An up scaled version of one of these should be in the boot of every police car.
they used to catch galloping deer with them it would stop a fool with a machete .
UK Labour Party rule changing. I wonder if the Party fears that a huge heap of anti-Labour Party activists could sign up to be members in order to”sink” the Party with huge “support” for Jeremy? Hence the shut down of voting rights. Could it be part of the Conservative Dirty Tricks brigade?
NZ Labour Party could be vulnerable too.
Apparently pepper spray and tasers were used but didn’t stop the guy but were deployed before firearms were used
I note that the guy is still alive and since the suggestion is, at this stage, the guy was high on meth a .22 probably wouldn’t have done anything but annoy the guy even more
Normally I would use this situation to point out that this is exactly why the police have the weapons they have and why they use them
I won’t however because we still don’t know the full story, we still don’t know if the actions the police took were the right action and we don’t know if any other actions could have been used
We get this, you’re an establishment guy who supports militarization. And if people happen to die while being in an unstable frame of mind for a split second of their lives then so be it.
“We get this, you’re an establishment guy who supports militarization. And if people happen to die while being in an unstable frame of mind for a split second of their lives then so be it.”
I support the police being given all the tools needed to do their job of protecting the community but I support keeping the military and police separate.
When it comes down to it the police are reactive and they were reacting to (a couple of days ago) a suspected drug pusher and seller of illegal weapons with gang connections and, yesterday, a guy that pepper spray and tasers wasn’t working on, due to the possible influence of meth
As for the possible influence of meth, I think the words were that the perpetrator “may have been high on P” or somesuch on the news last night. Well, he may also have been an alien from Mars, or a shapeshifting lizard, we won’t know until we’ve looked.
What I’m getting at, why is that even reported? Unsubstantiated guesses are not news. Attacking police is, of course, but why put that out there?
Exactly, when something like this happens you can put a bet on it that before all the facts and evidence are collected that commentators on the left will be crucifying the police and preparing the victim for canonisation
Someone trained with sword and buckler, bo or quarter staff ought to have been able to parry, disarm or subdue him. Presumably long batons also, with a shield. Especially several on one because of flanking.
A number of gas agents that cause sleep or vomiting – though there are differing effects with drugged or hysterical subjects.
“He was shot and injured – you should be happy. A .22 could’ve shot and injured him as easily. Injuring is better avoided if possible”
If a taser and pepper spray isn’t going to stop him then .22 (unless it actually kills him) is probably only going to enrage him even more
“The deer capture device, nets or bolas. Pretty sure a cyanoacrylate entangler could be made that would incapitate anyone too.”
Do the police have those tools? No they don’t, the police only have the tools they’re issued with, they tried pepper spray and they tried a taser neither worked.
“Someone trained with sword and buckler, bo or quarter staff ought to have been able to parry, disarm or subdue him. Presumably long batons also, with a shield. Especially several on one because of flanking”
Are you serious? Please stop referencing Hollywood movies for your idiot ideas on how to take someone down
“A number of gas agents that cause sleep or vomiting – though there are differing effects with drugged or hysterical subjects.”
Its a wide open space so gas is less effective, depending on which way the wind is blowing you could end up with even more issues (you really want to gas a playcenter as an example) and unleashing sleeping gas?
I mean are you aware of any allergic reactions anyone nearby might have?
“No need to go all Chris Kyle on him.”
Unlike you the police have to consider the safety of the community (and of course themselves as well), they warned the victim, the used pepper spray, they used a taser and the victim still wouldn’t stop so the police used their firearms and then the victim stopped
“If a taser and pepper spray isn’t going to stop him then .22 (unless it actually kills him) is probably only going to enrage him even more”
He can rage all he wants if you leg him a couple of times he’s going nowhere. But if you leg him with a .223 chances are you’ll wreck his femoral artery & won’t be able to save him.
“Do the police have those tools? No they don’t” – “I support the police being given all the tools needed to do their job”
A bit – difficult I agree – but a larger bore doesn’t make it any easier. Part of the point of a .22 is that you would have to pick your target area to have a worthwhile effect – it’s an opposite strategy to handguns, where you target centre of mass.
“He can rage all he wants if you leg him a couple of times he’s going nowhere. But if you leg him with a .223 chances are you’ll wreck his femoral artery & won’t be able to save him.”
I don’t know if you’re being deliberately stupid in an attempt to bait me or you really are that ignorant but I thought this belief that you can easily shoot someone in the leg had died out, I guess not so heres some very quick links about why police don’t shoot limbs:
If you think you can adequately teach someone to take down a meth head armed with a long bladed machete nice and quickly without long and rigorous training then you really are naive
The police are likely in the course of their careers to have to deal with angry people armed with improvised weapons or tools among which softball bats and machetes are reasonably typical.
Correct, however anyone with an ounce of sense will tell you the closer you are to be able to take someone down armed with a weapon the closer you are to getting attacked with said weapon
Hence why tasers and pepper spray are issued so police don’t have to go to their firearms as a first resort
If I were training them (never gonna happen) I’d want them to carry a shield if that kind of offender is outdoors (shields and doorways can be a problem) I think Scandinavian police have a small round version of the riot shield. Wouldn’t want to have to block a typical blow with a taser or pepper sprayer – same goes for a handgun really.
The police were facing a potentially dangerous individual that was armed, that was ignoring police warnings, shrugged of pepper spray, disregard a taser and was in a built up area filled with people and you brilliant ideas include:
Tools the police don’t currently have
Martial arts training
A .22 to the leg
A shield
The police on the other hand managed to stop the individual without injuring themselves, without harm to any bystanders and the victim is still alive
Police often do have some martial arts training.
Police do have riot shields.
Police proved unable to contain the offender without shooting him, though he did not have a firearm. It remains to be determined whether his survival was professionalism or chance.
The proliferation of firearms among police remains questionable – though there is some evidently some convenience in using them to intimidate people who are not hysterical.
My ideas are pretty pedestrian – but yours are more in accord with the functions of an army than those of a police force.
“Police often do have some martial arts training.
Police do have riot shields. ”
Yes some but police are also allowed to defend themselves as well and to use their judgement as to when to escalate the response
“Police proved unable to contain the offender without shooting him, though he did not have a firearm. It remains to be determined whether his survival was professionalism or chance.”
