had nothing to do with the post apart from a wee wank at the end. I have already banned two people today for 4 weeks or more for doing that. I’d have little compunction in doing a few more. Moved to Open Mike. ]
No srylands, it is you who is “talking the piss” (whatever that is …) with this comment … “castigate the government for the borrowing it has undertaken over the last 6 years to maintain services and avoid austerity,”
The government is castigated for borrowing $50billion for things like …
Tax cuts for the rich at $1.2billion per annum (7.2billion total).
Allocating 0.4billion to dairy farmers for irrigation.
Fraudulently giving $1.8billion to SCF investors.
Those alone add up to 9.4billion, or about 20% of the borrowing. That is not to maintain services, that is to help out their rich mates.
Srylands or
“Scry to Heaven Lands”, whatever the name, I hope you do not refer to any of my posts, I am actually a Labour and LEFT supporter, just a bit disappointed about how things are going. It would be extremely FRIVOLOUS and NAUGHTY for any National Party fan brigade member as yourself, or any other below average intellectually capacitated “member” of the now ruling government to presume that the elections is a “foregone conclusion”.
The very evident lack of insight, enlightenment and intellect of your humble comment here give extreme courage to any alternative forces in NZ politics to take a different, more pro active and constructive approach, be this economic, social or other, which you may not even be capable of dreaming of.
So please crawl back into your snails house and be quiet, we are in the process of evolution in political terms, to develop a better government for New Zealand, which this country desperately needs!
The NZ Government does not need to source NZ dollars, dollars that it itself can print, via interest bearing loans from foreign investors and foreign banks.
Why are we putting our nation in hock to the Chinese, the Saudis, the Germans, the Australians etc. in order to secure NZ dollars for our government to spend. It is ludicrous.
Just been digging my way through the costs on the site at mid-month (ie looking for anything that is costing too much), when I noticed the amount of data going out of the public interfaces of the site at present.
15 days ~= 44 GB in, 475 GB out from Sydney. There is a bit of data transferring to other nodes ~26GB as well which would have been for overseas readers. But it does show how suppressed spambots must be feeling as that used to be about 75% of the aussie/nz load and most of the over seas text volumes was from bots. They get pretty rate limited these days (ie less than 10 pages per minute with a 2 hour lockout unless they are google, feedburner, or the national library). I suspect they are finding other sites to pester.
That bandwidth is now our major cost, so I expect I’ll have to look at ways to reduce that.
Now get this. That mostly isn’t the images or css or javascript. They are handled by the cdn, which has handled about 5 million requests almost all from Sydney, most of which would have said 304 (??) – you already have it. The cdn system separately sent a mere ~25 GB of data out, so most of the clients already had those images so didn’t get to get a fresh copy (you have to love caching) unless the cdn “image” had changed (seldom) or their client side expiry date was reached..
So those GB’s are pretty much all the text on the page, the bit that dynamically changes. A large part of that is the comments are coming in faster. We hit 700k comments on March 6. Now we are already at 732k and the pace is picking up.
Looks like the new level of web servers is working well. They seem to be a lot faster at processing and sending the pages.
Damn good thing too. At present it looks like the month will be at least 15% and probably closer to 20% higher than last month for page views and visits. Looks like election season has definitely arrived.
This time we don’t have a rugby world cup around as a distraction. In 2011 we we just over 300k page views in July, August, September, then just over 400k in October, and over 500k in November when the election happened. Essentially a 2 month election campaign that definitely favoured the incumbent.
In 2011 National just managed to scrape together a coalition with essentially no votes to spare. Since then the Maori party has been imploding, I rather think Act is dead, Dunne looks shaky, and who in the hell would want Crazy Colin as an electorate MP? Even National voters will balk at that.
And this time around, the characteristic sharp sustained election rise is apparently happening nearly 5 months earlier. I don’t think that they’re going to be so lucky this time.
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
Open access notablesImproving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Slee, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, Flinders University Francisco Gonzelez/Unsplash Migraine is many things, but one thing it’s not is “just a headache”. “Migraine” comes from the Greek word “hemicrania”, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earth’s land area – particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Heynen, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy, The University of Queensland A temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars, ParisEkaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sustainability of the event is coming under scrutiny. The organisers have promoted ...
A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. You’d barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capital’s last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Professor in Marine Geology, University of Canterbury Louise Corcoran/Getty Images The decline in the number of doctoral candidates at New Zealand universities is a worrying sign for the country’s effort to build a knowledge-based economy. Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laurie Berg, Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney defotoberg/Shutterstock Migrant worker exploitation is entrenched in workplaces across Australia. Tragically, a deep fear of immigration consequences means most unlawful employer conduct goes unreported. On Wednesday, however, the government officially launched a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vaughan Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania Paris is about to host its third summer Olympics. While we don’t yet know what the legacy of this year’s games will be, let’s take the opportunity to reflect on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Griffith University In the wake of the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, there were calls from bothsides of US politics, as well as internationally, to reduce the brutal, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Keith Rathbone, Senior Lecturer, Modern European History and Sports History, Macquarie University Two high-profile assaults on Australians in Paris have raised concerns about security ahead of the Olympic Games. On Saturday evening, a young woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by a ...
Dying is inevitable and, so it seems, is it costing a lot, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.The cost of dying ...
The government took Joyce Harris's first baby and sent her off to a girls' home. Half a century on - and out of oceans of hurt - it asked her to be a mother figure. ...
It’s the deadliest fictional town in the country, but which death has been the most bonkers? Alex Casey looks back at 10 seasons of The Brokenwood Mysteries to find out. Warning: The following ranking story contains famous New Zealand actors appearing to be dead (not alive). The Spinoff has been ...
Water cremation is the biggest thing to happen to the death industry in the last 100 years. Alex Casey meets the people trying to bring it to Aotearoa. Through a set of mirrored doors down the industrial end of Christchurch’s St Asaph Street, death is getting a new lease on ...
Flag-bearing duties were shared between boxer David Nyika and Black Ferns Sevens captain Sarah Hirini in Tokyo three years ago. Triple Olympic medallist in boardsailing, Barbara Kendall was the first female flag bearer in Atlanta in 1996. Since 2004, the flagbearers have worn a kākahu (cloak) as they led ...
NZ Herald editorial shilling for the Nats again – not “cash for access” just people paying money hoping for the Nats to be re-elected.
Tories everywhere do it. So, that’s alright then. /sarc.
I’m not sure The Herald will do National any favours comparing them to Congress.
Especially after it was revealed that the US is now an oligarchy. And the reason it is is because of the rich buying buying congress.
Oh yes, the American political funding system, that’s something we want to emulate. 🙄
“[what Stephanie said]”…they all cheered, on watching the rope being created that will hang them.
How to justify a current mining tragedy Erdoğan style
http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/auckland/news/nbpol/400895077-national-still-riding-high-with-voters—poll
Mike Hoskings has got his figures wrong. National “over” 47% Labour 29%. I seem to remember in this poll Labour was 31 or even 33%.
Riding high in the polls?? Not in the slightly more accurate Roy Morgan poll. I think you should have said in this poll Mike.
We live in a country with a corrupt media serving the plutocracy.
We’re quickly becoming like this.
Pity there’s no documentary showing how owned the NZ media is.
Hoskins.
A popinjay.
pop·in·jay [pop-in-jey]
noun
1. a person given to vain, pretentious displays and empty chatter; coxcomb; fop.
Hoskings = Fop = Perfect. Nonetheless for the skinny jeans the boy hair the bedroom eyes connection with the camera and the just concealed sneer on the mutton mouth.
Notice how Curiablog seems to have carelessly mislaid that Roy Morgan poll?
I’ve been thinking about the polls. I think we have been looking at them wrong.
The starting point should be, can this National government get 47%+ to vote for them again?
Answer (IMHO): Not a chance. They may convince 42-43%.
Ergo: The Left will win in September. Lab/Gr/ManaIp 49%
Guyon Espiner’s sly and sneaky bias is slowly undermining Morning Report.
We have switched him off rather than listening to the bias day in day out.
RNZ was the one last piece of independent mainstream media in the country.
I’m starting to feel like what it was like to live in East Germany in the 1970s.
he was at his weaselly best this morning but winston got the better of him. The thing is these popinjays believe that they are better and more important than the MP’s themselves. Listening to the whiner right now he has the tory shill o’sullivan on and she cant tell the difference between the singular and plural. These people are so up themselves that they believe that no r rules of any description apply to them. Its worse than east germany. Its a cross between disneyland and 1984 and its not looking good.
“I’m starting to feel like what it was like to live in East Germany in the 1970s” – really? Do you have any idea what it was actually like to live there, or are you just prone to hyperbole? We live in one of the best countries on earth, at one of the best times in history, and enjoy freedoms the East Germans could only dream of in the 1970s.
You can travel freely about the country; you can travel freely overseas; you can access education, healthcare, and engage with the democratic process. Above all you can spout complete rubbish such as that above, and freely criticise the government without the Stasi coming to your house and arresting you, your family and everyone you work with.
The reality of our political environment is that regardless of which party you support, we enjoy a stable government in which our trading partners have confidence and which is underpinned by a strong economy. You’ve never had it so good, and you don’t even know you’re born.
Most New Zealanders really aren’t benefiting from this rock star economy, are they?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11255016
But Key has The Solution.
Of course, the problem isn’t taxes but interest going to the rich.
A few points about the latest Fairfax poll:
(1) Its results quite violently clash with the most recent Roy Morgan.
(2) Over the last 2 election cycles, roughly half the Fairfax Polls have been pretty much in tune with other polls taken around the same time, but the other half have always skewed to the Right. Fairfax never has a Left-leaning outlier, but plenty of Right-leaning ones.
(3) Unlike previous coverage of Fairfax polls, there’s no mention in the Dominion Post or on-line about the “Change of Government” question.