He didn’t have a firearm however he had a weapon, if you’d read any of the links I’ve provided (you wouldn’t though because its runs contrary to your opinion) you’d know that shooting centre is mass is designed to stop the person and that getting shot in centre mass is not a death sentence as you seem to think which means that they used lawful means to stop him
(Seriously click on some of the links, you might actually learn something)
“The proliferation of firearms among police remains questionable – though there is some evidently some convenience in using them to intimidate people who are not hysterical.”
If a firearm can intimidate someone into stopping being a threat then good.
“My ideas are pretty pedestrian – but yours are more in accord with the functions of an army than those of a police force”
Your ideas simply do not work which I’ve tried to point out to you with reasoning and links yet you seem to want to ignore everything that said.
My ideas are currently already in place with the NZ police, which I agree with
PR you’ve been trolling me for days – it doesn’t make you more persuasive. We were trying to discuss the rising incidence of injuries and deaths from police firearms use – which might include alternative weapons or tactics. Your need to count coup has not served your argument.
“PR you’ve been trolling me for days – it doesn’t make you more persuasive. We were trying to discuss the rising incidence of injuries and deaths from police firearms use – which might include alternative weapons or tactics. Your need to count coup has not served your argument.”
Your arguments are weak, based on opinions formed by Hollywood movies and not backed up by any links or anything more then “someone told me”
Whereas I’ve used countless links (which you ignore of course) to explain why police shoot at the centre mass, why they shoot at all and why shooting at centre mass is designed to stop rather kill
That you haven’t read any of the links and continue to espouse ideas like using martial arts against a meth head armed with a machete as completely reasonable or thinking that a bolt action .22 rifle is all that’s needed for police tells me you have no idea of what you’re talking about.
Meh – your opinion and $5 will get me a cup of coffee.
You’ve cobbled together a bunch of conservative stats that justify doing nothing about what could be an alarming increase in fatal shootings. No wonder you support the Gnats – their do-nothing policies are aimed right where you live.
Why would I link for you? – you’re perfectly capable of using google.
“My ideas are currently already in place with the NZ police, which I agree with”
“Meh – your opinion and $5 will get me a cup of coffee.”
No, my opinion and most other western police departments in the world including the NZ police
“You’ve cobbled together a bunch of conservative stats that justify doing nothing about what could be an alarming increase in fatal shootings. No wonder you support the Gnats – their do-nothing policies are aimed right where you live.”
No I’ve linked from different sources, including left wing newspapers, that all explain why police shoot at centre mass rather then the legs and help explain police tactics
“Why would I link for you? – you’re perfectly capable of using google.”
You don’t link because you can’t find anything reputable to back up what you say
“My ideas are currently already in place with the NZ police, which I agree with”
“So you’re an authoritarian – no one is surprised.”
As the person most frequently proved wrong on this site PR, your opinion is scarcely determinate.
Lets see now, I’ve backed up my argument with links from many different sources whereas you…haven’t 🙂
However instead of using sound reasoning, logic or links you’ve gone for insults, its a bold strategy I’ll give you that 🙂
I know what you were thinking though, you were thinking you could say a couple of insults, champion the use of non-lethal weapons, maybe throw out some over used emotive terms and hey presto you’d prove your point 🙂
Unfortunately you’ve shown your opinion has been formed by Hollywood, you have no practical experience to speak of, you’re not interested in changing your opinion in light of new information and, quite frankly, your views on this matter are a joke 🙂
But please keep on going, at the very least I find you amusing so you have that going for you 🙂
“Two dead and one wounded this month – laugh it up”
Don’t worry, I’m not laughing at the victims or the police, I am laughing at you though 🙂
Hey for whats it worth I knock off at 1630hrs so you’ll be able to post something no doubt terribly witty and cutting and get the last word in, won’t that be something for you 🙂
I reference your response to me below…that you have seen first hand the effects of meth on someone. So you should know the difference between a person on meth or a person just worked up (say pissed) is immense.
This is now what the police have to deal with…”the new phenomenon”.
Probably need more police officers and full time police trainers which would require more funding – exactly the opposite of what National have been doing:
Police receive training in “take down methods already”. Even a person not high on meth or similar is not easy to restrain if they don’t want to be.
I wager Stuart that you have not been around someone high on meth? they feel no pain, have enhanced strength, and anyone in their way – look out.
The police are between a rock and hard place…if for example yesterday the suspect hurt or killed a member of the public while the police were trying to subdue him…guess what the headlines would be today?
There is no easy answer to deal with people high on meth (or similar drugs) when trying to arrest them.
You’d lose your wager – I prefer the term adrenalised – people can reach that stage without drugs too. They’re a handful for half a dozen people – but they’re not exactly Inigo Montoya.
Yes, some of them teach useful skills. Some of those skills might even be useful on the street. But most martial arts are sports, now – many holds/moves are illegal, but most importantly you’re not defending yourself from someone who is intent on doing you serious harm. That’s a very different kettle of fish.
That’s not to say it can’t be done, but I think your restraint techniques are the product of too much D&D.
It’s actually more about teamwork than anything else. And, in my experience, making sure you’re the one who grabs the feet, not the end with the teeth.
Although in this instance there was a dog on scene at the time or very soon afterwards, so I’d be asking why that wasn’t considered or was turned down.
Sure, one of the reasons that until the dust has settled and the matter investigated that we shouldn’t jump to conclusion and start trying to apportion blame
i see road rage a lot, a lot of angry yelling and shoving, a bit of drunken disorderly conduct, but the way you speak about it i was wondering if I needed to call a support person tonight before going home, lest I meat one of your rampaging machete wielding Meth / P addicts.
And what is our Minister of ze Police doing? Is she hiring? You know to save us all from the Meth/P Zombies roaming the streets of NZ.
Well Sabine I’m talking about how the polices response may (or may not be depending on the investigation) be appropriate for the situation they find themselves in
I’m talking about the gear they’re allocated to use and why its reasonable for them to use them
I’m also saying why we (all of us, even myself) shouldn’t rush to judgement and decide that the police should be tried and convicted or the victim is a living saint before all of the facts are known
i have no doubt i will be safe on my way home. I have always been. As for arming the force, once we have a better force, some of the cops that i have had to deal with (bikie here 🙂 ) i would not even entrust with a knife and fork, as they don’t seem to be the brightest but the most obedient lot.
But you made it sound as if we had to fear the Meth Zombie apocalypse while in fact more people get killed by drunk drivers then anything else. 🙂
Do you think they were justified, do you think they could have handled it differently and, if so, how?
well, a textbook response would be to maintain a defensive interval of at least 20m from the suspect so he’s not an immediate threat to your life.
Now, the police are maintaining that the proximity of the carpark and mall required immediate closing of the gap, so that’s their legal justification sorted. Whether distractions could have been used to heard him into a tactically useful area is another question.
i was wondering if I needed to call a support person tonight before going home, lest I meat one of your rampaging machete wielding Meth / P addicts.
If you think really hard, you might be able to figure out why the statistical unlikelihood of meeting a rampaging, machete-wielding P addict was of little use to the two cops faced with a rampaging, machete-wielding P addict (EDIT: assuming that the adjectives other than ‘machete-wielding’ actually apply in this instance).
“well, a textbook response would be to maintain a defensive interval of at least 20m from the suspect so he’s not an immediate threat to your life.
Now, the police are maintaining that the proximity of the carpark and mall required immediate closing of the gap, so that’s their legal justification sorted. Whether distractions could have been used to heard him into a tactically useful area is another question”
I wonder if a dog team could have been used as well but then how long would it have taken them to get there (or was a team nearby)
I can say the thought of taking on someone armed with a big machete, that’s shrugged off pepper spray and ignored a taser is not something high on my to do list
I guess these answers will come out in the investigation
lol yeah as to do lists go, it sucks.
They’re bad enough without the machete.
But part of the trick is to not let your adrenaline make you almost as dysfunctional as the bad guy (which is incidentally why most police firearm training involves firing at centre mass – fine motor skills like aiming are the first to go under stress).
The biggest clusterfucks I’ve seen (no guns or blades, thankfully) were when the security guy or cop got just as objective-fixated and tunnel-visioned as the bad guy. The best “ninja move” I ever saw was a verbal discombobulation that confused a chap so much he forgot to clock off and walked away with a chuckle.
And I’m not sure the investigation will ask the right questions. Big angry guy with machete approaches cop, cop pulls trigger, all legal. But do the police actually have a full investigative body that would ask questions like “how did they get into that situation in the first place?”, “what could they have done to avoid that situation?”, and “for shits and giggles, what other ways could the situation have been resolved?”? Not even in a disciplinary sort of way – just walk it through with the officers involved, when did they start to fear for their life, what were they seeing, what were their colleagues seeing, could they have used more psychological methods, etc.
For instance, forget firearms certification: how often are police officers trained in identifying and dealing with people under different types of mental distress, including the stereotypical P psychosis? Six month refresher seminars? Or half a day at police college and that’s it?
A good explanation of how the idea of competition to sharpen everybody up to get ahead has fucked up how science gets done, when science really works best in an open, collaborative information-sharing environment.
[Second comment in as many minutes that’s been sent to ‘open mike’. That link has nothing whatsoever to do with the post – or anything anywhere that’s being discussed. Cut the crap or you’ll be sent on holiday] – Bill
While backing up some statements with evidence is sometimes warranted. I think putting up link after link after link is unnecessary and it isn’t really “commenting”.
Not meant as a personal attack Greg ☺. Others may like it
“Christchurch has become a city strangled by corporate control foisted on the city by the National government in the form of MP Gerry Brownlee and assisted by the Mayor – former Labour MP Lianne Dalziel.
Dalziel has led the charge to sell city assets beginning with the council works division City Care which is currently on the block. She is still implementing the failed 1980s Labour government policies which enriched the wealthy at the expense of the rest of us.
The culture of corporate greed and council impotence is such at the council recently gave a $300,000 grant to multi-millionaire developer Antony Gough for an energy-efficient heating system for his $150 million apartment development.
So while low-income residents can’t afford to turn on the power to keep warm in winter Gough will be able to reap that much more profit from the tenants of this development.”
Its official: both US presidential candidates now oppose the TPPA:
Hillary Clinton delivered a shot across the bows to the Trans-Pacific Partnership as her bid for the US presidency was endorsed by Bernie Sanders, a vocal opponent of the controversial trade agreement.
[…]
But at a rally held in New Hampshire yesterday to mark Sanders’ endorsement, Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, went beyond the bounds of the party’s official platform.
“We’re going to say no to a tax on working families and no to bad trade deals and unfair trade practices including the Trans-Pacific Partnership,” she said to a raucous crowd, which included many Sanders supporters.
Its not dead yet – there are still fantasies that the US Congress will ratify it in the “lame duck” session, where they can’t be held accountable for their decision – but in the likely scenario that that doesn’t happen, the TPPA will be over.
Meanwhile, legislation to implement the TPPA in New Zealand is currently before select committee, but is due back in November. Hopefully the government won’t move too quickly on it. Otherwise we could be left in the situation of extending our copyright term and gutting Pharmac for nothing.
Of course there is often a difference between what politicians say when they are trying to get elected, and what they do after being elected.
My money is on Clinton pulling a Peter Dunne circa “willing buyer willing seller”, demanding superficial changes then claiming that having won ‘concessions’ the TPPA is now aok for the peoplez.
As I’ve said before it is a constant source of amusement to sociopaths and psychopaths that all they have to do is say stuff and people will believe it.
For them words are just things that make people do what they want. You can always figure out how to lie your way out of your ‘promises’ and ‘positions’ later.
In Auckland investors now account for 46 per cent of all sales, QV says, up from 37 per cent in 2012.
The combination of high investor demand and rampant house price inflation is no coincidence. It reflects the toxic interaction between how the tax system and the banking system view the purchase of rental properties.
For the taxman, the landlord is in business and entitled to deduct all the costs, including interest, incurred in earning taxable rental income.
For a bank, the landlord is someone borrowing against the security of a dwelling and banks are generally happy to lend as much as the Reserve Bank allows.
But few other businesses can gear up their balance sheet to the same extent. Few other investors can enjoy the same benefits of leverage in a rising market, amplifying the increase in their equity until they are ready to collect their tax-free capital gain.
The message from the tax system is clear: if you want to provide for your old age, don’t save money. Instead, borrow and engage in highly geared plays in the housing market.
Dealing with this now perilous distortion requires a pincer movement, attacking it from both the tax and banking (macro-prudential) sides.
Otherwise gravity will prevail, in the form of the ever-widening disconnect between house prices and household debt on the one hand and incomes on the other.