This measurement is really the elephant-in-the-room as far as Tracy Watkins and Vern Small’s analyses are concerned. What readers don’t often realise (because often obscured by the Dom Post’s analysis) is that almost always more than half of Fairfax poll respondents say they do indeed want a change of government.
And yet, at one and the same time, National and the Right Bloc always lead the Left Bloc in Fairfax’s Party Vote results – poll after poll.
How can this be ? Well, those who are Undecided on the Party Vote are, of course, excluded from the poll’s party vote results. But not from the “Change of Government” results.
All of which suggests that in every one of Fairfax’s recent polls – a clear majority of Undecideds favour a Left-leaning government, while less than a quarter of Undecideds support the present government. (seems to be a particularly strong pattern among women who are Undecided). And this suggests to me they’re probably “undecided” between Labour and Green (or possibly Labour/Green and non-voting) rather than between Labour and National or Left and Right.
(4) And. as I’ve pointed out in the very recent past, we need to bear in mind that both National and Right Bloc support has been consistently and significantly over-stated (month after month) throughout the 18 months leading up to the last 2 general elections.
Here’s some revealing stats from 2008 and 2011 Fairfax Polls:
2008
February Nat 55%
April Nat 52%
May Nat 56%
2008 Election Nat 45%
2011
July Nat 56%
August Nat 57%
2011 Election Nat 47%
So – to finish off – what do the 2008 / 2011 Fairfax results presented in my previous comment suggest, given that in the latest Fairfax the Nats are polling a grand total of 47% ? Are we looking at roughly 37% for our Fine Feathered Tory Chums this September ? Or am I being just a little too generous to them there ?
+1 Sword-see my post above.
Which is why the various “get out the vote” campaigns are so vital, people have to be persuaded to participate rather than be manipulated by Fear Facts polls and think the torys will win so why bother.
Excellent points Swordfish.
I still think polls should be banned for the 3 weeks prior to election day.
Nice work, Swordfish!
Wow, Brendan Horan just said on morning report that Winston Peters has been employing Simon Lusk for advice using the NZ First Leader’s budget.
I wonder what Cameron Slater thinks?
UPDATE: Peters has just come onto morning report and is fuming and has denied everything. I don’t blame him. Suggesting that he had hired Simon Lusk is pretty defamatory …
If Lusk has his ear I would think it highly unlikely to end up heading left if he is king maker.
Some sort of unholy deceitful insurance policy for the Nats been thrashed out using a middleman?
Or Horan could be blowing smoke…
Or Horan realises he is headed for electoral oblivion and has decided to spend the last few months attempting to take Peters with him. He possibly knows enough to make Winstons life a bit uncomfortable for a while…
Yes, whispering through the back of my mind as i listened to Brendan Who and Winston Peters on the wireless this morning was the little chant, ”fight you bastards fight”,
Could He tho is the real question here, Brendan Who topple Winston from the heady heights of ”King-maker” that is,
The race horse appears not to have any legs both in the press and on the track but IF Brendan Who can produce the smoking gun which shows the alleged ”mis-spending” by Peters from the NZFirst ‘leaders budget’ Peters and therefor NZFirst might just suffer electorally,
i have my doubts, Brendan Who has taken a scatter gun approach, ala His ex mentor, to throw out a variety of allegations about Peters claiming to have the proof and ”next week” He will reveal the ”smoking gun” of proof,(classic Winston Peters),
Here’s hoping, come on Brendan Who show us all what your made of, stout stuff or just shit,???…
In my dedication to bring some lightness and laughter to the darkness produced by political discussion I give you two versions of Whispering Grass all about – ‘not to tell the blathering trees, it’s no secret anymore. Why tell them the old things’ Winston might say to Brendan Horan. (I thought he sounded like Jamie Whyte coming on strong against Winston. Brendan certainly tried to do a number on him. There’s no fury like a politician scorned eh.)
Don Estelle’s fine voice from a small frame with Windsor Davies hamming it up alongside – gold!
And Don at our very own Ohaka Aerodrome with NZs at leisure on a fine day.
Better known as ‘Lofty’ Sugden from the British TV comedy series ‘It ‘Ain’t Half Hot Mum’, Don Estelle had a hit with this song back in the mid-1970’s alongside co-star Windsor Davies.
This performance was filmed at the Classic Fighters 2003 airshow in Blenheim, New Zealand, a short five months before Don died in August 2003
another attempt by the Right to take out Peters?…the personal and legacy costs of Peters going with Nact would be absolutely dire
Depends,
If its a beat up its all about Horan getting utu and im sure the right will facilitate that.
If true I worry that something much more machiavillian is going on in terms of post election negotiation.
Or its a combination in that its public knowledge Key has little time for both Peters and Lusk and he is using Horan to discredit them both in one hit.
So Horan is either a whistle blower to scheming or a man with a chip on his shoulder with nothing to lose
My pick is this is Brendan Who’s parting shot at Peters, quite clever timing from Mr Who, should the allegations turn out to have some evidence behind them and thus gain traction through the media some real damage could be the end result in terms of votes for NZFirst,
Considering the latest Roy Morgan, Brendan Who managing to do some real damage to the NZFirst vote in September is way far worse news for National than for Labour/Green, my calculations say that National have ditched any idea of trying to promote Colon Craig’s Conservatives into the Parliament and is ‘gambling’ on Winston opting to side with National after the numbers have been counted in September,(which will require National to cut adrift Dunne),
The IF in all this i see as being the proposed Mana/Internet alliance, IF this goes ahead i can see such an alliance gaining 4% of the vote, and, as the latest Roy Morgan showed, that 4% could well come without harming in any way a rising Labour/Green % of support, that’s a Labour/Green Government right there without having Winston dictating anything to anyone,
Hence the desperation, outlined in Lprent’s post on the evil baby look-a-like’s (Farrar),latest piece of bullshit attempting to slur Cunliffe, and, Mickey Savages latest on Slippery the Prime Ministers desperate ”tax cuts coming” when even His Finance Minister knew nothing about any such plan…
New Lows for Morning Report!
i do hope the pants are sued off Guy Espiner and Morning Report for defamation!!!…and Paul Thompson for allowing it…. these accusations against Peters are entirely gratuitous and amount to bias and defamation
….and Suzie Ferguson on it was absolutely appalling the other week when interviewing Lianne Dalzeil…i was interested in hearing what Dalzeil had to say but couldnt….because Ferguson kept loudly interrupting and talking over her ( i did not get around to making a complaint but I know others also thought it was disgusting)
Morning Report starting to sound like Hosking in the morning.
Welcome to the 1 party state, NZ.
whats even worse is the little whining weasel tied to put Winston on the spot as if horan has more credibility than Winston.
Radio New Zealand should be ashamed of themselves employing somebody of the calibre of guyon espiner. He whines and whinges and pretence of objectivity is absent.
They [RNZ] have loaded themselves up with a cadre of infantilised mental midgets who are not up to the job of presenting news qua news but are revealed as mere propagandists.
They all scratch each others backs and pretend that their behaviour is normal when it is descending into the slime of goebels and his style.
Horan sounds like he is auditioning for the natz party. He goes on to boring espiners show to dish the dirt and then says that he can’t comment further because of the budget and “we have a country to run” etc. Pure keyspeak. I was shocked that gaspiner allowed horan to call Peters a thief outright. Wouldn’t want to be in Brendan’s shoes!
After Horan’s claims on Morning Report, I suspect some lawyers are very busy right now! LOL.
Just checked RNZ’s site, and nothing re Horan’s claims in the News section that I could see; and the Morning Report play back section does not include the Horan or Peters’ interviews.
Wonder how Espiner is enjoying his new job today?
They way Espiner just sat there, allowing enormous amounts of dead air between Horan’s accusations, was a starkly suspicious contrast to his usual yapping mid-sentence during answers.
Exactly. Espiner should have shut the conversation/accusations immediately. I don’t have much time for Kathryn Ryan on Nine to Noon, but she handled Hooten’s faux pas a few months ago very professionally in shutting it down immediately ( I cannot even remember what it was!)
Instead, Espiner failed to do so and has probably landed RNZ in it as a result.
My default position is (and I think the left inclined voters’ default position should be) that Winston is more likely to go with National after the election than with Labour.
That is why I won’t feel safe and comfortable until the polls indicate that the total party vote support for Labour+Greens is close to or over 50 %.
Internet Party web site is very, very impressive, as one would expect…still awesome!….if i was a techy (and not so interested in other parties) i would be tempted to join up!…my son is interested!
….my only issue is the smart meters…from what i have heard from a friend in Florida…they definitely are NOT a good idea!…..something about privacy and radiation…
…can anyone elucidate?
Yes. The sky is falling. Take some tinfoil and make a hat, then go directly to your nearest secret government underground bunker and tell them you’re from Area 51.
OAB…not very helpful…there has been quite a debate about it in the USA
So what? All sorts of things get “debated” in the USA: whether 9/11 was perpetrated by the US government or the Illuminatii, whether the Moon landings were filmed in Florida or Mexico, whether Buzz Aldrin is secretly in league with the HAARP cabal.
Take the global secret government, for example. Naturally, they’re all-pervasive and very very busy, as well as being invisible, so of course smart meters are part of the plan.
What was I thinking?
Good question ! The sensor could be remote, no intrusive probes.
Hi Chooky and Millsy … my personal view is less benevolent. Why would I want a modem equivalent to many dozens of cellphones on permanent link on the side of my house ? I arranged via Grey Power Electricity to have the Smart Meter here at my home removed … it was just outside my bedroom wall ! There is some good scientific research out there and everyone has the right to make an informed decision.
This link at least offers access to some good advice and research.
http://www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz/
and here for you Chooky …
http://www.earthcalm.com/are-smart-meters-really-dangerous/
+1 yeshe
OAB — bet you thought tobacco was as safe as Imperial Tobacco and Phil Morris told you it was for all those years too !!
The New Zealand radio-frequency exposure standard, in fact.
I expect that’s all part of the secret government’s agenda though.
The respected Nature journal last week published a peer reviewed article that demonstrated electromagnetic radiation disrupts the migratory flights of birds.
These things take a long time, but eventually such research, and other studies, may well pressure the New Zealand standard.
Or perhaps the birds are just conspiracy theorists, or Nimbys?
You need to do a bit more reading OAB before castigating others with your bombastic derision.
.
I heard a rumour once (I think it was in a “Physics” lecture) that Earth generates its own electromagnetic field which pervades everything, but that can’t be true because electromagnetic fields are poisonous.
Right, the safety standards are redundant then because of natural radiation.
But you just cited the NZ RF standard as representing a safety threshold. Why do you cite that, if we don’t need safety limits? Which is it? Do we need a standard or not?
No, we can rely on statements made by Phillip Morris in the 1950s.
Geeezus mate perhaps you should have kept going to physics beyond 101 as you might have figured out that the electromagnetic field of the earth and the electromagnetic radiation output by RF transmitters have completely different characteristics, and is in fact a completely different form of energy. Bloody hell.
I’m guessing that you think that a 40kHz sound wave and a 40kHz RF wave are sort of similar too.
An electromagnetic field is a completely different form of energy than an electromagnetic field? This is some profound science.
Or perhaps it’s all just a matter of amplitude and frequency. Let’s put it to an opinion poll.
“that the electromagnetic field of the earth and the electromagnetic radiation output by RF transmitters have completely different characteristics, and is in fact a completely different form of energy.”
CV, can you explain that in a little more detail? You’ve lost me.
“I’m guessing that you think that a 40kHz sound wave and a 40kHz RF wave are sort of similar too.”
I assume you mean a 40 kHz radio wave vs a 40 kHz sound wave. There are similarities, but the differences are probably more important.
‘No, we can rely on statements made by Phillip Morris in the 1950s.’
Spot on! Good to see you’re now showing some understanding OAB.
You’re right: the archaic industry-supported RF standard is decades out of date in only measuring thermal effects. The orthodoxy is slowing shifting – like tobacco it will take a long time.
Especially once the huge spike in tumours kicks in the way it did with cell-phone towers.
Or we could ask ourselves: “What causes more health problems, smart meters or irrational fear-induced stress?”
Then we could point to the global blancmange of wittering Chicken Little fear-mongers and notice how much more harm they do than any of the so-called evils they decry.
Sometimes it takes many years or even decades for health threats to be realised and acted on. There is a bloody long list of such failures by authorities and by the scientism fanciers like yourself. Being blase about it and pretending that people who raise the point are irrational does not help. Did you learn nothing from thalidomide? From the Dalkon shield? From the Unfortunate Experiment? From Vioxx? From BPA leaching from plastics?
Pretending that modern technology has not brought with it serious human costs, as well as serious human benefits, does not help.
Gosh you live in a little bubble. Do you have a smart phone? Maybe an iPhone? You do realise that all iPhones from 4S on have a warning, stored inside the phone and no doubt also buried in the paperwork fine print, that you are not to store the phone less than 10mm away from yourself, right? That for instance precludes you from putting the phone in your jeans pocket. Tell me, why do you think that is? Is Apple playing “chicken little” now too?
+1 the fact warnings are quietly tucked into the phones now really does say a lot.
What a sad joke. People who cite a paper on the fact that birds can “see” an EMF as evidence of some sort of danger from smart meters then tell me I’m religious.
Still, thanks for alerting me to the 10mm rule, it certainly made me think twice about using my smart meter as a hot water bottle.
PS: smart meters are not particularly analogous to cell-phones unless you are having trouble arguing your way out of a paper bag.
That probably has something to do with this rather than RF.
“I expect that’s all part of the secret government’s agenda though.”
Interesting. See I would think it’s more the result of ordinary people doing stupid things on the basis of a belief in Science as God. The capitalist imperative probably has a fair amount to do with it too.
Whereas some of us prefer to work with the precautionary principle, as well as the principle of choice. Esp given how many times science has fucked up and told us everything is alright and then all the Science religionists have ridiculed any questioning of the Science as God doctrine.
(and let’s save us all a lot of time and not assume that everyone who challenge’s the domination of science is anti-science or scientifically illiterate).
Read the BioInitiative Report.
http://www.bioinitiative.org/
This important independent evidence-based report is significant.
Some European states are starting to adopt its precautionary principles.
Independent non-industry science is crucial; your pro-industry hysteria is unhelpful OAB.
His religious fundamentalism isn’t helpful either.
Or perhaps more accurately termed, secular or atheistic fundamentalism
I think it’s more religious thing. I have no idea if OAB is atheist or not, but the belief in Science as god strikes me as religious. Religion in its faith and worship sense, not its spiritual sense. The etymology of religion is the Latin for obligation, bond, reverence 😉
Well, you might say it’s “belief in Science as god”, but I just reckon that we shouldn’t worry too much about stuff that has no clear evidence of harm after 3 decades or more of pervasive use across much of the globe.
Absence of evidence =! evidence of absence, etc.
On the other hand, maybe Monsanto has a point and after 20 years of development its time to go full tilt into GMO agriculture as the next best thing.
You might say it’s “belief in science as god”, and I might say that you cite science when it suits your argument and that’s called cherry picking.
Actually, in this case absence of evidence is indeed evidence of some degree of absence.
e.g. we know to a certain level of surety that there is a distinct absence of, say, rapid and terminal brain cancer afflicting 99% of cellphone users within six months of their phone purchase.
There might be a one chance in several tens or hundreds of millions for cancer to result from a smart meter’s RF emissions. We don’t know either way.
But as OAB pointed out, stress as a serious risk factor for morbidity and mortality has been well demonstrated. So it’s the devil we have evidence for versus the devil we have no evidence for.
This doesn’t mean that monsanto or even motorola should be trusted (at the very least monsanto’s business practices raise serious questions about biodiversity, sustainability, and long term monopolisation). It just means that we needn’t jump at shadows, especially if we’re in broad daylight.
“certain level” as in “given level”.
Essentially a reasonableness test.
Bit unclear there, sorry about that.
“I might say that you cite science when it suits your argument and that’s called cherry picking.”
You could say that but it would be without evidence. On the otherhand, maybe I use science as one tool amongst others for understanding the worlds, and I pick which science to believe based on whether it’s good science, and whether it stands up to other tests of validity such as trustworthiness and integrity. What I don’t do is assume that all science is right or good or true. Nor do I believe that everything an be explained by science (ie science isn’t omniscient), or that science isn’t as flawed as the rest of human endeavour. I also know that science has been misused a lot, and that it has made enough mistakes to be cautious when it comes to human and environmental health. Further, science works within a specific set of principles (which is what makes it very good in some areas), but the world doesn’t operate solely within in those principles, hence those that belief it does are basing their belief on faith not evidence or other ways of knowing.
All of that is in the context of the precuationary principle.
McFlock, that’s a very convincing argument except for the fact that science is not that good at studying complex, multiple cause, interrlated events. Has a study been done on people living with smart meters who also use cell phones and have all the other exposures of modern life that might challenge health (including stress)?
Afaik, medical research simply doesn’t look at the world in that way. Plus it looks at populations, which is very useful unless you are the individual that gets ill.
🙄
Yeah sure, Weka, and as soon as I cite safety standards that explicitly acknowledge the potential dangers of this technology I’m exhibiting religious traits.
Raise the double standard.
You are missing the point OAB. I don’t really care about smart meters today, and although I am aware of the debate going on in NZ around this, I haven’t been following it enough to have an opinion about safety. So my comments aren’t about your views on smart meters, but your beliefs about science, how you use it, and how you ridicule people that don’t have your particular belief system. Science as god is just another form of funadmentalism. Don’t get me wrong, I see plenty of fundamentalism also amongst the alternative sub-cultures who are the ones that generally raise the alarm about new tech – it’s a human thing I guess.
Just so we are clear, here is where I entered the conversation,
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-15052014/#comment-814622
in response to where you said:
“I expect that’s all part of the secret government’s agenda though.” and tied it into conspiracy theories.
All you have to do now is demonstrate how asking for evidence, or relying on extant evidence, is the same as the notion that “science is god”.
It isn’t: you’re projecting.
As for the ridicule, if you know a better way to separate people from their deeply held beliefs, I’m all ears.
Weka,
Yes, the systems are complex. Yes, there is no one type of research that can answer all the questions – case/control, longitudinal, population, and even animal testing all answer parts of the question “is this shit something I need to worry about?”
Some of the most difficult tasks in medical science involve identifying “high consequence/low incidence” outcomes in complex situations – e.g. long term adverse reactions to different medicine combinations.
But that doesn’t get around the fact that we have more evidence as to the debilitating effects of stress (including worrying about health harms that might not exist) than we do about the debilitating effects of RF emissions from smart meters and cellphones (individually or combined).
So, nah – not bovvered. And that isn’t saying “science is god”. I just have no grounds to worry.
Well, I would say that it activates the exact same parts of the brain, yes.
Thanks for that little bit of info!
‘What a sad joke. People who cite a paper on the fact that birds can “see” an EMF as evidence of some sort of danger from smart meters then tell me I’m religious.’
OAB, the paper said EMR disrupted the birds’ flights. It’s not relevant whether they can see it or not. The point is it has an effect at levels lower than the WHO/ICNIRP safety levels.
The article is relevant because even if you don’t care about birds (and many people do), animal models show there may be effects we can’t write off as psychosomatic.
The Science Media Centre is a government funded body aiming to increase the public’s awareness of science. Last week it disseminated this migratory bird flight paper to its stakeholders with no critical comment (they enlist local scientists to debunk work they perceive as ‘bad science’).
In case you don’t know, the SMC guys are the very pillars of the paradigm you think you are championing, and they’re pretty quick to jump on anything they perceive as lacking an evidence base.