The Reserve Bank is doing what it can. The Government is not.
It is a private UMR poll rather than one of those public ones Jenny. But if true not only Winston will be pleased but certainly the 12% Green and 33% Labour will be pleased. Roll out the Joycie speak.
I think that Stephen Mills from Nine to Noon is UMR.
“The show attracted a lot of criticism, so much so that it was referred to the ABC’s independent Audience and Consumer Affairs (A&CA) unit who considered the complaints, including a detailed complaint from AMTA (Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association), the peak body for the mobile telecommunications industry in Australia
As a result the episode has been retracted and taken off the Catalyst website and the iView site and reporter Dr Maryanne Demasi has been suspended from on-air assignments”
Four years ago, the Republican platform on Israel read:
“We support Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state with secure, defensible borders; and we envision two democratic states – Israel with Jerusalem as its capital and Palestine.”
And now this week, Trump and the Republications have got a Convention manifesto that throws the two-state solution out the window for the first time in over 30 years:
“The U.S. seeks to assist in the establishment of comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East, to be negotiated among those living in the region. We oppose any measures intended to impose an agreement or to dictate borders or other terms, and call for immediate termination of all U.S. funding of any entity that attempts to do so.”
Trump tweeted on Wednesday:
“The Republican platform is most pro-Israel of all time!”
Generally I’m a pretty firm Israel supporter. But this is a nasty peace reversal for Palestinians. This Trump Republican position is more aggressively anti-UN and anti-Palestinian that I’ve ever seen in U.S. foreign policy.
Am I reading that right? That this proposal would have the US not engage in any ME peace processes? (Maybe not such a bad thing seeing as how they’ve essentially stymied any progress for years and decades)
We oppose any measures intended to impose an agreement or to dictate borders or other terms, and call for immediate termination of all U.S. funding of any entity that attempts to do so.
So…if the UN attempts to broker a deal, where the UN suggests conditions, then the US doubles down on it’s historical recalcitrance to pay its UN dues or levies.
So…the UN engages in a purely neutral fashion – as a facilitator.
If Israel throws up a host of pre-conditions, then Israel loses US funding? I guess not, insofar as they are directly involved in negotiations and so couldn’t be said to be imposing anything.
Given that Israel holds most of the cards in any negotiations with Palestine due to massive asymmetries of power, the US going ‘hands off’ and kind of threatening sanctions of a sort on anyone who gets ‘hands on’ in any way…I’m thinking that proposed US stance would be a gift to Israel.
Mmmm…….Ad…….interesting that you say “Generally I’m a pretty firm Israel supporter.” Can’t quite put my finger on why I’m not surprised. I guess vibes can be read quite reliably.
In a time of low inflation how is it that this weekend the price of parking at middlemore hospital has increased by 11% ?
Not nice especially as the catchment comprises of many of those disadvantaged and struggling🤑🤑
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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 ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
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 ...
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. ...
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http://www.net-gun.com/
An up scaled version of one of these should be in the boot of every police car.
they used to catch galloping deer with them it would stop a fool with a machete .
Well I wouldn’t mind seeing it tested out first, might be another tool for the police to use
For you PR http://www.byrnerobotics.com/forum/uploads/AndrewHess/2006-11-27_142614_cow_tools.jpg
Nice 🙂
Did some trials on them in the UK for riot control in NI. Not as effective as the baton round or( rubber bullet)
But a lone gunman or machette wielder in the open would differ from a person in a crowd.
UK Labour Party rule changing. I wonder if the Party fears that a huge heap of anti-Labour Party activists could sign up to be members in order to”sink” the Party with huge “support” for Jeremy? Hence the shut down of voting rights. Could it be part of the Conservative Dirty Tricks brigade?
NZ Labour Party could be vulnerable too.
Why is a former leader of the National Party writing columns for a magazine that celebrates neo-Nazism and advances anti-semitic conspiracy theories?
http://readingthemaps.blogspot.com/2016/07/david-ickes-kiwi-fans-and-their.html
Scratch the surface, interesting to see what comes bubbling up, I wish political leaders would be more truthful. http://www.funnyjunk.com/channel/funny/Have+you+seen+kyle/GDnzGTQ#97fdd0_5021594
This is for The Pink Postman and Stuart Munro:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/82104175/police-shoot-man-in-rotorua
Apparently pepper spray and tasers were used but didn’t stop the guy but were deployed before firearms were used
I note that the guy is still alive and since the suggestion is, at this stage, the guy was high on meth a .22 probably wouldn’t have done anything but annoy the guy even more
Normally I would use this situation to point out that this is exactly why the police have the weapons they have and why they use them
I won’t however because we still don’t know the full story, we still don’t know if the actions the police took were the right action and we don’t know if any other actions could have been used
So I’ll wait until the investigation is complete
We get this, you’re an establishment guy who supports militarization. And if people happen to die while being in an unstable frame of mind for a split second of their lives then so be it.
“We get this, you’re an establishment guy who supports militarization. And if people happen to die while being in an unstable frame of mind for a split second of their lives then so be it.”
I support the police being given all the tools needed to do their job of protecting the community but I support keeping the military and police separate.
When it comes down to it the police are reactive and they were reacting to (a couple of days ago) a suspected drug pusher and seller of illegal weapons with gang connections and, yesterday, a guy that pepper spray and tasers wasn’t working on, due to the possible influence of meth
As for the possible influence of meth, I think the words were that the perpetrator “may have been high on P” or somesuch on the news last night. Well, he may also have been an alien from Mars, or a shapeshifting lizard, we won’t know until we’ve looked.
What I’m getting at, why is that even reported? Unsubstantiated guesses are not news. Attacking police is, of course, but why put that out there?
Exactly, when something like this happens you can put a bet on it that before all the facts and evidence are collected that commentators on the left will be crucifying the police and preparing the victim for canonisation
He was shot and injured – you should be happy. A .22 could’ve shot and injured him as easily. Injuring is better avoided if possible.
But, although it’s easy to be wise after the event, there are multiple options for restraining people with a machete in a reasonably open space:
The deer capture device, nets or bolas. Pretty sure a cyanoacrylate entangler could be made that would incapitate anyone too.
Capture sticks http://www.hsi.org/assets/pdfs/eng_ht_control_pole.pdf
Riot armour & close to grapple.
Someone trained with sword and buckler, bo or quarter staff ought to have been able to parry, disarm or subdue him. Presumably long batons also, with a shield. Especially several on one because of flanking.
A number of gas agents that cause sleep or vomiting – though there are differing effects with drugged or hysterical subjects.
No need to go all Chris Kyle on him.
“He was shot and injured – you should be happy. A .22 could’ve shot and injured him as easily. Injuring is better avoided if possible”
If a taser and pepper spray isn’t going to stop him then .22 (unless it actually kills him) is probably only going to enrage him even more
“The deer capture device, nets or bolas. Pretty sure a cyanoacrylate entangler could be made that would incapitate anyone too.”
Do the police have those tools? No they don’t, the police only have the tools they’re issued with, they tried pepper spray and they tried a taser neither worked.
“Someone trained with sword and buckler, bo or quarter staff ought to have been able to parry, disarm or subdue him. Presumably long batons also, with a shield. Especially several on one because of flanking”
Are you serious? Please stop referencing Hollywood movies for your idiot ideas on how to take someone down
“A number of gas agents that cause sleep or vomiting – though there are differing effects with drugged or hysterical subjects.”
Its a wide open space so gas is less effective, depending on which way the wind is blowing you could end up with even more issues (you really want to gas a playcenter as an example) and unleashing sleeping gas?
I mean are you aware of any allergic reactions anyone nearby might have?
“No need to go all Chris Kyle on him.”
Unlike you the police have to consider the safety of the community (and of course themselves as well), they warned the victim, the used pepper spray, they used a taser and the victim still wouldn’t stop so the police used their firearms and then the victim stopped
“If a taser and pepper spray isn’t going to stop him then .22 (unless it actually kills him) is probably only going to enrage him even more”
He can rage all he wants if you leg him a couple of times he’s going nowhere. But if you leg him with a .223 chances are you’ll wreck his femoral artery & won’t be able to save him.
“Do the police have those tools? No they don’t” – “I support the police being given all the tools needed to do their job”
Make up your mind.
Have you done any shooting ? There would be very few people that could consistently leg shoot someone on the run with a rimfire.
A bit – difficult I agree – but a larger bore doesn’t make it any easier. Part of the point of a .22 is that you would have to pick your target area to have a worthwhile effect – it’s an opposite strategy to handguns, where you target centre of mass.
https://www.pfoa.co.uk/110/shooting-to-wound
http://www.guns.com/2015/02/23/opinion-10-reasons-why-police-dont-aim-for-the-legs/
http://criminologycareers.about.com/od/Criminology_Basics/fl/Why-Dont-Police-Shoot-People-in-the-Arms-or-Legs.htm
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865619655/Why-police-don7t-aim-for-the-legs.html?pg=all
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/21/police-shoot-kill-taser-force-experts-law
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/19/police-deadly-force_n_5693020.html
http://blogs.findlaw.com/blotter/2014/08/why-dont-police-shoot-to-wound.html
http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2014/12/shooting_to_kill_why_police_ar.html
http://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/08/weekinreview/why-can-t-they-shoot-just-to-wound.html
http://forums.officer.com/t16239/
Read whatever links you like but just stop saying such stupid things
“He can rage all he wants if you leg him a couple of times he’s going nowhere. But if you leg him with a .223 chances are you’ll wreck his femoral artery & won’t be able to save him.”
I don’t know if you’re being deliberately stupid in an attempt to bait me or you really are that ignorant but I thought this belief that you can easily shoot someone in the leg had died out, I guess not so heres some very quick links about why police don’t shoot limbs:
https://www.pfoa.co.uk/110/shooting-to-wound
http://www.guns.com/2015/02/23/opinion-10-reasons-why-police-dont-aim-for-the-legs/
http://criminologycareers.about.com/od/Criminology_Basics/fl/Why-Dont-Police-Shoot-People-in-the-Arms-or-Legs.htm
(Please take note of what is called the Hollywood effect)
“Do the police have those tools? No they don’t” – “I support the police being given all the tools needed to do their job”
I thought that was rather clear, they don’t have those tools so they can’t use them.
If those tools are found to be useful then the police should be issued with them.
But they can’t magically call them out of thin air to use if they’re not issued
“Are you serious? Please stop referencing Hollywood movies for your idiot ideas on how to take someone down”
On the whole the martial arts community probably have a better handle on tackling people armed with melee weapons that RWNJ armchair soldiers.
If you think you can adequately teach someone to take down a meth head armed with a long bladed machete nice and quickly without long and rigorous training then you really are naive
The police are likely in the course of their careers to have to deal with angry people armed with improvised weapons or tools among which softball bats and machetes are reasonably typical.
This is not a new phenomenon – shooting them is.
Correct, however anyone with an ounce of sense will tell you the closer you are to be able to take someone down armed with a weapon the closer you are to getting attacked with said weapon
Hence why tasers and pepper spray are issued so police don’t have to go to their firearms as a first resort
If I were training them (never gonna happen) I’d want them to carry a shield if that kind of offender is outdoors (shields and doorways can be a problem) I think Scandinavian police have a small round version of the riot shield. Wouldn’t want to have to block a typical blow with a taser or pepper sprayer – same goes for a handgun really.
The police were facing a potentially dangerous individual that was armed, that was ignoring police warnings, shrugged of pepper spray, disregard a taser and was in a built up area filled with people and you brilliant ideas include:
Tools the police don’t currently have
Martial arts training
A .22 to the leg
A shield
The police on the other hand managed to stop the individual without injuring themselves, without harm to any bystanders and the victim is still alive
Please don’t ever offer your ideas to the police.
Considering reports of what he was wearing I’d say that the Taser didn’t even hit him.
Police often do have some martial arts training.
Police do have riot shields.
Police proved unable to contain the offender without shooting him, though he did not have a firearm. It remains to be determined whether his survival was professionalism or chance.
The proliferation of firearms among police remains questionable – though there is some evidently some convenience in using them to intimidate people who are not hysterical.
My ideas are pretty pedestrian – but yours are more in accord with the functions of an army than those of a police force.
“Police often do have some martial arts training.
Police do have riot shields. ”
Yes some but police are also allowed to defend themselves as well and to use their judgement as to when to escalate the response
“Police proved unable to contain the offender without shooting him, though he did not have a firearm. It remains to be determined whether his survival was professionalism or chance.”