They thought this peer reviewed published research was interesting, and should be disseminated.
‘But as OAB pointed out, stress as a serious risk factor for morbidity and mortality has been well demonstrated.’ – McFlock
This is ironic, given OAB’s mocking and ridicule is an example of the stress inducing intolerance displayed to people who hold views other than what is perceived as mainstream.
So rise up and smash the mainstream majority oppression of electromagnetic field NIMBYs.
First world problem much?
If you’re right (and you’ve read at least the abstract from Nature), you’ll know that the birds are confused by (relatively) tiny emissions (One thousand times weaker than the “lower exposure limits” for humans).
Perhaps the pervasive nature of Earth’s EMF explains NIMBYism and right wing political beliefs too!
OAB is quite right. It is a government agenda. Secret it is not. Millions of us know that “smart” meters are dangerous. Since “smart” meters run exactly the same technology as your mobile, just read the article in the Dominion Post today; “Study finds heavy cellphone use causes brain tumours”. It refers to the latest of many hundreds of studies which have proved the point. But Government employees, in their loyalty to the cellphone industry, insist on maintaining their corporate lie.
You are correct on smart meters Chooky. There is cause for concern from electromagnetic radiation and privacy; at the very least, people must be able to choose whether to have one.
Electromagnetic radiation is a possible carcinogen, according to the World Health Organisation’s re-classification in 2011.
Privacy is a very serious concern – people monitoring these smart meters can see when you arrive home, when you wake up in the morning, when you are away on holiday, when you have extra guests stay, etc.
So can your neighbours, and it’s a fair bet the Post Office has an idea too. Luckily, they are mostly good people, except at the Post Office.
It is widely accepted that electromagnetic radiation in the PHz range causes cancer. As for µ-waves and longer wavelengths, I think we should be careful. If µ-waves are shown to cause cancer at a significant level, the development of texting may have saved a lot of people.
As far as using a smart meter goes, I just wouldn’t bother. Any damage may well be minimal, but will be cumulative, and we’ve survived for years without them.
“….my only issue is the smart meters…from what i have heard from a friend in Florida…they definitely are NOT a good idea!…..something about privacy and radiation…
…can anyone elucidate?”
There’s been a bit of debate on this in Organics magazine (NZ). I haven’t followed it but your library would have the back copies. You might find some stuff on their website too.
WRT smart meters. You now have the choice of having the meters installed without the ‘smart’ capability i.e. no modem.
The biggest thing you have to worry about when they get installed is tripping out breakers or shorting out wiring leading to part-power, no hot water etc. Not to mention that wiring in a lot of housing is quite challenging to work with. Plus there is a lot of pressure being put onto the techninicans resulting in them making mistakes when installing. I work for a company that has a contract to install them around the country.
thanks millsy
… and thankyou everyone for a stimulating debate and helping me make a more informed decision!!!!!…guess i wont be going with these meters!!!!….guess the Internet Party should think about this policy some more …at very least from a PR perspective
coincidentally ….also i heard on the radio on my way home from town…. that a recent French University study concludes that cell phones used long term (for more than half an hour a day close to the head ) have a long term increased prognosis of brain tumors…( too busy to find the link at the moment)
We have one and its a f…ing nightmare. At least once a month the hot water relay trips. Cold showers in the morning are Not appreciated. Millsy, could I have it removed and replaced with a standard meter?
see my reply at 8.1.2 … good luck.
But I bet most householders are not told that they have this option…
But you can find the option to have it removed, or at least the modem removed. I parted company with Powershop, who could not, or likely, politically, would not do the removal for me. After searching around, I eventually happily signed with Grey Power Electricity, but only after their customer service person initially seemed very surprised at my request for meter/modem removal. I asked for, and received written confirmation from a supervisor guaranteeing removal before I signed with them.
Chooky et al .. we can make ripples … and ripples are the promises the waves make to the flood. Good luck and good health to you all, including OAP 🙂
Did you explain to the customer service person that you believe they’re an agent of the secret global government?
OAB .. are you really so stupid or is this just a comedy fail from you ?
Oh, have you noticed that I’m not exactly taking this rout seriously?
+1 Paul
Thanks for your comment. I have the same opinion on the lowering of the standards at NZ’s only non commercial state broadcaster, and National is stacking the board and freezing the funding. It’s beginning to show on Morning Report with Guyon and, to lesser extent, Suzie. It didn’t take long after the departure of Geoff Robinson.
One solution would be for a lot of people to question the story selection of the show, given this is a publicly funded broadcaster.
Front foot these media puppets.
“……… stacking the board and freezing the funding”
Hence my reply to a comment yesterday in response to “when did it start” (2008)
I’m surprised they haven’t renamed Morning Report the “Espiner & Ferguson Show” – but perhaps I shouldn’t be giving them ideas.
Thankfully, I don’t think it’s going unnoticed. The harder they rise, the harder they fall though – as they say.
The funny thing about Morning Report is I’ve just stopped listening to it. It wasn’t deliberate. It just died away after Espiner started. The “tone” of the show is all wrong now. Instead of being earnest but proudly public radio, it is suddenly some sad, dowdy attempt at commercial radio without the zing. Espiner and Furguson keep trying to insert themselves into the story. The “journalist as celebrity” culture kills the news value of everything it touches.
Today was the last straw. We switched it off.
Sadly there are no reliable impartial mainstream sources left.
Gradually democracy is being eroded in this country.
Talking of RNZ Bryce Edwards got to me this morning. He said the Key government was being “really strategically smart” in the budget and later said in comparison with the Oz budget “it makes Bill English’s [budget] almost socialist” (at which point Espiner giggles)
WTF!! Even O’Sullivan and Hoskin, the right wing commentators, to their credit gave the government a serve on how little vision they were showing. But so-called lefty Edwards crawls up Key’s nether regions.
Has Edwards actually looked at the Oz budget, where dole provisions for young people have been massacred?
And before that Espiner started asking whether Key’s obvious cock-up last night (where he blurted out tax cuts) was actually a cock up, but before anyone could answer Espiner said “I don’t think it was”. Why bother with the experts-you tell us Guyon. Your mate Key could never make a mistake.
But tell that to Bill English who dismissed the idea of tax cuts until he was told Key had said it, at which point he was obviously embarassed. See tv3 news last night for both Key and English.
I’ve never been able to understand how Bryce Edwards could be considered leftish. At best, he’s some sort of stamp collector, with his Herald contributions just being lists of which commentator said what in praise of the Key regime. Sometimes he throws something by Bomber in, but it’s highly debatable how much that helps any of us.
Bryce Edwards loves a cosy up with those in power, like most of the MSM and wannabe MSM.
More people switch off, and then some future Tory government will say, hey no ones listening to it (because it’s so shit) so we’ll switch it off altogether.
It’s a brilliant long term plan…
Yes CV that’s what bothers me. Don’t ignore the radio, Paul. Contact them and tell them of your concerns, and give them some praise when they do well too. Don’t make them feel that you are just prejudiced against them.
Don’t worry about criticising them though, I heard the early news team reading out a critical email about something that was the most pathetic prejudiced rubbish – they must have picked out one that scored the lowest for reasoning or joined-up thought. So they are fairly thick-skinned about the sort of job they do.
A change of government could demand and fund public radio to be giving good quality information and make changes to give us better public information on NZ. .That is if the left are more alive than they were when they allowed our public television to go private, the stupid, unthinking, ignorant s..ts.
The present outfit isn’t there in concrete. The whole thing could vanish. It could be wiped like they wiped broadcasting house, merely on a whim in one parliamentary session. This is a weakness of politicians having the right to be change agents when they should have to get permission to wipe out or majorly change systems and infrastructure. They should be only managers during their reign, the decision making should go with a referendum from people who undertake study of how the country works and operates so we get informed responses.
Aaah the obscene sense of entitlement extending a cloud that reeks over the heads of the National Government,
Kicked out of the Parliament last year for an over exposure of the sense of entitlement was Aaron Gilmore, He of ”dont you know who i am” infamy,(well NO Aaaron your a complete non-entity), the replacement into the National Caucus off of the Party List, Claudette Hauiti has just been caught with Her hand in the cooky jar,(or is that with the nose firmly stuck in the trough),
Apparently Claudette saw fit to hire Her partner to work in Her electorate office, a clear breach of the rules administered by the House Speaker,
Having been caught, the partner has now been dismissed from the employment and the Speaker has said no further action will be taken,
Its easy then to see why these people happily break these so called ”rules” isn’t it, my view is that at the least Claudette Hauiti should be paying back to the taxpayer the monies wrongfully paid to Her partner as an employee,
It goes further then that tho doesn’t it, allowing low level corruption such as what Claudette has engaged in,(claiming She had no knowledge of the rules???), simply enables and encourages further acts of corruption of a greater and more widespread nature,
Claudette Hauiti should be removed from the Parliament immediately…
What rules? Nepotism rules eh! It obviously makes sense to have one of your own bringing further cash into the family.
And then there are the rest of the family, you become a business centre an economic dynamo spreading opportunities and largesse throughout your happy whanau. It is very practical and the way that things are done in the world of advanced power, so expect more of it as time goes on.
Bill English, Conor English, friends of Bill and Conor in positions of farming interest there is one example of spread of influence and lines of connection. If you looked at any long term politician there would be similar. So those parliamentary rules need to be kept dusted.
Incidentally I heard Damien O’Connor making an unashamed spiel for his West Coast constituents the other day, strengthening his connecting lines. He was speaking about mining there and lauding it as an earner, and the fine quality which I think is especially good in steel making. No reference to temporary, while we work hard on getting other fuels and alternative technologies to replace the harm that coal burning will do – climate change etc. You would think it was the 1970s. Isn’t it time that people in positions of power and privilege acknowledged our looming climate troubles, before the tsunami hits and to assist after?
+1
(look what happened to Queenstown. I can’t remember the name of that National Party non-entity responsible for it all, but it seems Damien is intent on going down the same track). Really short term thinking!
Thankfully I wont’t be around, but watch ’em all squeal like pigs when the inevitable comes to pass.
Nothing against pigs btw … they’ll probably have the last laugh
Cooper? Or as he got called Mini-Cooper.
Are you sure it wasn’t Dennis Plant, MP for Wakatipu South?
Cooper was mayor and a Tory Minister at the same time IIRC.
Yesterday I started a new 10 minute radio slot with Raglan Radio. I will be a guest on the morning live show Wednesday once every two weeks and the next one will be 9:10 am 28th of May. Subject matter is the history of the transient nature of Europe’s State borders connected to events playing out today.
Go fo it Travellerev – what we don’t know about Europe and its changing borders would fill several large battleships. So it would be a good idea to get a surplus on that deficit of knowledge.
I love how these financialised mainstream economic concepts now permeate all our thoughts.
I hate it CV. But (as above) … watch ’em all scream like stuffed pigs when it all turns to shite. I’m sure it’ll be televised. Possibly on The Guyon and Susie Show.
Cheers greywarbler thanks!
“..Subject matter is the history of the transient nature of Europe’s State borders connected to events playing out today…”
..keeping it light/breakfasty..eh..?
..and a shame it’s radio..
..as this wd be a great visual-aid:..
“…Europe Map Video Shows Changing Borders, ’10 Centuries In 5 Minutes’…’ (VIDEO)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/14/10-centuries-in-5-minutes-video-europe-map-history-_n_783309.html
Oops. A signal that “this video does not exist.” Pity.
oops..!..sorry..!
..here ya go..!
it’s a little ripper of a vid..
..and makes almost every ‘historical claim’ a bit of a joke..
grr..!..again..!
..that wasn’t the version i originally linked to..and should not be mentioned in same breath..
..apparantly there is a copyright issue around it..
..and i have looked..but have been unable to find it..
..my original link came from my archives..and apologies for not checking link was still working first..
anti semite! anti semite!!
[lprent: You appear to be an idiot making a comment that has no relationship to what you are replying to. Putting you on probation. ]
Am I the only one confused reading this comment?
nope (you are not the only one)
I think Marius is attempting some form of humour, but perhaps I’m just being anti-semitic. I thought it was funny, anyway.
Jane Clifton like many others was enchanted by the Campbell Live Cunliffes at home program.
It was a nicely crafted item, and a must-watch for anyone interested in politics. This will be one of the most-talked-about pieces of television in this election campaign, even though Cunliffe featured as more of a bit-part player. His was nonetheless a telling cameo.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/culture/television/10040943/Cunliffes-wife-proves-a-gem
I agree, it was a great piece of political TV. I feel more confident about Cunliffe’s capacity as a PM having seen what his wife is like.
Plus he’s a cat person!
Bit worried about the Green vote swinging back their way though 😉
the comments are amazing , “they were acting”, & a mate of mine told me the radio talk back world reckoned that the bee hives & animals were just brought in for the filming. ffs! anyway, fuck the haters, most ppl with a brain could see how awesome the cunliffes were.
Totally non political but this is remarkable “Cat saves boy from dog attack!”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/life-style/news/video.cfm?c_id=1503081&gal_cid=1503081&gallery_id=143017
Yes ianmac but what is most remarkable is how we humans continue to under-estimate the animal kingdom.
One example – this ridiculous notion that sharks mistake humans for seals. I mean, really. Sharks have been swimming around in th ocean for millions of years munching on seals and we think they cannot tell what they are chomping on? Perhaps by illustration – if you were under water ianmac do you think you could tell the difference between a seal and a human?
Often times I think the thickest animals on the planet are we humans …..
National MP hires her wife then claims
Hauiti said she was unaware of the prohibition on employing spouses when she contracted her wife to work in her office.
“I’m really disappointed that I didn’t know the rules, I’ve only been here a year and I should have kept up to speed with that and I didn’t.
“I made a really big mistake.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10045412/MPs-wife-gets-the-boot-from-electorate-office-contract
I mean how dumb can you be?
Whatever,
Do new MPs get a briefing about what they can and can’t do?
I had the same thought. I think the speaker should take the bigger blame here if he did not inform Hauiti as she claims she was unaware of the rules!
Hauiti became a Member of Parliament in May last year following the departure of National MP Aaron Gilmore, who resigned after abusing a waiter while drunk in Hanmer Springs.
From the ‘Don’t you know who I am?’ Gilmore to ‘Don’t you know who my wife is!’ Hauiti!
National has become a discredited shameful outfit in so many ways!
The new Government certainly gets a briefing from the Reserve Bank and from Treasury about what they can and can’t do.
+1
And that’s one of the reasons both pretty much need to be closed down.
http://www.3news.co.nz/Peters-Collins-must-have-dirt-on-John-Key/tabid/1607/articleID/344102/Default.aspx
If you look at this link there is an interview with Winston Peters about Judith C.
It then crosses to David Cunliffe, but spliced in there is a flash to a clip (just a still pic of Shane Taurima ……….its at about the 4.52 minute mark……
Europe’s racist right wing will continue to rise because the Left is proving weak and unprincipled in the face of corporate power and money
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/14/rise-of-europe-far-right-only-halted-by-populism-of-left
“What is common to all is that they are drawing on the social discontent that has mushroomed across the continent on the back of a decade of growing insecurity and unemployment, falling living standards and austerity. For many of their voters abandoned by the establishment parties, the populist right looks like the only alternative to hand.
Not that their advance will change anything on the ground. The European parliament is barely a shadow of a democratic assembly. “Choose who’s in charge in Europe”, its posters demand in an effort to convince sceptical voters to turn out next week.
In reality, they will be choosing no such thing. That is not just because Strasbourg is weak and toothless and the establishment alliance of centre-right and centre-left will continue to dominate it”
Europe, left or right since 1972.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2011/jul/28/europe-politics-interactive-map-left-right
How stupid could you get? Well you could rail against secret trusts then get caught using one to fund your leadership campaign or you could still hang around with the imbecile who suggested it to you in the first place.
Though to be fair, this is pretty stupid.
[lprent: You know better. Four week ban for being fairly stupid in attacking an author, being off-topic in a post, attempting to do a diversion post, and wasting my time writing this. The comment is moved to Open Mike ]
Just attended the Business Expo at North Harbour Stadium and was intercepted by a large contingent of Police and civilians under the guise of Community Patrol.
I had never heard of this organisation so have just looked it up and it appears that it has been around since 2001. They seem to be highly organised across NZ and they have cars and uniforms.
The cars are also fitted with what looks like radio telephones of some kind.
Does anyone have any details how these people came into being. They seem to be working very closely with police and councils and I wonder just who is paying for this service. I think that I prefer law enforcement to be carried out by properly trained police officers and not defacto ones.
Just a little worrying but maybe I am paranoid?
They’re probably a good idea but, yeah, would like to know where the funding is coming from.
They work well.
If you are being paranoid, I share the feeling. They could be a new version of Massey’s Cossacks, ready and waiting, with links to the police already in place.
Except they are generally a couple of old diggers driving around in a tatty old corona being nosey and putting the crims off of busting down warehouse doors and the like. Totally harmless. For the danger I would suggest keep an eye on whaleoil and farrar diehards.
On their website their cars look good, but the personnel do look as if their days of frontline work would be a distant memory.
As far as the WhaleSpew army goes, I’d suspect that most of them would be the sort of psycho idiots that would be good at kicking people who were already on the ground and handcuffed. This fits in with the vile they spew at those least able to defend themselves, such as solo mothers and other beneficiaries. Many of them would give Walter Mitty a real run for his money, and make this hilariously obvious. Still, as shown in 1981 and since, if a big enough group of them can find a small enough group, preferably containing women and children, of those they don’t like, they can get brave enough to do some real damage.
Got budget day blues? A little aside.
Vote me by hovering over the big al1en picture and clicking the pop up orange vote button.
Ta 🙂
http://www.theaudience.co.nz/the-al1en-2/little-bird-im-a-worm/
I started getting depressed looking at the fresh Dep Index this week, and listening to commentators wondering why consumer spending keeps tracking resolutely down in the Waikato and East Coast.
Who can change inequality? This is part of a longer article you can find in Salon.com from Robert Reich, which I liked because it was simple and because they are themes I have heard for a good few years now. Also because the US appears to be facing the same kinds of challenges, from a far less fair and less regulated economy than ours. And then Easton’s article recently talked about how gvoernment’s rarely improve the economy. Got me searching…
“What We Must Do
There is no single solution for reversing widening inequality. Thomas Piketty’s monumental book “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” paints a troubling picture of societies dominated by a comparative few, whose cumulative wealth and unearned income overshadow the majority who rely on jobs and earned income. But our future is not set in stone, and Piketty’s description of past and current trends need not determine our path in the future. Here are ten initiatives that could reverse the trends described above:
1) Make work pay. The fastest-growing categories of work are retail, restaurant (including fast food), hospital (especially orderlies and staff), hotel, childcare and eldercare. But these jobs tend to pay very little. A first step toward making work pay is to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, pegging it to inflation; abolish the tipped minimum wage; and expand the Earned Income Tax Credit. No American who works full time should be in poverty.
2) Unionize low-wage workers. The rise and fall of the American middle class correlates almost exactly with the rise and fall of private-sector unions, because unions gave the middle class the bargaining power it needed to secure a fair share of the gains from economic growth. We need to reinvigorate unions, beginning with low-wage service occupations that are sheltered from global competition and from labor-replacing technologies. Lower-wage Americans deserve more bargaining power.