He didn’t have a firearm however he had a weapon, if you’d read any of the links I’ve provided (you wouldn’t though because its runs contrary to your opinion) you’d know that shooting centre is mass is designed to stop the person and that getting shot in centre mass is not a death sentence as you seem to think which means that they used lawful means to stop him
(Seriously click on some of the links, you might actually learn something)
“The proliferation of firearms among police remains questionable – though there is some evidently some convenience in using them to intimidate people who are not hysterical.”
If a firearm can intimidate someone into stopping being a threat then good.
“My ideas are pretty pedestrian – but yours are more in accord with the functions of an army than those of a police force”
Your ideas simply do not work which I’ve tried to point out to you with reasoning and links yet you seem to want to ignore everything that said.
My ideas are currently already in place with the NZ police, which I agree with
PR you’ve been trolling me for days – it doesn’t make you more persuasive. We were trying to discuss the rising incidence of injuries and deaths from police firearms use – which might include alternative weapons or tactics. Your need to count coup has not served your argument.
“PR you’ve been trolling me for days – it doesn’t make you more persuasive. We were trying to discuss the rising incidence of injuries and deaths from police firearms use – which might include alternative weapons or tactics. Your need to count coup has not served your argument.”
Your arguments are weak, based on opinions formed by Hollywood movies and not backed up by any links or anything more then “someone told me”
Whereas I’ve used countless links (which you ignore of course) to explain why police shoot at the centre mass, why they shoot at all and why shooting at centre mass is designed to stop rather kill
That you haven’t read any of the links and continue to espouse ideas like using martial arts against a meth head armed with a machete as completely reasonable or thinking that a bolt action .22 rifle is all that’s needed for police tells me you have no idea of what you’re talking about.
Meh – your opinion and $5 will get me a cup of coffee.
You’ve cobbled together a bunch of conservative stats that justify doing nothing about what could be an alarming increase in fatal shootings. No wonder you support the Gnats – their do-nothing policies are aimed right where you live.
Why would I link for you? – you’re perfectly capable of using google.
“My ideas are currently already in place with the NZ police, which I agree with”
So you’re an authoritarian – no one is surprised.
“Meh – your opinion and $5 will get me a cup of coffee.”
No, my opinion and most other western police departments in the world including the NZ police
“You’ve cobbled together a bunch of conservative stats that justify doing nothing about what could be an alarming increase in fatal shootings. No wonder you support the Gnats – their do-nothing policies are aimed right where you live.”
No I’ve linked from different sources, including left wing newspapers, that all explain why police shoot at centre mass rather then the legs and help explain police tactics
“Why would I link for you? – you’re perfectly capable of using google.”
You don’t link because you can’t find anything reputable to back up what you say
“My ideas are currently already in place with the NZ police, which I agree with”
“So you’re an authoritarian – no one is surprised.”
and you’re simply wrong in this matter
“You’re simply wrong on this matter”
As the person most frequently proved wrong on this site PR, your opinion is scarcely determinate.
“You’re simply wrong on this matter”
As the person most frequently proved wrong on this site PR, your opinion is scarcely determinate.
Lets see now, I’ve backed up my argument with links from many different sources whereas you…haven’t 🙂
However instead of using sound reasoning, logic or links you’ve gone for insults, its a bold strategy I’ll give you that 🙂
I know what you were thinking though, you were thinking you could say a couple of insults, champion the use of non-lethal weapons, maybe throw out some over used emotive terms and hey presto you’d prove your point 🙂
Unfortunately you’ve shown your opinion has been formed by Hollywood, you have no practical experience to speak of, you’re not interested in changing your opinion in light of new information and, quite frankly, your views on this matter are a joke 🙂
But please keep on going, at the very least I find you amusing so you have that going for you 🙂
Two dead and one wounded this month – laugh it up.
“Two dead and one wounded this month – laugh it up”
Don’t worry, I’m not laughing at the victims or the police, I am laughing at you though 🙂
Hey for whats it worth I knock off at 1630hrs so you’ll be able to post something no doubt terribly witty and cutting and get the last word in, won’t that be something for you 🙂
I reference your response to me below…that you have seen first hand the effects of meth on someone. So you should know the difference between a person on meth or a person just worked up (say pissed) is immense.
This is now what the police have to deal with…”the new phenomenon”.
I would expect the police to get that long and rigorous training as part of their basic training and ongoing development.
As well as long and rigorous firearms training as well as long and rigorous training on applications of the law and etc etc
Yes, exactly.
Probably need more police officers and full time police trainers which would require more funding – exactly the opposite of what National have been doing:
2016
2015
2013
I note that the last time that the police got better funding and more actual police officers was under the last labour led government.
I agree with you, its shoddy and the police should be better funded
Police receive training in “take down methods already”. Even a person not high on meth or similar is not easy to restrain if they don’t want to be.
I wager Stuart that you have not been around someone high on meth? they feel no pain, have enhanced strength, and anyone in their way – look out.
The police are between a rock and hard place…if for example yesterday the suspect hurt or killed a member of the public while the police were trying to subdue him…guess what the headlines would be today?
There is no easy answer to deal with people high on meth (or similar drugs) when trying to arrest them.
You’d lose your wager – I prefer the term adrenalised – people can reach that stage without drugs too. They’re a handful for half a dozen people – but they’re not exactly Inigo Montoya.
Actually, on the whole, no they don’t.
Yes, some of them teach useful skills. Some of those skills might even be useful on the street. But most martial arts are sports, now – many holds/moves are illegal, but most importantly you’re not defending yourself from someone who is intent on doing you serious harm. That’s a very different kettle of fish.
That’s not to say it can’t be done, but I think your restraint techniques are the product of too much D&D.
It’s actually more about teamwork than anything else. And, in my experience, making sure you’re the one who grabs the feet, not the end with the teeth.
Although in this instance there was a dog on scene at the time or very soon afterwards, so I’d be asking why that wasn’t considered or was turned down.
Sure, one of the reasons that until the dust has settled and the matter investigated that we shouldn’t jump to conclusion and start trying to apportion blame
How many Meth / P addled people are roaming the streets of NZ?
274 692 thousand as 1407hrs 15/07/16, why do you ask?
i seem to miss them all.
i see road rage a lot, a lot of angry yelling and shoving, a bit of drunken disorderly conduct, but the way you speak about it i was wondering if I needed to call a support person tonight before going home, lest I meat one of your rampaging machete wielding Meth / P addicts.