3) Invest in education. This investment should extend from early childhood through world-class primary and secondary schools, affordable public higher education, good technical education and lifelong learning. Education should not be thought of as a private investment; it is a public good that helps both individuals and the economy. Yet for too many Americans, high-quality education is unaffordable and unattainable. Every American should have an equal opportunity to make the most of herself or himself. High-quality education should be freely available to all, starting at the age of 3 and extending through four years of university or technical education.
4) Invest in infrastructure. Many working Americans—especially those on the lower rungs of the income ladder—are hobbled by an obsolete infrastructure that generates long commutes to work, excessively high home and rental prices, inadequate Internet access, insufficient power and water sources, and unnecessary environmental degradation.
5) Pay for these investments with higher taxes on the wealthy. Between the end of World War II and 1981 (when the wealthiest were getting paid a far lower share of total national income), the highest marginal federal income tax rate never fell below 70 percent, and the effective rate (including tax deductions and credits) hovered around 50 percent. But with Ronald Reagan’s tax cut of 1981, followed by George W. Bush’s tax cuts of 2001 and 2003, the taxes on top incomes were slashed, and tax loopholes favoring the wealthy were widened. The implicit promise—sometimes made explicit—was that the benefits from such cuts would trickle down to the broad middle class and even to the poor. As I’ve shown, however, nothing trickled down. At a time in American history when the after-tax incomes of the wealthy continue to soar, while median household incomes are falling, and when we must invest far more in education and infrastructure, it seems appropriate to raise the top marginal tax rate and close tax loopholes that disproportionately favor the wealthy.
6) Make the payroll tax progressive. Payroll taxes account for 40 percent of government revenues, yet they are not nearly as progressive as income taxes. (…)
7) Raise the estate tax and eliminate the “stepped-up basis” for determining capital gains at death. As Piketty warns, the United States, like other rich nations, could be moving toward an oligarchy of inherited wealth and away from a meritocracy based on labor income. The most direct way to reduce the dominance of inherited wealth is to raise the estate tax by triggering it at $1 million of wealth per person rather than its current $5.34 million. [Would a Capital Gains Tax do a similar job, or do we need a proper Estate Tax]
8) Constrain Wall Street. The financial sector has added to the burdens of the middle class and the poor through excesses that were the proximate cause of an economic crisis in 2008, similar to the crisis of 1929. (…) The Glass-Steagall Act, which separated commercial- and investment-banking functions, should be resurrected in full, and the size of the nation’s biggest banks should be capped. [Made me wonder what the Aus equivalent of Glass-Segall was]
9) Give all Americans a share in future economic gains. The richest 10 percent of Americans own roughly 80 percent of the value of the nation’s capital stock; the richest 1 percent own about 35 percent. As the returns to capital continue to outpace the returns to labor, this allocation of ownership further aggravates inequality. Ownership should be broadened through a plan that would give every newborn American an “opportunity share” worth, say, $5,000 in a diversified index of stocks and bonds—which, compounded over time, would be worth considerably more. The share could be cashed in gradually starting at the age of 18.
10) Get big money out of politics. Last, but certainly not least, we must limit the political influence of the great accumulations of wealth that are threatening our democracy and drowning out the voices of average Americans. The Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision must be reversed—either by the Court itself, or by constitutional amendment. In the meantime, we must move toward the public financing of elections—for example, with the federal government giving presidential candidates, as well as House and Senate candidates in general elections, $2 for every $1 raised from small donors.”
[for me Reich has something extra from Easton, though I enjoy Easton as well. Thewre’s a nice barely buried anger with Reich.]
One of the main reasons that Australia, and New Zealand weathered the GFC so well, apart from not having National in power, for the previous 9 years, to run up the deficit with unaffordable tax cuts, asset sales and borrowing, is because of Keating’s tight regulation of the Ozzie banks.
I have to geniunely feel sorry for Krus Funlysun eh, ez the budjit is delivud. Look who the cnut has to his right – and more importantly the two places to his rear. There’d be a load of hypocrisy that a carbon tax equivalent mechanism would be hard to disperse.
Just saying.
There’s a ….. “I never inhaled” from the Keputee rejin
…….. a Ladder Puler Upper (eaxtra-ordinaire) complete with leapardskun suit under an ensemble feshun edvoisus hev rekumended
……. and a fick shit pretending some sort of ekademuk cheevmint (with stifikuts ta prove it0
…… all rolled into a nodding, hero worshipping, bunch of hypocrisy one could ever hope to come across as some sort of sociological study.
Pity their spouses eh?
Still, what they don’t know won’t kill them (and of course they’ve ‘nothing to fear’ – as their Dear Leader would have ’em believe.
‘
Well, interesting you should mention that, I just happen to have it open . . .
. . . don’t like to clutter up threads with the whole thing in case I interrupt the flow . . . but since you asked.
^^ Considering the budget debate and the forthcoming election, that should probably be a guest post.
Was anyone else attempting to watch the Budget debate via TV and have the transmission cut off for an ‘update’?
This occurred toward the end of Mr Cunliffe’s speech and has just come on again with Key yapping away about some garbled nonsense (as usual). Unsure how long transmission was cut – about 10 minutes I think.
It seems like a very odd time to choose an update at the very time that the NZ parliament are debating the countries’ budget and in an election year?
[Got anything to say for yourselves freeview managers?]
Anyone else have this occur?
I used to admire John Pilger greatly, but I think he’s past his use by date
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/13/ukraine-us-war-russia-john-pilger
Do you mean past his use-by date because the US war machine is likely to take Pilger out for exposing the US government war machine actions?
Or do you mean past his use-by date because Pilger is wrong on this Ukraine matter? And if so it would be interesting to know why you think such. You seem to have a thorough knowledge of matters in those parts of the world (though I have no idea how accurate that knowledge might be, nor how that knowledge might convert to understanding)
As if Russia was ever going to allow the Ukraine to be taken over by NATO and the EU. Not happening.
The western military industrial complex already knew that however, and with the wind down of Afghanistan and Iraq they need new justification for even bigger military budgets out of Washington.
Riiiiight – so in your mind that translates to “lets annoy a major nuclear power”? In case you haven’t noticed, the US military-industrial complex has a marked preference for asymetrical conflicts that don’t run the risk of getting them turned into a pile of radioactive slag.
How arrogant to basically suggest the Ukraine people can’t have any autonomy in who they choose to side with – in fact they were quite happy to court both though neither side were having it – though maybe the preference of younger Ukrainians for the EU is something to do with better employment opportunities, better economic development and social liberalism (not being chucked in the gulag for saying you’re gay, for example). Please outline for me what Russia was offering?
But by all means continue smoking Putin’s pole.
Oh for fucks sake Pop1 you have no fucking idea, do you. A new cold war against Russia means new contracts for Gen VI fighters, new strategic bombers, a new generation of nuclear missile submarines, spy satellites, war head designs etc. etc. etc.
There is no fucking money in assymetrical warfare shit (building mine resistant APCs and walky talkys which jam IEDs lol), but there are trillion dollar budgets in building the next gen strategic nuclear missile submarine.
The chance of not having the US and IMF infiltrate your country, gift it to neo-Nazis and the Right Sector and turn it into a failed state.
Which by the way the US is quite happy to have happen as it becomes a major problem for Russia at that point.
The US and EU have put neo-Nazis and the Right Sector in charge of Kiev now. They’ve invited 400 Blackwater mercernaries in to do the dirty work for them in Eastern Ukraine because they can’t rely on their own forces to turn against their own people. Once this gets going, it’s not going to be about putting gays behind bars. These are the same people who burnt 41 people to death in the trades union building in Odessa. Being put behind bars is going to be a fucking mercy at this rate.
Fuck you really have no idea. Stop watching fucking CNN would you.
This statement is too moronic, too naïve and too bleeding incorrect, for words.
Personally I can think of one grumpy little Marxist who has watched one too many James Bond films.
“The chance of not having the US and IMF infiltrate your country, gift it to neo-Nazis and the Right Sector and turn it into a failed state.”
Oh almighty fucktard, Ukraine was already a failing state – probably something to do with all that money being syphoned off by corrupt oligarchs puppeted from Moscow, so they could build palaces with private zoos.That was what was behind the original riots in the first place. I realise you are a cretin so I’ll try to make it simple for you. No former Soviet or Warsaw Pact state has any real desire to go back under the thumb of Moscow, if you don’t understand that you have presumably never had many dealings with Czechs, Poles etc – maybe you should read up on the Holodomor before you make such fucking stupid suggestions in future you sad pathetic little man. Maybe you should read up on what happened to the fucking Crimean Tartars you arrogant little shit.
As hard as it might be for someone of your pathological confirmation bias and liited intelligence to grasp, but having endured generations of Soviet oppression, the IMF and CIA are a fucking summer camp (the CIA doesn’t tend to execute you with a plastic bag, shove a potulism-tipped brollie up your jaxie, or put Polonium in your tea). If you are not an ethic Russian you are fucked. I you have issues with the Putin regime you are fucked. There is no freedom of speech or association and your callous disregard for minorities and dissidents is nauseating.
Naz1s? Har fucking har. I’ll tell you what’s naz1 – persecuting minorities and using ethnicity as a justification for invading a sovereign country al al fucking Putin. Maybe you should sit down and watch some videos of gays, Caucasians and Central Asians being beaten and tortured with the tacit approval of the Russian government because that’s how Putin rolls you useful idiot. Maybe you should stop to consider why a group like Pussy Riot would have a big fan base in the US but gets thrown in a gulag in Russia.
Now if you had a functioning brain you might have noticed that the US has in fact been largely withdrawing from Europe to focus on Asia and the Pacific. If the US was going to be picking fights with a nuclear superpower it is more than likely going to be China – and given the Chinese government seems a lot more organised and less psychotic than Putin’s Russia, that would by far be the safer bet for a nice safe cold war.
You are a moron and a swine. Jesus Christ people like you make me despair of the whole point of left wing politics. How can you possibly consider life under Russian rule even on the same universe of basic human decency as the EU? For the love of basic human decency pull your head out of your arse.