And what is our Minister of ze Police doing? Is she hiring? You know to save us all from the Meth/P Zombies roaming the streets of NZ.
So to put some perspective
search in Google
People killed in NZ by drunk drivers
https://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/road-deaths/toll.html
and then
search in Google
People killed by machete wielding P addicts in NZ
comes up with the geezer killed by Police
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/82104175/police-shoot-man-in-rotorua
It seems that maybe you want the cops armed so they can shoot drunk drivers? They seem to be a bit more of an issue in NZ.
Well Sabine I’m talking about how the polices response may (or may not be depending on the investigation) be appropriate for the situation they find themselves in
I’m talking about the gear they’re allocated to use and why its reasonable for them to use them
I’m also saying why we (all of us, even myself) shouldn’t rush to judgement and decide that the police should be tried and convicted or the victim is a living saint before all of the facts are known
I’m sure you’ll be safe on your way home though
Hi Sabine
Nice diversion attempt
Thank you
i have no doubt i will be safe on my way home. I have always been. As for arming the force, once we have a better force, some of the cops that i have had to deal with (bikie here 🙂 ) i would not even entrust with a knife and fork, as they don’t seem to be the brightest but the most obedient lot.
But you made it sound as if we had to fear the Meth Zombie apocalypse while in fact more people get killed by drunk drivers then anything else. 🙂
“But you made it sound as if we had to fear the Meth Zombie apocalypse while in fact more people get killed by drunk drivers then anything else.”
I’m sorry you feel that way but what is your opinion on how the police could have handled this latest situation or indeed the previous situation
Do you think they were justified, do you think they could have handled it differently and, if so, how?
well, a textbook response would be to maintain a defensive interval of at least 20m from the suspect so he’s not an immediate threat to your life.
Now, the police are maintaining that the proximity of the carpark and mall required immediate closing of the gap, so that’s their legal justification sorted. Whether distractions could have been used to heard him into a tactically useful area is another question.
i was wondering if I needed to call a support person tonight before going home, lest I meat one of your rampaging machete wielding Meth / P addicts.
If you think really hard, you might be able to figure out why the statistical unlikelihood of meeting a rampaging, machete-wielding P addict was of little use to the two cops faced with a rampaging, machete-wielding P addict (EDIT: assuming that the adjectives other than ‘machete-wielding’ actually apply in this instance).
“well, a textbook response would be to maintain a defensive interval of at least 20m from the suspect so he’s not an immediate threat to your life.
Now, the police are maintaining that the proximity of the carpark and mall required immediate closing of the gap, so that’s their legal justification sorted. Whether distractions could have been used to heard him into a tactically useful area is another question”
I wonder if a dog team could have been used as well but then how long would it have taken them to get there (or was a team nearby)
I can say the thought of taking on someone armed with a big machete, that’s shrugged off pepper spray and ignored a taser is not something high on my to do list
I guess these answers will come out in the investigation
lol yeah as to do lists go, it sucks.
They’re bad enough without the machete.
But part of the trick is to not let your adrenaline make you almost as dysfunctional as the bad guy (which is incidentally why most police firearm training involves firing at centre mass – fine motor skills like aiming are the first to go under stress).
The biggest clusterfucks I’ve seen (no guns or blades, thankfully) were when the security guy or cop got just as objective-fixated and tunnel-visioned as the bad guy. The best “ninja move” I ever saw was a verbal discombobulation that confused a chap so much he forgot to clock off and walked away with a chuckle.
And I’m not sure the investigation will ask the right questions. Big angry guy with machete approaches cop, cop pulls trigger, all legal. But do the police actually have a full investigative body that would ask questions like “how did they get into that situation in the first place?”, “what could they have done to avoid that situation?”, and “for shits and giggles, what other ways could the situation have been resolved?”? Not even in a disciplinary sort of way – just walk it through with the officers involved, when did they start to fear for their life, what were they seeing, what were their colleagues seeing, could they have used more psychological methods, etc.
For instance, forget firearms certification: how often are police officers trained in identifying and dealing with people under different types of mental distress, including the stereotypical P psychosis? Six month refresher seminars? Or half a day at police college and that’s it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZW_ARzMYX4
Warning extremely graphic content: Police release body camera recording of the shooting of Dylan Noble (seriously you’ve been warned)
Bugger being the cops in this situation
In some countries this would be called corruption, but in the US this is called Democracy.
Monsanto Paid Senators $58 Million to Pass Anti-GM Labeling Bill
http://anonhq.com/monsanto-paid-senators-58-million-pass-anti-gm-labeling-bill/
A good explanation of how the idea of competition to sharpen everybody up to get ahead has fucked up how science gets done, when science really works best in an open, collaborative information-sharing environment.
http://www.vox.com/2016/7/14/12016710/science-challeges-research-funding-peer-review-process
Society works best when the people in it work cooperatively as well.
IMO, it’s competition that’s destroying our society and that article highlights just one aspect of how it’s being destroyed.
Meanwhile, the people best at the actual job will leave and do something else as they’re not supported in their efforts.
For Bernie bros and rabid Hillary-haters that have deluded themselves into thinking the orally flatulent mutant swamp-carrot is the better choice…
http://www.vox.com/2016/7/14/12167824/bernie-sanders-on-trump
http://www.thegirlsproject.org.nz/
[Second comment in as many minutes that’s been sent to ‘open mike’. That link has nothing whatsoever to do with the post – or anything anywhere that’s being discussed. Cut the crap or you’ll be sent on holiday] – Bill
While backing up some statements with evidence is sometimes warranted. I think putting up link after link after link is unnecessary and it isn’t really “commenting”.
Not meant as a personal attack Greg ☺. Others may like it
Is this another display of your misogyny Greg?
Qi has some good stuff. This is about the 1% of Americans who are in prison. Includes the 3 strikes Law. The Ratio of black white. Terrifying.
Don’t be Nat Lite, Labour!
“Christchurch has become a city strangled by corporate control foisted on the city by the National government in the form of MP Gerry Brownlee and assisted by the Mayor – former Labour MP Lianne Dalziel.
Dalziel has led the charge to sell city assets beginning with the council works division City Care which is currently on the block. She is still implementing the failed 1980s Labour government policies which enriched the wealthy at the expense of the rest of us.
The culture of corporate greed and council impotence is such at the council recently gave a $300,000 grant to multi-millionaire developer Antony Gough for an energy-efficient heating system for his $150 million apartment development.
So while low-income residents can’t afford to turn on the power to keep warm in winter Gough will be able to reap that much more profit from the tenants of this development.”
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/07/13/minto-for-mayor-in-christchurch/
Dalziel belonged in ACT along with goff.
Its official: both US presidential candidates now oppose the TPPA:
Hillary Clinton delivered a shot across the bows to the Trans-Pacific Partnership as her bid for the US presidency was endorsed by Bernie Sanders, a vocal opponent of the controversial trade agreement.
[…]
But at a rally held in New Hampshire yesterday to mark Sanders’ endorsement, Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, went beyond the bounds of the party’s official platform.
“We’re going to say no to a tax on working families and no to bad trade deals and unfair trade practices including the Trans-Pacific Partnership,” she said to a raucous crowd, which included many Sanders supporters.
Its not dead yet – there are still fantasies that the US Congress will ratify it in the “lame duck” session, where they can’t be held accountable for their decision – but in the likely scenario that that doesn’t happen, the TPPA will be over.
Meanwhile, legislation to implement the TPPA in New Zealand is currently before select committee, but is due back in November. Hopefully the government won’t move too quickly on it. Otherwise we could be left in the situation of extending our copyright term and gutting Pharmac for nothing.
http://norightturn.blogspot.co.nz
If either of the US or Japan don’t ratify, it dies – meaning that any and all concessions from whoever become null and void.
Of course there is often a difference between what politicians say when they are trying to get elected, and what they do after being elected.
My money is on Clinton pulling a Peter Dunne circa “willing buyer willing seller”, demanding superficial changes then claiming that having won ‘concessions’ the TPPA is now aok for the peoplez.
As I’ve said before it is a constant source of amusement to sociopaths and psychopaths that all they have to do is say stuff and people will believe it.
For them words are just things that make people do what they want. You can always figure out how to lie your way out of your ‘promises’ and ‘positions’ later.
You forgot the cat antics.
I spend some time deleting God Squad posts, and advertisements.
[I make a comment that specifically criticises dross and you reply with dross? Fuck off. Moving to ‘open mike’] – Bill
This article is worth a thread in its own right.
Brian Fallow: Ignoring the landlord in the room
An excerpt from this important article
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11674502
Breaking news…..
Some 60 feared dead after lorry crashes in crowd at Bastille Day celebration in Nice, France.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/bastille-day-lorry-truck-crash-crowd-nice-france-panic-run-a7137791.html
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/world/308715/live-terror-fears-as-'60-dead'-in-nice
At least 73 dead, another terrible day for France.
So awful
How real is this – currently on The Daily Blog “BREAKING EXCLUSIVE: UMR SECRET POLL – National 41% Labour/Greens 45%”
Does anyone have any updates ?
It is a private UMR poll rather than one of those public ones Jenny. But if true not only Winston will be pleased but certainly the 12% Green and 33% Labour will be pleased. Roll out the Joycie speak.
I think that Stephen Mills from Nine to Noon is UMR.
I guess you could trust it as much as anything else posted on the Daily Blog.
So, far more than I can trust anything you say?
And supported by Hooten
Killary mounts Pokemon Go! event demonstrating superior understanding of her constituents.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-07-14/peak-pandering-clinton-plans-pokestop-event-ohio
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=z5ZOJZQbkmI
“The show attracted a lot of criticism, so much so that it was referred to the ABC’s independent Audience and Consumer Affairs (A&CA) unit who considered the complaints, including a detailed complaint from AMTA (Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association), the peak body for the mobile telecommunications industry in Australia
As a result the episode has been retracted and taken off the Catalyst website and the iView site and reporter Dr Maryanne Demasi has been suspended from on-air assignments”
Another brick from the wall
Four years ago, the Republican platform on Israel read:
“We support Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state with secure, defensible borders; and we envision two democratic states – Israel with Jerusalem as its capital and Palestine.”
And now this week, Trump and the Republications have got a Convention manifesto that throws the two-state solution out the window for the first time in over 30 years:
“The U.S. seeks to assist in the establishment of comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East, to be negotiated among those living in the region. We oppose any measures intended to impose an agreement or to dictate borders or other terms, and call for immediate termination of all U.S. funding of any entity that attempts to do so.”
Trump tweeted on Wednesday:
“The Republican platform is most pro-Israel of all time!”
Generally I’m a pretty firm Israel supporter. But this is a nasty peace reversal for Palestinians. This Trump Republican position is more aggressively anti-UN and anti-Palestinian that I’ve ever seen in U.S. foreign policy.
Am I reading that right? That this proposal would have the US not engage in any ME peace processes? (Maybe not such a bad thing seeing as how they’ve essentially stymied any progress for years and decades)
We oppose any measures intended to impose an agreement or to dictate borders or other terms, and call for immediate termination of all U.S. funding of any entity that attempts to do so.
It’s pretty fresh news, within Foreign Policy’s paywall.
But yep, that’s what it means.
So…if the UN attempts to broker a deal, where the UN suggests conditions, then the US doubles down on it’s historical recalcitrance to pay its UN dues or levies.
So…the UN engages in a purely neutral fashion – as a facilitator.
If Israel throws up a host of pre-conditions, then Israel loses US funding? I guess not, insofar as they are directly involved in negotiations and so couldn’t be said to be imposing anything.
Given that Israel holds most of the cards in any negotiations with Palestine due to massive asymmetries of power, the US going ‘hands off’ and kind of threatening sanctions of a sort on anyone who gets ‘hands on’ in any way…I’m thinking that proposed US stance would be a gift to Israel.
It would indeed.
I’ll keep you posted as soon as the Democrat Party line on it goes up.
How many ‘dual citizens’ occupy positions of so called power and authority in the USA?
Which ME states have nuclear weapons?
Mmmm…….Ad…….interesting that you say “Generally I’m a pretty firm Israel supporter.” Can’t quite put my finger on why I’m not surprised. I guess vibes can be read quite reliably.
Israel, the state built on paramilitary ethnic cleansing and land confiscation.
In a time of low inflation how is it that this weekend the price of parking at middlemore hospital has increased by 11% ?
Not nice especially as the catchment comprises of many of those disadvantaged and struggling🤑🤑