For those of you interested in the red pill unlike Populux, who has seems to have swallowed the blue pill of mass MSM propaganda wholeheartedly, here are a few links you might want to check out.
On the history of the Ukraine, whether the majority wants to be part of Russia and why, The Neo-Nazi threat to some 30.000 Jews, The illegality of the Kiev Dictator ship and what it means to the local population. Perhaps the fact that Julia Timoshenko (that weird female billionaire with the braided hairdo) thought that nuking them an mass was a good idea and the Odessa massacre was welcomed by her as a great example of how the illegal Ukraine dictatorship should deal with them pesky millions of people who identify as Russian, speak Russian and want to be able to continue to live peacefully in the Ukraine as Russians.
Also here is some information putting the hysterical Western MSM condemnation of Russia’s “anti- gay” laws in perspective.
Perhaps a bit of info about the NGO’s and the Academia (former Blackwater) and CIA death squads operating in the Ukraine helping the illegal Kiev Dictatorship.
Oh, and the Son of Vice President Biden becoming one of the directors of the biggest private gas company in the Ukraine making Collin’s conflict of interest pale in comparison.
gawd… what with the horrific things pop says and the horrific things you say trav ….. what are we to do?
it’s like the entire world needs picking up and given a good shake so that all its peoples come back down in all different places and all mixed up so we can start again as people with no histories…
.. traditions … cultures … histories … religions … they all just lead to conflict when the different ones meet. And to think we all just arrived at these various spots just a few thousands of years ago as we migrated out of Africa and to the west and to the east. Now we are all crossing up and over and getting all upset and fighting over the dwindling resources … and fighting over our so-called traditions, cultures, histories, religions … these things are a crock … a sop … and a bar to rest our lazy lives on..
always be wary of crying “but its our tradition / culture / history / religion” – ’tis the sign of lazy and danger
How unusual for you to be concerned about Jewish welfare, Ev, you’re normally the one ranting about Rothschilds and John Key’s lapsed Hebraism, but lets look at Russia’s long and illustrious hstory of protecting Jewish rights. Jews weren’t even allowed to live in Russia proper until after WW2 – Cf. the Pale of Habitation, Shetls and so forth. There is a reason why so many move t Israel even now.
The opinion of Ukraine’s Jews (and gays for that matter) is that things are far from ideal, but they’d rather sort things out internally rather than have Moscow “protect” them.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/12/us-ukraine-crisis-jews-idUSBREA2B1NT20140312
Not to mention that if your weird Protocols of the Elders of Zion fantasy is in any way accurate, the EU and US are puppets of the Zionist conspiracy and will not allow such things in their vassal states. Seriosuly, if they’re not going to tolerate the genocidal expulsion of Muslims from the Balkans, they are hardly going to stand by for a second Holocaust.
There are were and presumably are thousands of people living in New Zealand who would be happy to do so as British or Chinese – should Britain or China be given carte blanche to invade us?
CIA death squads? check your meds you loony muppet – the only foreign forces in Ukraine are decked out in Russian uniforms (curiously missing their insignias) and carrying Russian weapons.
You don’t know shit about Russia’s anti-gay laws. “Gay propoganda” in Russia can be interpreted as simply standing up for yourself as not being an evil paedophile or even simply saying that you are gay. Imagine if we passed laws that prevented you expressing yourself as a crazy conspiracy theory nutter.
No, actually I am not ranting about the Rothschild’s (Fuck I don’t even know how to write the name correctly) and those who read my blog and my comments can attest to that.
I have written extensively about Israel and the fact that many, many Jewish groups oppose the abomination that it is.
I have pointed out that “Jewish” John (Something he only uses if it gives him gains) is supporting an anti Semitic Neo Nazi dominated (not by numbers but by their willingness to use violence) illegal government with his NATO palls. I don’t know about you but I wonder why it is OK for NZ soldiers to go die for a war in the Ukraine.
Elders of Zion? Must read the book one day.
I have not espoused any knowledge of what Ukrainian Jews might want contrary to you and it would be good for those of you reading Populux’s rants to keep in mind that 27 million Russians died in the second WW, that they were the first to arrive in Berlin and that along the way they were the first to liberate prisoners of war, Jews and Gays from Concentration camps such as Auschwitz.
I also have not claimed any knowledge about how Gays feel in Russia but how about letting them speak for themselves. And here is a white paper written by a an American gay man and the full text of Russia’s “anti-gay” law analyzed.
Apparently it is fine to be openly gay in the Russian army for starters.
And apparently there is an upward trend in Anti Gay hate crime in the US
Is the situation for gays ideal in Russia. I’m sure it is not but neither is it in the US or Europe or here in NZ for that matter.
The issue here is not how gays are faring in Russia. The issue here is that we are overwhelmed with propaganda making us feel like we are the good guys and the Russians the bad guys. I always worry if and when that happens because the end result invariable is that people will die as a result.
How fascinating that the only mention of Brian M. Heiss on line, author of this white paper, is the “white paper” itself. I say “white paper” because it isn’t written like any white paper I’ve ever seen and more like an article for Gawker or InfoWars. Equally interesting is that Mr Heiss’ methodology is to compare reported hate crimes committed against LGBT people in Russia and the US according to the SOVA Center and the FBI as opposed to any independant analysis and is a statistically dubious if you were even just comparing two cities in the same country.
Anti gay hate crime in the US is not the topic, systemic and institutional LGBTQ people by the Russian state is. Perhaps you should actually talk to some LGBTQ Russians rather than cherrypick bullshit.
DNFTTT
No, actually there is a facebook page and a twitter account too and if we’re talking how gays are being treated we should so in every country, not just the enemy du jour who needs to be vilified.
Fill ya boots.
http://equaldex.com/
Joe90, great link!
And about the expressing myself as a crazy conspiracy nutter? They would love nothing better than that. Which is why I use the freedom to express myself like there is no tomorrow, In fact there might not be what with the Americans beginning to resemble the NAZI’s more and more every day.
So the tinfoil hat and a Godwin it is
Actually it would be more things like that in the 21st century when Aboriginal Australians are making their own doccumentaries I don’t see why a middle class white guy should be taking it upon himself to direct their narrative. Nor do I appreciate his whole “marriage equalisation is a bourgeois distraction from Chelsea Manning” – and he did rather ignore the whole transgender angle. I really don’t like his blindly reflexive defense (cough cough blame the victim cough) of Julian Assange (I think it’s possible to praise Assange’s work while decrying his tendency to be a smug misogynist douchenozzle) – and this despite losing all the bail money he put down when Assange, as all innocent people do, inflicted himself on the hospitality of Ecuador’s ambassador to London.
But yes, I am pissed off by Pilger’s ignorance of the Ukraine matter – has he ever been to Ukraine? Does he know any Ukrainians? I regularly discuss the issue with my Ukrainian and Russian friends. Basically he’s so busy blaming the US (who certainly owns a portion of blame, no doubt) that he neglects entirely to mention the Budapest Accord (which Moscow is in flagrant violation of), he ignores any Russian perfidy in manipulating Ukraine’s politics (like, oh I dunno, puppet and kleptocrat Viktor Yanukovych). In blaming the woes of Islam on the US, he neglects the USSR’s invasion of Afghanistan, or Russia’s current atrocties in Chechnya. Nor is the US dragging us to war – they put up with North Korea, they certainly have no intentions of going toe to toe with a major nuclear power, and it’s not them that has troops occupying sovereign Ukraine territory. Also calling the current government of Ukraine neo-naz1s is ridiculous – yes Svoboda are a pack of far right nationalist bastards, but they are the smallest party in the coalition and about the only portfolio they control is agriculture.
Two little pieces of wisdom, my enemy’s enemy is merely my enemy’s enemy and nothing more than that, and my favourite quote from Emily Bronte:
“Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion. To attack the first is not to assail the last. To pluck the mask from the face of the Pharisee is not to lift an impious hand to the Crown of Thorns.”
Fair enough pop, good for you in punching out what you know and standing up for what you see and understand.
Here is how this small contingent in the Illegal Kiev dictatorship bought by the Nuland “Fuck Europe” Neocon faction (also a very small but powerful group) for a mere $ 5 billion thinks a democracy ought to work.
As opposed to just sending in troops when you don’t agree, eh? Nutter.
In the excellent piece by John Pilger there is a link to William Blum’s article which contains the following informative paragraph
http://williamblum.org/aer/read/128
So what’s the difference between that and the caviar line to Moscow?
Cunliffe doing the Q&A thing on Facebook from 7pm.
And Key answers question from voters live on Campbell live at 7pm tonight.
Or what really happened was John Key avoided giving any answers but managed an “Its all Labours Fault” line. What a fraud!
All up about 8 minutes of drivel!
Cunliffe’s budget speech was brilliant. John Key’s speech stupid & sneering trying to be the David Letterman to his sycophants sitting beside him. He is an awful role model for young kiwis.
Key’s concern that Cunliffe is a better more competent person is showing through in his psychospeech.
All the comments here deserve some attention, but the problem is, the wider public do not read here, never visit her, and will not give any consideration what valued or less valued commentators state on The Standard.
I am afraid, and I am not happily afraid, that with today’s budget, the election 2014 has been decided, and that Labour may as well fold up their tents, no matter how nice David Cunliffe may be as a person.
Fact is: The Nats STOLE Labour’s most valuable policies, like extended parental leave and also by offering some more free health care for young children, plus a few other bits here and there. This budget was an “election year budget”, and it was designed to convince middle class young and not so young families, and those wanting to get there, to vote National.
The only chance Labour will have to challenge the Nats now is on housing, and perhaps the economy, but that latter topic will be too hard to debate on, as no matter how much the government uses basic, simple economics, the results will be perceived as OK for most voters.
Many voters will also not dare to take risks re a change in economic planning, they rather stick with the fossil fuel deal, and renege on a Labour Green option, as that will be something they are not familiar with and is perceived as too “tricky”.
Welfare will be a “no go issue” for Labour and Greens, so nothing will change there. All other topics, including finance, will only be rather marginal given Labour’s and even the Green’s rather conservative approaches.
It is now all over, I fear, this election will not offer a change, it is a done deal, unless something totally unexpected, like a scandal will happen.
I am sorry, I wish it was different, but I see the pretty under-qualified, divided and unconvincing Labour caucus the worst that any larger party ever had prior to running an election campaign. They are not fit for the challenge.
Labour, Cunliffe and the rest, you are “done”! Get another job, as the future may be taken over by a totally new political movement.
Mike TSO
You may like to see someone else’s opinions of each parliamentary member, and see how they compare to yours.
Go into Google and search under – denis o’rourke Maori gangs
then look for Roll Call 2013 – Trans Tasman Newsletter.
This is the home page – http://transtasman.co.nz/home/
This is NOT about gangs, it is about policy, right or wrong.
Mike the Savage One
You have not even looked at the link I put up which is not about gangs they were just part of the search phrase. I won’t bother with you. You are a waste of time.
‘
Yep . . . tr0ll, alright. I think this was the narrative s/he was seeking to insert . . .
. . . the lie upon which it was vectored is the suggestion that The Standard is not read by a sufficient number of people to make any difference. We inhabitants are, apparently, wasting our time. The comment then seeks to define the debate upon which National Ltd™ can be challenged . . .
Labour can challenge National Ltd™ over the performance of any government portfolio because all have performed poorly. Education, Police, Health, ACC, EQC, IRD, WINZ, Justice . . . oh, and Environment. Don’t forget John Key’s “responsibilities” – shall we start with the appointment of his old mate Ian Fletcher as GCSB boss?
It turns out that the GCSB has been involved in the illegal spying of individuals around the world. Such is the nature and scope of this spying, New Zealand’s international standing is taking a battering. Gone now is the idea that New Zealand is an “honest player” on the international stage, now we are just Barack Obama and Warner Brothers’ pacific bumboy. Now, if any other group or individual were to blacken New Zealand’s name so thoroughly on the international stage, the GCSB would be investigating the hell out of them. Kinda ironic.
Social welfare is actually a MUST GO area for the Greens and Labour. Nothing may change until September so by the time we get there the opposition has a duty to inform New Zealand of what National Ltd™ has done.
All in all, IMNSHO, the comment is a semi-slick attempt at reinforcing the notion that “National Ltd™ is going to stroll in, you might as well shut up now and stay at home in September”.
I expext we will get more of these sorts of tr0lls as we get closer and closer to the electon. Some of them have money riding on it and think they can game the system by employing there mate’s PR firm.
Thanks BLIP you made sense of that ridiculous mishmash. It sounded or was meant to, like a concerned younger voter trying to ‘analyse this’, but not well.
But the number of comments scattered all over yesterday by this trial was a clue.
It must be a fun job allocated to various boys and girls hanging around the places of power, influence and money with notes being compared on who did the best writing job. It helps to have read about how the anti-Castro and USA government agents mounted covert attacks on him. Once you know the extent that people will go to, the mindset required can be understood better.
I was thinking, the confusing and constant number of trials raining down on the left could be compared to the Windows system in WW2 with the intention of misleading and confusing the opposition.
Wikipedia – WINDOW was the code name for small metallised strips, like tin foil, designed to be dropped in bundles from RAF bombers. The result was a gently drifting cloud of metallic strips that created confusing signals on German radar screens and concealed the position of the actual bombers.
BLIP
I think your lists and links compiled about this era of our political history is an extraordinary effort and a valuable resource and you should some time soon think of offering it to some august ivory tower NZ university political science library. For the aforementioned reasons.
Many prominent commentators on this site castigate the government for the borrowing it has undertaken over the last 6 years to maintain services, and avoid austerity measures given the collapse in revenue that began in the 2008 Budget. We had the latest farce today, parodying John Key for his fiscal record (“John Key’s Surplus”).
These commentators, such as the author of that earlier post, laughably castigate the Government for its fiscal record (which is the envy of the OECD). Yet at the same time they propose higher government spending, and typically oppose every measure the government has introduced to restrain public expenditure.
So here is yet another example of delusion or hypocrisy. It is a joke. You are either a pathological liar or you are talking the piss.
[lprent: Don’t do diversion trolls on posts. This had nothing to do with the post apart from a wee wank at the end. I have already banned two people today for 4 weeks or more for doing that. I’d have little compunction in doing a few more. Moved to Open Mike. ]
No srylands, it is you who is “talking the piss” (whatever that is …) with this comment … “castigate the government for the borrowing it has undertaken over the last 6 years to maintain services and avoid austerity,”
The government is castigated for borrowing $50billion for things like …
Tax cuts for the rich at $1.2billion per annum (7.2billion total).
Allocating 0.4billion to dairy farmers for irrigation.
Fraudulently giving $1.8billion to SCF investors.
Those alone add up to 9.4billion, or about 20% of the borrowing. That is not to maintain services, that is to help out their rich mates.
Go back to your plastic buckets.
Hey, srylands pulled his comment after my reply …. typical… what a chicken – bok bok, talking absolute shite as per usual.
stupid plastic chicken man bucket toss
oh there it is … that was weird ….
Looks LPrent doing some administering 😈
I moved a comment that was off topic, then saw you had replied to it. So moved those as well.
Srylands or
“Scry to Heaven Lands”, whatever the name, I hope you do not refer to any of my posts, I am actually a Labour and LEFT supporter, just a bit disappointed about how things are going. It would be extremely FRIVOLOUS and NAUGHTY for any National Party fan brigade member as yourself, or any other below average intellectually capacitated “member” of the now ruling government to presume that the elections is a “foregone conclusion”.
The very evident lack of insight, enlightenment and intellect of your humble comment here give extreme courage to any alternative forces in NZ politics to take a different, more pro active and constructive approach, be this economic, social or other, which you may not even be capable of dreaming of.
So please crawl back into your snails house and be quiet, we are in the process of evolution in political terms, to develop a better government for New Zealand, which this country desperately needs!
By the way, there may yet be some REAL surprises coming this election or after, we do not have to settle with what we have now.
https://twitter.com/fakeedbutler/status/466752993681887232/photo/1
Yeah, I know, it’s about Australia but it may as well be here.
meanwhile
http://www.nationaldebtclocks.org/debtclock/newzealand
RIGHT back to bed now, before you get nightmares, ok?! And take your pills too, otherwise we may have to call the cops.
The NZ Government does not need to source NZ dollars, dollars that it itself can print, via interest bearing loans from foreign investors and foreign banks.
Why are we putting our nation in hock to the Chinese, the Saudis, the Germans, the Australians etc. in order to secure NZ dollars for our government to spend. It is ludicrous.
Thomas Piketty on capital, labour, growth and inequality.
http://www.ippr.org/juncture/juncture-interview-thomas-piketty-on-capital-in-the-twenty-first-century
Just been digging my way through the costs on the site at mid-month (ie looking for anything that is costing too much), when I noticed the amount of data going out of the public interfaces of the site at present.
15 days ~= 44 GB in, 475 GB out from Sydney. There is a bit of data transferring to other nodes ~26GB as well which would have been for overseas readers. But it does show how suppressed spambots must be feeling as that used to be about 75% of the aussie/nz load and most of the over seas text volumes was from bots. They get pretty rate limited these days (ie less than 10 pages per minute with a 2 hour lockout unless they are google, feedburner, or the national library). I suspect they are finding other sites to pester.
That bandwidth is now our major cost, so I expect I’ll have to look at ways to reduce that.
Now get this. That mostly isn’t the images or css or javascript. They are handled by the cdn, which has handled about 5 million requests almost all from Sydney, most of which would have said 304 (??) – you already have it. The cdn system separately sent a mere ~25 GB of data out, so most of the clients already had those images so didn’t get to get a fresh copy (you have to love caching) unless the cdn “image” had changed (seldom) or their client side expiry date was reached..
So those GB’s are pretty much all the text on the page, the bit that dynamically changes. A large part of that is the comments are coming in faster. We hit 700k comments on March 6. Now we are already at 732k and the pace is picking up.
Looks like the new level of web servers is working well. They seem to be a lot faster at processing and sending the pages.
Damn good thing too. At present it looks like the month will be at least 15% and probably closer to 20% higher than last month for page views and visits. Looks like election season has definitely arrived.
This time we don’t have a rugby world cup around as a distraction. In 2011 we we just over 300k page views in July, August, September, then just over 400k in October, and over 500k in November when the election happened. Essentially a 2 month election campaign that definitely favoured the incumbent.
In 2011 National just managed to scrape together a coalition with essentially no votes to spare. Since then the Maori party has been imploding, I rather think Act is dead, Dunne looks shaky, and who in the hell would want Crazy Colin as an electorate MP? Even National voters will balk at that.
And this time around, the characteristic sharp sustained election rise is apparently happening nearly 5 months earlier. I don’t think that they’re going to be so lucky this time.
Intresting lprent. The steam engine is building up pressure. I’m a railway fan. Time to change the points.
‘
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-does-the-u-s-look-like-after-3-meters-of-sea-level-rise/
On news that expected future sea level rise could be 3 metres.
Previously once when discussing climate change with Lynn Prentice lprent made the flippant comment, “I’m all right I live on a ridge.”
I told him he had better invest in storm shutters then.
In fact he should prepare for his ridge to be wiped clean.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/hurricanes-move-away-from-equator-with-expanding-tropics1/
And this impending disaster is likely to arrive much faster than sea level rise.
And still the government he wants, wants to allow deep sea oil drilling, fracking and more new coal mines?
It is hard to get a straight answer out of them, but it seems that this is still the case.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10822510